Warrior Model 1/48 scale Fairey Fulmar Mk.I

Kit: No. 48011
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Warrior Model, available from Pacific Coast Models, 707-538-4850, www.pacmodels.com
Price: $91.20
Comments: Multimedia, 96 parts (57 resin, 30 white metal, 9 vacuum-formed), decals
Pros: Crisp scribing, good interior
Cons: Fuselage problems, air bubbles

The Fairey Fulmar was born of the RAF's need to replace the Hawker Hart in the late 1930s. It became the Fleet Air Arm's first successful eight-gun monoplane carrier fighter.
Warrior Model's multimedia resin Fulmar kit has clean moldings, beautiful recessed surface detail, crisp detail, and minimal flash.

There are only three construction steps, and most of those deal with interior-parts placement and mating of the fuselage halves. First priority was the cleanup of all the resin parts. The fuselage halves are slightly different shapes, which will cause trouble with the interior parts.

The interior requires some skill at handling very small resin and white-metal parts. Some locations are a bit vague, but my reference material helped. You'll need to test-fit the floor and bulkhead inside the fuselage halves. After I fitted and painted all the interior parts I joined the fuselage halves with super glue. Gaps had to be filled, and due to slightly different fuselage shapes, filler was required, especially on the underside.

Before gluing the lower half of the wing to the fuselage assembly, you'll need to test-fit the landing gear wells into the spaces inside the wing halves and the recesses in the fuselage. I had to clean up and trim the inside edges of the lower-wing gear-well openings, deepen the upper wing recesses, and reshape the fuselage recesses to achieve a snug fit. The upper wing halves lined up well and required a minimum of fuss for a good fit. I opened the landing-light recess, scratchbuilt a lens, and placed the vacuum-formed cover in place. The horizontal stabilizers were easy to add even though no tabs are present.

I closed up the fuselage by adding the two-piece vacuum-formed greenhouse. It could use a dip in Future. Next, I added the tailhook, the exhaust stacks, and the white-metal main-gear struts and strut doors. The gear required extensive and reshaping due to mold alignment problems. The kit wheels are incorrect and should be replaced with early five-spoke wheels like those used on Barracudas and Typhoons.

I used a combination of Xtracolor, Model Master, and Testor paints to apply the early FAA camouflage scheme. The kits decals appeared good, though incomplete for the FAA aircraft depicted in the markings diagram. After painting and decaling were completed, I went back and added the various detail parts.

This kit will be a challenge for experienced builders due to its fuselage fit and alignment problems. I probably spent more than 40 hours on this kit, mostly in adding detail. I can recommend it, though, and it will make a fine companion to my other FAA aircraft.