nimrod54 Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 My entry for FB and F II is this 1;72 Matchbox Fairey Seafox, I want to push on with my FROG GB builds before making a start on this kit, but it shouldn't be too long a wait. Here are the box and its contents photos. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr 17 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Very nice choice John. Another kit that nobody other than Matchbox would have released at the time, don't think i had heard of the Fairey Seafox until I came upon this kit in our local newsagents in the early 80's. I will be following your build with great interest as I'm sure that your build will be a lot better than my glue smeared effort was. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Great choice John,one of Matchbox's best. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Hi John! Welcome to the GB! It will be very interesting to see another build of this kit taking shape. Looking forward to your start of the build. Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franz75 Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 Hi, I have built it last year. Nice kit, Matchbox rules. Mind the struts, they are very fragile. I had problems with it, and also floats' struts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 Recently finished building two Seafoxes, my build here, something might be of use. Stuart 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 21 hours ago, Franz75 said: Hi, I have built it last year. Nice kit, Matchbox rules. Mind the struts, they are very fragile. I had problems with it, and also floats' struts. Thanks for the strut advice Franz. 20 hours ago, Courageous said: Recently finished building two Seafoxes, my build here, something might be of use. Stuart And two lovely builds they are Stuart, don't be surprised if many of your improvements make an appearance here too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 4 minutes ago, nimrod54 said: And two lovely builds they are Stuart, don't be surprised if many of your improvements make an appearance here too. Thanks John. Improve away, that's what we do on BM. Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Hi John Have you had a chance to do anymore to the Seafox since we last heard from you ? Cheers Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 9, 2019 Author Share Posted November 9, 2019 On 07/11/2019 at 08:34, JOCKNEY said: Hi John Have you had a chance to do anymore to the Seafox since we last heard from you ? Cheers Pat Following on from Pats gentle kick in the posterior and with around 6 weeks left before this GB ends, I decided that I should get my rear into gear and do some work on this build. The main parts have been removed from the sprues cleaning up the mould lines and lightly sanding the rib detail on the wings and control surfaces as I went. I have assembled the floats and these require a small amount of filler to close up a couple of very small gaps before I add a couple of other small details to them. by John L, on Flickr Heavily plagiarising @Courageous's Seafox builds, the next job will be to add/refine the details on the fuselage halves before assembling those. I hope that I make as good a job of it as Stuart did. Looking to the future, the plan is to finish this as the aircraft launched during the Battle of the River Plate, thus linking it to my HMS Ajax build over in the Film, Fictional and Speculative GB. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Less linking, more building Im sure you will produce another cracker here John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 9, 2019 Author Share Posted November 9, 2019 30 minutes ago, Hockeyboy76 said: Less linking, more building Im sure you will produce another cracker here John. Quiet there at the back. Cheers buddy, I hope it turns out OK. I need to order some decals for the Ajax aircraft and with several other subjects on the Xtradecal sheet, there may well be a few other Navy types appearing in the future. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 30 minutes ago, nimrod54 said: Quiet there at the back. Cheers buddy, I hope it turns out OK. I need to order some decals for the Ajax aircraft and with several other subjects on the Xtradecal sheet, there may well be a few other Navy types appearing in the future. At the back is where all the kool kids are 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 On 11/9/2019 at 1:25 PM, nimrod54 said: Heavily plagiarising @Courageous's Seafox builds, the next job will be to add/refine the details on the fuselage halves before assembling those. I hope that I make as good a job of it as Stuart did. Thanks for the praise John, I'm sure you'll turn out something cool. Have you pics and stuff for your aircraft as not all Seafoxes had the extra engine vent. Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted November 15, 2019 Share Posted November 15, 2019 Great to see this one started, John! Looking forward to the next update. Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 17, 2019 Author Share Posted November 17, 2019 On 11/11/2019 at 07:27, Courageous said: Thanks for the praise John, I'm sure you'll turn out something cool. Have you pics and stuff for your aircraft as not all Seafoxes had the extra engine vent. Stuart Thanks Stuart. I have found a few on line images of what is purported to be an HMS Ajax Seafox, but there is no clear indication of the serial code to confirm it and this shows the extra engine vent. I am also trying to resolve the correct colour at the time of the River Plate battle, the Xtradecal sheet quotes silver-dope with an unidentifiable grey on the cowling and floats. I have found some evidence confirming this scheme in one of the online photos but not a direct link to Ajax's aircraft. The White Ensign Models etch set that I am using on my build of HMS Ajax states that the scheme at the time would be Dark Sea Grey / Dark Slate Grey camouflage on the upper surfaces over Sky. There is still plenty to be getting on with before I start the main painting though. On 15/11/2019 at 22:40, jrlx said: Great to see this one started, John! Looking forward to the next update. Cheers Jaime Cheers Jaime, I did a bit of work on the fuselage halves last night, carefully opening up the large engine vents and thinning the edge of the openings. I also made a start on scratching the smaller vents, but, after looking at them in the cold light of day, I have decided that they are a little too shallow. I feel that these should stand off the fuselage by a similar amount to the larger vent, so it is back to the bench to scratch another pair. