825 Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 I have a bundle of Seafires in the stash and I thought a good addition to this GB would be a pair of the FAA's first high speed interceptors, a pair of Seafire MkIb's. Although different boxings these are the same kit. And although they say Admiral, the bags containing the kit inside the box says AZ Models. I've already built one earlier this year in the Spitfire GB, finished as this unusual blue version. This pair will be more conventional. Each boxing gives two different options but in one of the boxings the two options are for 2nd line squadrons. I'll have a look through the stash for some aftermarket transfers. Although I think early Seafires, particularly the MkI are not well served. I do have at least a week before the start, and it'll be more than a few weeks after that before the hot water comes out. I will be doing one as the 885 NAS example from HMS Formidable. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Delighted to see some Seafires in our GB Remember that fighter types used in training roles are also eligible so either of the marking options in the first boxing are good if you wish to use them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Excellent, ! The early Mediterranean, Vokes- equipped Seafires (Ib and IIc) are my favourites - the regulars look like chinless wimps, and you just can't beat the TSS . V-P 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 Now to get started. Sprue shot, each kit has a couple of grey plastic sprues which can make a Spitfire MkV as well as a Seafire. There's an etch piece that needs rolled to give the arrestor hook panel and then bent to give the hook. The aerial is etch too. And a small injection canopy. Instructions and tansfers. I used those for L/Commander Hamilton's for another kit where the transfers were missing. Now for some paint. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Looks as if you're going to have fun forming that arrestor hook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 18 hours ago, Col. said: Looks as if you're going to have fun forming that arrestor hook I've had to do it before and it was a bit of a pain. It does seem a rather long winded and complicated way of doing it, when a couple of scribed lines and the hook would do. Here we are today with some paint on. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 I had a look in the stash for some alternative liveries. Very early Seafires are not well serviced in the aftermarket scene and all found for MkIb's was his Print Scale sheet. However, the only front line squadron is the same markings as the kit. It's disappointing when kit/decal manufacturers do this. I want aftermarket transfers to be different to that in a kit to give variety. I'll go with the first kit's HMS Formidable option and have a think about which one of the 7** squadrons to choose. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 4 hours ago, 825 said: I've had to do it before and it was a bit of a pain. It does seem a rather long winded and complicated way of doing it, when a couple of scribed lines and the hook would do. Here we are today with some paint on. Hi, re paint Spitfire cockpits until late 43 or 44 are grey green until the seat bulkhead, behind is Aluminium dope, as are all the rest of the insides apart engine bearers. Thats engine bay, gun bays, flaps and.... Wheel wells, much debated. As best I know the outer wheel part is external , so the underside colour. The inner leg section is internal, so the internal colour seen here, factory fresh finish. the Sky on the well walls can be seen here Seafire by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr and here 1 hour ago, 825 said: Very early Seafires are not well serviced in the aftermarket scene and all found for MkIb's was his Print Scale sheet. However, the only front line squadron is the same markings as the kit. It's disappointing when kit/decal manufacturers do this. I want aftermarket transfers to be different to that in a kit to give variety. The problem is that there just aren't that many schemes for the Seafire1B, also Print Scale are not noted for accuracy, I doubt the Sky under the tail E3-Y for example. I think most of the documented Seafire 1B schemes are like MB345, a serial and a code letter. eg of note for the wooden blocks holding the flaps open a set amount, they would drop away when the flaps were fully opened later. if you can find the AC-E codes R.N. Seafire by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr This is an image of G1-A from the sheet Seafire Vb FAA 768Sqn JA Marriott BL818 landing accident Aug 10th 1944 HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted November 17, 2020 Author Share Posted November 17, 2020 @Troy Smith thanks for the advice and the great pics. They've been helpful already. I've amended some of my undercarriage well painting and will probably go with the kit transfers for one of the options. I'm tending towards the 736 NAS option presently. The kit instructions suggest the flat main wheels but all the photos show the spoked version so I'll go with that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 I know that you know this, but the presentation of the identification symbols aka code on the starboard side of the 736 Sq aircraft is AC-B , not B-AC as shown on the boxtop. See Troy's post for a (colour!) photo of the starboard side of NX942 ACE from the same unit. Similarly, Troy's photo of G1A of 761 Sq ishows that the port side presentation was G1-A, not 1A-G. