Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Seafire FR Mk.46/47

AIRFIX 1:48 SEAFIRE FR MK.46/47

Reviewer: Geoff Goldfen (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: December 2000

Aircraft:
The Seafire is a derivative - or if you like a specialised navy variant - of the famous Supermarine Spitfire. After the Sea Hurricane version proved to be a success it prompted the British War Ministry into considering other landplane fighters as a basis for carrier-borne warplane derivatives. In 1941 it was decided to produce a navalised Spitfire as a result. The Fr Mk.46 & Fr Mk.47 variants were produced after the war and featured in the Korean conflict flying some strike missions and CAP duties, equipping No. 800 HMS Triumph and No. 804 HMS Glory navy Squadrons. The main difference between the two aircraft as I understand it is that the FR Mk.47 has folding wings.

The Kit:
The kit comes in a large box with about 120 parts for the modeller to use and features engraved panel lines, raised rivets and two sets of wings for the different versions. The surface detail is quite convincing and Airfix have produced a kit with quality that is arguably up with the best of them. I was very impressed with what I found in the box.

Construction:
The cockpit is the first port of call and features only the bare essentials - stick, seat, panel etc. Probably one good thing is that if you build the Fr.47 with folding wings it will restrict the view inside somewhat. I had to add in most of the detailing myself and scratchbuilt some panels, boxes, harnesses and the like. I must admit though that my reference material is pretty sparse in this regard. Airfix call for a dark (black) wash as the cockpit interior which I followed, and I picked out some of the detailing with medium grey and white dry brushstrokes.

Before affixing the fuselage halves you need to assemble the contra-rotating propeller unit in such a way that it can be moveable (if you like) once encased in the nose section. The fuselage halves went on quite easily but were held in place by a couple of clamps. The join lines needed some sanding afterward to remove them.

Next came the main wing assembly and this is where I struck a few problems. Sub assembling the wing section was fine but getting them to fit flush against the fuselage created a few problems. Gaps resulted and a fair amount of filling and subsequent sanding was needed, plus the need to rescribe panel detail. This part of the kit was frustrating to say the least. In hindsight, one might have better success if you glue the upper wing sections to the fuselage before attaching the lower portion.

The wing tanks supplied in the kit is also best adding at this point because it looks like they would not go on well if the model was painted first. This also causes a few problems because the tanks and pylons will bisect the large underwing decals (codes) that need to be placed there. More on that below.

The canopy set comes in a windscreen and main canopy pieces that are attached to the sprue by a rather thick attachment point which will inevitably result in ruining some part of the clear pieces. For as minimal damage as possible I removed them by expertly and carefully cutting them from the sprue with a very sharp excel blade. The windscreen went onto the model okay but the canopy is larger and noticeably so. It also did not like sitting where it should on the fuselage so to get around this problem I decided to display the cockpit open. This alleviated those concerns.

From here the rest of the model building is reasonably straightforward but does require some attention in various parts and a fair bit of coaxing for optimum fit. Preparation of the areas for attachment is the key - a bit of sanding etc. You also need to be prepared for losing some panel/surface detail or rescribe them yourself. Small external bits went on easily enough but needed careful treatment.

The undercarriage is basic but adequate and there is only a small amount of detail in the wheel well. The struts were not happy to sit in the allocated areas in the wheel well and superglue was needed to strengthen the bond. Another bit of frustration was spent doing this section. I painted the struts in aluminium according to Airfix instructions but I would suggest double checking reference photos first.

Painting & Decals:
My model was painted in Sky under and main sides and extra dark sea grey upper portions as depicted on the boxart. The decal sheet looked okay at best - in spite of containing a fair amount of stencilling, invasion stripes, roundels and so forth they were clearly a bit out of register. This was enough to get the warning bells going but I persisted by at least attempting to use the kit decals. The decals were of poor quality and are best ditched in favour of better after market stuff. I used roundels from my spare box, painted on the invasion stripes myself using 6mm masking tape as the width and only used a few bits and pieces from the kit. The underwing codes which had to be split because of the underwing tank needed to be cut and that was an absolute a***hole to try and set correctly. The carrier film was also excessive and needed a few after coats to blend them in. I almost gave up decaling due to frustration and Humbrold decalfix was leaving watermarks because of all the attempts. I succeeded in the end, that is, my persistence paid off but I would seriously recommend going for an aftermarket set!

Overall:
Well this is a difficult one to sum up quickly. It builds into a very good replica of the Seafire FR.46/47 from the references I have which as already mentioned, is fairly sparse on this subject. This is not a model for the novice by any stretch of the imagination and while most components fit quite okay, it did need the mind of an advanced builder to tackle them. For this reason I'd only recommend the kit for the more advanced modeller who is keen to put their skills to the test to achieve a good outcome from an otherwise stubborn kit. But at least for the main you can get a fairly accurate replication out of the box (but replace those decals!)

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