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AZ Model 1/72 Supermarine Attacker


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I'm going to try to get this done before the deadline, a nice partner for my Sea Hawk.

 

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The kit is typical AZ short run.  The only difference between prototype and very early Attackers and the bulk of the production run, was a fillet in front of the vertical fin, and a minor difference in the canopies.  The kit provides both fins, so by modifying the canopy any Attacker can be made.  The kit provides prototype markings or the 'first production aircraft' without squadron markings, but in Extra Dark Sea Grey and Sky.  Colour photos appear to show this as a 'duck egg blue' hue, for what it's worth.  If anyone can help with an image of an early-style attacker in service I'd love to see it.

 

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Resin cockpit.

 

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Nice recessed detail, soft plastic that melts readily when glue is applied. Not much flash.

 

I've enjoyed several AZ short run kits so I'm looking forward to this.

 

The Attacker was never really a successful aircraft. It was initially an attempt to mate the Supermarine Spiteful laminar flow wing to a new jet fuselage.  This never really worked because the Spiteful wing actually had a lower Mach-capability than a standard Spitfire wing, so compressibility and other aerodynamic issues that vexed the early jet designers came into play.  Given what was later known about boundary layer control, one can see the Attacker design was pretty flawed, even if Supermarine did manage to sort of get it working in the form of the Swift.

The Attacker was sold to Pakistan and is unique (?) in being a tail-dragging jet.  Built around the Rolls-Royce Nene, one can perhaps see the Attacker and the MiG-15 as the two extreme expressions of what could be done with this motor.

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Let's get this one in production...

 

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The intakes consist of plates to blank off the inside (no detail in there but not much can be seen), and lip fairings which are a pretty good replica of the originals, to my eye.  Eliminating the seam where the blanking panels join the fuselage is not easy (sorry, the crucial bit is just where this photo gets very dark).

 

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Here we are with Tamiya putty, Mr Surfacer, applied over the original join which utilised a lot of glue. AZ Model plastic dissolves readily when you apply Tamiya Extra Thin, so join can be 'self-filling' if you're careful.  I was not having a lot of success though, not setting things up properly.

 

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Time to join the fuselage halves.

 

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This was my attempt to persuade the halves to align properly.  First step was sanding on flat emery paper, and test fitting showed the fuselage needed to be thinned where the cockpit is.  And the cockpit has nothing to locate it positively, I used the step behind the pilots headrest and guesstimation to position it.  I don't seem to have taken any cockpit or instrument panel pics, probably because I was drinking. I'd like this to also serve as my excuse of the gross inaccuracy of that 'shelf' or coaming at the front of the cockpit.  The instrument panel is okay, a but 'soft' in the moulding.  The cockpit sidewalls are actually fairly plain on the Attacker.  See picture below from the website 'http://aviationdumonde.e-monsite.com'

 

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When it comes to joining the fuselage halves, the kit engineering is fine: when the top seam lines up, so does that underneath.  Yet, they seemed to want to twist apart.  I added sprue under the top seam for support, but don't do this.  You don't need the strength (the finished join will be plenty strong).  A few short brass or steel pins would be of benefit though, I think.  Anyway, Although I initially only glued the top seam, my little system slid apart and it dried with a step.

 

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Which somehow became exaggerated underneath!

 

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If I'd nailed the top seam, this step would be small and I could probably apply careful pressure to get this seam to behave. But the extra misalignment on top has become exaggerated underneath.  So, we will be using filler, and trying not to sand the cylindrical fuselage noticeably flat.

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On 2/18/2019 at 6:07 AM, Peter Lloyd said:

Time to join the fuselage halves.

 

dKOtByQ.jpg

 

This was my attempt to persuade the halves to align properly.  First step was sanding on flat emery paper, and test fitting showed the fuselage needed to be thinned where the cockpit is.  And the cockpit has nothing to locate it positively, I used the step behind the pilots headrest and guesstimation to position it.  I don't seem to have taken any cockpit or instrument panel pics, probably because I was drinking. I'd like this to also serve as my excuse of the gross inaccuracy of that 'shelf' or coaming at the front of the cockpit.  The instrument panel is okay, a but 'soft' in the moulding.  The cockpit sidewalls are actually fairly plain on the Attacker.  See picture below from the website 'http://aviationdumonde.e-monsite.com'

 

attacker-cockpit.jpg

 

When it comes to joining the fuselage halves, the kit engineering is fine: when the top seam lines up, so does that underneath.  Yet, they seemed to want to twist apart.  I added sprue under the top seam for support, but don't do this.  You don't need the strength (the finished join will be plenty strong).  A few short brass or steel pins would be of benefit though, I think.  Anyway, Although I initially only glued the top seam, my little system slid apart and it dried with a step.

 

KovXiZQ.jpg

 

Which somehow became exaggerated underneath!

 

ty7M2z2.jpg

 

If I'd nailed the top seam, this step would be small and I could probably apply careful pressure to get this seam to behave. But the extra misalignment on top has become exaggerated underneath.  So, we will be using filler, and trying not to sand the cylindrical fuselage noticeably flat.

I had similar problems Peter. I used a combination of brute force, Tamiya tape, copious amounts of cement and not a little bit of language that shouldn't be heard in polite circles. I wasn't able in the end able to fully close up the tail so you've done better than me there, and although the step I got on the bottom wasn't as big as yours, I don't think I've totally eliminated it after filling, sanding and polishing. As you'll see from my build I've now got the wings, empanage and belly tank on and it looks like an Attacker. So Nil Desperandum my friend, you'll get there. 

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On 2/13/2019 at 5:09 AM, Peter Lloyd said:

 

 

The Attacker was sold to Pakistan and is unique (?) in being a tail-dragging jet. 

