Jump to content

A Tale of 3 Hawker Sea Furies


Recommended Posts

While my son took the classic Mini to work - he reckons the clutch is slipping less than it was so maybe it just needs some lubricant on the clutch mechanism - I took the time to clean his other Mini - an R53 Mini Cooper S.

jO0S5ls.jpg
 

With that done, and I’d sat down and relaxed for a bit, I got on with the Sea Furies.

The extra Mr Surfacer was sanded back which now filled the seam lines and shrinkages in the sides of the fuselages.

The wing tip navigation lights and underwing landing lights were masked. Tape was used on the two trainer Sea Furies wing tip lights and masking solution was used on the underwing landing lights. The masking solution also used on the Frog Sea Fury wing tip lights as they were a slightly different shape to the trainer Sea Furies’ lights.

 

Cocktail sticks were inserted into the outer gun ports on the trainer Sea Furies and their engines were taken off and put on two wooden skewers for priming in Halfords plastic primer. The trainer Furies were stood on end in a sheet of polystyrene and two more cocktail sticks were placed in to support the Frog sea Fury while it was upside down for priming to protect the propellers.

I sprayed them outside as it was a nice day.

It’s a good job the T61 has its wheel bay doors fitted or I’d probably get them mixed up now they’re both grey. Their engines are still unpainted inside so I can tell them apart.

The paint did affect the polystyrene sheet by melting it a bit but the three Sea Furies have taken the primer very well.

o7mxZeV.jpg

BBVaCdv.jpg

uxnj692.jpg
sScJqVn.jpg

PbKmZQi.jpg
6wLpLCZ.jpg

lWyA4Wj.jpg
 

In the background is my modelling toolbox as I’ve still not been able/allowed to set up my modelling desk back in the spare room ‘incase of visitors (grand daughter or son’s friends) staying overnight. That makes it easier to clear up after each night’s modelling.

 

Also, can anybody suggest a good alternative to Humbrol’s Azure Blue?
The T61 is to get that colour on the undersides with desert sand/dark earth on top similar to desert Hurricanes.

Edited by Brigbeale
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now the Mini is back on the road and my son is enjoying it (and making up for lost time), I now have some time in my hands and I’m not so exhausted at the end of each day, which in turn means I can get some modelling done.

 

With my birthday being on Sunday 12th, I went to Beaulieu with my son and it was an enjoyable day all round. SWMBO asked what I wanted for my birthday and I replied ‘A Sea King!’.
To which she replied ‘I suppose that’s another model!’ and then seemed quite happy it was a Helicopter.

Its and eBay item and I placed the only bid for it. I cant wait for it to arrive! I wanted this one as both of the depictions are Yeovil based aircraft.
8HgV9mq.jpg


 

 

Edited by Brigbeale
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now back to the Sea Furies.

Over the past few days, I’ve been collecting the paints for the three different colour schemes. I still couldn’t find a source locally for the Azure Blue for the Bagdad Fury, so I decided I would get as close as I could and mix my own. 
 

First, the FB10 received a coat of Mr Color Sky on the underside and lower fuselage surfaces. It eventually went on ok after the airbrush seemed to be reluctant to spray the paint properly - or maybe it was me as it seems ages since I last used it. I think a bit of paint was still lodged somewhere internally as the initial pull on the trigger was stiff but freed off afterwards.

 

Then it was the turn of the T20 trainer. I ordered some Vallejo Duraluminium (77.702) off Amazon. It arrived on Saturday the 11th June. (I came home from Beaulieu on Sunday 12th, and found another Amazon package. I opened it wondering what it was as I hadn’t ordered anything else and found it was another pot of Duraluminium. My son said sometimes Amazon duplicate the order so you end up with two instead of one. Birthday bonus as far as I’m concerned! Thanks Amazon!)

So the T20 needed and undercoat of black - Tamiya gloss was selected and applied - the airbrush still acting up a bit even though I flushed it through with cleaner - but it covered eventually. The wheel bay doors still on the sprue were also painted. Applying the Duraluminium will be a learning curve.

