SUPERMARINE   SWIFT   FR. 5    

                       1/48  SCALE   FALCON   VAC  FORM  KIT                                                                                                                                   
Never having made a vac form kit , the task was approached  with  some misgivings, but having purchased  the kit some 10 years previously because it looked so good ,I felt that  I really had to have a stab at it .
I'd made some models many years ago ,not taking the whole thing too seriously,
but had recently joined a model club for the first time . Some of the models shown
there were so far ahead of anything I'd ever made or seen , that I was inspired to try and  make something too ,and after all,I had a kit at home that I could have a 
bash at rather than throw it away.

So the Swift became the guinea pig ,and my vac form experience was limited to
looking at  the kit in a plastic bag . It looked  like a good starter ,as it had some white metal bits ,thereby saving me the job of making them , and the major parts
appeared to have good shape and detail ,with the plastic being of a good
thickness . The kit plan  had some sketches of certain sections to help with
adding detail .
I'd found some  colour illustrations in an old aviation magazine ,applicable to the
subject ,showing the squadron markings and camouflage .

 A ball point pen was used to first outline the major parts, all panel lines were engraved ,  then all of the numerous flush intakes as well as the camera 
windows were opened up.
The major parts were cut out and sanded down to the Biro line , finding out in the
process just how flexible the parts were now . It was clear that some formers and/or bulkheads would be necessary to stiffen the structure  and enable it to be 
squared up 

Fuselage
A 5mm strip was superglued into one half along the length of the mating edges to
enable a strong joint ,and also helping to make joining the halves a bit easier. Several bulkheads had been made , in halves ,( so that they would overlap when the fuselage halves were joined ) , and glued in with numerous small gussets 
ensuring that they were square .
The nose wheel well was detailed using some ribs and imagination. Cannon ports were drilled out, plastic tubing inserted so that some metal tube barrels could be slid in later.
Small plastic blocks were glued into the rear fuselage to give a strong mounting
for the tailplanes .

The flush intakes which had been opened ,were blanked off internally using thin,black painted card. The small but prominent scoops on top of the fuselage were filed up from scrap plastic, and fitted. The tailpipe assembly was to be fitted
after joining of the fuselage halves ,through the bottom prior to fitting of the wing
assembly . A dummy turbine disc and exhaust cone were made up according to 
some sketches made previously . The kit supplied alternative noses for both  FR5 and  FR6 versions, as well as  increased span wingtips  for the FR6 . 
The correct nose sections were added to each fuselage half , merged in with
filler,and then the intakes carefully opened out, and the edges smoothed .

Wings
The wheel wells were given some imaginary detail , and the apertures in the wings opened  . The one piece lower  wing, though fairly large and deep ,was even more flexible than the fuselage , so a couple of spars were made from  thick
card and fited ,with plenty of gussets to keep them square. A piece of plastic tube
was fitted on the port side to take the  beefy pitot tube later, and the wheel wells
glued in place.
New main u/c doors were  scratchbuilt  from card and detailed with the help of the sketches provided , and the  kit  nosewheel door  given some detail  as well.
The stabilisers were assembled and a wire inserted to enable them to be fitted
into pre drilled holes .

Cockpit
The kit cockpit tub was used . Levers and other controls simulated by referring to the sketches on the plan sheet. The instrument panel was drilled out ,dial faces scratched onto thin ,black painted card ,and a clear film sandwiched between the two . I had used the 3 layer method without knowing there was such a thing , but
have since read that it's not an uncommon procedure .
The metal ejection seat had a blind handle and side guards added, seat belts made and fitted . 
Cockpit side panels  and consoles were scratchbuilt referring to the plan sketches, a control column as well as a gunsight fabricated and fitted  and  the
whole cockpit finished in Testor's Exhaust which I now always use as  a convincing scale black .    

Undercarriage
The white metal items were cleaned up ,thin wire brake lines added , and side stays with jack scratchbuilt using the kit sketches as a guide . The nose leg
was cut off and a wire pin inserted enabling it to be turned slightly .

Minor details
The large pitot tube was simulated using two diameters of brass tube ,then inserted  into the tube previously provided in the wing .
The fuel vent was made from a piece of flattened drinking straw and whip antennae from paint brush bristles .
 Camera windows were made from Kristal Kleer . 
 The white canopy framing  made using thin strips of decal sheet ,and the break  in dotted lines from smaller lengths of yellow decal .

Final assembly
The wing tops were mated to the fuselage sides ,flange to flange,with superglue 
and clamped till really set.
Test fitting of the wing bottom allowed the correct fuselage width to be found so that when the wing was added, top and bottom wings would fit . Having found this width,the overlapping bulkhead halves were glued together to maintain it.
When the wing bottom was put in place,it fitted perfectly,and the joint lines were
easily filled. Small blocks of clear runner were superglued into the cutouts made 
in the wing tips for the nav lights ,and when the whole assembly was dry ,were
wet sanded to conform with the tip shape and polished clear again. 

Finishing
After assembling everything to make a whole model ,all surfaces were wet sanded very smooth, and a thin coat of grey primer sprayed on to reveal any 
defects which were then rectified .
 The RAF scheme of the time was Dark green, Ocean Grey camouflage with
Silver undersides . The kit roundels were used ,but slightly larger red centres
had to be fitted to cover the out of register originals . The large underwing serials
were applied with the wheel doors in place and trimmed when almost dry .

The squadron marking supplied in the kit was White bars/Black arrows,but,as the magazine photos clearly showed White bars with Red outlines and Red arrows, new markings were cut from Red and White decal sheets to match the illustrations .
The letter "F" was cut from decal sheet ,as the photo showed  that it was upright 
and not swept back.
 No stencilling had been supplied , and photos showed that most on the upper 
surface was in YELLOW ! I ratted every small yellow item I could find  to get
enough to be reasonable , but more would have been preferable . If you've ever
looked for stencilling in yellow ,you'll know how scarce it is .Fortunately, it's small enough not to be easily legible , as  there would be some strange instructions
applied in strange places . The metal wheels and u/c legs were fitted and doors attached . The metal ejection seat had just enough weight to prevent a tailsitter,
without the need for ballast.

Conclusion
The final result reasonably resembles a Swift ,with the only uncorrectable
problem being the excessive  wing root thickness , which isn't that bad as it is only obvious from certain viewpoints . The main positive gained is that vac forms are not  that scary after all , and felt that I  might tackle more in future ,if they're all as well thought out as this one.   
My appreciation must go  to Pieter Stroethoff whose photos of the finished  model make it appear better than it really is.