Subject: Re: Submission
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Green, John" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:40:29 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again 
for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Green, John" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 6:05 AM
Subject: Submission

> Gallery Template #02
> PM Models1/72 Hawker Sea Fury
> by John Green
> --------------------
> Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here
> As a member of the IPMS(UK) Aerobatic Display Teams SIG , I seem to have 
> had
> my horizons broadened somewhat over the last couple of years & seem to end
> up building things for the SIG display at the UK Nationals (no , I can't 
> get
> used to calling it Scale Modelworld either ) which I'd either never even
> thought of building , or in totally different markings to what I'd
> originally planned .  This Sea Fury was one of the latter - I'd intended 
> to
> build it as Peter Carmichael's MiG-killer (I know , 0 out of 10 for
> imagination !!) , but eventually built it as an aircraft of the 801 Sqn
> aerobatic team at the time of the Festival of Britain in 1951 for the 2005
> display theme of Naval teams .
> I'd had the PM kit in my stash for many years , so decided I'd build that 
> .
> Obviously , any sane person would have built the Special Hobby kit , but I
> already had the PM version , so natural meanness took over .  When I 
> opened
> the kit , I found that I'd also got in stock the Airwaves etched brass set 
> &
> white metal undercarriage & an Aeroclub vacform canopy .  I noticed whilst
> perusing Aeroclub's website , that as well as selling the canopy on its 
> own
> , they also do it in a set with a white metal casting for the rear cockpit
> decking , headrest & canopy guide rail , so I invested in one of them too 
> .
>
> I remember when I first bought the kit , some time in the early 1990s , 
> that
> I thought it was quite reasonable , which I suppose it was back then
> compared to the old Frog kit which was its only competition , but looking 
> at
> it again the best part of 15 years later my opinion was rather different .
> It was fairly cleanly moulded with recessed panel lines , but the 
> engraving
> was rather heavy & the entire surface had a rather rough texture as if the
> mould hadn't been polished .  The detail parts are also sadly lacking - 
> the
> cockpit detail consisted of a floor , bulkhead & a totally useless seat 
> ,the
> one-piece canopy was ghastly ,  the gear doors were the thickness of 
> armour
> plate & totally undetailed , the undercarriage itself fit only for the bin 
> &
> the wheelwells , though at least boxed in , were distinctly shallow with
> limited detail .  Fortunately , most of this was unlikely to be a 
> problem -
> my normal build technique involves much spraying of aerosol primer & 
> rubbing
> down of defects , which would fix the rough surface & heavy panel lines &
> the various aftermarket goodies would deal with most of the rest .  The
> wheelwells I decided to leave as they were , since they weren't THAT
> noticeable .
> I built up the cockpit using the kit floor & bulkhead , the latter cut 
> down
> to clear the new rear decking , the Airwaves brass & an Aeroclub white 
> metal
> bucket seat & stick .  Once painted , it all looked great but , being all
> black & with a very small cockpit opening , I'm sure you can guess how 
> much
> of it was actually visible - ah well , I know it's all there !!   Once the
> fuselage was assembled , I realised that the kit had no exhaust detail , 
> so
> I trimmed away the solid wall at the front of the exhaust channels on both
> sides of the fuselage & thinned down the rear edge of the cowling to give
> room to fit a set of exhausts after painting , these being made from 9
> pieces of plastic rod glued side by side & then cut into lengths once set 
> .
>
> The next "challenge"  concerned the wings - they looked ok on the sprue 
> but
> , once joined , the massive thickness of the trailing edges & wingtips
> became glaringly apparent .  This required considerable use of files &
> sanding sticks & rescribing of the control surfaces .
> The final task prior to painting was to fit the windscreen , which was a 
> far
> from smooth operation .   I managed to ruin both the Aeroclub vacforms ,
> which is a common enough problem for me , being hopeless with anything
> vacformed , which left me casting round for an alternative .  Eventually I
> found an Academy Typhoon in the stash & stole the screen & canopy from 
> that
> - the screen wasn't a perfect fit , but a little fiddling with it got it 
> in
> place & a skim of filler faired it in neatly  .  As an aside at this point 
> ,
> Toyway , the UK Academy importer , sold me a replacement Typhoon clear 
> sprue
> at very reasonable cost .
> Unlike the build so far , painting & decaling went smoothly .  First I
> sprayed the stainless steel area aft of the exhausts with Alclad , masked 
> it
> up & sprayed the main colours in Humbrol , glossed it up , applied the
> decals , which were from an assortment of Xtradecal & Modeldecal generic
> sheets , washed the airframe once it was dry & then brushed on a coat of
> clear gloss to seal the decals .
> The final problems to be overcome concerned the undercarriage . First off 
> ,
> the Airwaves undercarriage legs were fine , but I was less than impressed
> with the wheels & so had to cast around for an alternative , which turned
> out to be an Aeromaster Tempest (the Heller kit reboxed by Aeromaster with
> some resin & photoetch & a new decal sheet .  I thought I'd be able to
> "borrow" the kit wheels & then get a set of resin one for the Tempest , 
> but
> when I opened the box I realised that the kit came with both plastic & 
> resin
> wheels , which solved the problem nicely & at no expense .  The other
> problem was the undercarriage doors - all the kit doors were , as 
> mentioned
> above , grossly over-thick & under-detailed & the etched set came with a 
> set
> of main doors which were nicely detailed on their inner faces , but much 
> too
> thin .  Consequently , I superglued the etched doors to a piece of 10 thou
> plasticard & then trimmed the card to size . The inner doors & the 
> tailwheel
> doors , which the Airwaves set didn't supply , were vigorously rubbed down
> to reduce their thickness .
> Once the various detail parts were painted , they were all fitted in place 
> ,
> a final coat of satin varnish applied & the canopy demasked .  In spite of
> the shortcomings of the base kit , this was a generally enjoyable project
> which produced a model with which I am happy .  Next time I want a Sea 
> Fury
> though , I'll be steering well clear of the PM kit in favour of the vastly
> superior Special Hobby version , or possibly waiting for the promised
> Trumpeter offering .
>
> Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here
> Photos and text © by John Green
>
> <>  <>
>
> John Green
> Logistics
> Tel :  +44 (0)1270 653530
>
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