Flying to the Limit. Blackburn Skua Mk.II Early-803 sq. H.M.S. Ark Royal

[LorenSharp]

Seeing how great @Ray S's Stringbag looked in silver I had to toss in a Special Hobby Blackburn Skua Mk.II Early. I'll try to do it as it looked while assigned to 803 Sq. H.M.S. Ark Royal in 1939.

Let's see what I've gots  in the box, or bag as it were...

Who knows If I manage to get this built I may just do the Blackburn Roc I have too... but before I get ahead of myself, I'll finish this first..

[Ray S]

@LorenSharp, you can never have too many silver pre-WWII aircraft! This is a good choice and I am looking forward to seeing how you get on with this one

 

Ray

[mahavelona]

Tough but rewarding kit. You can do a lot with it. The bomb bay shape on the kit is not perfect, I fixed mine with milliput. Mine benefitted from addition of plenty of bracing within the wing structure because the multi -part wing halves provided in the kit are not exactly engineered to stick together.

 

I had a lot of fun with mine!

[Mattp7999]

Interesting kit, wanted to know how this one goes as would like to get one along with a Roc too.. shall be following along 🙂

[Norman]

Im along for the ride 😃

 

[Grey Beema]

When you put the engine together keep dry fitting it into the cowling, which you need to have firmly taped together to ensure fit (especially when fitting the exhaust to the collector ring).

 

The TAGs compartment should not have a floor (only found this out after I built my last Skua).  The TAG sat on a strop clipped to each side of the fuselage and had his feet in a stirrup like arrangement.  Similarly the fuel tanks are pretty much mounted on the inside of the bomb recess.  
 

As @mahavelona says above, lots of tabs and bracing to get the wigs to align and give them strength.  
 

The U/C doors also need attention to get them correct.

 

Have you seen this reference - it’s very handy..

 

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

Good luck with your Skua….

 

[LorenSharp]

9 minutes ago, Grey Beema said:

When you put the engine together keep dry fitting it into the cowling, which you need to have firmly taped together to ensure fit (especially when fitting the exhaust to the collector ring).

 

The TAGs compartment should not have a floor (only found this out after I built my last Skua).  The TAG sat on a strop clipped to each side of the fuselage and had his feet in a stirrup like arrangement.  Similarly the fuel tanks are pretty much mounted on the inside of the bomb recess.  
 

As @mahavelona says above, lots of tabs and bracing to get the wigs to align and give them strength.  
 

The U/C doors also need attention to get them correct.

 

Have you seen this reference - it’s very handy..

 

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

Good luck with your Skua….

 

Thanks I appreciate that. I know that since its a Special hobby kit it will take some "special care" while building and any info to assist is definitely welcome.

[heloman1]

Only a mother could love her Skua! Looks like a good kit and project Loren. Going to watch with interest.

 

Colin

[LorenSharp]

After a few fits and starts finally getting some progress on the Skua.

Working on the interior. a nice coat of RAF interior green plus a dark wash bring everything out.

I did use some Milliput to make a pad for the pilots seat

So far that's the only modification I've done. The kit does come with with just about everything else.

 

[LorenSharp]

I did have a few issues with the fit of the wing joins to the fuselage, but thats normal for a Special hobby kit.

I needed to fill a gap on the Port side wing-to-fuselage join with some thin catd.

A little bit of filler, then once that was dry, sand down with multiple grades of sand paper 220 down to 1000 to get as many scratches out as possible since this will be  a nice silvery finish.

The lower extremities needed more work but nothing really major.

Then a  coat of rattle can gloss black lacquer. I let this dry and cure for a few days because of heat and high humidity before beginning with the various aluminum shades.

[LorenSharp]

While that's setting up, time to work in the engine.

As usual with SH kits, the powerplant is a multi-part resin affair. Separate crankcase and jugs. along with individual exhaust pies for the collector ring. The case I painted in a neutral gray and the jugs and exhaust pipes and ring first got a coat of gloss black the either Alclad II Stainless Steel for the jugs or a combination of Alclad II Burnt Iron then a misting of AK burnt metal. I did ream out the intake horns at the top of the engine. So far "knock on wood" this is coming together better than I expected.

[Heather Kay]

3 minutes ago, LorenSharp said:

The case I painted in a neutral gray

It should be black. All Bristol radials had black gear cases. Chris @dogsbody has drummed this fact into me! 

