F333 Fairey Delta 2 - COMPLETE

[Doccur]

Good morning,

 

Now onto the second of the 3 kits I will be attempting. This is the venerable Frog Fairey Delta (In a Novo Boxing). I believe this is the only conventional kit of this aircraft, however it does come with a rather unconventional feature; a moveable 'Droop-Snoot'. (The aircraft had a droopable snoto and cockpit, due to the high angle of attack the aircraft needed to maintain during take off and landing). Which leads me to the history of the aircraft. This was a transonic delta winged (Clue is in the name) research aircraft, which as designed to investigate the delta wing configuration at (you guessed it) transonic speeds. Pete Twiss on the first few flights however, noticed that this aircraft had capabilities much beyond this, and thus a world absolute air speed record was attempted. This was succefssfully completed in 1957, beating the previous holder, an F-100 , by some 300 MPH. So, as you can already understand, a very significant aircraft. It is even more significant when you consider Dassault got inspiration from the Fairey delta 2 for it's Mirage III fighter, see below.

 

Thanks to @jbot1971, I will be modelling the aircraft, after it had completed it's record breaking flight, in a gaudy mauve colour. JBot, has kindly provided me with some decals, despite his retirement... Many thanks Jim! The kti itself, was moulded sometime in the lte 70s early 80s and is surpsirisngly well moulded! very little flash, as opposed to some other stuff I have built from Novo (cough... Gloster Javelin...), no doubt a lot of filler and sandpaper will be required, but hopefully I can produce something highly polished and neat. Thanks also to @PeterB for his help woth researching this.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Ash

Edited July 5, 2019 by Doccur

[Jinxman]

A beautiful aeroplane for sure.

 

Didn't Fairey have to test it in France as there was little interest in the UK, thus stirring Dassault's creative juices? Or am I making that up?

 

Anyways, looking forward to seeing this one come together.

 

cheers

[Doccur]

5 minutes ago, Jinxman said:

A beautiful aeroplane for sure.

 

Didn't Fairey have to test it in France as there was little interest in the UK, thus stirring Dassault's creative juices? Or am I making that up?

 

Anyways, looking forward to seeing this one come together.

 

cheers

Yes I believe so! Fairey then had to cease and desist in France due to the insurance payments being excessive.

 

Thanks, I shall do my best.

[stevej60]

Love this one Ash,back in the eightie's there was a small toy/model shop opened near work which oddly never sold mainstream stuff but load's of Novo and other

Eastern European Kit's this was one  I bought,great looking aircraft!

[Doccur]

1 hour ago, stevej60 said:

Love this one Ash,back in the eightie's there was a small toy/model shop opened near work which oddly never sold mainstream stuff but load's of Novo and other

Eastern European Kit's this was one  I bought,great looking aircraft!

It is fantastic, it really was the golden era of aviation back then! I have no idea when this was sold but it was stickered up for 39p!

Edited May 28, 2019 by Doccur

[PeterB]

Hi Ash,

 

Looking forward to this one. I seem to recall that Frog did not provide glazing for the cockpit? I built mine wheels up but if you are building wheels down you might have fun getting enough weight in the nose (assuming it needs it - you may be lucky).

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[JOCKNEY]

Hi Ash

Another great choice from you, and another really unusual choice of aircraft for Frog to offer. Delighted to see it here, really looking forward to seeing you complete it, good luck.

cheers Pat

[Doccur]

7 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi Ash,

 

Looking forward to this one. I seem to recall that Frog did not provide glazing for the cockpit? I built mine wheels up but if you are building wheels down you might have fun getting enough weight in the nose (assuming it needs it - you may be lucky).

 

Cheers

 

Pete

I’m undecided on this yet! So many options! Also yes, no side glazings! Although these need fixing as they are way too far backwards. 

 

27 minutes ago, JOCKNEY said:

Hi Ash

Another great choice from you, and another really unusual choice of aircraft for Frog to offer. Delighted to see it here, really looking forward to seeing you complete it, good luck.

cheers Pat

Thanks Pat! I love to choose something a bit different, my skills aren’t good enough to catch the eye with a spit or 109!

[Rabbit Leader]

How classy does this jet look and how brave was Frog to decide to make it? I

t's a pity these kits are so hard (or expensive) to come by so can't wait to see you tackle this and show us all how it's done. 

 

Cheers.. Dave (who is now trying to count how many Frog kits will be added to the Stash!) 

[Doccur]

10 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

How classy does this jet look and how brave was Frog to decide to make it? I

t's a pity these kits are so hard (or expensive) to come by so can't wait to see you tackle this and show us all how it's done. 

