Large Model Association Forum

I had the opportunity a few months ago to acquire from David Pearson his 1/4 scale Sea Fury which had been superbly built by Tim Simmonds from the Jerry Bates plan,although the model had been statically shown at several Cosford's and Duxford static displays and earlier this year had been final inspected and a permission to test fly obtained,it had not been flown.
The necessary procedures were followed to register the change of ownership,obtain a new certificate of construction etc through the over 20 kg scheme and subsequently a new permission to test fly from the CAA has been received,unfortunately the weather and my own business committments have prevented anything happening in this regard.
The model did sport something of a 'showroom' finish which I have dulled down with Scotchbrite pads, fine wire wool and the whole airframe has been dirtied up somewhat with graphite powder,washes and the like,I have added detailing to the exhaust and emergency canopy release areas along with exhaust,oil and cannon gas staining,additionally maintenance,warning,squadron and mission markings have been sprayed on using stensils and masks from Nigel Wagstaff of Flightline Graphics - I cannot give but the highest recommendation for Nigel's product and the service he provides which is truly first class.

Power is from the obligatory Moki 250cc radial,so this along with the one in my Corsair means I have the perfect power plants for a future decent sized Beaufighter or Tigercat - roll on retirement and extended building opportunities - the radio link is via twin Futaba 6014 receivers through a Powerbox RRS and backer set-up,servos are predominantly JR8911 and 8711 items.

Attached are a few pictures and items I have been making for the cockpit,the armour plate headrest is from balsa with the leather covered headrest from epoxy coated blue foam,the 4 main instrument blank panels are from balsa covered in 0.006 inch ali suitably edge folded,instruments,switches etc will be added when the festive spirit runs dry in a day or two,will post a few pictures of the assembled model when the weather improves,can't wait to fly the thing and when appropriate may be get together with the other 2 or even 3 other quarter scale Sea Fury's sometime next year.

Regards Trevor Wood LMA 687

Very very nice. one of my favourite planes

Thats really brought it to life Trevor........looks great

Phil

Hi Trevor,

You've don't a excellent job with the weathering & extra detail. I was lucky enough to see the model when it was being inspected over by Pete Siggins & it really is very well made aircraft - bloomin' superb The camera is already twitching to get this beauty in its sights.

Merry Christmas & a Happy Year to all,
Neil

Many thanks for the comments guys,I am well jacked up about this model and really enjoying applying the finishing stages to Tim's first class build,it is ironic but a significant and important part of this model started life with me some 10 years ago,namely the main retract units and fully scale double action oleo legs/wheels which I designed and had built at that time by the late and sadly missed Ray Slack, an engineer of the highest calibre,these items were passed on to be fitted into this model.

Attached are a few more pictures which may be of interest,there quality is nothing compared to those of Neil's I am afraid but give an insight into what I am doing with the model,the quarter scale 20mm cannons I have made from thick walled aluminium tube with a second thin walled tube inside,this has slots cut into it to replicate the rifling,the cannon gas staining has been done with various artist oils and Tamiya weathering powders.

The main powerbox sensor switch to turn the whole contraption On and Off has been located under the 'oxygen refill' hatch,it is bottom hinged and held in place with button magnets from Maplins,the wing walk ways have been produced by applying a coat of 'stone effect' paint to get the rough grip surface before receiving a coat of matt black,the picture of the fuselage shows Tim made the tail section removeable which helps with moving the thing around a great deal.

Will get moving on finishing the pilot over the festive season if the weather stays as it is,this will be something of a Frankenstein affair using an Aces of Iron WW2 torso and body parts from the quarter scale Indiana Jones model talked about elsewhere on the forum,this item incidentally is OK for the money but weighs a ton.

All for now and festive wishes etc to you all.

Trevor Wood LMA 687

ive gone all giddy, looks lovely, how about a picture of it screwed together Trevor, with you in the shot to give it size? i really MUST have a Sea Fury someday--but something a tad smaller

Hi Trevor,

Be nice to see this one fly - will ring you sometime

All the best for Christmas

Pete

Hi Trevor, Mick Burrell here, I am the builder of the third SeaFury in existence, Phil being the builder of the second. Dave Pearson was in fact the supplier of my cowling, shame he never got to fly the model I have no wish to be unkind but whenever I spoke to him about it he seemed a little apprehensive to get it airborne, still you seem to have a positive attitude towards it.

Mine has passed through the scheme and has now completed thirty six flights; it really looks the biz in the air. I must say I am impressed with the work you have added to Dave’s model it did look a bit raw. I have these finishing bits and bobs to do to mine after Christmas, to be frank the part of scale modelling I have difficulty with, still I have just purchased my first airbrush and I intend to get “stuck in”.