[LorenSharp]

Thanks Heather. Thats what I get for looking at museum restorations... DOH! But thats an easy fix. at this point. I'll remember that for the future,

 

[dogsbody]

2 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

 Chris @dogsbody has drummed this fact into me! 

 

Okay! I admit it. I can be a bit anal-retentive on this subject.

 

 

 

Chris

[LorenSharp]

40 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

 

Okay! I admit it. I can be a bit anal-retentive on this subject.

Chris

Chris "overly retentive" say it ain't so. But then I wish model instructions and Restoration examples were just as "retentive" instead of being all over the place. So You just keep on quoting regulations. It keeps us on our toes.

[stevej60]

Great work so far Loren there's something about the Skua/Roc lineage I really like yet another I'd love Airfix to new mould in 1/72.

[LorenSharp]

I can only hope it would be a better design than this one Steve. It has its madding, and interesting quirks. But then it it didn't it wouldn't be a Special Hobby kit.

 

[LorenSharp]

On the home stretch with this one. But honestly most of the issues have been with the paint job rather than the kit itself, Though there have ben a few hiccups with the plastic.

First a nice tidy shot of what I'd hoped would be the final paint job. It didn't end that way After the gloss black set and cured for a few days I gave a base coat of AK Polished Aluminum. So far I was really impressed. The instructions saidlet dry for 24 hrs and it can be weathered and masked. Thenn FLat aluminum for the control surfaces sine they were fabric covered. Cool! Should be a nice stable coat to work from. After I dutifully set it aside to cure I began using other shades of silver. mostly Alclad II Dark Aluminum, Duraluminum, Aluminum, Black Chrome and White Aluminum on various panels to break up the monotony. Then I painted the wingtips with Tamiya Red. So far so good....Then I began to notice fine residue of silver on my fingertips. Not from the Alclad, but from the AK paint.  So I touched up some of the wear spots and let it dry for another day before painting the wing walkways on each side. and once again,, wear spots where ever I was holding the plane,. mostly amidships or along the leading and trailing edges So I just touched up with Alclad Aluminum on the wear spots and light misted everything else. So much for a nice polished look like on the box. but this at least is more stable. After that I added Engine and cowling, the canopies and landing gear.

Prop added

[LorenSharp]

From there, the decals. these were very thin compared to some others I've worked with. They side off easy, but if you need to move or adjust any they break. 

I applied some micro sol to snuggle them down nice and tight, but I'll have to touch up some of the blue stripes on the fuselage. And of course, ANOTHER wear mark! But I'll deal with that tomorrow. then finish adding the little bits and a touch of weatheing and that should be that. I hope. Stay tuned for the final episode.

[John Masters]

That looks super Loren.  Too bad about the wear marks, as if the paint hasn't cured or something?  Very strange.  

[Ray S]

That does look good from here, and very swish in silver

 

Ray

[Mattp7999]

Looking excellent there Loren, like the early silver scheme 

   Many regards Matt

[LorenSharp]

On 9/15/2023 at 12:43 AM, John Masters said:

That looks super Loren.  Too bad about the wear marks, as if the paint hasn't cured or something?  Very strange.  

It had cured ok, but I think it has more to do with the Aluminum powder in the paint. It's so finely ground for the shininess. Though it is tough compared to say Alclad II polished Aluminum and will accept kabuki tape without peeling it's still not toug

 

h enough to being handled. and since its a "polished" look paint , a clear coat kills the reflectivity. I think for the future I may have to resort to foil if I want a "real" metal look.  

On 9/15/2023 at 3:42 AM, Ray S said:

That does look good from here, and very swish in silver

 

Ray

 

9 minutes ago, Mattp7999 said:

Looking excellent there Loren, like the early silver scheme 

   Many regards Matt

Thanks Guys!

[LorenSharp]

And here we go for the finals

Getting the last of the small stuff attached and rigging the aerial wire.

I did make one addition to this build. The kit for whatever reason neglected to add any bombs( it does do dive bombing after all) so scrounged up  100 kilo bomb from a Lancaster, that's not quite ready to be built. then a little bit of oily black around the engine cowling. There  we are. one more addition completed, Ill have final images up in the Gallery shortly.  Thanks everyone for following along and the suggestions and  corrections along the way.. Now off to another build I still have 8 weeks to go, more or less. 

[dogsbody]

Skua bombs:

 

Lifting and loading 500lb bombs into dive-bomber Blackburn Skua of 800 Squadron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris