Fairey Delta 2

[PeterB]

Hi,

 

Thought I might try and slip in a quickie, though  that depends somewhat on the weather in terms of painting.

 

In  2019 I entered my first GB - the Frog one, and one of the other modellers Ash @Doccur built a really beautiful FD2 - here's the link to his build.

I remember buying this kit which was originally released in 1957, but judging by the pics of the boxes on Scalemates mine was almost certainly the later 1965 reboxing. I just threw it together in a matter of minutes, the only extra detailing being to "glaze the small rectangular windows with some thin clear plastic, and slapped on a coat of silver paint, probably Humbrol Hu 11. By comparison with Ash's build it was very crude as he corrected the position of the windows and painted it in a stunning pink scheme, helped by the fact that he tracked down a supplier of decs in I think either the States or Canada. The chap had actually closed down his business but Ash persuaded him to run a set off for him, and it was certainly worth the effort. I thought I had thrown mine away years ago, but then a year or so ago I found it lurking in a box in my loft. I brought it down, stripped off the paint and partially dismantled it so I could get some weight in, and I contacted Ash and he kindly set me the undercarriage which he had not used. Since then it has been sitting around waiting for a KUTA! Amazingly I managed to find all the bits, few that they are - usually my refurbs end up going nowhere as I lose them.

Won't take long to build I hope but then I have to spray it a nice shiny silver - polished aluminium probably. As to markings I will recreate the old Frog ones for WG774 unless somebody happens to have some viable spares. 

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Doccur]

Hi Pete,

 

I look forward to seeing how you tackle this oldie! Thanks for the many kind words 

 

Are you going for a lowered nose?

 

Ash

[PeterB]

Hi Ash,

 

Tempting but no - it spoils the beautifully clean lines too much.

 

Like the Attacker and Gannet this early Frog kit has no cockpit to speak of, just a "pilot head" which I don't seem to have used. With the other two I did cut it out and make a crude cockpit but in this case the nose droop mechanism would get in the way, and besides, the very limited amount of glazing means nothing can be seen anyway. The kit is of course "see through" although Frog did provide a little "plate" to partly close off the intakes.

I forgot to take a pic but I have added a strip of card to close it off completely and also a disc at the rear to close that off, together with filling in the stand slot. There is no mention of weight but it clearly needs some so I put a little lead into the fuselage behind the cockpit before closing it all up.

Although it will be reduced slightly once the wheels go on, you can see the steep nose up attitude typical of early deltas, which is why it needed a "droop snoot". However the kit version is crude and it would take a bit of work to clean it up, and as I said earlier it spoils the lines. Unlike the Attacker and Gannet Frog did model wheel wells and doors but they are shallow, and the legs are mounted on "plates" which partially fill them anyway, but not too bad for a 65 year old kit which only a company like Frog would consider making back then I suspect - at least in plastic!

So, out with the filler and various grades of sandpaper and I will try and get it tidied up and smooth. I will have to do some repairs to the wheel doors as they took a bit of damage when I prised them off, and I will see if I can improve the "canopy" as Ash did. Then it should be airbrush time.

 

Pete

Edited February 17, 2022 by PeterB

[PeterB]

Not that you can tell from the pic but all the bits are now on including the modified "canopy", except for the wheels.

I primed it grey, sorted out any imperfections and then painted it black as a base for the polished aluminium I intend to apply - did not bother with the normal aluminium/dural painted planes I built before but I gather black is better in this case.

 

A little background whilst I polish it with various grades of miscromesh and then wait for the next colour to go on and harden enough for masking - I usually allow 4 days with this AK paint.

 

The story starts I suppose in 1946 when Fairey began looking at the possibility of a plane that could be launched vertically from a ramp – possibly for FAA use. They decided that a delta wing offered advantages in terms of low speed stability, and after extended model tests The Fairey Delta One, a small delta winged machine took to the air in 1951. Unfortunately, by then official thoughts had turned to something a lot faster, either transonic or better, so Fairey began to rework the idea.

