airfix sea king 1/72

Hello Bezoomy! on the forum,

Not to ruin your day, but in my humble opinion the Airfix is not a very good kit. I have built it some months ago and am not too pleased with it (and, in this case it's not just the lack of my modelling skills!). The kit is poor on detail and especially the canopy is pretty much useless. A better (though a little more expensive) deal would be the Revell Sea King. I haven't built that one yet but heard that is much better than the Airfix.

Good Luck!

Gertjan

Thanks Gertjan

It is my first model, since i was a little kid. It was a christmas present from my girl friend.
I ended up having to modify a few pieces to get it to all go together.
The end result was pretty good for a first go.  I  will try something
a bit more advanced and detailed next time.

I have built it, and I don't recall any extra bits (which is not to say there aren't any).  As I recall, the kit can be built in a couple of different versions, so there may be some bits that aren't used on one version or the other.  This is very common these days.  I don't know how long ago you were a kid, but if it was as long ago as I was, the modelling variations have increased a lot since then.  I do agree that the kit is not very good.  I built it because I really wanted the RAF Rescue variant (love the bright yellow!).  In particular, the clear parts are really poor (regretably typical of Airfix kits, and Airfix helocopter kits in particular).  On a brighter note, welcome back to the best hobby going.  Don't let an Airfix kit get you down - they are great for improving your modelling skills, if nothing else!

Happy modelling,

Biggles

Welcome Bezoomy !

I built the Airfix Sea King a couple years ago.  Yes - there are extra "mystery parts".  I think one of them is a sonar dipping probe.  I didn't have any problem with the drive shaft except that the fit is loose.  So if the rotors were really powered - they'd wobble alot. 

I only had 2 problems - one was a lack of experience with painting yellow (not a fault of the kit)  I'd recommend priming with a white primer first.  The only problem I had with the kit was the clear front windscreen.  It was warped so that it stuck out on either side quite badly.  My solution was a bit odd - but it turned out well (I think).  I used a hack saw blade to cut the windshield into two parts.  This removed about a 3/32" (~2 mm) width from the piece - just enough to correct the width increase from warpage.  The trick is making the cut in a position that will not be noticed.  You dont want to split the thing right down the middle - then you'd see the split !   I made my cut just inside the frame of the row of windows that run down the center.  This made the center section of window glass slightly narrower than it was before the cut, but it kept everything symmetrical and it made the cut in a place where it is now unseen.  After trimming and sanding/polishing the cut edges, I just used clear white glue to join the two ~halves of the glass part.

I just finished the Revell Germany Sea King about two months ago.  It is a more highly detailed kit.  The parts fit was excellent, but again - the glass windshield piece was just a little wide.  I imagine that molding a piece like that is probably pretty difficult.

I found both of the kits to be very enjoyable builds.

Chris

i like airfix kits some you have to put work into but i have fun with them

DURR wrote:

i like airfix kits some you have to put work into but i have fun with them

Agreed !

Chris