**** DONE: 1/72 De Havilland Sea Venom FAW 53 – Carrier Aircraft GB

[parsifal]

2. 1/72 De Havilland Sea Venom FAW 53 – Carrier Aircraft GB
Username: Parsifal
First name: Michael
Category: Beginner
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Eastern Express

The De Havilland DH 112 Sea Venom was a post-1945 development of the Vampire twin-boom jet fighter/trainer. It featured side by side seating for two-crew in a wooden cockpit of similar construction to the well-known wartime De Havilland Mosquito aircraft. The rest of the Sea Venom was built of metal and incorporated specialised naval equipment for operation from aircraft carriers. It was designed as an all-weather interceptor fighter, powered by a De Havilland Ghost jet engine. The Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm received 39 FAW.53 Sea Venoms when the carrier HMAS Melbourne arrived in Australia from the UK in April 1956. The Sea Venom remained in RAN service until 1966 when most surviving aircraft were sold for scrap
Eastern Express is basically frog rebadged. The kit is very basic, and not quite the model I wanted to build for this GB. Red Roo or Hobbycraft each do very sophisticated renditions of this a/c in 1/72 scale . however quite simply their cost (over $40) precluded me getting a copy of either. I was able to obtain RAN decals from a review done of the red Roo model.
I don't know a lot about this fighter, but it has always interested me in a general sort of way. I think it is the unusal shape of the aircraft, plus it served as the first jet fighter of the RAN in the post war age.
There is a lot of on line photographic material, so I am not expecting too much trouble with this build. The Eastern Express version does not have a great reputation, however from the distance of the open box it doesn't look too bad….we will see however

 

[Wurger]

Nice.

 

[meatloaf109]

Wicked looking plane!
What is the paint scheme?

 

[Airframes]

Nice one Michael. I remember this as the original Frog issued kit.
Paul, colours are Dark Sea Grey over Sky, semi gloss.

 

[brucejscott]

Very cool choice Michael. She does look great with the Suez stripes.

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice choice.

 

[Lucky13]

Nice one mate! Looks great!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Good selection Michael and nice to see your keeping the flag flying.

 

[meatloaf109]

Nice one Michael. I remember this as the original Frog issued kit.
Paul, colours are Dark Sea Grey over Sky, semi gloss.

Oh, standard FAA stuff. I wasn't sure that there may have been alternates.

 

[rochie]

great choice

 

[woody]

Nice one Michael.

 

[parsifal]

The first job I wanted to look at is the cockpit and canopy detail. The kit has a pretty good finish in terms of the exterior skin, but its canopy and interior detail is very lacking. Turning firstly to the canopy detail, I found the following photos

The canopy has a large metal support running down its spine that is simply lacking in the kit. There are also a large amount of hoses and electronics located behind the crew seats that really should be replicated given their high level of visibility.

I am still toying with the idea of opening the canopy, but have not yet made a decision on that. It would have a dramatic effect on the visual appearance, but is a hard scratch build to attempt. the canopy is hard, thick plastic, and there are no spares provided in the kit.

 

[A4K]

Brilliant choice Michael!

Try this mate for a canopy mate! Instructions for Clear-Vax set 19

If you don't want to fork out for a whole set, maybe we can go shares or swap. I need the Walrus and Firefly canopies.

 

[parsifal]

Brilliant choice Michael!

Try this mate for a canopy mate! Instructions for Clear-Vax set 19

If you don't want to fork out for a whole set, maybe we can go shares or swap. I need the Walrus and Firefly canopies.

Yes I would be interested , but i cant see a price or how to order.

I also found thi link, but Im not sure if the part would fit or not. Its not specified for a Frog Kit. Does anyone know if this canopy would be suitable?

Pavla 1/72 de Havilland Sea Venom FAW. 21 Canopy # V72095

 

[parsifal]

I was also wondering if there are any resin aftermarket cockpits (or similar)... I will attempt a scratch build, but it is going to be a task and a half

 

[A4K]

The Pavla canopy is designed for the Dragon/ Cyber hobby kits according to that link you posted, but may fit yours with a little trimming/ filling.

The Falcon canopy is designed for the Frog/ Novo kits.

Canopies: Clearvax Canopy Set #19 Clearvax Canopy Set #19 [CV19] - $18.50 : JAYS Model Kits, New Zealands Best

Canopies and other Accessories:Hannants - Plastic model kits and accessories

 

[parsifal]

wow. thankyou so much for the information a4. you mentioned you might be interested in getting the canopy package joointly. Perhaps PM me to organize something?

 

[ccheese]

Does your Mom know you're working on her beautiful crocheted table cloth ?

Looking forward to this one...

Charles

 

[A4K]

Yeah Michael- definitely need the Walrus canopy, and the Firefly will come in handy for when I get one (on the 'to get' list). Didn't want to buy a whole set just for 2 canopies.

Will talk soon about how to do this best, but in the meantime list any other canopies you might not want from the set, and we'll see if we can't find takers for them.

(Btw, as you may know, the more popular Falcon canopies are sold individually under the 'Squadron Crystal Clear' name, which makes it a bit easier, but FAA types sadly aren't so popular, it seems, so have to get the whole set. Unless pavla do a Walrus canopy..?)

 

[parsifal]

Im happy to get the "job lot" even though not all the canopies are useful straight away....having a spare canopy or two is never a bad thing. All of them could be useful,, but the ones immediately useful to me would be the venom, gannet, Sea Fury and Fulmar. I could use the Firefly, but not esential, particulalry since its for a frog kit and a Firefly I.

Ill wait until Thursday, and then I will be able to purchase the aftermarket kits. If you want to purchase them and then somehow I transfer my share of the purchase price to you, thats okay I would be fine with that as well, but Im not quite sure how to do that....one way perhaps would be for me to purchase the canopies, you purchase the cockpit accessory (from Hannants, you send me me the cockpit, and I send you the canopies that you want. Not sure if that is a reasonable trade for you or not, its just a suggestion.