1/32 Seafang from Iconicair

[Robert1968]

Hi Steve reading and catching up its your progress on this I thought I'd have a look through my saved pics and I have found only one relating to a Supermarine Seafang. It's a bit grainy and b/ w but wondered if this helps

 

[stona]

Thanks Robert. I have that as one of the two supposedly of the Spiteful, which would be more or less the same as the Seafang.


Cheers


Steve

 

[rickoshea52]

Interesting reading Steve, cheers. Remarkably cunning solutions. I'm intrigued that modern turboprop aircraft don't use contra-rotating blades as they are limited in speed by propellers, and it also eliminates the critical engine scenario in multi-engined aeroplanes. Anyway, don't want to digress from your kit build

Interesting discussion on propeller torque, I'll remember to ask a Bomberdier rep next time I am with a Q400 operator. But have you noticed the propeller blades on the A400M and their direction of rotation?

 

[flyjoe180]

Interesting discussion on propeller torque, I'll remember to ask a Bomberdier rep next time I am with a Q400 operator. But have you noticed the propeller blades on the A400M and their direction of rotation?

No I'm not up with the A400M Rick, they have contra-rotating blades though? Which of course would make every engine 'critical' so to speak.


Sorry Steve!

 

[rickoshea52]

No I'm not up with the A400M Rick, they have contra-rotating blades though? Which of course would make every engine 'critical' so to speak.
Sorry Steve!

The propellers on each engine rotate in opposite directions.

 

[flyjoe180]

The propellers on each engine rotate in opposite directions.

Yep, they would being contra-rotating?

 

[stona]

Sorry Steve!

It's all interesting stuff, so absolutely not a problem! I quite enjoy these tangents and they break up the build thread very nicely in an educational way


Cheers


Steve

 

[stona]

This morning I've built the seat, which was interesting, and attached it to the relevant fuselage frame.






The white plastic card is armour plate (I assume) which is a part shown in the instructions but which isn't in the kit, unless I've lost it! Anyway, it was a fairly simple job to make the piece from some suitable card. The grubby black marks are the remnants of the markings used to make the holes through which the seat supports pass to their mounts and will disappear later.


I've also done the front part of the cockpit assembly and am just waiting for the paint to dry on the instrument panel before assembling that.






I hope to get more done tomorrow.


Cheers


Steve

 

[Snowman]

I've noticed that a number British Naval kites have contra rotating props - there is probably a performance benefit to justify the design requirement.o_O

 

[stona]

Not much exciting progress to report. I've spent considerable time cutting out parts to drop in the various camera ports and making them fit, hopefully without needing much filler.Trickiest was the door with a round hole to be glazed in the fuselage half at the top of this image. The part with the two holes to be glazed was fitted by first cutting out the relevant section of each fuselage half, taping the two halves together, and the shaving, filing and sanding until it dropped in nicely.






Apart from that I've made a load of cockpit sub-assemblies and sprayed them a basic black. They will obviously need some detail painting and general jazzing up before everything gets fitted into the fuselage.






Next, assembling the RB Productions harness, if my eyes can take the strain


Cheers


Steve

 

[Fenlander]

Coming on well Steve, it is very different building Resin kits, I started a couple of 1/24 Kit Form Services vehicals, an Austin Champ and the British Apc seen so much in the so called 'troubles' in Ireland, the Pig. Must see if I can find them, god knows where they are lol

 

[stona]

Coming on well Steve, it is very different building Resin kits,

It is different, totally agree, but the basic principals are the same. Some things, like the lack of locating pins etc can be found on some limited run injection kits too. I think that you have to accept that you are going to have to do a little bit more work than you would on a modern 'Tamigawa' type of kit, which is why I wouldn't advise an inexperienced or new modeller to take one on. Anyone with a bit of experience and a few kits under their belt will have developed the skills needed to build up a kit like this one, it's just a matter of whether they want to! Polyurethane resins, just like polystyrene, do vary in quality, this kit is very nicely done and the resin is very easy to work.