 

Then finally, it was the turn of the T61 and the Azure Blue. The Mr Color Aqueous paint selected was H-418 RLM78 Light Blue. I decided to mix some Tamiya XF82 Ocean grey 2 (RAF) in equal measure to it. Using an image of Azure Blue on the internet, the mixed result wasn’t that far off, so that was applied. The airbrush seems happier this time and the paint applied smoother than on the other two Sea Furies. Compared to the grey primer coat, it didn’t appear that different until I compared it with the FB10’s upper wings which were still in grey primer. Its definitely a blue colour -maybe not a proper Azure Blue but it’s good enough for me. Once the Desert Sand and Dark Earth are applied, it’ll look ok - hopefully. I have a Spitfire in the restoration line up with a blue underside which is far too dark, so I’m happy with this home mixed blend -although it looks grey(er) in the photos.

 

DZcJ3RN.jpg
qoc0AB6.jpg

ivBvBDh.jpg
RdLkkzH.jpg

iuUdqCS.jpg
 

 

Edited by Brigbeale
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great work on the Sea Furys Brian they are all looking good.   I used Colourcoats Azure Blue enamel on my Tropical Hurricane last year and it is a lovely colour.  

The BMW Mini looks very nice, glad your son is enjoying the classic ones.

Great work all round fella and  belated Happy Birthday to you too. The Seaking will be hood.

Chris

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Chris for the suggestion on the Azure Blue. I’ll look out for that in future for when I do a desert Hurricane.

 

I masked the FB10 up for the Tamiya IJN Grey to be airbrushed on. It took me about an hour and a half to mask it. I went to the paint drawer to get the IJN Grey out and only found an almost empty pot. I could have sworn I had more somewhere. I couldn’t find it so I dug out the Mr Colour EDSG. I tried a comparison (when I was doing the Meteor it think) and found it to be far too dark. 
I wanted to get the paint on tonight, so I added a fair amount of mr Color Flat White to it and kept going until it more or less matched the IJN Grey on the completed Sea Hawk. Happy that I’d got the colour about right I airbrushed it onto the FB10. After about 20 minutes, the masking was removed to reveal the striking livery that the NAS used.

Tomorrow night is the turn of one of the other two. Which one will remain a surprise - as much for me as you!

coN8UuL.jpg
GLaljfX.jpg

wMIbR9M.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not a great deal has been done to the Sea Furies since my last post due to me working on my stepson’s Ford Focus.

He was out driving one day, and pulled away from a junction and the engine cut out. It would turn over but wouldn’t re-start. We eventually got it towed back to his house and once I’d finished the Mini, I had to investigate that. 
He has a few ‘mechanic’ friends who just said change this or change that without seeing the car or investigating it properly. 
I found the teeth on the timing belt had stripped and hence, the timing went out of sync. 
I found out later it might not be as bad as first thought as the camshaft has its lobes press-fitted into the shaft. Apparently, the piston can hit the valve and push it upwards. It can then push on the rocker which in turn (if the rocker doesn’t break), pushes the lobes around the camshaft to a different position.

So hopefully just a new camshaft and rocker set will fix it.

 

I bought myself some late birthday treats - A 1/72 Italeri AH-64 Apache Longbow and a 1/72 Italeri MH-47E Chinook (on which the standard bulges on the sides get cut off and replaced with wider ones to make the MH-47E. The intention is to build it as a CH-47 using ModelDecal decals).

I used to have a Revell issue of the old Matchbox Chinook a while ago, but, regretfully, I sold it before I got back into modelling.

