Eduardo Cruz
1/72
Fairey IIID Inbox review |
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1 - 1/72 Fairey IIID |
This is an in box review of the 1/72 Fairey
IIID by Eduardo Cruz. The build (well putty/sand) has commenced
for a later review. The package arrived yesterday from Portugal,
this is a good quick turnaround from Eduardo considering
he was flat chat over Xmas with his day job and the international
Xmas mail from/to Oz/Portugal. Eduardo is also a
nice guy to deal with. The kit arrived professionally packaged/presented
and securely posted in bubble wrap and a stout cardboard
box.
Mouldings - think
(better) Merlin/Aeroclub. The outline and some fine detail
is there but the smaller mouldings show the limits of the
moulding process. The two page instructions
( in Portugese ) includes painting diagrams for a Portugese
IIID.
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Image 2 - Page 1 |
Image 3 - Page 2 |
The parts layout is in image 4. The fuselage
seems to bend slightly to the right forward of the cockpit
(using Mk1 eyeball), I will have to think about if it's able/worth
fixing. There are small
airholes on the fuselage bottom, this should be easy fix
with wipe of your favourite filler. Image 5 seems to (over)accentuate
the bend in the fueslage, an optical illusion I think, from
plan view it's barely discernable. There is a bit of a mould
line down the rear deck spine and I will have
to see how that looks after primer, but it will probably
need some filler/redetailing. The seats and control column
are provided but you will need to fake the rest (any
interior shots around? - Ryan ?).
The engine looks rough
and will probably be replaced with an Aeroclub E069, or
if you have a spare Roden Felixstowe F2A lying around
you could loot one of it's engines. But once again I will
see how it looks under a coat of primer.
The wingtips are
the funniest/worst bits, the technical term would be washout.
You can get away with it on the lower wings but I think I
will have to lay on a bit of filler on the top upper tips
at least. The wings (image 6) will need some sanding and
'tidy up' to remove some small lumps and bumps from the
strut locating holes on the undersides. There is a recessed
butt join for the lower wings but you'll probably want to
secure with brass rod spars. The interplane struts and spars
etc are probably easiest replaced using Contrail strut material
than separating them from the backing. The floats are ok
but the inter-float struts will need care/replacement.
Eduardo
has certainly paid attention to detail in the original but
I think the limitations of the cottage moulding have to be
worked thru by the modeler :) So, this is the only show in
town as they say, and a good basis for the builder in us
to come out and play :-)
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