Some
times, for one reason or another, or for no reason whatsoever, you decide to
grab an old mold and have fun. In this case it is the venerable Frog Supermarine
S.6b, re-issued by Eastern Express. Of course a totally new master of this same
plane was recently kitted by Pavla in 1/72, one more reason to build the older
kit as per the motto “No Kit Left Behind”.
This
old kit is not bad and was built and reviewed so many times that I won’t
bother. I will only say that it has separate control surfaces and fine raised
panel lines (mostly rivet lines in the original) that have seen better times.
The back struts for the floats lock in the middle of the fuselage, which is not
correct. The struts should be a bit apart as can be seen in photos of the real
plane. You could even save the strange pilot that comes with the kit which will
be absolutely suitable for a “Mummy” diorama.
Click on
images below to see larger images
I
only wanted to give this kit a fair chance without re-doing the whole
thing, so I got a white metal engine, touched-it-up, and cut a couple
parts to insert it. The cockpit was scratchbuilt but as usual due to the
small opening not much is seen after the model is completed. A canopy was
made from clear plastic to replace the not bad -but a tad thick- that came
with the kit. My Eastern Express kit came without decals, so a set was
scanned from another kit and printed.
The
images illustrate the building process so I will save myself typing time and
will save you reading time.
Your cupboard stuffing or attic insulation material can be built into nice
models, just for fun, for old times’ sake. The pleasure of building could even
be re-discovered by you. Who knows...
Gabriel Stern
Click on
images below to see larger images
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