1/48 Hobbycraft Hawker Fury prototype |
Gallery Article by Robert-Jan Willekens
on
Nov 11 2003
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Armistice
Day...Remembrance Day...Veterans Day
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The presentation of
a FW 190A-3 to the RAF on june 23, 1942, which landed at RAF Pembrey by mistake,
had a profound influence on fighter-design thinking in the UK. As a result this
ended up into RAF specification F.2/43, to build and develop a
"light-weight fighter" designed around the Bristol Centaurus
18-cylinder 2.400 hp radial engine. Light-weight, indeed! Parallel to this RAF
specification ran a similar one for the Royal Navy; N.7/43, which prompted chief
designer Sydney Camm of Hawker's to suggest that the same design could meet the
requirements of both specifications. So the Fury and its naval version, the Sea
Fury, was born. This model portrays the first Centaurus-powered land-based
version, the Fury, first flown on
September 1, 1944, from Martlesham Heath
airfield, UK
Click on
images below to see larger images
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My model is the
Hobbycraft Sea Fury, with minor modifications to the tail area where the hook
used to be. The guns were replaced by miniature tubing; and the undercarriage
strengthened by some more brass tubing and such. Then came the fun part: Yellow.
It's Humbrol's trusty Trainer Yellow, and the top colours were also from Humbrol.