SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
- B4en
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SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
I'm amazed no-one has posted one of these yet - thank you Airfix for the re-release! The SRN1 was one of those kits I pined for as a kid but never got - just as well as I'd have made a right mess of it by bashing it together on a Saturday morning.
The current version is in a hard plastic, and goes together surprisingly well... Oh who am I kidding? It's a pretty rough old kit from the stone age that needs an awful lot of tlc. There is ample flash to remove and rough edges to clean up. The propulsion ducts on the sides need a lot of awkward filling, filing and trimming to get them tidy, plus the open ends need thinning. Most locator holes need opening up more to get parts to fit, and weirdly one of the seat ones was missing altogether. The cockpit superstructure parts don't fit properly, the grotesque malformed pilot figures went straight in the bin, etc. etc. I don't usually paint much as I'm going along, but in this case it seemed sensible to get the main parts painted up before full assembly. It turned out my silver paint had almost run out so I used gunmetal for the main body then drybrushed the remaining silver over it. Also knocked up a fake dashboard, then later found a clear shot of the real thing on a YouTube video - if anyone wants to seriously detail this kit Youtube is definitely the place to look!
The decals are mercifully quite strong, and much better than the original set. The serial numbers on the ribbed and curved body below the propulsion ducts are the hardest to apply, and I cut them into small sections to get them on. Some of the chequered vane decals didn't play nice going on to bare plastic so I had to paint half of them instead. A wheel got knocked off and lost while I was doing the decals so I had to scratch up a replacement - I'd recommend putting them on after everything else is done.
This was a really enjoyable old style build. Wish I'd found all the video footage of the real thing sooner as I'm sure the kit would be greatly enhanced detailed up properly. I chose a darker than recommended blue for the painting to match some colour film footage.
The current version is in a hard plastic, and goes together surprisingly well... Oh who am I kidding? It's a pretty rough old kit from the stone age that needs an awful lot of tlc. There is ample flash to remove and rough edges to clean up. The propulsion ducts on the sides need a lot of awkward filling, filing and trimming to get them tidy, plus the open ends need thinning. Most locator holes need opening up more to get parts to fit, and weirdly one of the seat ones was missing altogether. The cockpit superstructure parts don't fit properly, the grotesque malformed pilot figures went straight in the bin, etc. etc. I don't usually paint much as I'm going along, but in this case it seemed sensible to get the main parts painted up before full assembly. It turned out my silver paint had almost run out so I used gunmetal for the main body then drybrushed the remaining silver over it. Also knocked up a fake dashboard, then later found a clear shot of the real thing on a YouTube video - if anyone wants to seriously detail this kit Youtube is definitely the place to look!
The decals are mercifully quite strong, and much better than the original set. The serial numbers on the ribbed and curved body below the propulsion ducts are the hardest to apply, and I cut them into small sections to get them on. Some of the chequered vane decals didn't play nice going on to bare plastic so I had to paint half of them instead. A wheel got knocked off and lost while I was doing the decals so I had to scratch up a replacement - I'd recommend putting them on after everything else is done.
This was a really enjoyable old style build. Wish I'd found all the video footage of the real thing sooner as I'm sure the kit would be greatly enhanced detailed up properly. I chose a darker than recommended blue for the painting to match some colour film footage.
The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.
- DavidWomby
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
Isn't that a walk down nostalgia lane! You've done a lovely job of that.
David
David
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
Lovely work. Now I want one!
Nigel
Nigel
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
I never thought I would see one built!
Well done!
David
Well done!
David
- B4en
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
Glad you like it guys. The kit is certainly a trip down memory lane - in my case memories of NOT getting it for Christmas/birthdays and not finding it in the shops when I had the money and looked for it. The internet certainly makes kit buying eaeier. The build itself did take me back to the 'good old days' of Airfix, with hard plastic and a decent result if you keep on niggling at it. Real old time modelling fun!
Honestly I thought there would be a glut of these appearing shortly after the re-release, but it seems not.
Hope you can find one where you are Nigel. Definitely worth hunting down just for something different on the shelves.
The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.
- Stuart
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
Very cool little subject, and a very nice build - well done!
Stuart Templeton I may not be good but I'm slow...
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- VickersVandal
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
Fantastic bit of work there!
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- B4en
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
Thanks guys, glad you like it. Now I just need Airfix to re-release James Bond and Odd-Job (plus the Bond Aston Martin) to make my childhood complete!
The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.
- beany
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
Nice to see your built - very good job too. I built mine a few years back when I managed to pick up a tatty, old, bagged one at SMW. I left the beaching wheels off of mine because the intention was to waterline it but I never got around to it.
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
Although from the stone age of model kits, this has polished up very nicely, Ben. The SRN is certainly something different for the modelling shelves.
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IPMS#12300
Work is the curse of the modelling classes!
IPMS#12300
- B4en
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
That looks a great build Beany. I see the Saro logo on the tower is smaller on the new decal set - I wonder if the original was changed at some point? The SRN1 does seem to have gone through a few iterations in it's lifetime.
The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.
- Tim Reynaga
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
Nice job on this ancient classic!
- B4en
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Re: SRN1 Hovercraft (1/72 Airfix)
Haha, I hadn't spotted this! Thanks Tim.
The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.