Fleet Air Arm Group Build

Bob-

Great website, thanks for the link!

No problems Bob, you have inbound email.

Cheers 

Hello everyone, its the weekend and my F-14 is nearly finished! Looks like I'll have the bench well clear by April. In the meantime I'll be building a Spitfire and  planning my FAA projects.

Good news is that I had a delivery from Hannants this morning and it brought me my RN Phantom decals and my FAA Corsair decals. The Corsair sheet is by Techmod and it gives you a choice of three aircraft to build. I am to make up my mind about which one to choose.........

Hope all of you have a good weekend

Darren,

Are you gonna post pics of your F-14 when it's finished?  My Spitfire is 99% done, hope to finish it up in an hour or two so I can post the pics of it tonight.  I'll post 'em over in my WIP thread in Aircraft, but could I post a pic of it here, too?  Even if it's not an FAA bird?

BTW< whattcha gonna do with those other two Corsair markings on the sheet when you decide which one to build? 

Hi Frank,

if want to post pics of your Spitfire here, go ahead! I am a Spitfire fanatic so I'll be happy to see one here.

Thats one of the good things about this GB, only two rules, and rule two is to have fun! If any of you guys want to post pics of builds here, then do so. I like to see what other folks are building as does everyone else.

As for my Tomcat, I sure will post pics when its done. Its a gift for a very good mate who has always wanted a F-14 in VF-84 markings. He mostly builds armor so we made a deal, I build him  a nice Tomcat and he pays for the beer next time we meet up.

As for those Corsair decals.....you've got more front than a row of houses!! I'll let you know when I know....

Cheers!

You know what.......

 I am a total doofus.

I've been reading the posts biding my time until the build starts, and have slowly come to the conclusion that I have no widea what "Fleet Air Arm" meant.

 I've been assuing that it was a generic term for any Naval Air Wing of any navy, and was planning on building one of the rare US Naval Corsairs assigned to carrier duty.

Never occured to me that it was the proper term for the British Naval Air forces.

I dont really have a kit that qualifies at the moment so I might have to drop my clueless self out if I cant figure out an alternate.

Sorry for being a clueless Colonial.

Hey, no worries mate!

You are still very welcome here! If you still want to join in, please do so. You can easily modify a Corsair to FAA standard by clippping a tiny bit off each wing. After that all you need is some markings.

If you want to build a USN bird, fair enough! We are a friendly bunch and I don't think anyone would really mind. I'll leave you to decide what you want to do. Hope you stick around.

Someone from below deck has just reminded me about the weekend rum ration.......

"Now hear this.....all crew are to be issued extra rum this Saturday."

"Build models and be merry..........that is all."

..................................

TANGO 1 wrote:

As for those Corsair decals.....you've got more front than a row of houses!!

Sounds like a great deal for your mate, trading a few beers for an F-14!

Glad I finished the Spit before the extra rum rations! 

Thanks for letting me post a pic of it!

Good looking Spitfire.  Nice work.

Regards,  Rick

Nice looking Spit Daywalker!    Got any more pics?

Did somebody say more rum on Saturday?!?!   Better get some modeling done tonight then.

Thanks Rick and Dave!  Here's a couple more pics:

TANGO 1 wrote:

Someone from below deck has just reminded me about the weekend rum ration.......   "Now hear this.....all crew are to be issued extra rum this Saturday." "Build models and be merry..........that is all." ..................................

And there was much rejoicing

I was doing a bit of research the other day and I tell you what it certainly is a time of plenty for anybody with an interest in British/Commonwealth naval aviation. 

This year the releases include in 1/48 Fairey Gannet AS Series (RAN), Fairey Gannet AEW (RN), Grumman Martlet Mk III, Grumman Martlet Mk II 'Operation Torch', Fairey Fulmar Mk I, D.H. Sea Vixen F(AW).1, Fairey Barracuda Mk II, Fairey Firefly Mk IV/V, Blackburn Skua Mk I, Blackburn Roc Mk I, Seafire Mk II/III, Fairey Swordfish Mk II, Hawker Sea Hawk FGA Mk 6 and Westland Wyvern S Mk 4 'Early Version'

In 1/72 we are looking at Supermarine Sea Otter, Blackburn Firebrand TF Mk IV/5/5A/TT.5, Boulton Paul P.120,  Blackburn Buccaneer S Mk 2/2C/2D 'FAA', Supermarine Seamew, Fairey Flycatcher, Fairey Flycatcher (Floatplane), Fairey Flycatcher (Amphibian), D.H. Sea Vixen F(AW).1, Fairey Gannet AS Mk 1, Seafire Mk XV, Seafire FR Mk 47, Hawker Sea Fury T.20, Blackburn Skua Mk II, Blackburn Roc Mk I, Fairey Fulmar Mk I, Seafire Mk II, BAe Sea Harrier FA Mk 2, Hawker Sea Fury FB Mk 11 and Blackburn Firebrand TF Mk II.

