Tom's Floatfish

[TomW]

I have a cunning plan as I have both boxings of the kit I'm going to mix it up a little by using the 820 NAS markings from the wheeled boxing with the floatplane kit. Mainly because those markings are the same as those provided in my FROG Blackburn Shark (the Swordfish's predecessor) and I can display them in tandem

Should get underway on the 2nd of April as I'm away racing this weekend with the family.

Regards

Tom

[TomW]

Finally got to make a start on this build today not much to show for a few hours work as its all been painting the interior pieces, hopefully I can my cockpit assembled tomorrow evening once everything has dried.

Regards

Tom

[splash]

You will have fun Tom its a great kit. The only advice I would give at this stage is make sure you clean up all the small bits left on the parts when you cut them out. The fit of the kit is first class but will be effected if you don't fully clean up the parts first.

Regards Splash

[TomW]

Thanks for the heads up Alan I noticed tonight whilst trimming parts that the attachment points all leave little lumps on the opposite face to the direction of cut, a little fiddly to clean up in places.

At last I have something worth photographing:









I've test fitted the cockpit and I'll need to sand the bottom half like a few others have already encountered to achieve a good fit for the fuselage. A warning too for those going with spread wings, the inner struts force the centre of the wings apart slightly meaning that a smooth join can be had on either the upper surface or the lower but not both, should only take a smear of filler to level out but a little unexpected.


Regards

Tom

[MDT]

Nice work Tow and cheers for the heads up about the wings as I'm leaning towards unfolded!

[jssel]

Hi Tom. You might check to insure that the cockpit piece is pushed up to the proper level especially in the front by the lower wing stubs. It should fit in nicely. I found that my cockpit actually rested on the ridge that runs above the stringers and not under it. Good luck.

[PaulBradley]

Aha - that was my problem then....

[jssel]

Possibly, it took some time for me to figure that out. As much as I like the Airfix instructions, it pays to have references or to know the subject.

[TomW]

Thanks Jeff, I got it all together in the end though I did need to use a small clamp to keep the pilots headrest together whilst it set up, I'll need to use a little smear of filler on one or two seams but thats a result of my building skills rather than a fault of the kit

So, fuselage together:





I think i'll be painting this kit in subsections rather than my usual way of waiting till the bulk of the airframe is together, the parts breakdown (and all the rigging) lend itself to the modular approach.

Regards

Tom

[jssel]

Great Tom. I forgot to mention the I used a small clamp also like you. But mostly to insure no seam there.

[splash]

I'm the same as you Tom the kit lends itself to the modular approach to building and painting.

Regards Splash

[MDT]

You've done neat job with the fuselage (better than me anyway!).

[Saxon]

coming along nicely

[TomW]

Slow but steady progress has been the norm of late for my bench, mostly it has been tidying up a few areas on the fuselage and wing assemblies before the application of some paint:







One kits instructions call Hu129 for the Cerrux Grey and the other calls for Hu64, I chose the 64 but to be honest I dont think either is a great match for the real thing, once this and a second coat are dry I'll mask it all up to spray the aluminium/silver.
The engine and cowling are on but I had a lot of hassle getting it all to line up and stay together, a bit of filler and touch-up work required:







Thats it for the moment though I have assembled the floats and pre-painted a few small things so that I dont forget to do them later

Regards

Tom

[TomW]

All mummified up and ready for the paint booth:






I'll spray the aluminium/silver this afternoon and see how it looks.

Regards

Tom