Seafire XV 1/72 - Back in Black

[Bedders]

Hi all, and I'm pleased to say that I've finally finished a model - the 1/72 Seafire XV from the Sword kit. I made heavy weather of it unfortunately (well over two years from start to finish), and ran into a last-minute snag by applying Alclad Clear Cote as a near-final varnish, which then took four months to dry. Yesterday I reckoned it was dry enough to put something over the top, in this case Humbrol 135 satin enamel. It could do with being a bit more glossy to be honest, but I'm calling this one done now.

 

I built the kit pretty much out of the box, although these Sword kits need a bit of fettling to get certain things to fit (e.g. canopy). After a false start on the paint-job, I settled on something a bit different, as I've always liked the look of SW847 in its (I think) black over sky with silver spinner. The real aircraft had been modified a bit, with guns, gunsight, catapult hooks and arrestor-wire guard for the tailwheel removed - all of which made this modeller's life easier. The whole sorry process is recorded in the WIP: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234998719-172-seafire-xv/.

 

Any road up, here are some pics taken this afternoon:

 

 

 

 

 

And here she is in the cabinet with her Mark III sister, also from the Sword kit but was somehow much easier to put together:

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of photos of the original:

 

 

 

Thanks for looking, and comments very welcome as ever. In the meantime I'm not sure I can face another session with the Sword Mark XIV Spit. And conversion of a Sword Seafire XV to a Mark XII can definitely wait a while. Oh the horror...!

 

Justin

 

[RMCS]

Nice job

[fubar57]

Great job. My quest is to now build a 1:48 version

[Courageous]

 

Stuart

[F-32]

Very cool - do you know why it was painted in that scheme?

[Cookenbacher]

Missed this RFI somehow after avidly watching the WIP. The Seafire does look good in black, that cannot now be denied.