Blackburn Skua. 803 NAS, HMS Ark Royal, Mediterranean, August 1940

[Grey Beema]

I hope you don’t mind me joining in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations Group Build with this offering.  I am going to build the Special Hobby 1/48 Blackburn Skua using the ‘Norwegian Campaign’ boxing but it will be built as L2927/A of 803 NAS HMS Ark Royal, Mediterranean Aug ‘40.

 

I’ll talk later in the build about why this particular aircraft but for now here are a paltry starting efforts.

 

First off the box and sprue shots.

 

 

Not many parts..

 

 

 

I thought I would start with the engine.  Crankcase, cylinders and Exhaust are separate resin parts.  All need fitting..

 

 

Then you slap some paint on, fit the exhaust collector ring, mounting frame.  It is all a bit fiddly but slowly does it.

 

 

The cowling was held together with tape and the engine assembly dropped in a regular intervals to make sure it fitted.

 

The assembled unit, exhaust collector ring fitted into cowling/ front of the collector ring and some filling done (liquid sprue) to bring the two units together.

 

.

 

I need to do more work about joining the front and rear parts of the collector ring before painting up in scorched metal..

 

I also put the first coat of paint on some cockpit elements and decided to make the radios in the TAG cockpit a little more 3D..

 

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I’ve found a better picture of the radios so they might get a repaint (or printed front).

 

Any comments welcome.

 

Thanks for stopping by..

Edited October 12, 2020 by Grey Beema

[Mottlemaster]

Very nice detail. I have just finished the sh 1/72 kit .This will be a cool kit with its extra detail .Will keep my eye on your build.

Cheers Alistair

[Ozzy]

Welcome aboard Grey, the more the merrier.

[SoftScience]

It's great to see a skua.

 

What is a TAG cockpit?

[Grey Beema]

2 hours ago, SoftScience said:

It's great to see a skua.

 

What is a TAG cockpit?

Telegraphist Air Gunner - the Gunner also acted as Radio man..

 

This is one I made earlier which was flown by Lt Lucy during the Norway campaign. The radio is under the Lewis gun (unfortunately I don’t have a photo) but I need to recheck whether they were set into the rear wall of the cockpit (as per Special Hobby) or was the structure there open and the radios bolted on some sort of shelf arrangement.

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by Grey Beema

[Grey Beema]

Got a bit more done on the Skua today, not a lot to show for 6 hours but At least it was 6 hrs not thinking about work, the state of the nation et al.

 

Anyway here’s what I did today.  

 

I prepped the pilots cockpit and TAG cockpit.  Made the bomb selector panels, radio control panels and morse key on the right side of the pilots cockpit.  Mixture and undercarriage controls on the left and throttle quadrant, couple of other instruments on the left side and did some wiring.

 

 

 

I remade the rear bulk head of the TAG cockpit.  A photo I was looking at shows a ‘shelf’ under the Lewis gun with the radio transmitter and receiver units under that.  Cut the panel out behind the TAGs seat and remounted the seat back.

 

 

Sorted out the control column (elevator link still to be sorted), Compass, Rudder bar etc.

 

 

And lastly the instrument panel, I have done the side panels but no photos.

 

 

Hopefully next weekend I can finish out the cockpit and get the fuselage buttoned up, for which I think I’m going to need to grow more hands...

 

Thanks for stopping by..

 

[Grey Beema]

Thank goodness for the Bank Holiday.  More work done on the Skua today.

 

Got the cockpit organised and installed today.  As usual with a Special Hobby kit I made some tabs to align the fuselage, then it was a case of wedging all the bits in, taping it all together, squeezing it tight and running extra tin around the joints.  I have brushed some liquid sprue into the joints too to try and strengthen them up.

 

So here is what we have so far, leaving it for tonight to cure..

 

Left of cockpit, throttle quadrant, throttle and fuel mix.  Cylinder control is undercart, hook and flaps.

