Hobbycraft 1/48 Hawker Sea Fury

Started by Bob Torres · 56 · 2 years ago
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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    I started this build probably near the end of 1989, the year this kit was released. I got as far as airbrushing the Sky Type S paint on to it but stopped and left it on my shelf. Many times I have picked this up but could never get myself to complete it. As time went by the box and the rest of the parts for this kit disappeared but I did saved the Almark decal sheet that was bought for this build. Missing are the undercarriage's main gear doors, wheels, rear wheel assembly and tail hook. My game plan on these parts are to rob the wheels from an Eduard Tempest kit since they supply both plastic and resin wheels, scratch build the main gear doors and see what I can come up for the tail wheel assembly. The pitot is also missing, that will need to be made too.

    When this kit was first released, it was a big deal. Later on Trumpeter released theirs and from what I have seen on the web, it was not perfect but better. Some mixed both Hobbycraft and Trumpeter to come up with a somewhat better build. Soon Falcon had a beautiful vacauform kit. Around 2016 AMG released their Sea Fury and the latest is from Airfix. For this build I will stay with what I have started back then but use some resin parts to replace the spinner and propeller, add on drop tanks and a couple of heat exchanger louvers that Hobbycraft forgot to include.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Close up shots of the dirt on this model.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Shots taken after I ran water on it and used a damp paper towel to rub off some stubborn spots. I also made sure not to rub off the old paint. I just did not want to sand down the whole kit.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

  • Profile Photo
    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    I still have the Almark decal sheet that I bought for this model back then. (1989).

    And thanks to eBay I found another set of decals, resin and white metal parts for this kit. I was never a big fan of the spinner and propellers that came with this kit so I will see how the Cooper Details resin parts will compare. There are also white metal pieces in both Cooper Details and Airways for the main undercarriage, tail hook and tail wheel. This will save me from doing some scratch building on some of these parts. I still need to scratch build both main gear doors.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Great entry, my friend @v1pro! Tackling an already started kit with many pieces missing is a demanding job, which I am certain you will carry out in excellence!
    Looking forward to it!

  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Great to see that you decided to tackle this already started again, Bob @v1pro
    The cleaning did already reveal a beautiful aircraft.
    Looking forward to the next steps

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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Thanks Spiros @fiveten. My eBay catch of extra parts by Cooper Details and Airways will help out on either existing spinner and propeller and missing parts. The gear doors will take a little time but not a hard thing to make.

  • Profile Photo
    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Thank you John @johnb. It may not be the Airfix release but it looks pretty decent. I need something to get me back into 1/48 scale.

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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    A close up of the kit's spinner and propeller.

    The blade are angled too shallow. My mistake from 1989.

    The second shot is a bird's eye view of the kit's spinner and propeller.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    I need to scratch build the main undercarriage's doors, for this I'II be using styrene sheets.

    Using .20" sheet to make the doors, and strips. From looking at photos of the main gear's doors, I drew the outline of the whole door assemblies.

    Then I cut out the pieces.

    And cleaned them up and cut strips at 1mm width that is going to be used on the inside of the main gear doors.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    On the first shot, from looking at shots from model reviews of the Hobby Craft kit, I cut the strips to match the doors edges.

    Second shot I am Done with the main gear doors.

    Third shot I am dry fitting the door to the main gear struts, looks good for the big door.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Now to make a thinner panel for the inside of the inboard doors. Here I used the .10" sheet.

    On the second shot shows the smaller inner doors the pieces are cut, cleaned and glued together.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    The inside areas for the doors are complete.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    Bob Torres said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Now to make the outboard teardrop shape fairing for the main gear doors. Using 40” sheet to make this. Pretty much files them into shape and sanded smooth.

    Second shot shows the main gear door's blisters (fairing).

    Third shot shows both main gear doors blister glued on.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Impressive scratchbuild, Bob @v1pro
    Very nice doors.