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted November 17, 2020 Author Share Posted November 17, 2020 11 hours ago, Seahawk said: I know that you know this, but the presentation of the identification symbols aka code on the starboard side of the 736 Sq aircraft is AC-B , not B-AC as shown on the boxtop. See Troy's post for a (colour!) photo of the starboard side of NX942 ACE from the same unit. Similarly, Troy's photo of G1A of 761 Sq ishows that the port side presentation was G1-A, not 1A-G. Good point @Seahawk. The aircraft on carriers are much simpler with just the serial and an ID letter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 Some more paint on, and getting close to getting some bits glued together. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 More paint on and ready to get the sprue cutter and glue out. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 The interiors painted and some detail highlighted. There's not much to see once the canopy is on so I'm not going to town. The cockpit interiors started. The fuselage sides glued together. The fit is good but the removal of the overly thick sprue gates means a little bit of filler will be needed. The cockpit interior almost done. They can wait till later and be fitted through the lower wing space. I'll add some seat belts as well. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Good to see your Seafire are making progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted January 8, 2021 Author Share Posted January 8, 2021 On 1/2/2021 at 8:12 PM, Col. said: Good to see your Seafire are making progress Thanks Col, there hasn't been much progress since Christmas as I've been really busy at work as well as doing some voluntary work in vaccination clinics. However, I've now cleaned up the fuselage joints and added some Eduard seat belts. These are the cloth ones which are no longer available which is a pity as they don't just look nice but they conform beautifully. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 Hopefully things will calm down for you soon and restore a better work/life balance. In the meantime both cockpits are looking grand and those belts in particular are very effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted January 9, 2021 Author Share Posted January 9, 2021 13 hours ago, Col. said: Hopefully things will calm down for you soon and restore a better work/life balance. In the meantime both cockpits are looking grand and those belts in particular are very effective. Thanks Col. These seat belts are lovely and not too difficult to install, don't require bending to fit and there's no risk of scraping the paint off. I don't know why Eduard stopped doing them and continue with the steel belts that are a pain and a half to bend. I'm not working for a couple of days so have got some more done on the Seafires as well as some other bits and pieces done. The cockpits inserted and the lower wings glued on. Not quite a perfect fit and a bit of tape needed but will be fine with a bit of filler. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 1 hour ago, 825 said: ...These seat belts are lovely and not too difficult to install, don't require bending to fit and there's no risk of scraping the paint off. I don't know why Eduard stopped doing them and continue with the steel belts that are a pain and a half to bend... You've clearly seen the mess I can make on a pre-painted set of their metal belts These two look to be coming together well for you regardless of the minor fit issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted January 10, 2021 Author Share Posted January 10, 2021 21 hours ago, Col. said: You've clearly seen the mess I can make on a pre-painted set of their metal belts These two look to be coming together well for you regardless of the minor fit issues. The fit isn't too bad, and AZ/Admiral make a pretty good job of the complex Spitfire/Seafire wing to fuselage join. I've now got the upper wings on and the fit is very good. However, there's a tendency for them to pull apart for no apparent reason, hence the pegs and tape. I'll leave them for a while and come back to them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 Starting to look like a pair of Seafires now. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted January 16, 2021 Author Share Posted January 16, 2021 Spent a fair amount of time rolling the arrestor hook etches into a curve of some form. It's not great and the metal kept wanting to unbend, even after fixing them with cyano. I'll now leave them to cure before dealing with them further. Hopefully a bit of filler and some filing will get us to something that will paint up reasonably well. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 1 hour ago, 825 said: Spent a fair amount of time rolling the arrestor hook etches into a curve of some form. It's not great and the metal kept wanting to unbend Annealing is your friend here - heat til dull red, then drop it in some water, should be nice and soft and compliant afterwards. A bit late for you (unless you want to pop them off and try again) but for future reference and others having the same problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 3 hours ago, Dave Swindell said: Annealing is your friend here - heat til dull red, then drop it in some water, should be nice and soft and compliant afterwards. A bit late for you (unless you want to pop them off and try again) but for future reference and others having the same problem. Thanks Dave, I'll probably persevere with these two but I've afew more in the stash so I'll anneale the next time. Or if they fall off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
825 Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 A bit of time with a file and some Perfect Plastic Putty then a couple of coats of paint has improved things somewhat, but still it just quite right. I know it's modelling but I would rather have spent the couplle if hours getting here with doing something else. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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