Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V Boxart Diorama

Discussion and the builds for the SMW 2011 CBK display.

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Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V Boxart Diorama

Post by JamesPerrin »

I finally found time to make a start on this. I got hold of a nice red stripe edition from ebay a few weeks ago. The detail is fine and crisp apart from the odd moulding flaw, the bombs though were very flashy and needed quite bit of TLC. So far have been mainly cleaning up the parts and assessing what details I wish to add. Unfortunately Paul's book is not out yet so I'll use the internet and crib from other builds :grin:

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I taped the part together to get better idea of size and how to pose the model taking off from the deck. The kit came with a stand, yeah, and I think I could use the arm.

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An early task was to trim the rounded end of the exhaust stubs off and then drill out the ends. A few tenths of a mm is enough to give the impression of hollow tubes.

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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by JamesPerrin »

I not looking to do the full "Mike Grant" but I would like to add a few details and improve the look of parts especially so they more closely represent the a/c as seen in the artwork.

The most immediate think I noticed was that though the upper wing radiator lips are nice and thin with the vanes moulded in the lower ones are thick in comparison, essentially narrowing the intake. Looks to me someone booboo'd added the lower half of the vanes. Anyway 5mins with a file reduce the thickness of the lower lips and the vanes, now too short, replaced with card. I also added the radiator itself if only to blank off the wheel wells.

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I rustled up an IP the old fashioned way (drilling holes in thin card) from the pic Brews linked. Most of the details appeared quite flat and can be painted on, therefore I only added the throttle, headrest and replaced the moulded radar equipment with larger boxes. As there will be pilots in there it's not worth adding anything further, I did treat them to more comfy sets though :grin:

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Apart from that I've done the boring stuff like sanding the radar pods and the bombs. Need to make some decisions about my crew, frankly I don't think the Airfix guys are up to it.
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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by JamesPerrin »

Paul Bradley wrote:The new Revell RAF figures set is very good.
That's why I purchased one a few months ago for this GB :grin: Despite evidence to the contrary I have thought this through ;-)

I know Julian's used them and thinks they a little too big so it may be a squeeze getting them into Airfix's skinny Firefly.
mattbacon wrote:Looking good, James!

Is it only the Revell German set that has a selection of different sized pilots to fit different kits, then? I remember thinking when I read a review that that was a really clever idea!.
In the RAF set they are all at least 6' and won't be going into the Firefly without the drastic use of a bone saw! Looking through my spares (well rescued from ditched builds) I'm rather WWII pilot poor, plenty of jet jocks. Surgery it is then!
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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by JamesPerrin »

Chuck E wrote:
I not looking to do the full "Mike Grant"
The Full "Mike Grant"

I think this should go into our modeller's glossary. :lol:

On the Revell figures : Excellent ! I hope they do them in 1/48th next and then 1/144th.
jRatz wrote:That is "The Full MIke Grant" and not "The Full Monty" right ? Just checking, they sound similar ...
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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by JamesPerrin »

OK so here are the poor fellows that came with the kit and some severely chopped Revell RAF figures.

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Annoyingly the radar operator didn't have a Mae West so I just had to paint him one.

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When I came to fit the pilot I realised that the IP and coaming is far to near the seat. Looking back at the cockpit photos it is clear there is blunt V cut out in between the window screen. With the IP moved everything fitted just so.

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With that the fuselage can be closed up.
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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by JamesPerrin »

Rest easy Brews his seat has, like his legs, been cut short ;-)

The walk around has some handy snaps.

The instructions and boxart (and Pauls builds) have the smaller door hinge parallel to direction of flight but the photos make it look as though the hinge is perpendicular - almost like airbrakes?

http://aircraftwalkaround.hobbyvista.co ... fly_22.jpg;

Is it a Canadian thing?

In the end it does matter as I'm doing the boxart :grin:
Brews wrote:I think it's a matter of "somewhere in between". The fairing would be angled, I think, to lie on the plane between the main and auxiliary struts.
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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by JamesPerrin »

This main parts go together very nicely. Despite the two piece wings if you take your time and clean up the joins they go together very snugly. Ditto the wing to fuselage join; closing the gap along the top of the join gives you the correct wing dihedral.

If it wasn't for the sink marks along the cowling join there would almost nothing to fill. Most of the joins can be finished with a scrap of the knife, which also preserves the raised surface detail.

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Another issue become apparent though. The back plate to the spinner is not completely formed (due to a mould restriction) which leads to a gap when looking into the air scoop. A small piece of card bent to match the arc of the back plate sorts this out and will be trimmed flush when the glue sets.

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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by JamesPerrin »

Paul Bradley wrote:The observer's seat is mounted on a swivel, so he can face aft or forward, depending on which piece of kit he needs to attend to.

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Interestingly, the seat has no shoulder straps - there are instead two sets mounted at each end of the cabin; the remains of the port aft strap can be seen in this photo:

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The undercarriage doors line up with the direction of flight and are not used as airbrakes - the Youngman flaps were used for that task.

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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by JamesPerrin »

I've got little further. Adding a landing light to port wing. Drilled out gun barrels with a 0.4mm bit, like the exhausts only dimples really, but with a little black wash will look nice. Rear glazing in place, the rear half needing a tiny shim on the port side to level it up.

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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by PaulBradley »

Coming along nicely, James.
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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

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I've crash moulded (see this months Circuits & Bumps for details) a new canopy so it can be positioned open. With the moulded acetate still in place I carefully marked around the edge with a marker pen. I then roughly cut out the part and then finally trimmed away the black line. A quick swipe of the sanding stick and it's done

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I then cut the windshield from the kit part as I didn't get a good mould of it and it's too faffy to cut out anyway. Here they are sat in place, they are currently drying off a coat of klear.

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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by PaulBradley »

Excellent - those canopies look great!
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Re: Airfix 1/72 Fairey Firefly V

Post by airjim »

Looking really good so far.

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