WW2 GB Special Hobby 1/48 Fairey Barracuda Finished

[ianf]

Hi all
My second offering in this build is another Fairey product, and something I've fancied building in a long time. So it should be an interesting build.
The pics

Box top canopy and resin parts








The pictures don't do the model justice in terms of size this is quite a big beastie, but inspite of it being a limited injection run the quality looks good.

Ian

[Deacon]

Ian I have to say that the Barrcuda is up there with the Gannet in the looks department, butt ugly.

Butt (ha ha very funny) unlike the Gannet, I look forward to seeing this one finished. Best of British.

Deacon

[flying_medic]

My grandfather, (ex-FAA) used to sing a song about the Barracuda II - to the tune of any "Any Old Iron". I can't remember all of it, but I can remember the last bit which went:

Weighs six tons, no front guns, **** all to rely on
You know what you can do with your Barracuda 2
Old iron, old iron

Apparently it wasn't well-liked by the aircrews, and not just for its appearance.

[ianf]

Hi
Well seeing my swordfish is on "hold" for the moment I decided to crack on with my other Fairey aircraft. I have a soft spot for special hobby models because although there classed as limited injection they are always quality. This model follows that line with a good mix of resin and etch parts there is a lots of detail to go in the cockit which is what I have done.

The seat belts are a kit in them selves with the front seat having 13 pieces!





Its a pity that most of this will not be seen but we know its there


The wings are a good fit with little or no filler needed and special hobby provide some good internal wheel well detail.


Finally showing a dry fit of the cockpit in the fuselage which considering there are no location pins goes into place pretty well.


Hopefully I can push on with this before I return to the stringbag and there is also a small matter of the AN-26 to start (hopefully this week)
I must say this just begs to be built its a very nice kit....so far!

Ian

[Deacon]

That pit looks great mate and the seat belts are fantastic. Well done.

Deacon

[mattlaker]

Hey mate! Hope to see some more progress on this one! That interior looks mint, mate! i do love the results gained from PE belts- they seem to really pop the detail out! Which scheme are you going for?

[ianf]

Hi
What did I say in my last post? about being a good fit and easy to build well tonight its all change the cockpit area turned out to be a tad wide so its taken some careful trimming and a lot of trial fits but she is now joined up and I've left her to set over night. Matt the colour scheme is the same as your swordfish I'm doing a aircraft that took place in the tirpitz raids no pics tonight as progress has been slow but it has progressed. The ball game is tomorrow when I fit the wings. will they fit or wont they? stay tune for the next instalement

Ian

[boff180]

My grandfather, (ex-FAA) used to sing a song about the Barracuda II - to the tune of any "Any Old Iron". I can't remember all of it, but I can remember the last bit which went:

Weighs six tons, no front guns, **** all to rely on
You know what you can do with your Barracuda 2
Old iron, old iron

Apparently it wasn't well-liked by the aircrews, and not just for its appearance.

My late grandfather (FAA Fitter on HMS Persius) used to say that all that held the wings in position when they were unfolded was a single pin. Many times they would dive and the pin would come out! Bye bye Barra!

His love was always the Stringbag.

Andy

[ianf]

Well this week I've managed to make quite a bit of progress as you will see below. The build went pretty well with only a few issues.
The kit is currently having all the final rub downs/tidy ups before I give it a wash prior to painting. So forgive the scruffy look.











The overall fit of the kit wasn't bad as you can see there was some filler used but nothing major. The main fault I found was on the main undercarriage leg doors they were much too long. I suspect they are moulded in the closed configeration, anyhow it wasn't a problem I shortened them at the bottom by a whopping 1/4 inch! and now they fit. mind you the doors on the real thing look wrong. they don't "mould" round the shape of the wheels.
Having done a bit of reasearch on the barracuda prior to building it seems she had a unfair bad press like boff 180 mentioned. In the early batch they did indeed have bolt problems due to a sub standard batch but once sorted the problem ceased, but folk thought they hadn't. In fact the barracuda was actually a very good warplane abliet a under powered one till the MK5 with the griffon engine. Still an interesting looking aircraft in the same mould as a warthog, which I like.
This kit also answerd a question that puzzled me namely why you never saw the rear guns. thats because they are stowed beneath a cover. Educational this model building

Ian

[Ben Montgomery]

Coming on nicely! I think this kit is another one of those Love it/Hate it kits, like Shauns Wyvern a while back
Im rather taken to this one thought, looks nicely different.

Ben

[ianf]

Hi
Well the kit has moved along nicely since thursday, the paint is mostly on and the decals applied. I've gone for a well worn/scruffy look which I think looks ok.
Still a bit of weathering to be done to the leading edge yet, something I noticed on pics of the real thing.






Hopefully this won't be long now. I will probably update again in a few days.

Ian

[mattlaker]

This one is really taking shape- nice one fella! I do think it's a bit of an acquired taste, the barracuda, not your model... but i do like it (unlike the munty wyvern). What is concerning me is that you've got 2 builds, both further on than my one- you're putting me to shame!!!!

[Seamus]

Ok, firstly, there's far too much Wyvern bashing going on at the moment. It's so ugly, it's beautiful. Please accept this

Secondly, nice going Ian. SH kits are traditionally a bit of a nightmare to put together, but it doesn't seem to show, good stuff

[Deacon]

Well done Ian that is looking great (the build that is not the aircraft).

I have never made up a Special Hobby kit so your comments on this one will be useful.

Deacon

[ianf]

Hi
Well shes done. I enjoyed the build a few mistakes were made on the way and I'm not completly sold on the finished article I've a nagging feeling I overdid the weathering. But an interesting build and of course after I built it, I found a review of the kit listing the 2 majorr faults I found. Oh well! But the name of the game is fun and I had that. Now I've got to push on with the stringbag, so I can start the AN 26 which will require major sanding.









Thanks for looking and all the comments and encouragments

Ian

[Deacon]

Well done, great build mate.

Now you have no excuse not to get on with the much more 'attractive' stringbag. So long as I stop asking questions.

Deacon

[mattlaker]

Nicely done! Looks great! Great to see more FAA represented here! Now it's just the Stringbags to finish!

[Seamus]

Good stuff Ian, always nice to see unusual FAA builds

Not as pretty as the Wyvern (I'll wait for Matt et al to bite.....) but certainly has it's charm

[mattlaker]

I know you're waiting for me to bite, Shaun, but i'm not going to- you're only deceiving yourself