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 Hi John great start, I wouldn't mind one of these myself. Keep up the good work All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 (edited) Hi John, Always intended to build one of these but never quite got round to buying one. No definitive evidence on the colours, but pre war could have been Silver and Cerrux Grey - IPMS Stockholm's "Urban's Colour Charts" say FS16440 ie light gull grey is the nearest equivalent. Please note I say "could have been" as some sources say that Cerrux Grey was only used up to 1936 and then perhaps they became all over silver or maybe the FAA specific Sky Grey came into use - I am not sure and just to complicate matters the "Urban" chart says that "Sea Grey aka FS 35622 overall was in use post 1936 (but that FS ref is Israeli light blue so maybe they mean Light Sea Grey) and then say Sky Grey from 1938 - take your pick! Normal wartime scheme should be EDSG/Dark Slate Grey and perhaps shadow shading of Dark Sea Grey and Light Slate Grey on the lower wing, over either Sky Grey or Sky unders but the Graf Spee battle was early in the war so perhaps it had not been repainted? In fact I believe Sky did not start being used until about June 1940, well after this battle, which is why there is the big debate over the underside colours of RAF fighters during the Battle of Britain as Sky was a new colour and stocks were slow in being issued. Wiki says, for what it is worth, that Ajax had been in or around the West Indies since Feb 1938 so I would be tempted to suggest that Hannants may well be correct and the Seafox did indeed remain in the silver/grey scheme unless she had either docked for a refit before then or had a new plane sent out to her, and even then I cannot see the unders being Sky as it did not then exist if my reading is correct - perhaps White Ensign meant Sky Grey? So by now you should be as confused as I am! For the record, to my eye all 3 of the greys are fairly similar so just pick whichever you want if you decide to use the silver/grey finish - Light Aircraft Grey is also close, though I expect someone will have other and perhaps better ideas on the subject. Have fun, Pete Edited November 17, 2019 by PeterB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 19, 2019 Author Share Posted November 19, 2019 @PeterB My apologies for the delayed reply Peter, but we have had a decorator in and this weekend has been taken up with cleaning and trying to get things tidy again. This afternoon I have been trying to refit some cabinets that were ok when we removed them, but could we get them to fit the same way again. Anyway, that's enough of that nonsense. I just wanted to thank you yet again for your input on colour selection for my Seafox build. One of the photos that I have been able to find shows a Seafox in Silver and this has a grey shade across the engine cowling. It is supposed to be one of Ajax's aircraft and is dated February 1940. I don't think that it would be unreasonable to assume that this would be the colour at the time of the River Plate battle, so that that is what I will go with. That should open a nice Thanks again. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 The non camo option would be the way I would go too. Stuart. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 27, 2019 Author Share Posted November 27, 2019 Whilst waiting for paint to dry on my Hunter F.6, I have been plodding along with a couple of jobs on this build. First I opened up the two large cooling vents and then made the two smaller vents that sit beneath these from scratch. After that I removed the raised exhaust detail and opened up the ports before backing those with sheet plastic. by John L, on Flickr My next job was to make a start on refining the front cowling by opening up the recessed detail. I followed Stuarts method for creating some cylinder detail, carefully wrapping some 0.3mm rod with thin copper wire and I have glued sections of this behind one of the opening to see how things look. by John L, on Flickr I'll try to complete the other side later, but with Mrs N having plans for festive decorations my plan may be scuppered. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 Familiar scratching there John. Not tempted to remove the venturi then . The details make all the difference. Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 27, 2019 Author Share Posted November 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Courageous said: Familiar scratching there John. Not tempted to remove the venturi then . The details make all the difference. Stuart This must seem like deja vu for you Stuart. I have been trying to make venturis by stretching some sprue, but without much success at present, I think that I am overheating it. If I am unsuccessful then I will have a search on t'internet for some alternative. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 The Airfix Hurricane Mk.I has a venturi that is only needed on the 2-blader, and perhaps not always even then. So if you stay away from early examples you can snaffle it from there - perhaps it is in the BoB boxing? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 4 hours ago, nimrod54 said: search on t'internet for some alternative. Graham's suggestion is an option. If not, you can search for '1/72 venturi Croco', you'll find an email address as they don't have a website. On the one resin strip, you have three different sizes, five of each size. Stuart 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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