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Greg Kittinger
121 articles

1/72 British Navy JetsSea Hawk, Sea Venom, Sea Vixen

December 9, 2015 · in Aviation · · 16 · 2.6K

I promised another series of older builds - here they are: the Novo F.G.A 6, the ModelCraft FAW.2, and the Premiere FAW 21.

Again, no seam filling or extra detailing. I did add a whip aerial to the Sea Venom, and I made the red "no walk way" decals for the Sea Vixen (although I didn't do a very thorough job of sanding off the "x" raised detail markings!). First attempt with making my own decals.

Two of these kits were very old - the Novo Sea Hawk and the Premiere Sea Venom, which I am told was a reboxed Frog kit with metal seats, a vac formed canopy and a new decal sheet. They were both built OTB - pilots included (most older kits included pilots - I wish new manufacturers would take note!). This was my first attempt to use a vac formed canopy, and I didn't use the right technique to protect myself from the "slip of the knife!" You can see on the starboard side where the section is missing! Lucky for me it's on the side less visible from the standpoint of how I mount my aircraft to stands! I'm glad I learned my lesson, as I'm dealing with a vac formed canopy now on my Soccer War Corsairs build... (soon to come).

I suspect the Model Craft Sea Vixen is a bit more modern kit, but it wasn't all that great either. I do love the Sea Vixen - to me the Javelin and Sea Vixen are two classic early jet airframes from our RAF friends.

The Sea Vixen was painted mostly via rattle can, and the other two purely by brush. I wasn't into weathering at this stage in my modeling career, but had to put some staining under that huge expanse of white on the Vixen!

For the Sea Hawk - who doesn't love invasion stripes! I had seen an illustration of Sea Hawks dressed as such during the Suez crises, so went with that. For the Sea Venom, I believe the wing tank markings were actually for a demonstration team, and the extra decals provided did a pretty good job of them - had to touch up with paint to fill them in properly.

I love these non-common subjects, and will be glad for the day when manufactures are done stamping out the more "heroic" airplanes and pick a few more esoteric subjects!

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16 responses

  1. Sorry... Who's posting this?

  2. Is that a reboxed Frog Sea Vixen? Revell (!) also had it in their box.
    There is a newer one from DML(?), which also has flaws, I hear.
    No Sea Venom, since Premier added stuff to the Frog, as indicated.
    Reviewers used to call the crew figures "Frogmen".
    Couple of additional choices for Seahawk, Airfix, and latterly Hobby Boss.
    Great RN collection. Good old Fifties, lots of interesting British designs.
    You need a Buccaneer and a Gannet.
    What price Scimitar?

    • I've built the Buc - first model I ever mounted on a stand - may add pics sometime. Want a Gannet - that's one I don't actually have in my stash, but every time I see one for sale it's more expensive than I want to pay, and I don't want the old Frog kit! I do have a Scimitar in the stash - I believe it is also a Novo kit...

    • Built a Buc - the first model I ever mounted on a stand - will post up a pic or two soon. Want a Gannet - I had the Frog kit in my stash but gave it to my son when I opened it! Probably have to go with the Trumpeter kit, but waiting to find one cheap. I've got a Scimitar in the stash - also an old Novo kit.

  3. Nice work - Greg great to see these - love the chequered tanks on the venom! - Thanks for putting these up

  4. There must be a glitch in the system, it doesn't appear to tell us who has posted the item until later. Anyway, these are obviously Gregg's. Very interesting stories, Greg, thanks for sharing.

  5. I don't know what is happening with the system - I tried to post a reply to Bernard's comment twice and it didn't take, so will attempt to reply to Bernard here...

    I've built the Buc (Airfix) - was the first model I mounted on a stand - will post a few pics soon. I had the Frog Gannet but gave it to my son when I opened the box! Too trashy a kit even for me! When I can find the Trumpeter kit cheap, I'll pick it up (also want their Wyvern). I've got a Novo Scimitar in the stash. Will get there someday...

  6. Nice RN jets LIKE!

  7. 🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
    Gregg, you did it again. Very nice and well done trio. If you keep with the style, you will end up with a very good and nice collection.

  8. Greg, I like these a lot, I don't recall ever seeing a Sea Venom, very cool looking airplane, may have to get one of these.

  9. Nice collection I love the color schemes!

  10. Greg,

    excellent job on ancient kits. What you achieved shows much modelling prowess. I not get results like that out of such dated mouldings.

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