 

 

 

Right of cockpit; Radio control, morse key, bomb selectors etc.  Fuel tanks, Lewis gun magazines

 

Side consoles & main instrument panel with fuel cocks added

 

Long shot

 

I replaced the pilot seat as the kit version just looked wrong.  Fitted the seat belts, although I’m not 100% sure of the routing.

 

 

 

I also spent some time separating control surfaces from the wing , I have fitted the wheel wells but will not assemble the wings until I have the centre section fitted.  I also need to cut out the wingtip nav lights and fit clear glass but again this with not happen until the wings are assembled.  Landing light will be done at the same time..

 

 

I have a day off tomorrow so hopefully a bit more done then..

 

Hope it’s been of interest.

 

Thanks for looking in..

 

 

 

[Grey Beema]

The Skua is fighting me all the way this weekend.  It just does not want its wings fitted..

 

I mounted the centre wing section to the fuselage and added the upper surface stub wings aligning the outer ends to the ends of the centre section.  As you can see from the picture below I have a large gap to fill on one side.  I filled using plastic card shims.  Once hardened I added tabs to help align the outer wing sections.

 

 

I assembled the outer wing sections, inserting the resin wheel wells and glueing the wing section from tip to landing light on the leading edge and all of the trailing edge.  Then aligned them with the tabs to align the wing.

 

I made a mistake here and should have tacked using super glue then used the extra thing once stable.  It would have made joining the wing panel to the stub wing easier.

 

A poor picture but hopefully evident is the fillet I had to fit in the leading edge to align the upper surface of the wing.  I don’t remember having this problem on the last Skua I built.  Must be losing my touch..

 

 

Once the main planes were in place, lots of liquid sprue into the joins trying to fill the gaps.  

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhere along the process something has gone a bit out of square (I think) but that’s another day’s work.  I think I must be clairvoyant as I can see lots of filling and sanding in my near future...

 

I wonder if he would have approved...

 

 

Thanks for looking in..

 

 

[Grey Beema]

Bit of an update, things have been busy in Chez Greybeema so not much to show:-

 

• Airframe is done, filled, sanded and polished to within an inch of its life.  
• Details have been replaced that got damaged by the sanding.
• Control surfaces added.
• Spin chute added.
• Nav lights scratched up and added
• Engine and cowling mounted.

I need to make some landing lights to fit under the clear cover but apart from that ready for the paint shop.  This Skua was painted in an SE1 scheme but during transition to TSS (you’ll see what I mean later).  I also need to make up and print a set of decals for use with the Skua but more of that anon.

 

Because my man cave is doubling as my office during our working from home period, I’m trying to avoid working there during the weekend when I do my modelling.  I have a BoB Hurricane in backlog for the paint shop and now the Skua.  I think maybe I’ll do another build before moving in for a weekends spraying (I have a Corsair in mind)..

 

Pictures of the Skua to date..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by, any hints and suggestions gladly accepted..

 

[stevehnz]

Looking good on this. It looks a lot like a scaled up version of the 1/72 kit I have (or the 1/72 is scaled down from this one  )  & some of your tips are as equally applicable I'd think. The engine installation looks very smart.

Steve.

[DaveyGair]

I have built their 1/72nd kit and it went together beautifully (all those header pipes though!)

I had the 1/48th one but since I've turned to 'strict 1/72nd only' I sold it on. I was surprised that the 1/72 scale kit has the very prominent gun/bomb-sight but the 1/48th one didn't!  The 1/48th one has the two prominent vent fairings in front of the cockpit, but not on the 1/72nd one, which I knocked up from sprue. Very strange.

 

Great job so far.

 

Davey.

 

 

[Grey Beema]

14 hours ago, DaveyGair said:

I have built their 1/72nd kit and it went together beautifully (all those header pipes though!)

I had the 1/48th one but since I've turned to 'strict 1/72nd only' I sold it on. I was surprised that the 1/72 scale kit has the very prominent gun/bomb-sight but the 1/48th one didn't!  The 1/48th one has the two prominent vent fairings in front of the cockpit, but not on the 1/72nd one, which I knocked up from sprue. Very strange.

