fairey fulmer

[woljags]

this might be an interesting project for some,i have 2 kits of the fairey fulmer,1x vac form by rareplanes,1 x by revell apparently using an old frog mould but according to my book on everything frog this was not produced or made in any form apart from a paper project that was dropped,the object of this exercise is to compere vac form against injection to see if its possable to get similer results from both,pics to follow shortly

[woljags]

the 1st couple of photos show the 2 kits as they came,the next few show the building so far of the injection kit by revell


vac form kit with body and wings assembled,i've found that the best way to build a vac form is to quickly put these parts together and leave overnight to dry,then to add any detail as you cut the openings out,this makes for a stronger structure as the model will stiffen as the parts are added




i then cut the canopy to shape and the
interior was now painted in RAF interior green


next will come the interior detailing once the paint drys

thanks for looking

[Airframes]

Nice going mate! I vaguely remember seeing a Fulmar on the side of a 'Frog' kit box, when they used to have silhouettes of other models in the range printed on their packaging, but I don't recall actually seeing the kit. However, being Revell, it's a strong possibility that this is an ex-'Matchbox' mould, as I believe the latter company did produce such a kit, possibly from the original 'Frog' patterns.

[woljags]

frog did do a firefly developed from the fulmer that looked very similer in its early form,the kit had a note inside saying it was ex frog but although in my book it was given the frog serial number of f301 in 1973 it was never made, as you suggest it might have been a matchbox as the panel lines look more matchbox like than frog being that they are a little heavy for a
1/72nd kit

[woljags]

pictures showing the progress so far mainly of the vac form kit,in the 1st few you can see the vac form coming together including cockpit detailing,the later pics show both together with the vac form getting its camo being added,the last couple show both kits together before markings are added,looking at the kits together the injection kit looks more mk2 with its squarer front canopy and the vacform a mark 1 as it has more curves to all surfaces+cockpit,what do you think chaps

[TimEwers]

man you build fast, but how does the Revell kit fare in terms of fit and detail.? Is it like the Heller kit just enough part to finish it?.

[bob3170]

Looking good, interesting comparison. As far as the Revell kit, information on the SMAKR site claims it is the Vista kit, also reboxed by Smer, which I have a copy of, and it does look very familiar. One way you can tell, is the Vista kit doesn't have any alignment pins as we know them, just a few very small tabs on the fuselage, and the panel lines aren't quite Matchbox trenches, but not Tamegawa fine either, more like the new mold Airfix.

[woljags]

this injection kit had very small pins and very bad panel lines gaps,i also found that the main body wanted to twist as it dried so i used tape to correct this removing when dry,the parts count is very low for a kit of this size,i added a little detail not that you can see much once the canopy is fitted and painted,the vac form parts count as expected is very low too,although they do give you a cockpit floor and seats, everything else i've made myself using the drawings and injection kit as a reference,i'm not good enough to do it detail wise but has anybody built a model fully detailed from a vac form

[Wurger]

A quick assembling, really..... both models are looking good.

[vikingBerserker]

Very nice.

[Wurger]

but has anybody built a model fully detailed from a vac form

I know it's very hard to believe to, but there is a few modellers who make brilliant models using vacu-formed kits. Please, have a look here for instance : He 219 "Uhu" vac - LSP Forums

[Wayne Little]

Done a few basic Vacforms years ago....

[woljags]

were you happy with the results Wayne

[woljags]

i've now finished these 2 projects pics to follow shortly,that Heinkel project is going to be some model when its finished,i don't know why but i've a real soft spot for VAC forms that proberly to do with the rare subjects available

[woljags]

whats the verdict chaps