I reckon in anybody’s book that a pretty good selection of kits to choose from.

Oh and Darren Silvecloud are going to release a kit that I have been after for ever, a 1/48 Spitfire prototype K5054

Darren,

A release of K5054? Now that is good news! I have wanted to build that one for many years.

You are certainly right about it being a good time for FAA subjects, the new Gannet and Sea Venom are certainly high on my list. 

I am currently building a Spitfire, this one is MH434 which is owned in the UK by the Old Flying Machine Company at Duxford, its the 1/48 Mk.IX Airfix kit. Not a pefect kit, but should be fun to do.

I'll get some pics up on the A/C forum when things get going.

Frank,

your Spitfire is fantastic! I really like the finish you have on it, looks superb! Glad to see it here.

Thanks Darren!  Now, I can finish my extra rum rations!

Did I hear someone say a release of K5054?  I WANT ONE!!! 

Hey....six pages into this thread and we have'nt started our builds yet! Is that some kind of record here?

Either way it does'nt matter, its just shows that we have a good thread here

Here's one I made a while back, its the Airfix Seafire L.III, its not exactly a shake and bake kit and it was my first attempt at re-scribing too

It was accepted last year for part of a NAS history display at the RAF Mallom museum. One of the guys there let me wonder round on my own, its a great place to go if you get the chance. I was allowed to get very close to the exibits there.

Wow!  Great looking Spit!  You did a great job on the camo! 

As for the 6 pages, it seems like everyone here is already having a lot of fun and we haven't even started building anything yet!  Probably 'cuz of all the extra rum rations the Captain keeps handing out...

After seeing your Seafire, now I want to build one of those!  How hard would it be to convert a Hasegawa Mk.IX or a Tamiya Mk.Vb into a Seafire?

Nice work on the Seafire Darren.  Well done!

Regards,  Rick

Thanks for your kind words fella's

Easiest way is to convert the Tamiya kit. There are a couple of conversion kits out there. In my opinion, the better one is the MDC coversion kit. If memory serves, all you need do is add the kit fuselage to the resin wing they give you. Then add some of those cool Aeromaster decals and you are all set!

Go have a look here:

http://www.shopcreator.com/mall/tplsearchstore.cfm?hidedeptmatrix=yes&did=54287&page=1&action=search&prodformat=&useverity=1&store=ModelDesignConstruction&searchstring=seafire&checkfield=&searchpricegt=&searchpricelt=&displayorder=descending&orderby=relevance 

Hope this helps.......

Talking of 1/48 Seafire's........

You can still get hold of the F.46/47 Airfix Seafire, this is the later version that the Royal Navy used in Korea. This kit was a new tooling and its very good. Nice engraved panel lines and rivets, plus a wingfold option too. Only two things need fixing, the office and the canopy. Both can be replaced by aftermarket items.

Another one to look out for in the future is the new Special Hobby tooling of a Mk.III Seafire, due for release heaven knows when, but I think it will be worth looking at when it eventually turns up.

...all this talk of rum...I had a bad experience whilst in college 30+ years ago-cost me a letter grade in calc class.....forced a change of majors...haven't touched the stuff since.....however, beer is another story...

Darson-Your are correct in the amount of subjects available.  I'm struggling over whether to go the Hellcat route (trying to find a -3 Hasegawa 1/48 but no luck-might have to go -5) or the Tamiya 1/48 Sea Harrier, despite what Tango advised in a seperate posting of mine....oh bother.

Frank & Tango-excellent work posted.  Looking forward to more projects.

Bob-

Thanks for the kind words!

As for the Hasegawa -3, I THINK all of their Hellcats use the same basic fuselage, my -3 looks like a -5 with score marks on the inside of the fuse to cut out the holes for the rear windows for the -3.  Not sure if they provide the little windows on the clear sprue for the -3 in the -5 kit, though.

Bob,

have you considered the Airfix Hellcat? Now I know its not a Tamiya/Hase standard kit, but OOB its not too shabby. Its what I'm using for my Hellcat build, I'm pretty sure all it needs is a extra work on the cockpit and canopy and it''ll be right. It has resessed panel lines and the box decal options are nice. Just another option..... 

Speaking of the Airfix 1/48 Seafire 46/47, here's one I built way back in 2001.

BTW, the Airfix 1/48 Hellcat is a rebox of the old Otaki/ARII kit, but it's a pretty decent kit.

Regards,  Rick

That is a real beauty Rick. A hundred times better than the one I built when I got back into the hobby.

Your Seafire is how it should be done, a real pleasure to look at.