 

Great job so far.

 

Davey.

 

 

Thanks Davey, I need to add the vents and the oil cooler before the primer is added.  I’m also trying to decide whether to add the canopy now or after the priming.  If I add the windscreen now I have to scratch up the gun / dive bombing sight at the weekend..

[JOCKNEY]

Really sorry this is turning into such a battle. 

I have had a Novo version of this in the stash for ages looking for an excuse to build it.

Therefore I'm really looking forward to seeing this one take shape.

Cheers Pat 

[Grey Beema]

21 minutes ago, JOCKNEY said:

Really sorry this is turning into such a battle. 

I have had a Novo version of this in the stash for ages looking for an excuse to build it.

Therefore I'm really looking forward to seeing this one take shape.

Cheers Pat 

 

I think I’ve wrestled it into submission now Pat, it’s sitting masked ready for primer at the moment.  

 

You know when you were putting effort in looking for those elusive photos of the TAGs cockpit to try and dickie it up and make it a bit more realistic.  I couldn’t find decent pictures any where.so I did as best I could at the time.  Canopy is on now and sealed and then what do I find....

 

https://dingeraviation.net//SkuaRoc/modelling_the_blackburn_skua.htm

 

It turns out the TAG basically had a sling/plank to sit on, did not have a seat belt only a tether, there was no bulkhead between him and the fuel tank, there is no floor, only a pair of foot rests.  Even the fuel tanks rest on the top of the bomb recess.  If I had known that I would have modelled it...

 

Don't be like me - do it right...

 

[Grey Beema]

This GB is well over at this stage but I am still going to complete my Skua, it will be posted in the RFI section at some point not in the GB gallery.

 

The reason it is taking so long is that I have been suffering a bit of loss of mojo recently.  Working long hours in the man man cave which is now acting as my office does not sit well with spending hours in there building models.

 

Still, I have now thrown some paint at the Skua.

 

Pale sky blue undersides seems to be the interpretation made on Ark Royal to the order to paint the undersides Sky (not surprising as they didn’t have a supply of Sky paint on board.

 

L2927/ 7A was flown by Lt Cdr JM Bruen as CO of 803 NAS HMS Ark Royal, Mediterranean Aug ‘40.  Paint 8s on but I have to get some makings made which I guess will take a while.  I have done the art work, I need to get some laser decal paper and find a local print shop that can print them for me..

 

 

 

 

 

Once this Skua is complete it is my intention to move on to JM Bruen’s Fulmar and his Sea Hurricane MkII..

 

Thanks for looking in...

[tonyot]

Excellent,.... looks just the job and well done for adding the light blue undersides too!

Cheers

         Tony

[Grey Beema]

6 hours ago, tonyot said:

Excellent,.... looks just the job and well done for adding the light blue undersides too!

Cheers

         Tony

Cheers Tony.

[JOCKNEY]

Great stuff and the sharpness of those masking lines is awesome  !

Dont forget you have the KUTA GB to finish this in, or the current Interceptor GB ask @Col. if you can transfer, hes a thoroughly decent chap so there's no harm in asking.

Cheers Pat 

[Grey Beema]

 

A bit of decalling this weekend.  I had to cobble together a set of decals and make some myself.

 

As I said in my last post L2927 was a replacement aircraft and Lt Cdr Bruen was re replacement CO.  Bruen replaced Casson who was killed In the failed attack against Scharnhorst 13th June 1940 whilst flying L2896/A.  L2927 appears to have come direct from the stores.

 

Replacement aircraft quickly had their White / Black repainted to ‘Sky’ aboard Ark Royal.  Without ever seeing Sky (light green) it was assumed that ‘Sky’ should be a light blue.  Aircraft underwent a full repaint when Ark Royal returned to Liverpool in October 1940.

 

‘A’ was Green section lead.  Fin codes, it is assumed, have been retained on L2927, thus I had to make up Green ‘A’ fin markings (PowerPoint, inkjet printer onto water slide decal paper).  803 NAS also seemed to carry black outlined in white fuselage codes which I also needed to make (initially the same as above).  Lastly the aircraft carries white outlined in black codes on the leading edge.  I made up a 7A (same technique as above) for the leading edge.