W2zXqGC.jpg

Bi9hcPL.jpg

 

Anyway, tonight I masked up the T-20 trainer canopy with thin strips of Tamiya tape and filled them in with masking solution. The instructor’s (rear seat) headrest was simply made from a piece of sprue with the actual headrest pad being an ejector pin lobe. It was roughly measured to height and filed to fit. It was then fitted with sprue goo. As it was quite humid tonight, the masking solution went off quite quickly, so the canopy was fitted to the fuselage. 
The fit wasn’t that good initially, but I filed it to a better fit and then filled the remaining gaps with flat black paint. The black paint was also painted over the framework on the canopy in preparation for the Vallejo Duraluminium paint.

hTBQxTP.jpg

JodhYAV.jpg

 

While that was setting, I used the remaining few minutes to locate a couple of spare pilots. One was the stowaway found in the bottom of the Sea Vixen and the other is from an the Airfix B-17G IIRC. I little leg and posterior trimming got them to fit in the cockpits. I just need to find out the colours for the Iraq Air Force pilots’ uniforms.

Edited by Brigbeale
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

With some trepidation, being the first time I used this paint, I airbrushed the Vallejo Duraluminium paint onto the T20 Sea Fury. 
With the pressure turned right down to about 12-15psi, it turned out quite well - a couple of spots went on a bit heavy, but I think it’s ok. 
As it dried it seemed to settle. The bottle says it dries in 5 minutes but I’m going to leave it for a couple of days to fully cure before I start to mask up for the yellow stripes.

 

I painted the two pilots having found the Iraq Air Force flight suit colour which could be sand (what else?), Olive drab or grey. I opted for sand. It’s a pity the kit didn’t have the crew included as I could have left them in bare plastic (here’s where I get a collective 😱).

The crew were sprue goo’d in position. 
Tomorrow, it looks like an evening of masking the double-bubble canopy- oh - joy!

 

I decided the undercarriage bays needed a coat of paint so I opted for a darkish grey. 
The T20 ones were straight forward. I held it by the leading and trailing edge of one wing to paint them.

The FB10 was not quite so easy but it coated quite well (no pun intended!).

 

Then it was just a case of lining all three up for a photo-shoot.

NZtdrDI.jpg

zuviUMR.jpg
nLryLdS.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They all look very good Brian. The Vallejo Duraluminium appears to have gone on very well.

 

And talking of wells, I'm not saying dark grey is incorrect (some might have been) but Sea Furys in UK service had their wheel wells painted with Hawker primer, a colour of some debate. It's a sort of pale yellow, with a hint of green.  Some recommend Humbrol 74, but IMHO Hu 74 is possibly a bit bright.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Johnson said:

They all look very good Brian. The Vallejo Duraluminium appears to have gone on very well.

 

And talking of wells, I'm not saying dark grey is incorrect (some might have been) but Sea Furys in UK service had their wheel wells painted with Hawker primer, a colour of some debate. It's a sort of pale yellow, with a hint of green.  Some recommend Humbrol 74, but IMHO Hu 74 is possibly a bit bright.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Thank you for the info Charlie. I’ll find an alternative and change it. At least the dark grey can act as preshading.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well that was fun (not) - masking up the double bubble canopy for the T61 Sea Fury. 
It’s been done my usual way - strips of tape applied first then filled with masking solution. 
The canopy(ies) are now fitted with Humbrol clear fix - oddly enough, the T61 canopy fits better than the T20 canopy:shrug:.

Before I fitted the canopy though, I masked the undersides of the T61 in preparation for the Desert Sand paint to be applied. The spinner was a bit awkward to mask but with small pieces of tape, it’s fully covered now as it’s supposed to be the same colour of the undersides.

VNGvJee.jpg

 

While I was doing the T61, I was mulling over the replacement colour for the FB10 and T20 wheel wells. 
I decided to try a mix of Tamiya Sky with a small amount of yellow added gradually to make the yellowy-green colour Charlie hinted at. Surprisingly enough I think I managed to get a pretty close rendition of it. 
It took two coats to cover the dark grey that was applied last night but they’re looking a lot better now.

EfUFiYj.jpg

Edited by Brigbeale
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been having a catch u on this, nice work on the Furies & Mini, enjoyed reading about both, though I reckon that small steering wheel will give the wrists a good work out. I'm pleased my Mini days are long behind me, I was always too big for the things. :)

Steve.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I've been having a catch u on this, nice work on the Furies & Mini, enjoyed reading about both, though I reckon that small steering wheel will give the wrists a good work out. I'm pleased my Mini days are long behind me, I was always too big for the things. :)

Steve.