 

Cheers.. Dave (who is now trying to count how many Frog kits will be added to the Stash!) 

Its such a sleek machine... that is why I had to have one!

 

You'd be surprised... this one cost me about £13! But I dare say an original Frog would cost a tad more...

 

Cheers Ash

[The Tomohawk Kid]

On ‎28‎/‎05‎/‎2019 at 17:08, Doccur said:

It is fantastic, it really was the golden era of aviation back then! I have no idea when this was sold but it was stickered up for 39p!

 Novo kits first appeared in the UK in late 1979 and early 1980.

 

Tommo.

[PhantomBigStu]

Nice, one I would like to do if it wasn't so rare 

[PhoenixII]

On 5/28/2019 at 1:46 PM, PeterB said:

.....seem to recall that Frog did not provide glazing for the cockpit? 

Cheers, Pete.

Your recall is spot on Pete, just the windscreen. Not a problem, as the window openings are in the wrong place and need to be moved forward....and don't forget the quarter lights!

Yes, I'm building one as well, my build will go on beginning of next week. My excuse, club meeting tomorrow and the Northern show on Sunday.

Paul

[Richard Humm]

On 5/29/2019 at 1:24 PM, The Tomohawk Kid said:

 Novo kits first appeared in the UK in late 1979 and early 1980.

 

Tommo.

A bit earlier than that - I bought a Novo Fairey Barracuda in Woolworths in 1977. Novo Toys, the importer, went out of business in late 1980.

[PeterB]

21 hours ago, Richard Humm said:

A bit earlier than that - I bought a Novo Fairey Barracuda in Woolworths in 1977. Novo Toys, the importer, went out of business in late 1980.

Hi Richard

That might explain why my Shackleton turned up in a bag with no maker details - sprues say made in USSR and photocopy of Frog instructions says imported by Hannants. I am betting it was disposal of old Novo stock after they failed.

 

Pete

[Richard Humm]

Production continued in the USSR after Novo went out of business, so Hannants may have sourced the kits directly from the factory - DFI of Donetsk in Ukraine.

[rayprit]

56 minutes ago, Richard Humm said:

Production continued in the USSR after Novo went out of business, so Hannants may have sourced the kits directly from the factory - DFI of Donetsk in Ukraine.

Superb information - I love all this history

[stevej60]

4 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi Richard

That might explain why my Shackleton turned up in a bag with no maker details - sprues say made in USSR and photocopy of Frog instructions says imported by Hannants. I am betting it was disposal of old Novo stock after they failed.

 

Pete

Pete about fifteen year's ago at the Northern show I bought a shack molded in white from a huge pile bagged with decal's but no box,the guy had bought them

as a job lot from eastern Europe I think he had a shop in West Yorks.

[JOCKNEY]

I've never seen a Shackleton in a Novo box, but I'd be delighted to see one if anyone can take a picture !

[PeterB]

15 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

I've never seen a Shackleton in a Novo box, but I'd be delighted to see one if anyone can take a picture !

Perhaps they could not get a big enough box - this is a big old bird which should in theory scale out at 1" less than a B29, though the official  length figures quoted may include guns - mine works out 4ft short but so do my accurate scale plans for the Lincoln, but both have exactly right wingspan - go figure as a mate of mine in the States would say.

 

Joking apart I too would like to see a pic of a boxed Novo one.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

On 6/2/2019 at 12:14 AM, stevej60 said:

Pete about fifteen year's ago at the Northern show I bought a shack molded in white from a huge pile bagged with decal's but no box,the guy had bought them

as a job lot from eastern Europe I think he had a shop in West Yorks.

Steve - I wonder if that might have been MHW of Crossroads - bought quite a bit from him but he seems to have gone now.

 

Pat - there is a pic of a Novo box on Scalemates - crude artwork looks like a photocopy!

 

Pete

[Doccur]

Quick update:

 

deflashed all the parts and had a little test fit: 

 Fit isn’t horrendous, considering this kit first came out 60 years ago! I have decided to keep the nose fixed and display it wheels up. 

 

Cheers,

 

Ash

Edited June 6, 2019 by Doccur

[Jinxman]

That's a pretty looking aeroplane - and it could do what it was designed to as well.

[PeterB]

That looks a lot better than I remember Ash, somehow bigger and with a much better finish to the plastic than my Frog original.

 

Should make up nicely.

[TonyW]

That's right out of the school of 'If it looks right, it is right'

I must have drawn a hundred planes like it as a kid.  Add that plane to the classic FROG round stand and you have a winner every time.