Tom's quarter scale Fury **DNF**

[TomW]

So after digging through the stash for something naval and American for a change (I have a definite soft spot for the FAA, this GB will hopefully balance the scales a little ) and coming up with myriad Crusaders, Skyhawks and Corsairs I did find two very interesting contenders; One Emhar F3H Demon and a Matchbox FJ-4B Fury. I'd been keeping both kits back as they need a fair bit of updating and re-working to bring them up modern standards and as such make good GB subjects.

In the end it came down to a toss of a coin.......


The winner is the Matchbox Fury:






Opening the box up and it isn't the prettiest of pictures:












Now I love Matchbox kits and I'm used to them being on the basic side but this is positively Spartan in its simplicity the surface detail is raised (what there is of it) so this will be my first attempt at a full rescribe. Normally I wouldn't bother as raised lines don't bother me in the slightest but the lines on the kit are so faint that they look like scratches and it looks odd with a blank surface.

The decals look a bit tired but should be okay with a bit of decal film and Klear:






I've also gone ahead and ordered an Airwaves etch set for the non-existent cockpit and a replacement Pavla ejection seat so that should sort the office out nicely. I'll also need to fashion a new jet-pipe as the kit part is moulded solid with a great big ejector mark in its centre that will be nigh on impossible to remove neatly.

So as a summary this is what I plan to do:

• Full rescribe
  Photo-etch cockpit
  Resin seat
  new jet-pipe
  Replace the kit 'winders with something a bit more representative
  Anything else I can think of as the build goes along

Wish me luck!

Regards

Tom

[Stuart]

Looking forward to seeing this come together Tom as I've been thinking about getting one myself.

I have the rather awful Grand Phoenix kit - the plastic is pretty bad, but the resin and decals look really good - I've been thinking about sticking it all in one of these.

Cheers

Stuart

[beany]

Good choice of kit Tom. I remember buying it from Woolies in Croydon in their sale (£4.00 I think) back in the late 80's or early 90's. I don't have memories of building it though so it probably got sold or swapped in later years, thus I'll be very interested to see what you do with her. Also a CBK of course so you can bring it to Farnborough (coz I've no idea what else we are gonna be putting on the table this year?!),
Cheers
Al.

[TomW]

Thanks guys I've finally gotten this build underway after my parcel from Hannants arrived with the replacement cockpit and seat. Starting with the internals the kit provides a full length intake trunk with a compressor face at one end. A nice touch - especially for 1981 but the compressor is invisible because of the shape of the trunking :






The green pen marks are to help me locate the instrument panel in the right place. The slot that is next to them is to allow the original seat to be located. But I'm replacing the seat with one from Pavla so I needed to mark the locating points to save me from some hassle later on.

The kits seat compared to the resin replacement:






No comparison really . The cockpit has been enhanced with an Airwaves set and really makes a big difference to the empty hole that the kit provides:









And popped into place to adjust the fit:






I've also assembled the wing sections as they'll need some work to tidy up the folding portion:






Finally I've fitted the distinctive cooling intakes to the fuselage after refining the openings with a sharp number 11 blade:






Now I know I said that the original plan was to re-scribe the kit as the surface detail is practically non-existent but my first attempts have not gone too well so I'll revert to my back-up plan of drawing the panels lines on at the end of the build with a soft pencil.

Regards

Tom

[Marek]

The kit's seat may be a part of 'Mayan Exhibition' . Has this sort of top-of-the-Mayan-pyramid-throne look to it. Nice work so far.

[SteveC]

Some very impressive work there so far. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

Regards,

Steve

[TomW]

Cheers guys Time for an update.

Cockpit given a very simple bit of paint and a quick wash before final fitting. Also plenty of weight stuffed in the nose to avoid tailsitting:






Then the was buttoned up neatly. The seams don't look too bad for such an elderly kit:





And wings together:






Finally this is where I stand right now with the wings and tailplanes in place and setting and the nose intake fitted:






There aren't a whole lot of parts left to fit so I think the back is broken with this build and things should go well from now.

Regards

Tom

[Stuart]

Looking great!

[Martin R]

Yep, looking good Tom!

[Gadfly]

Nice Kit.. I can fondly remember buying one of those from John Menzies on Barnstaple High street it was heavily discounted and was my first 1:48th scale kit..

Fortunately that brief interlude with the 'scale of the devil' didn't last too long and I regained my senses once I'd built it and the Airfix 1:48th Stuka ..

Nice job so far on it and I like the bang seat it looks very nice and is a 'bit' of an improvement over the kit part..

Following with nostalgic interest..

GF

[TomW]

Thanks guys

Gadfly - I'll be honest this kit is having a similar effect on me too, with a possible Skyraider GB on the cards (Tamiya 1/48th I think will be my choice) I'll only need to add one of Hobbyboss's new Demon kits and a Skywarrior from Trumpeter and I'll have covered the important types of a late 50's / early 60's Carrier Air Wing

Regards

Tom

[Gadfly]

Skyraider GB you say..........

It will look very nice I'm sure.

[TomW]

So the seams and gaps have been filled and sanded and the gloss white applied underneath:










Regards

Tom

[Stuart]

Looking good Tom!

[Dazzled]

Coming on a treat Tom. Hope you're enjoying this foray into forty-eighth