Thank you Steve for the feedback. The steering wheel has been changed for something I little more in keeping with the interior of the car - I can’t remember where that wheel came from but it was ok for moving the car about while work was underway eradicating the rust on it. Despite the 13” wide wheels, it actually steers easier than the other Mini with the 10” wheels on it, and it also rides the bumps better too!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only the T61 received any attention tonight.

It received its camouflage coat of paint on the upper surfaces starting with Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow followed with Mr Hobby Aqueous H72 Dark Earth. 
I sketched the camouflage pattern with a pencil beforehand and started airbrushing. 
However - something went awry as I was painting the middle section of the fuselage behind the cockpit area. The Desert Yellow didn’t follow the pattern I was using from the instruction leaflet. 
Then I twigged that there were two different camouflage patterns (one Iraqi and the other Pakistan markings) which were the opposite of each other colour wise (and slightly shape wise).

While looking at the instructions and then the model and back again I inadvertently looked at the Pakistan image and painted the wrong section, so I ended up painting the intended areas as well as the unintended area to try and sort the error.

Unfortunately, I had already started painting the port wing when the mistake registered in my brain, so I had to do the same with the wing. 
Once the Dark Earth had been applied, it looked a lot better and the mistakes covered over very well.

The only issue with that meant I had to then repaint the Desert Yellow on top of the Dark Earth in the port wing.

 

Once the paint was touch dry, the masking was removed. This revealed the contrast between the home mix Azure Blue and the Desert Camouflage Scheme. The blue is a bit darker than some pictures I recently found of Iraqi Sea Furies, but I like it the way it is.
After 20 minutes or so had passed, I gave the T61 the first of 2-3 coats of Astonish Floor Polish.

UJ1Js2F.jpg
ze4YXVu.jpg

snjxUq6.jpg
TSkR8ag.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I put decals on the T61! 
They were just about useable. I taped them to a window for a few days which took out most of the yellowing on the carrier film but being fitted to the Desert Yellow would have hid the discolouration anyway.

I started with the upper wing triangles. (It wasn’t until after I’d fitted them, I realised they should really have been the on the undersides. They don’t really look out of place though).
They were quite fragile, but they did come away from the backing paper easily. The top of one triangle broke away on one upper wing decal but the other triangles were fine.

But the identification numbering/lettering was a different story. 
The port fuselage identification went on with no problems and then the intended starboard one broke up completely - even with careful handling.

The two underwing identifications both broke up but fortunately between the digits so it was just a case of lining them up. However the discoloured carrier film is visible so some thinned extra blue that I mixed will help in that area.

I took the precaution of photographing the decal sheet before applying them so I can simply make a replacement for the starboard fuselage side.

The red on one of the tail fin flashes also needs touching in as well. 
3vJRcv9.jpg
jEUjMpE.jpg

TJlj5vg.jpg

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are all looking great. Nice wheel well colour and the azure blue (I use Vallejo) looks good now it’s next to the sand/dark earth.

 

On 21/06/2022 at 20:29, Brigbeale said:

(here’s where I get a collective 😱).

Not from ten-year-old-me you don’t. Bright blue plastic was close enough to sky OR medium sea grey for me!


Regards,

Adrian

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn’t do anything to the Sea Furies yesterday as I went with my son and his friends with their Minis to Castle Combe Racing Circuit where they had a Mini Action day. A thoroughly enjoyable day all round. 
Today, photos were shared of all of the Minis as they approached the circuit. 
My son driving his Classic Mini - still won’t give me the keys!

tA1npgr.jpg

 

Me driving his R53 Cooper S

QyYx0qc.jpg
 

Any the Cooper S with me driving on the circuit - not fast just a parade lap with around 100+ minis on the track at the same time.

7uc1SVW.jpg

After a 4.30am start with a two hour drive there and then a two hour drive back home again, it was about 6.30pm when we got home.

Edited by Brigbeale
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So tonight I selected the T20 to have some more work done to it.

