Fairey Barracuda Mk. II Wheels & Fairey Barracuda Mk.V accessories sets

for Special Hobby kits

Brengun, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

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In the mid-2000s, Griffon Model Accessories released several detailing sets designed to enhance Special Hobby’s 1/48 Fairey Barracuda kits.  These sets were popular and, after they went out of production towards the end of the decade, increasingly hard to find.  I certainly had no luck tracking down Griffon’s comprehensive Barracuda Mk.II/III detail set, and had resigned myself to never finding it when, several years ago, the set was re-released by Brengun Model Accessories.  I quickly ordered a copy, and was very pleased with what I received.

Brengun has since produced two more Fairey Barracuda sets based on earlier Griffon releases:  a set of Mk.II wheels, and a Mk.V accessories set.  The parts in each set appear almost identical to those in their Griffon predecessors, although Brengun’s wheels set combines two Griffon releases:  48028 (spoked wheels) and 48029 (full disc wheels).  The injection moulded wheels in Special Hobby’s Mk.II/III kit aren’t bad, but the Brengun replacements have three advantages.  First, they are one-piece items while the Special Hobby wheels are provided as halves and must be glued together and then cleaned up.  Secondly, hub detail on the Brengun parts is superior to that on the Special Hobby wheels.  And finally, Special Hobby only provides full disc wheels, while Brengun supplies two different wheel types.

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The wheels are attached to their casting blocks via rebates, which should make removal and cleanup quite straightforward.  Casting quality is very good, with no pinholes or other flaws.  The film of flash between each wheel and its casting block is so thin that it can be rubbed away with a finger.

The Barracuda Mk.V accessories set is a more comprehensive package. 

In his 2007 review of the original Griffon release, Brett Green concluded that the set comprehensively addressed “most of the shortcomings in the Special Hobby kit”.  Areas covered by the set include:

• Undercarriage.  Special Hobby didn’t really do justice to the Barracuda’s bewildering and highly visible landing gear set-up, but fortunately Brengun has.  Most of the relevant kit parts are replaced with photo-etch and resin equivalents, with the highlight being the very well cast single piece wheel wells.  With careful assembly and painting, the Brengun parts will turn the landing gear and associated structures into one of the most impressive areas of your model.  The only downside I can see is that some of the pour stubs are pretty solid – particularly on the wheel wells – so clean up will require either a motorized grinding tool, or considerable patience and care.

• Rear canopy deck.  The star here is another impressive one piece casting (complete with substantial pour block) that will be highly visible on the finished model.  A number of small resin and photo-etched parts add further detail to this area.

• Exhausts.  These are single piece castings with lovely louvre/grill detail that will also be extremely visible on the completed model.

• Underwing bomb racks.  These four racks are very finely detailed – indeed so finely detailed that a number of the delicate sway braces had broken off in transit.  This seems to be a common problem with these racks, because the same happened to the racks in my Mk.II/III detail set, and Brett mentioned it as an issue in his review of the Griffon set.  In this context, Brengun might want to consider more robust packaging arrangements for such fragile parts, to give them a greater chance of arriving at their destination in one piece.

The instructions are provided in black and white on a small, double-sided sheet of paper.  They are probably the weakest part of the set, being difficult to follow in a number of places.  I recommend examining the illustrations closely to ensure you’re putting the right part in the right place, and then doing extensive test fitting before committing any parts to glue.

While casting quality of the Mk.V set isn’t quite up to the standard of the wheels – there are pinholes present on some parts – it is still very good.

I’d recommend investigating Brengun’s range of Fairey Barracuda sets if you have any of Special Hobby’s 1/48 kits in your stash.  Both of the sets reviewed here, as well as the Mk.II/III set that is also available from Brengun, will add further character to any model of this fabulously ungainly aircraft.

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Brengun Models for the review sample.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2013 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 12 November, 2013
Last updated 12 November, 2013

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