Shar2 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Hunting Percival Sea Prince T.1/C.1 1/48 Type History The Sea Prince first flew on the 24th of March 1948. Two variants were ordered by the Fleet Air Arm - one version was to be used for communication and the other as a training aircraft. The first Sea Prince C1 entered service in February 1953. It was soon followed into service by the trainer version which was given the annotation of Sea Prince T1. Sea Prince aircraft were based upon the civilian Percival Prince. The first order for the Sea Prince was placed in 1949 and consisted of twenty one aircraft, three for communications and eighteen to be used in the training role. An improved version of the C1 was produced as the Sea Prince C.2. This first flew on the 1st of April 1953 with the final aircraft being delivered in September 1953. The Sea Prince C.1. continued in service until 1965 when it was replaced by the Sea Devon and Sea Dove aircraft. However it wasn't until 1970 that the Sea Prince C.2. was retired from service. A further two orders for the T.1. were placed, one order in early 1951 for an additional eight aircraft followed later that year by a second order for another fifteen. Some Sea Prince T.1.'s were scrapped in the 1960's when the RNVR (Air Divisions) were disbanded, but other Sea Prince T.1.'s continued in service for many years. For those that continued, their airframe fatigue life was enhanced by being re-sparred in the early 1970's. They were finally retired from service in 1979 when the Jetstream was introduced to replace them. Role The Sea Prince was used in two roles. The first was as a communications aircraft. In this role one flew the Atlantic ocean to Washington D.C. for use by the Joint Services Mission. Another was fitted out as an "Admirals barge". The second role was to train navigators and radar operators. For this role the Sea Prince T.1. was fitted with ASV 19a as its primary search radar for training radar operators and observers. The Model The kit comes in the usual Magna heavy duty, top opening cardboard box, which, in my opinion is slightly too small for the parts inside. Nonetheless they don’t appear to have been any way damaged. On opening the box you are confronted with quite a lot of white resin. The main parts, the wings and fuselage halves, are loose with all the smaller parts held in zip lock bags. Being moulded in two sections has allowed an interior to be fitted within the fuselage which is a nice option to have. The resin though is quite thick and it may need to be thinned a little to give a better scale thickness to the side windows. The panel lines, including the main cargo door are nicely engraved, although they may need a bit of deepening to aid definition once painted. There are large mould stubs on the nose which will need removing, (probably best with a razor saw or dremel type tool). The rest of the fuselage is cleanly moulded with only a bit of flash around the edges. When dry fitted there is some warping fore and aft which will require a fair bit of clamping or placed in hot water to reduce it. The wings are single piece moulds and I was a bit concerned that this would have induced some warping, but it appears that this is not the case on the review sample. The pour stubs at the roots should again be easy to remove, leaving a tongue of resin which fits into a recess in the fuselage giving a nice strong joint. The engraved detail is a little soft on the top of the wing/engine nacelle, but the other panels lines look ok. Again there is a little cleaning up required around the leading and trailing edges. The empennage will take a bit more cleaning up, particularly the vertical surfaces as it is on quite a large moulding block. The horizontal surfaces are much like the wing sections, only they are butt jointed to the fuselage. I may be necessary to use some brass tubing to make spars up for these, just to make the whole structure stronger. The rest of the exterior is made up of handed engine nacelles and intakes. The prop spinners are resin, but the blades are in white metal with the instructions showing clearly their size and pitch. The undercarriage consists of metal legs, with resin wheels and auxiliary doors. There is also a choice of nose cones, depending on whether you wish to make a T-1 or C-1/2 version. The interior is made up of separate cockpit and cabin sections. The cockpit is made up of a one piece floor, bulkhead, seats, (with moulded belts), and centre console. The instrument panel is in resin and the separate control yokes are in white metal. Two vacform cockpit transparencies are provided, but the framing is very softly produced, meaning some very careful masking will be required. For the cabin interior you have a choice, again, depending on whether a T.1 or C.1/2 is being modelled. The T.1, which will have the radar nose, is made up of three forward facing seats and radar consoles for the trainees and one aft facing instructors seat. The C.1/2 has 10 forward facing seats each with moulded on belts. I’m not sure as yet how much will be seen once the fuselage is buttoned up, but the kits interior could be improved with etch belts and textured lining, although some research will be required to ascertain what was fitted. As mentioned above the fuselage sides may need to be thinned down a bit to give a more scale thickness for the windows. Unfortunately no windows for the fuselage are provided, so it will be up to the modeller to improvise. Decals, although not provided with the review kit, will be for 11 different aircraft. C.1 WJ348 Flag Officer Air (Home) 1953 T.1 WF133/602FD of 1840Sqn RNVR at Ford 1955 T.1 WP313/670HF of 750 NAS at Hal Far 1962 C.1 WM756 Flag Officer Naval Air Training, Yeovilton 1968 C.2 WM756 Culdrose Station Flight 1970 T.1 WF127/608SR of 750Sqn St Merryn 1953 C.2 WM739 of RNAS Yeovilton Station Flight 1965 T.1 WM740/567BY of 727Sqn at Brawdy 1959 C.2 WP308/572CU of 750Sqn at RNAS Culdrose 1979 T.1 WF132/409ST or 1841Sqn RNVR at RNAS Stretton 1956 C.1 WF118/619LM or Lossiemouth Station Flight 1973 Conclusion It was great to hear that Magna Models were releasing this model and quite a surprise. Their 1/72 kit of this aircraft was a nice release, but they should be commended for giving us quarter scalers the chance to build this lovely aircraft. This model is definitely designed for the more experienced modeller, and it will take some work to make the best of it. If you’re up for a challenge then I can recommend this kit. The only downside is the lack of provision of the side windows for the cabin. Thanks to Chris57 for the Review sample on behalf of Magna Models Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Wow... just a bit of cleaning up to do Dave. Still looks a really nice kit, when you starting this one mate? Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shar2 Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 As soon as I've broken the back of the Scharnhorst build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homebee Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 I want one! Thanks Shar2. V.P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 As soon as I've broken the back of the Scharnhorst build. That's easy then... just snap it over one of your dodgy knees I'm looking forward to this... they do some esoteric stuff and I'd like to see how they go together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shar2 Posted June 27, 2011 Author Share Posted June 27, 2011 That's easy then... just snap it over one of your dodgy knees I'm looking forward to this... they do some esoteric stuff and I'd like to see how they go together Ha Ha! I might be coming to you for some advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Hadn't heard anything about this one being released! Looks quite nice, apart from the wheels - they look pretty poor ? K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shar2 Posted June 27, 2011 Author Share Posted June 27, 2011 Hadn't heard anything about this one being released! Looks quite nice, apart from the wheels - they look pretty poor ?K THe wheels are better in the resin, just need cleaning up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesP Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Looks a typical Magna kit. Great choice of subject AFIAK the Sea Prince has not been kitted before in any scale. Though you could always make one by shortening the wings of a Pembroke kit eg 1/72 MPM, 1/144 Welsh Models Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris57 Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 The 1/72 pembroke,prince and sea prince have been available for some time in the Magna range.just to clarify a point on the decal options although Martin provides details of the schemes Dave has listed there will only be one option provided with the kit,as per the 1/72 scale kit.thought i'd better point that out so none of you sue me under the trades description act chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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