There were a few others Peter, including the Yak-15 and one of the prototype Me.262s.  Nevertheless, it is very unusual and should look great on display :popcorn:

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I've had the wings on and off a couple of times.  The Attacker had very slight dihedral on the wings, but in my first attempt they came out flat.

 

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An issue I didn't catch in time is the wing is thicker (deeper) than the wing root moulded on the fuselage, and this was more noticeable on one side than the other.  The wheel well wall is too generous. I sliced at it from this position with a razor, and improved it somewhat.  This is not a bad kit, most of the issues I've encountered have been from not obeying the short-run mantra: test, re-shape, test again, test again... then use the glue.

Edited by Peter Lloyd
typos
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So here it is today:

 

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There's a fair bit of Tamiya putty used to level things and to shut out the draughts.  My Surfacer 500 on top of that.  Any advice on that rear decking behind the pilot's seat is welcome, and I suppose I'll just dig out a gun sight for the forward coaming.  I have ordered some Master 20mm gun fairings, intended for a Fairey Firefly but I think they will enhance the look.

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Well done getting this one together and looking like an Attacker regardless of how much a fight the kit was putting up :thumbsup: 

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  • 1 month later...

The Attacker is not dead!  I just lost the canopy!

 

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I got the Master brass guns for the Fairey Firefly. They are lovely, as Master stuff is, but the diameter is too large even after I filed out the cannon holes in the wing as far as I dared.  I chucked each gun in the Dremel and ground it down, finally adding a cut so I could snap off the guns to the correct length.  Three steps in the process shown.

 

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Nice work on the Attacker! You seem to have the right attitude towards limited-run kits. Too many people pick one up because it's an interesting subject matter, then get discouraged because everything doesn't just fall into place and they have to do too much fettling and filling (aka 'modelling'). I've done so many limited-run kits that I'm surprised when a kit fits together without some 'help'. Good luck on your model - one of these may be in my future. Whatever your travails, this kit must be so much better than the ancient Frog moulding.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

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I was originally going to do this model up from the AZ Models-provided scheme, which in this kit offers the prototype or one of the earliest service aircraft.  AZ Models decals in my experience are very nice, but in the end I went another way.  These markings come from this sheet from Modeldecal.  These are hardly the last word in decal quality, I suspect they are many years old, and the Bog H sell them very cheaply.  I was half expecting them to not work, break up, or refuse to leave the backing paper.  They are slightly off-register, vaguely yellowed, the blue is a little brighter than I think is correct, and viewed under magnification the edges bleed away a little.  BUT, enough of the bad stuff: Modeldecal offer a nice selection of schemes for the neglected postwar period, each sheet offering an eclectic selection with stencils and a sheet of photographs.  I could have used the national markings from the AZ sheet, and I'd perhaps suggest this approach as the register issues are only apparent on the roundels. 

 

And the decals went on really nicely.  You have to be a little careful, once they break away from the backing sheet (about 2 minutes in cold water), they have to be placed fairly quickly, as the glue disappears altogether.  The glue 'flaked' a little, producing little white flecks like PVA glue, but I ignored these and they did not affect the result.  The markings responded very well to MicroSol and look very flat, conforming well.

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Your choice of scheme from the Modeldecal sheet makes for an interesting set of markings :thumbsup:

Always found Modeldecal sheets performed better in warm water but not tried any of the very early sheets. It sounds as if their early ones were not up to the same quality as later sheets.

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Good work Peter. Looks like your almost there. I hope you get it finished. It's not an easy build but I found that the undercarriage was fairly straightforward once all the parts were cleaned up. I also drilled small indentations for the main undercarriage legs to ensure a good fit. As you know the AZ plastic does take to Tamiya Extra Thin really well and the joints have been strong enough. 

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A bit of Extra Dark Sea Grey sprayed over a rudimentary stencil to eliminate that white edge.

 

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I made a bit of a mess of the underside, in particular I dipped the port wing markings before I cut them!  These numbers seem a little large relative to the (very comprehensive) Modeldecal instructions.  Wheel well colour seems to be either medium green (a Supermarine thing) or sky?  But not aluminium as the destructions say.

2 hours ago, 825 said:

Good work Peter. Looks like your almost there. I hope you get it finished. It's not an easy build but I found that the undercarriage was fairly straightforward once all the parts were cleaned up. I also drilled small indentations for the main undercarriage legs to ensure a good fit. As you know the AZ plastic does take to Tamiya Extra Thin really well and the joints have been strong enough. 

I hope my result is nearly as good as yours, I'll be happy. It was very cool having you to beat the path for me on this one!

 

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I had a look at the pictures in the books I have on the Attacker, including the Warpaint and '.... from the Cockpit' editions and the undercarriage wells are definitely Sky and not Aluminium. This applies to the interior of the undercarriage doors as well. That's how I finished mine, after initially painting them Aluminium. 

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I probably should have left it, but added a wash to bring out the panel lines.  Perhaps because the top clear coat only had a cold day to set, the wash has rendered it sticky and the porous decals have absorbed it a bit.  But, I'm calling this one done, and in the nick of time.  Gallery pictures soon.

 

So, in the end it's an AZ Models kit, which I recommend. Not their best but very buildable, and actually quite simple given there's no props or struts or anything tricky.  Master brass cannon fairings.  Mark I Models vac canopy (because I lost the original).  Xtracrylix paints.

 

A huge thanks you to the moderators of this group build, to those who have followed and/or posted here, and to my lovely lady for accepting that 'having to get this model done in time for the group build deadline' is a legitimate excuse for not going for a walk in the sun.

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