Xtrakit 1/72 De Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2/D.3

XTRAKIT 1:72 DE HAVILLAND SEA VIXEN FAW 2/D.3

Reviewer: John Armstrong (contact via SMAKR webmaster)
Kit Review submitted: 22 November 2009

The Plane

The Sea Vixen represents the culmination of the De Havilland ‘twin boom’ design philosophy. This philosophy originated in the closing months of WWII when the Vampire made its first appearance and ended in the early 1970s when the last Sea Vixens were retired from the Royal Navy.

The Sea Vixen was the Navy’s first all missile, radar equipped night fighter/interceptor. The Sea Vixen was never called into action, although it did oversee some of Britain’s operations as it withdrew from its former colonies.

The Sea Vixen FAW2 was an improvement on the FAW1; in that, it carried extra fuel in conformational fuel tanks and was also rated to carry the (then) new generation Red Top all-aspect infra red homing missile.

The Kit

New mould kits of the Sea Vixen in any scale have been thin on the ground over the years. So when Xtrakit (an own brand of the famous Hannants model emporium) announced it would release a new tool FAW2 courtesy of a Czech manufacturer: then this was something of an event for fans of post-WWII Royal Naval subjects.

The kit boasts some very nicely engraved panel lines. There is also a decent level of internal detail. Checked against some plans: it appears that the kit is accurate in overall outline. However, this is a limited run kit, so you will find quite a bit of flash on the parts, and also you will need to cope with the absence of any locating pins on the major parts. The kit also provides certain pieces moulded in resin – these cover cockpit, engine and fuselage parts.

Bearing in mind that this is a limited run kit: construction is straight forward. As long as care is exercised in aligning the main parts, then there are few problems. The only difficult area is in joining the tail booms to the main fuselage, where the join is a butt-end joint. I inserted some cut lengths of sprue spanning this joint to proved extra support to this area. After construction, you will need to do a bit of filling and sanding on the main seams.

One final thing to point out is that despite the kit providing 6 hard points, it only comes with underwing fuel tanks. If you want to add other item, then you will need to find spares (I added 2 firestreak missiles from a Trumpeter Lightning kit)

Painting

The kit comes with 2 painting options. The first is the standard Royal Navy Extra Dark Sea Grey (EDSG) over White scheme. The other is a rather gaudy special display scheme. I chose the former.

To do this I sprayed the whole model with Halfords White Primer. I then spayed the under surfaces with Halfords Appliance Gloss White. After masking these off, I then sprayed the upper surfaces with Humbrol EDSG (H123), diluted 1/3 with enamel thinners.

The model was then given 2 coates of Johnson’s Klear/Future.

Decals

The decals are excellent. For those familiar with Hannants Xtradecal range: you will know what to expect. There is full stencil provision as well unit markings.

The decals were then sealed in by spraying Humbrol Satin Cote, diluted 1/3 with enamel thinners.

Conclusion

Full marks to the Hannants emporium for this one. The Sea Vixen has been an under-kitted type for too long. Whilst this is a limited run kit, no one – apart from the very beginner – should be put off by this. This kit builds up quite easily and should be a valuable addition to any collection of Post-WWII Royal Navy aviation.

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