de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 (1/48, Airfix)
Dear friends
Here I share pictures of my latest completed model, the Airfix 1/48 Sea Vixen FAW.2, pretty much "out of the box". According to Airfix this represents a plane from No.899 Naval Air Squadron, flown from HMS Eagle in the 1970's.
I have been taking a holiday from 1/48, with my last build in this scale (the "Black Bunny" Phantom; https://www.marcellorosa.com/f-4jphantomblackbunny) having been declared done more than 2.5 years ago. After a few rather difficult jobs in other scales and subjects, I decided to try something less likely to cause me headaches, and the Airfix Sea Vixen looked like a good bet. Considering the popularity of the brand, it is perhaps strange that this was my first Airfix kit. But now, I am sure I will be doing others.
A detailed build report and many more pictures can be found in may web site (https://www.marcellorosa.com/copy-of-1-48-sea-vixen-faw2), but the gist is that the fit between parts was relatively good, the instructions were clear, the decals did what they were supposed to do, and there were no dramas with paint adhesion. I did not use any aftermarket, but had to improvise a few things.
- The seeker heads in the Red Top missiles are blobs of Micro Krystal Klear (lost the clear parts...);
- The pitot probes are needles blunted and sanded to shape (broke one of them trying to get off the sprue);
- Bits of tungsten rod were sued to represent some detail on top of the booms (the hinges of the equipment bay doors).
The only issue worth reporting: you can save yourself a lot of trouble by deciding to represent the plane with the wings deployed, instead of folded like I did. In the Sea Vixen a relatively large part of the wing could be folded, making the wing sub-assembly heavy. Joining that to the fuselage/ wing root sub-assembly relies on two relatively flimsy brackets, and keeping them aligned and held long enough to obtain a firm bond is a job better suited for an octopus. Adding the subsequent bits of the wing folding mechanism is also complex, and it is difficult getting the two wings to be at the same angle. This had to be attempted several times.
Thanks for looking!
Really nice work on this and a great result.
Thank you Tom, your kind words mean a lot to me.
Beautiful work on this! The Vixen is the most elegant of the twin-boomed jets IMHO.
It is a strange one in my opinion. Super elegant in flight, yes. But perched on the ground it also looks a bit awkward, particularly with the wings folded. I would love to build another one with the wheels retracted in full flight, but so many projects to choose from...
That's a beautiful Vixen, Marcello @marcellorosa1
Nice to see it with folded wings and the air brake in an open position.
Thank you John. The Airifix kit is good in this sense, it gives you parts for all options: in flight, approaching for landing, and landed.
She looks excellent Marcello. You have built a great Vixen.
Thanks, Guy, for the encouragement.
Nice markings. Those missiles look superb. Love the British Royal Navy aircraft from the 50's and 60's. Which one he best? Hmmmm, Buccaneer or Sea Vixen or maybe Scimitar? Beautiful result!
You guessed correctly, I have a Buccaneer in the works.
I'd love to get my hands on a 1/48 Scimitar, but this is something that needs a newly tooled injection kit. Something for Airfix to consider.
Nothing short of professional Marcello (@marcellorosa1). Some sharp,crisp and tight painting and building. Along with some good photos that show your build at its best.
Two thumbs up.
Thanks Stephen. It is amazing what can be done nowadays just with a phone camera.
Truly excellent result, Marcello! The Sea Vixen is absolutely distinctively shaped and your model captures that perfectly.
Well done!
Thanks Spiros. I think credit must go to Airfix, who did a good job in getting this kit in proper dimensions (I heard they used the original blueprints).
If I had unlimited time I would now go and do the Trumpeter version, just to see how much there is in all the fuss about it being incorrectly shaped. But so many models, so little time...
Great work, Marcello. That kit has never been reissued and is getting scarce. Nice seeing them built.
Thanks John. I was really lucky to get one of these from eBay a few years ago, before the prices got crazy. I think Airfix should consider re-issuing it. The mould is now 15+ years old, so the level of refinement is definitely not to the same standards as the recent Buccaneer (which I am halfway through). You can notice the leap in technology. But still it was far from being a struggle (as compared for example wit this: https://imodeler.com/2023/05/six-turning-four-burning-a-lot-of-masking-roden-1-144-b-36-d/