Scale Aviation Modeller International — February 2018

is clear, once you’ve got your eye

in on the ideograms used for paint

colours and part numbers. Some of

the resin parts don’t have obvious

location marks, so dry-fitting is

essential. Colour references are

for the Mr Hobby Aqueous range.

BUILDING IT

The two cockpits are the first things

to tackle, adding plastic and photo

etched detail to the resin parts

before assembly. I followed the

kit colour guidance, and painted

the major components interior

green, although the photographs

of the Yeovilton preserved machine

in the 4+ book suggests that the

rear cockpit was natural metal.

Detail painting was done using

a mix of Vallejo, Tamiya, and

Games Workshop acrylics. The

painted parts were glossed with

Future, before adding a diluted

brown oil wash, then reverting to

nearly matt with Microscale Flat.

Finally, the raised detail was dry

brushed with Tamiya XF-57.

Assembling the components

of the two tubs is relatively

straightforward, but one side of

the rear cockpit is about 1.5 mm

taller than the other, meaning

that some of the nice rib detail

has to be sacrificed for the sake of

symmetry. I had already carved

off the raised detail on the inside

of the fuselage halves, but a

quick trial-fit of the two tubs

suggested that further serious

surgery was going to be needed.

The pilot’s cockpit wasn’t too

bad, but the width of the rear

bulkhead of the observer’s place

meant that the fuselage was about

3 mm away from closing up. A

comparison of the kit’s plastic

rear decking and the resin version

showed the latter to be significantly

wider, suggesting that the resin

parts weren’t taking account of the

thickness of the fuselage parts.

Cut, dry-fit, grind, dry-fit,

cut... a pile of shavings and dust

(remembering to wear a mask)

later, and the fit wasn’t too bad.

After the initial coarse re-sizing, I

found it easier to clamp the fuselage

halves together and trial-fit the

cockpits through the bottom of

the fuselage, so I only removed

material where strictly necessary.

Once the main cockpit tubs were

fitted, I used them to guide the

trimming of the rear and forward

decking. I eventually closed the

fuselage around the whole lot,

and set to work on the seams. The

fuselage halves go together quite

well, with a degree of filling and

sanding which I do not consider

outrageous for a short-run kit. I

used Squadron Green for the filling,

with brushed-on superglue to seal

the filler before a final polish.

The low-ish tech of the plastic

moulding shows up again in the

need to box in the wheel wells,

from three separate parts on

each side. However, when they’re

done and tidied, and the upper

wing added, the wheel well detail

is reasonable. Overall fit of the

wing upper and lower halves is

not great, and some re-scribing

of leading edge detail is necessary

after filling and sanding the join.

The port wing has the recess for

the steerable landing light, supplied

as a combination of clear plastic

and photo-etch. Unfortunately, the

hole in the wing is just that, with

no attempt at a mounting for the

reflector. I have no idea how it’s

meant to fit, so my solution was to

box in the wing aperture and fix

the clear reflector to the back face,

adding a power cable from lead wire.

While dealing with clear bits,

I tackled the wing tip navigation

and formation lights by boxing in

the rather poorly shaped recesses,

adding tiny “bulbs” from rod, and

painting them aluminium, silver,

red, and green as appropriate.

The clear covers now fitted over

these, standing slightly proud

of the wing surface, so I sanded

and polished them to shape.

Mating the fuselage and wing is

straightforward, but again, careful

adjustment and filling is the order

of the day. I added some spreaders,

made from sprue, to the bottom of

the fuselage to help close the gap.

With the main airframe

complete, it was time for the

underside detail. The parts for the

prominent MK.I intake are nicely

detailed, and are further enhanced

with the photo-etched additions. In

contrast, the extra plastic included

for the MK.II versions is distinctly

cruder, having an ugly central seam

to deal with. I’d already decided I

was modelling a MK.I (honestly),

so this wasn’t a problem.

The intake housing has the

three mounting panels for the

white/green/red identification

lights, but no sign of the lights

themselves; I made some from dots

of plastic rod. The catapult spools

are included as photo-etched parts,

but typical of the medium, look

a bit spindly. The characteristic

diagonal braces are also missing,

so I added them using plastic rod.

Three sets of separate blades are

supplied for the Rotol propellers.

Two are identical (for the R5/3), and

the third is of the smaller-diameter

RX5/9 (although both types were

fitted to MK.I and MK.II airframes).

All the blades exhibited a degree

of shrinkage on their back faces; I

chose the broad-bladed RX5/9 as

needing the least remedial work.

The undercarriage is rather

intricate, being made up of four

separate parts on each side. Luckily

“WITH CARE AND PATIENCE THIS KIT

CAN BE MADE INTO AN EXCELLENT

MODEL, WITH GREAT DETAIL”

28 • FEBRUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

026-31-FEAT-Fulmar-0218.indd 28 12/01/2018 12:41