 

Thanks to @iang for the research.. 

 

Yesterday, I decalled the aircraft and it didn’t look too bad.  Standing back proudly, I showed Mrs GB my model, photos and art work.  She looked and considered, “I’m not an expert but it doesn’t look quite right”, she says.  

 

Studying photos of 803 Skuas again and the art work resulted in me removing the fuselage markings, a partial repaint, a new set of fuselage roundels and a new set of ‘A’s.  This time I drew the black ‘A’ onto a white ‘A’ decal I had in stock.

 

This is now where I am at - with a big thanks to Mrs GB for calling out the dodgy modelling..

 

 

 

 

Next up are a couple of washes and airbrush on some weathering before final assembly..

 

Thanks for looking in...

[iang]

Coming along nicely, but, and I hate to say it, you may need a green A for the fin. Certainly, if it had a letter on the fin it would have been green.  Photos of 7F in the Mediterranean (L2953), which was a replacement for L2963/F that was lost during the Scharnhorst attack, carried a blue F on the fin and an F behind the roundel in the Mediterranean (black outlined in white). Same for 7Q (L2874 yellow code on fin), which was a replacement for L2955/Q, also lost during the Scharnhorst attack. Given that L2927 was a replacement for Casson's L2896/A lost during the Scharnhorst attack, my guess would be that L2927 carried a green A on the fin. 

 

There are exceptions, as always. Photos of 7K in the Mediterranean (presumed L2909) show no fin letter and only the K behind the roundel, with the (dark) Sky Blue undersurface  clearly visible. L2909 FL on 24/9/40 and it could be that the photos show a replacement (serial unknown), which is why no fin letter is carried. However, given that 803 was about to leave Ark Royal, it may be that L2909 was not replaced and 7K is indeed an exception. If this is the case, it is a particularly odd one, because L2909 was 7K during Ark Royal's third deployment off Norway May 24-June 14.

[Grey Beema]

1 minute ago, iang said:

Coming along nicely, but, and I hate to say it, you may need a green A for the fin. Certainly, if it had a letter on the fin it would have been green.  Photos of 7F in the Mediterranean (L2953), which was a replacement for L2963/F that was lost during the Scharnhorst attack, carried a blue F on the fin and an F behind the roundel in the Mediterranean (black outlined in white). Same for 7Q (L2874 yellow code on fin), which was a replacement for L2955/Q, also lost during the Scharnhorst attack. Given that L2927 was a replacement for Casson's L2896/A lost during the Scharnhorst attack, my guess would be that L2927 carried a green A on the fin. 

 

There are exceptions, as always. Photos of 7K in the Mediterranean (presumed L2909) show no fin letter and only the K behind the roundel, with the (dark) Sky Blue undersurface  clearly visible. L2909 FL on 24/9/40 and it could be that the photos show a replacement (serial unknown), which is why no fin letter is carried. However, given that 803 was about to leave Ark Royal, it may be that L2909 was not replaced and 7K is indeed an exception. If this is the case, it is a particularly odd one, because L2909 was 7K during Ark Royal's third deployment off Norway May 24-June 14.

Hi Ian,

 

Believe it or not, it is green - outlined black..

[iang]

Perfect. 

[Grey Beema]

6 minutes ago, iang said:

Perfect. 

Maybe I should try to brighten the green up..

[iang]

1 hour ago, Grey Beema said:

Maybe I should try to brighten the green up..

 

It should be a bright grass green, from the photos I've seen of the recovered wreck of L2986.

[Grey Beema]

9 hours ago, iang said:

 

It should be a bright grass green, from the photos I've seen of the recovered wreck of L2986.

Thanks Ian, I’ll try and brighten it up.  I think I’ll need a sharpened cocktail stick..  I think I have a Sap green some where that should do it.  I might have to brighten up the 7A on the leading edge too.