Airfix 1/48 scale Seafire Mk.XVII by Mike Williams

Airfix 1/48 scale
Seafire Mk.XVII

by Mike Williams

Supermarine Seafire Mk.XVII

Airfix's 1/48 scale Seafire Mk.XVII is available online from Squadron

Construction

Wow! What a kit!

I really enjoyed this one.

It is, of course, the all new tooling from Airfix in 1:48 of the Supermarine Seafire F.XVII.
I started by painting the interior parts with black and cockpit green, I also replaced the air scoop atop the fuselage with some thin sheet aluminium as the moulded one is soft and too small.

I added some paint to the cockpit details and done some light washes and drybrushing, nothing too taxing as not much will be seen once ensconsed within the fuselage.

It is quite neatly detailed and really pops out under some paint, it looked decidedly undetailed before paint I must admit. The seat belt is an etched part from Model Design Construction.

The wings were put together as I was building it with the wings spread rather than folded to preserve those classic lines; there are some ejector pin marks to remove on both mating surfaces near the wingtips. A couple of minutes with a scalpel makes so much difference to the fit on these.

The insides are made up from two major bulkheads and the control column with its various linkages, all were simply painted and drybrushed to highlight the details. It would have been nice for Airfix to have included instrument dials as decals though little can be seen once completed and installed in the fuselage.

I thinned down the radiator flaps, you can see the before and after. I replaced the cut away side panels from thin alu sheet. I also flat sanded the actual panels that join to the lower wing to seat it better into the moulded recess, as it sits slightly proud as is.

I drilled out the exhaust stubs which adds a quantum difference will little input.

You can see the small gap at the rear joint of the wing section to fuselage and in the corners of the leading edges, not easy to see as they are such small gaps.

Painting and Markings

The panel lines are a little on the heavy side, but look far better under a coat of paint or two.

The model is finished with Gunze H74 Sky (lightened approx.30% with Flat White) and Gunze H333 Dark Sea Grey, the spinner is Tamiya XF-3 Yellow with Gunze H77 Tire Black for the tyres and prop blades, wheel hubs and u/c legs are Alclad Aluminium. the exhaust stacks were drilled out and sprayed Alclad Steel and shaded with Alclad Pale Burnt Metal.

Weathering was kept minimal with a light panel wash and some light exhaust staining.

The decals worked fantastically and settled down well with klear as decal set. Its finished in markings as option C in the kit, from No.1832 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Southern Air Division, Royal Naval Air Station Culham, Oxfordshire, England, 1950

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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