World War 2

Supermarine Walrus – Airfix

This is a great kit – Airfix definitely have up their game in the last few years after what felt like being ‘stuck’ for a long time. They are now back in the forefront of modelling companies putting out great kits. We start with the cockpit of course, and it is very well detailed. Of course, you can always add more, just be warned that many areas will be hidden. There are many areas with ejector marks, but 95% of these will not be seen.

This the basic cockpit out of the box except for some Eduard belts. The tables were painted with a base coat of Tamiya buff followed by Brown oil paint with a stiff brush. The color is a bit off due to the lighting.

This is the finished cockpit, with the window being opened so you can see it better, a navigation ruler, a map, and I think is a compass on the floor added. Some additional small pe bits and placards were added, and everything got a nice deep black oil wash to make the details pop. It’s a bit stark, but you will need to see this once it’s closed up.

Here’s some different shots of the interior including building out the open window.

Once its closed up, you will only see a portion of the interior, so you decide how much to add here. For me, I probably did a bit ‘too much’, but it was fun. At this stage its much simpler to do some painting in the main body, as it will be very difficult with wings and engines in place. You can see that I’ve already started the rigging for the engine, as it will be impossible to get to when the wings are in. I used my now usual lycra thread with CA glue (lycra thread are sold in craft stores and by different model specific suppliers as ‘rigging’). I also used silly putty for this type of camo masking.

The engine itself is a nicely detailed.

Next up was the wings, and as with my usual biplanes, I always start the rigging before the wings are closed up. This makes at least half the process much faster and easier. You can be as sloppy as you want.

Here’s the full wings fully rigged and mounted. Decals also was applied with generous oil washes to make the rivets pop.

A major roadblock stopped this project for a few weeks – I lost one of the wing floats. Have no idea where the part went, and it is a big piece. After writing to Airfix, which replied that the kit was out of production, and they have no spare parts left. So finally I resorted to vacuum forming my own part with clear plastic and a used ‘ We R Memory Keepers® Mold Press’ machine. You can pick one up in many craft stores.

Now the misc loose pieced and canopy were added, followed by a matt coat and different oil washes for weathering, and the model was done.

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