 

At the end of WWII the UK had a clear lead over the US in terms of jet engines and the planes to use them, but with their better resources the US soon caught up in terms of planes and before long in terms of engines too, though they still relied on licence built R-R Nenes and B S Sapphires for a while in numerous designs. Rocket powered research planes like the Bell X1 had broken the sound barrier and jets were heading that way so the Ministry of Supply encouraged British manufacturers to to develop a supersonic jet. English Electric were given funding to build the P.1 which eventually became the Lightning, whilst Fairey, building on their work with the FD 1 and its proposed successor, started work on what would be the Fairey Delta 2, which was basically a research aircraft of the smallest size capable of holding a pilot, R-R Avon engine and a modest amount of fuel. It first flew in October 1954 and although R-R were pessimistic about both the small fixed intakes and the ability of the Avon to function supersonically, it achieved that goal a year later.

 

A lot of supersonic testing took place flying from a French base at Bordeaux due to restrictions in UK airspace, and engineers from Dassault were keen observers so it may well have influenced the design of their Mirage series. By the end of 1955 the FD2 had gone past Mach 1.5 and it was suggested that an attempt be made at the world airspeed record for a jet, which was then held by an F-100C at 822mph, set in August 1955. On March 10th 1956 the FD2 set a new record of 1132mph, which was massive increase for the time, and this was held until December 12th 1957 when a F-101A Voodoo managed 1208mph. There were two aircraft built, WG774 which was the record breaker and WG777, and both continued to be used for testing for a few more years, before 774 was converted into the BAC-221 to test the wing configuration for Concorde. That aircraft is preserved as the FAA museum at Yeovilton as part of their Concorde display whist 777 is at Cosford in original condition.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 18, 2022 by PeterB

[PeterB]

Well, if anything that worked perhaps too well. I have tried AK Interactive Xtreme Metal paints in Dural, Aluminium and White Aluminium all over a grey base and they were good, but the polished aluminium over black is something else!

More like chrome and reminds me of the metal display models you used to see about. In fact I may end up going back to normal Aluminium if I have enough. I was working on the principle that they mighty have given it a bit of a polish before attempting a World Record but this is maybe a bit too shiny and I have not even buffed it - maybe a coat of satin varnish will calm it down a bit. Also, it looks as if it is no longer possible to get this paint in the UK unless you import it from somewhere - it used to cost about £5 a bottle and now it is over twice that with heavy postage charges to go on top. Maybe Brexit or something as I believe it is made in Spain?

 

I shall have to have a think about this!

 

Pete

Edited February 21, 2022 by PeterB

[PeterB]

Bit of touching up to do but nearly there.

The vertical fin may need another light spray once I have masked the fin flashes as the black undercoat is showing through - should have left it to harden a bit longer I suspect. The fin flash should taper slightly as well but that was beyond me. On normal paint I could have brush painted it perhaps, but this AK metal paint comes ready thinned for airbrush use and is not really suitable for touching up with a brush.

 

Pete

[Doccur]

Looks amazing Pete! Such a beautiful aircraft. That AK paint is something else as well, I might have to try it, although I still haven’t tried the Alclad I bought a while ago. 

Ash

[PeterB]

Thanks Ash.

 

As I mentioned earlier my usual source no longer stocks the AK Xtreme metallics other than a few other colours such as bronze and the stuff on Amazon is ridiculously expensive given that it is pre thinned for airbrushing - a 30ml bottle probably has no more than 15ml of actual paint in it. I was going to try Alclad but that also is expensive and I have seen many reports of problems with it, though the results can be impressive. I took a lot more trouble with the preparation on this build, polishing it with micromesh etc, but the state of the kit means it is not a smooth as it should be. Still, it is not bad, though perhaps a little "brighter" than I expected and I did not even buff it up. I have an old Italeri B-66 which needs a metallic finish but I would need to use at least 2 bottles of this stuff to cover it so I think I might revert to Halfords rattle cans!

 

Pete

 

[PeterB]

I have added the whip aerials and varnished the plane, but was intending to take some outdoor pics for the gallery. However it does not look as if that will be possible before the GB closes so I have taken some indoors instead.

For from perfect but a lot better than it was when I found it lurking in my attic. Not too bad for a 65 year old kit. I don't know when it aquired the yellow "zig-zag" marking seen on the nose in some pics but this is about how it would have looked during the test flying prior to the World Record attempt.

 

So, once more the KUTA has allowed me to get a few kits finished, and no doubt I will be making use of it again next time round.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Doccur]

You’ve really done it justice Pete! Well done. 
 

Ash