Revell 04709, 1/32nd DH Sea Venom F.22/ Venom NF.3 (Matchbox reissue) - Sprue Shots

[BombTaxi]

Righty then,

As promised, sprue shots of my latest acquisition. First off, I have to say you get a lot of plastic for your groats - I picked this up for £12.47 on modelsforsale.com, standard retail is about £15. For this you get a wings folded option for the FAWs and a very detailed Ghost for all three versions. Those versions are:

XG693 '492', Sea Venom FAW.22, 894 NAS, FAA, HMS Albion 1960

WZ906 '209', Sea Venom FAW.53, 724 NAS, Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Melbourne, 1962

WX855 'N', Venom NF.3, No. 89 Squadron, Royal Air Force, RAF Stradishall, 1955-1958.

And heres what you get:

Fuselage

Upper Wings Instrument Panel

Lower Wings

Tail Booms Undercarriage Bays

Tip Tanks Engine

Bang Seats, Arrestor Hook More Engine

Decals

Note the RN underwing codes are pre-cut for those doing the wings folded version 8)

Finally, transparencies in thier own bag

Not the clearest, I know, but you basically get a common canopy frame, and separate opening parts for the carrier and land based versions.

All moulded in fairly thick, hard white plastic (looks grey I know, light and camera are a bit rubbish I'm afraid). Moulded detail is good on engine and pit (including cockpit sides) - just as well because I understand there is NO resin or PE whatsoever available for this kit. Good detail on the wing fold hinges too, but none that I can see 'inside' the wings - so a bit of a scratch job there I think. I have a link to a few good piccies of that area should anyone need it. There is somemoulded detail on the instrument panel, but decals are provided as well. Of course, if you are building the RAF version, or Navy with wings unfolded, you still get the wings in 'inboard' and 'outboard' sections, with a plain square fillet to connect them. Otherwise, there is a pair of hinges moulded in the fully folded position with some moulded detail on the visible 'plumbing'.

I've seen this kit built up in Suez colours to competition-winning standards, so there is definitely a lot of potential in this rather cheap and elderly kit - I'm sure some of our guru's here could certainly realise it!!!!

I apologise for the murkiness of the pics - I've never done much photo uploading before and I really do need to get a decent camera. If anyone wants a close-up of a particular bit, I shall do my best to oblige

 

[Lucky13]

That's alot of plastic for your moolah mate! Raised panel lines I presume...

 

[Wurger]

Looking good..

 

[BombTaxi]

Detail is somewhat trench-like in places. Revell's only modification, as I understand, was to clean up the canopy moulds, so all the other bits are as Matchbox made them. In fact, if you look inside the wing panels, the Matchbox stamp date have been hastily scratched out with a scriber, but are still more or less legible! I guess this accounts for the low price of such a big beast.

 

[Colin1]

Detail is somewhat trench-like in places.... ...the Matchbox stamp date have been hastily scratched out...

Yep
that sounds like a Matchbox kit
I read somewhere that if one of their kits were scaled up to lifesize, your fingers would disappear up to the second joint in the panel lines

 

[Airframes]

Thanks for showing that, BT, it looks like a very interesting kit - looking forward to your build.
You're probably right Colin, but you have to remember when these kits were first introduced - early '70's. Although the Matchbox renowned 'trenches for panel lines' seem a pain at first sight, they were innovative at the time, and they are easily filled. The parts in this series of kits have a somewhat 'chunky' appearance to them, but they all build into very nice models. With a little bit of extra work, they can be winners. And of course, there's the price - at £15 or so they are well worth it. Even a Beaufighter is available in this scale at this sort of price, and, although a little basic by todays standards, provides a wonderful basis for additional scratch-building and detailing. I think it's great that Revell have taken up the moulds for these kits, although there proposed re-issue of the Bf109F might be a slight retrograde step!

 

[Wayne Little]

Thanks BT...lots of work ahead of you!

 

[BombTaxi]

Indeed there will be! I fancy doing the RN FAW.22 with wings folded and canopy open - so the pit will have to be good!

I have collected together a few build of this kit that I have found around the net, so I can gauge where any pitfalls might be - and see what more competent folks than myself have done to spruce the kit up. TBH, the engine probably represents more work than the entire Hurricane I'm doing ATM. But I shan't be daunted - expect first pics 2015!

EDIT: While I think about it, heres a look at what can be done with this kit in capable hands - Large Scale Planes - LSP

 

[Heinz]

Looks great BT!

I'm tempted to get it for the HMAS Melbourne markings.

If you need any photos my local museum has a venom I could go down and photograph for you.

 

[Wildcat]

Interesting kit BT. Here are some pics I've taken of the example at the South Australian Aviation Museum.

 

[Heinz]

Great stuff Andy!

 

[Lucky13]

Agree....great shots Andy!

 

[109ROAMING]

Sweet shots Andy

Looking forward to the build BT!

 

[Airframes]

Yep, nice pics Andy, and a good link BT. Your model should look rather good I think.