Airfix 1/48 Sea Vixen FAW.2

[TeaWeasel]

Now that's all taken care of it's surprising how far I've sped ahead. 

 

The fuselage halves went together no problem, perfect fit. Still surprised at the accuracy of this kit, while it's still relatively new I was expecting some sanding and filling, none needed whatsoever. The twin booms were next, they were slightly trickier as some decent pressure was needed to avoid any gaps. Tail and elevator followed and overall resulted in a very solid build. 

 

 

 

Before adding the wings I thought I should get some of the smaller components added before it becomes a bit unwieldy. The intake vents consisted of two parts for each side, lost one inside the body at one point. The thought of having to open it back up to get to the part was a bit worrying, luckily a good shake of the thing dislodged it. 

 

 

Bit of excess primer from the cockpit interior, that'll all be removed before painting. 

 

I then moved onto the undercarriage. Usually I hold off on that until it's painted to avoid breaking it but this is pretty solid. The instructions could be a little clearer, particularly when showing the angle of the undercarriage door but a bit of patience paid off. I think I'll still leave the wheels off until it's finished just to make painting the undercarriage easier. 

 

 

 

That's it for now, but it's already becoming a bit of a monster. The wings and nosecone are missing and it's already larger than the Lightning! Will have to think carefully about how I go about storing this one.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Joe

 

[TeaWeasel]

Had some spare time last night so decided to fit the wings. 

 

 

 

Bit disappointed with the fit here, mainly due to the huge sprue gates, some of which are around 10mm thick. 

 

 

 

You can see where some of the edge was damaged trying to remove the sprue, will need a fair bit of putty to sort out. Ignore the bloodstain, sliced my thumb open trying to neaten the edges up. As I mentioned before I'd love it if Airfix decided to reintroduce some of these older kits, but they could do with a little bit of refinement in the sprues if they were to do so.

 

While the wings were drying I had a look at the payload. After completing two Lightnings I'm getting a bit sick of building Red Tops, but these were slightly easier in that all the smaller fins were already attached. No trickly alignment, just the two missile halves and two large fins and you're done.

 

 

 

In terms of payload, are there any references as to what the Vixen would typically carry? I was thinking of just having one pair of each, but would I fall afoul of the accuracy police? 

 

Thanks, comments welcome.

Joe