Buzz Buzz 3 - Revenge of the Swarm!

[The Wooksta!]

"Well, what have you brought me this time?"

What?  MORE projects?  You haven't finished any of the others and you're starting another thread with yet more projects?

Yes.  Yes, I am.

Look, with one exception, these have been sitting in the Hornet box for a while - in one case since 2002 - and really needed finishing.  There's just one new build - sort of, one salvaged from something I did in 2001, one that needed a new coat of paint and masking to do the second, one a respray and finish and the final one? A new coat of paint and repurposing.  So, a veritable swarm of five Hornets, all based on the old Frog kit.  It has some issues, but it's a fun build and with a bit of tweaking, it can look decent enough.

You cannot view this attachment.

This is the repurposed one.  It dates from 2006 and was going to be a target tug.  I really can't be bothered with those black stripes, so it's had a complete respray with Hicote Aluminium and it's going to be a PR6, probably with 81 Sqn in Malaya.  I have some newly cast wheels, using the Skybirds Hornet ones as a master and a new tailwheel from a mould inherited from TsrJoe, plus a new seat, again copied from the Skybirds Hornet one.

You cannot view this attachment.

This one is going to be another PR6, but in Med Sea Grey over PRU Blue with a high demarcation.  I need to add some plastic card here and there, plus there's some rescribing to do before I can get the wings on.

And the other three?  Currently drying after some spraying in the shed.  One is a PR2 which I did as a 60 Sqn SAAF one in Italy in 1946, but the tail decal never sat properly (my own fault for using the crap ESCI decals) and it's long mouldered in a box.  So I sanded off the decals, cleaned off the dust and gave it a new overall coat of PRU Blue.  It looks much better now.

Three down, two to go.  One I'd rather present as a fait accompli, because it's very colourful and a surprise from my more usual fare.  It is what I'd intended it for all along.  I'd given it a new coat of paint on the uppers yesterday and masked it off last night. The other colour was sprayed earlier and may need a new coat.

And the last one?  A night attacker in an extended war scenario, so it's going Med Sea Grey and Dark Green disruptive uppers over night, with underwing bomb racks and flame dampers on the exhausts.  I'd painted it in that scheme originally then stripped it as I was unhappy with it for some reason lost to time.  Reprimed yesterday and now resplendent with it's upper surface MSG.

[NARSES2]

Looking forward to these Lee 

[The Wooksta!]

"Six? No, it would be six if you killed him, Michael. Let's call it two."

Progress of a sort.  I've really ben in a bit of an odd mood over the last week and not done much.  Certainly not with the Hornets since they were sprayed.  Anyway, some have been advanced...

You cannot view this attachment.

This is the one that was loosely fitted together.  I've done the underside scribing it needed (flaps) and glued the wings on, with some plastic card spacers.

You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

This wasn't in the photos in the post earlier and was the reason for the loosely fitted one.  I was sure I'd got an assembled Frog Hornet but couldn't find it, then I did a few days back.  IIRC it was thrown together during lockdown alongside the AZ one as a comparison.  I'd intended it to go gear up as an inflight one, so hadn't carved out the cockpit, which was interesting now that it was together...  I've added some plastic card strip for the fuselage stiffener and the radiator flaps.  All the other resin bits - seat, wheels and tailwheel - are all cast.  May need some more...

You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

The PR2 now resplendent in overall PRU Blue.  Need to sort out a rudder, but I've a dead Mosquito being used as a paint mule that can be sactificed easily enough.

You cannot view this attachment.

This wasn't in the earlier batch but it's been added when I found the PR5 a few days back.  It was originally a Magna NF21, but I'd stolen the wings to build a BPF Sea Hornet F20 (in 2002), because the Magna F3/FR4/F20 kit only had the standard wings and not the specific Sea Hornet ones with the wing fold and associated blisters.  That left me with a NF fuselage and standard wings, so I decided on another NF10.  It's going Malaya, as a lead ship or Forward Air Controller.  I'm not planning on anything under the wings other than the fuel tanks, although I'm curious to see if the Firedog specific rocket mounts from the Beaufighter will fit.  Other than primer, I've not painted underneath yet, so it may yet happen.