My model is finished in the VR930 scheme has hydraulic Sierra undercarriage and hydraulic folding wing mechanisms. I have a pair of landing lights in the wheel wells which are made to come on when the wings are locked in the flying position. My fuselage is in one piece but the tail plane is removable which allowed me to fit elevator servos in the plane roots. Jerry made a couple of errors on the plan one of which is easy to correct and makes the model look better on the ground I think. The line of the undercarriage doors is completely wrong as on the full size the bottom line of the main door when down should be parallel to the ground/fuselage datum, I changed mine and I think it looks better.

Well enough waffle I look forward to possibly flying them together in 2011, all the best for the New Year.

m

Mick,Pete and Alan - thanks for the comments and encouragement together with the background on your model which I saw for the first time at Cosford this year,although unfortunately only flying out of the corner of my eye since I was in the same slot as you flying my Corsair, but Mick that wing folding feature is a credit to you and your engineering skills mate - as you say it will be good to get them into the air together at some point next year.

I declined the offer from my better half on holiday Monday to join her and 'hit' the sales and instead spent a few hours pratting about completing the instrument panel,as mentioned previously I had made the 4 blank panels from ali sheet formed around balsa templates,these were sprayed matt black and the instrument dials themselves were cut from suitably sized prints of the full size panel and faced with non-reflective clear tape before being mounted onto the blank panels,the dial surrounds are from various sizes of 1/16 inch 'O' rings from Wickes,they give a reasonable facsimile of the real thing,the mounting screws were formed by turning a sharpened bit of brass tube against the painted ali blank in the appropriate places,the whole thing finished off with a bit of general wear and scratching etc - the problem is that when I offered up the panel inside the fuselage most of it is hidden !!!!

A couple of pictures to show the finished item ( photo quality now kindly improved by Neil ) and one of the emergency canopy release area which I completed before being drawn away to admire the 'bargains' the little lady had obtained from Laura Ashley.

Happy New Year to you all - Trevor Wood LMA 687

Thanks Trevor, it’s nice to be a member of the mutual admiration society!

Would you mind telling me where you found the instrument pictures, they are better than the ones I have.

Thanks m

Highly effective dashboard there trevor.
I will be using that method myself .
Well done.
Happy new year.
M

Hi Trevor,

That picture of the blind flying panel looks a lot better

Happy New Year to all,
Neil

Hello Trevor,i assume you will be fitting a 250cc 5cyl radial engine.I look forward to flying with you again with the Tempest mk11. ps.i am still living on the adrenalin from the Sunday flight at Cosford. Happy new year .. Brian.

Here's one of Mick's Sea Fury - I hope Santa brought Mick a pilot for 2011



TTFN,
Neil

hi guys
well without doubt a cracking model and what a shot, just one thing, ive never seen a warbird soooooooo clean!
but a cracker anyway,
regards and happy landings

wayne owen wrote:hi guys
well without doubt a cracking model and what a shot, just one thing, ive never seen a warbird soooooooo clean!
but a cracker anyway,
regards and happy landings

VR930 is operated by the Royal Naval Historic Flight........and as with 99% of modern restorations, is VERY clean & tidy.

Phil

Another great looking model Trevor, I saw your Corsair at Cosford and personally I think it was the best looking warbird of 2010(sorry theres no trophy). The Sea Fury was never a big favourite of mine until I met this one in the pics(which were taken whilst being towed out at Duxford), beast of an aeroplane I can see why everyones going all gooey over these models. "clean an tidy" this one is "bling bling"

Stewart and Co,thanks for the feedback,it is interesting to note the discussion on the appearance of 'present day' examples of Hawker's masterpiece,as Phil has stated and his pictures illustrate clearly, the current flying example of '110' is in pristine condition with very little dirt and staining evident - it's ground crew obviously do not allow grime and crap to stay put for long,as Phil mentioned to me during one of our conversations that is why the example he built was only very lightly weathered since the owner wanted his model to replicate the condition of the current flying example.
My model is being completed to replicate '114' toward the end of it's tour of duty off Korea in the early 50's with 802 squadron on HMS Ocean, when piloted by Peter Carmichael in '114' he was credited with downing a Mig15,from the research I have done the condition of these in service machines was clearly somewhat different to that of present day examples,with the conditions at sea and the effects of numerous bombing missions,actually firing of cannons etc having an impact on appearance.
I am currently finishing off the cockpit with side instrument panels and controls going in,together with floor and rudder pedals etc - don't know why I am bothering really since you can hardly see any of it with the canopy on and even less when I finish and install the pilot - will post a few more pictures in the near future.

Thanks Stewart for the comments on the Corsair - have added a bit more scale detail here,trim tabs,cockpit additions etc

Regards Trevor Wood LMA 687

I guess 'clean' or 'weathered' as in use, where the priorities of winning a war were greater than 'shine', is a case of personal choice.
Regardless, they all look fantasic and are a credit to the respective builders/owners/pilots.
Clearly these are warbird models that have come of age, with our security in 2.4, 'real' powerplants and the confidence of the pilots.
I remember that circuit you did Stu...amazing, the youngest Fury pilot in the country, shame it went abroad.

The standard has been raised.....excellent.

M

This ones still here Mike