First thing to do was to paint the red and blue stripes around the fuselage in front of the tail-fin.

Simply done by using thin strips of tape to outline each section and using another tab measured at 5.5mm to set the width. The blue was hand painted first and then the red section was then painted in. The Duraluminium paint was used to tidy up where the paint bled under the tape.

 

I then decided to apply the decals. 
Thanks goes to Chris @bigbadbadge for the lettering decals. I opted to do a different scheme to the box art (partly as SWMBO doesn’t like yellow), hence the blue/red stripes.

I had to use the original kit supplied roundels though.

I applied the first roundel blue ring as the red dot was separate. I thought ‘the white looks very grey’ assuming the decals were so thin the Duraluminium was showing through. So I used a brush to lift the decal and saw that what should be white was actually clear. No wonder I could see the Duraluminium! I decided to quickly place some white decal paper underneath to fill it in. Unfortunately it wouldn’t play ball as it hadn’t been lacquered. 
i did have some home made roundels so I dug them out and cut out the white/red centres. 
They were then placed on prior to placing the blue ring on top similar to the way the red dots are added to centralise them.

awWvdZG.jpg
inybWBe.jpg

sPvLpsp.jpg
 

I then did the same for the underwing decals. I placed the white/red circles on and then placed the blue ring decals in the water. When I applied the first one, I found it had the white centre!:shrug:. I ended up pulling the red/white off and using the original kit supplied red dots. 
if you are using the PM decals, just keep, that in mind. It’s odd ad they were all on the same decal sheet.

 

The remaining decals (from Chris) were applied and they were great to use.

The Sea Fury now looks great in this livery.

ZdQj9M8.jpg

aA8dDuQ.jpg
NnchLio.jpg
gBCUfsc.jpg

VIkwQng.jpg
 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crikey Brian, that's odd re the white and clear sections on ghe roundels . Great work rescuing them though.  Glad the decals were of use too.  The T20 is looking gorgeous  and they both look fantastic together.  Thanks for the mention too.

Chris

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I finally got round to masking the FB10 Sea Fury last night.

First thing to mask up were the wings for the outline of the white section in preparation for the twin black stripes. 
I found that the stripes on the full size Sea Fury are 12” wide per stripe which roughly equates to 4mm in 1/72 scale, so the white section was 20mm wide.

I simply cut small strips of tape 4mm wide x about 1.5ish mm. These were placed next to each other but staggered so I could see them easier. Then the other outer edge was masked. The same was repeated on the other wing.

The undersides didn’t need the same amount of work carried out. The outer edge defining strips of tape were simply lined up with the tape overhanging the top of the wings.

k2mra3w.jpg
 

The fuselage was done by initially placing a thin strip around the vertical panel line just in front of the tail-fin area. Then the same method as the top of the wings was used to space the forward end of the intended stripe background. 
tjbiER8.jpg
 

Tonight, I masked up the remainder of the fuselage to make sure that no errant overspray would find it’s way onto the IJN Grey upper surfaces. I also masked up the spinner as the propeller ends needed base coating in white to accept the yellow for the tips.

6dvWBt6.jpg
 

I also had to base cost the propeller tips on the other two Sea Furies but I figured I could do that by angling the airbrush diagonally downwards and turning the propeller so the blade to be painted was pointing downwards - which meant the paint shouldn’t land on the cowlings or wings.

I also masked the aelerons to keep the white paint off them as I read that Sea Furies didn’t have them painted when the stripes were added.

 

Then it was time to paint the white sections using Tamiya flat white. It took 2 coats to cover the IJN Grey sufficiently. Then the three Sea Furies’ propeller tips were all painted with the flat white - successfully avoiding the fuselages. The propeller blades will be hand painted black.

 

The masking was then removed. I was a bit dubious at removing it all, but decided it would be better in order to work out the black striping in the wings and also the fuselage, but the fuselage also has to have a Sky coloured patch where the three figure aircraft number would be placed.

QHmbiRO.jpg

p0ss3Su.jpg

ONpUSbL.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...