No photos of the colourful one  - that's under wraps until it's finished - and whilst the night attacker did get a coat of paint, it's MSG and looks like the primer, so no real point.  That'll get masked later tonight and the Dark Green sprayed when I do the NF10 tomorrow.

[The Wooksta!]

"By the way, it was a complete lie about the oil."

Actually, I hadn't posted the night attacker when the last post was written - it was still hiding in the shed.

You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

This dates from 2002, I think.  IIRC, it was one of a batch of things intended for the Telford SIG display that year that never got finished and hence abandoned  Standard Frog/Novo Hornet with the usual mods I apply to bring it kicking and screaming into the 1980s, let alone the 2000s - plastic strip fuselage stiffener and radiator flaps, some prescribing and a bit of extra detail in the cockpit.  TBH, that's usually a seat and blocking off the area behind the bulkhead.  I also added some home cast resin exhausts, using the Skybirds NF21 examples as masters and bomb racks from the Special Hobby kit.  Cleaned, primed and now with some Medium Sea Grey on the uppers.

[Old Wombat]

 

[The Wooksta!]

"Who can tell?"

The second Hornet PR5 is now masked and ready for a date with some PRU Blue.

You cannot view this attachment.

I developed a trick for masking tail surfaces - use a spare one as a template.  I didn't have any to hand, well, not Frog ones, so a trip into the loft to find the box of part started Frog/Novo ones was needed.  That detail will become clear later.

This is going to be an 81 Sqn example in Malaya, alongside the overall Aluminium Dope one upthread.

You cannot view this attachment.

The third of the PR5s.  It just needs some plastic strip for the fuselage stiffener and the radiator flaps underneath.  Quick coat of primer and then overall PRU Blue.

Having that box of part started Hornets wasn't good...

You cannot view this attachment.

There's enough bits for a total of four complete airframes.  I'm thinking 404 Sqn, Banff Strike wing, for one of them, and possibly 489 Sqn too. The decision to use 404 is down to having several spare codes on several Mosquito sheets.  All for the same aircraft.  I wish decal manufacturers could be more informed with their research.  One of my many, many bugbears.

You cannot view this attachment.

As I'd already glued the wings together but forgot the exhausts, this one is getting the night fighter exhausts from the Magna Sea Hornet NF21.  They do fit - the PR2 has some I'd purchased for use more years ago than I care to remember - so it's going to be another night aircraft, possibly a bomber escort.  100 Group?

I'm not sure quite what the other two will end up as, either that 489 option for one - possibly with a torpedo - but a 2TAF aircraft is another in the back of my head.

Like I really needed more projects...

[Rick Lowe]

Like I really needed more projects...

Preaching to the Choir, brother! 
I resemble that remark, my own self... 

Still, you have to use them somehow, now don't you? Otherwise it's a waste... 

[The Wooksta!]

"Very probably, Micheal."

The other of the trio of PR5s have got they paint on.

You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

The easiest of the pair, the PDU aircraft.  I'm stealing the codes from a Spitfire sheet, as none of the available decal sheet with white codes have them in the correct style.  The PDU did fly one of the Hornet PR2s with codes - I have them listed somewhere - although there's no photograph of it.  IIRC, Colin Shipton-Knight did a Dynavector Hornet many years back as that aircraft.  It was a lovely model.  This is getting a smaller fin flash and Type B roundels, plus serial and codes.  Easy!

You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

The sexiest colour scheme the Hornet never wore.  I had to redo the top decking PRU Blue as I had the spacing wrong.  It's still not perfect, but you can only see one side at a time, which is good enough for me.  Sexy Type D roundels and a nice squadron crest above the fin flash.

The doors for all the PR Hornets are now done too, plus I've got all the cast resin wheels together to make a start on cleaning them up.