I'd say that the fit so far of this almost entirely resin kit is as good as, if not better than, the fit of the Sword plastic in a PCM Hurricane I built a few years ago. I notice that Sword are releasing a 1/32 scale Hurricane kit, I hope the plastic is not the same because I am sorely tempted!


Cheers


Steve

 

[stona]

On to the harness. A decent harness is about the only after market 'must have' item in my opinion. In any scale, but certainly 1/48 and larger, it is something that can make or break a cockpit. Some kits do come with a photo-etch affair, which is okay, but I prefer something more realistic. I'm a big fan of RB Productions paper and photo etch system, though there are other nice ones out there, HGW do some nice harnesses for example. These types are much more compliant and poseable that anything in PE.


With the RB harnesses you get a little fret of photo etch accoutrements and some precut paper for the material of the harness, along with a seemingly complicated but easy to follow set of instructions.






Here's the etch and paper parts with the one shoulder strap so far completed. The No.11 blade gives an idea of scale.






There's no point in pretending that assembling these isn't a fiddle, but it's not difficult. Good tweezers, a good maginifier and a wide vocabulary of expletives and you are good to go!


I've done many of RB's Luftwaffe belts in my models and they always look good, so the fiddle is well worth it


Cheers


Steve

 

[Fenlander]

On to the harness. A decent harness is about the only after market 'must have' item in my opinion. In any scale, but certainly 1/48 and larger, it is something that can make or break a cockpit. Some kits do come with a photo-etch affair, which is okay, but I prefer something more realistic. I'm a big fan of RB Productions paper and photo etch system, though there are other nice ones out there, HGW do some nice harnesses for example. These types are much more compliant and poseable that anything in PE.
With the RB harnesses you get a little fret of photo etch accoutrements and some precut paper for the material of the harness, along with a seemingly complicated but easy to follow set of instructions.


View attachment 152020


Here's the etch and paper parts with the one shoulder strap so far completed. The No.11 blade gives an idea of scale.


View attachment 152021


There's no point in pretending that assembling these isn't a fiddle, but it's not difficult. Good tweezers, a good maginifier and a wide vocabulary of expletives and you are good to go!


I've done many of RB's Luftwaffe belts in my models and they always look good, so the fiddle is well worth it


Cheers


Steve

They do look nice Steve, it has come on a bit since the strip of Tamiya masking tape and a foggy windscreen to hide it. Don't you just love the progress in modelling these days.

 

[yak face]

Great looking belts steve, i agree that belts more than anything are a must have that really make a difference in any cockpit. These RB ones look superb , theyre also going to add a bit of colour relief to the otherwise mainly black cockpit , cheers tony

 

[stona]

I've fitted the boring, black cockpit. Good job I put the harness in or there really would be nothing to see


The two halves of the fuselage are joined and I have started to clean up and assemble the tail and nose sections.






Cheers


Steve

 

[Robert1968]

Bloomin hell this is looking like a nice Spit..... Oops Seafang


I do like those seat belts and they do look ooober real too.


I didn't quite understand the idea you were doing with the cameras ( there are 4? One each side of fuselage and two oblique facing down?


Are you going to display with the camera ports open showing the cameras?


Or I can get my coat Steve


Regards


Robert

 

[stona]

This particular aircraft was fitted with ports for four cameras, though in the two pictures I have neither oblique camera is fitted. It's impossible to tell if anything was fitted over the ventral ports. I'm not going to fit any cameras, though I have added a little detail inside the fuselage for the structural frames which are just about visible through the 'windows'.


Cheers


Steve

 

[yak face]

Are you sure they didnt just fit it with portholes on the side because it was the naval version? :D :D, i think its even got an anchor at the back too:D

 

[stona]

I've spent several hours today listening to the cricket and fitting the tail and wings to this one. It has been a fair bit of work and there may still be more to do, but this is how it looks at the moment.






It's a resin kit, so there was always going to be a bit of work required. In the grand scheme of things it all goes together well enough


Cheers


Steve