AeroMaster 1/72 Scale “Fleet Air Arm Pt.1”

By Robert Allen

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, and AeroMaster’s “Fleet Air Arm Pt.1” proves that the same is true for decal sheets. At first glance this sheet, covering eight WW2 FAA aircraft of four different types, is impressive. Seven of the eight selections are in Atlantic theater markings, a nice change from the Pacific theater markings seen on many recent FAA sheets – not that I’m complaining about the existence of any FAA sheets, given their scarcity! Six of the eight are in the standard Extra Dark Sea Grey/Dark Slate Grey/ Sky camouflage scheme, one has the standard scheme with black undersides, and one is a special paint job. The sheet is beautifully printed and in perfect register; it’s only when you look closely at the selections provided that the problems become clear. The front of the instruction sheet is marked “Suggested Kit: Various,” but none of the kits are listed! Of the eight choices given, there are available kits for no more than three (built straight from the box), and there are some serious deficiencies in the instructions. Many of the examples have non-standard features, or are of indeterminate variants, and the instructions are of very little help in this regard.

The first two aircraft covered are Sea Hurricanes, one of which is not even an FAA aircraft! This is an RAF-flown Sea Hurricane Mk.IA, LU-Y, as catapult launched off CAM ships on convoy protection. These aircraft were expendable; the pilot was launched if an Fw 200 or other Luftwaffe aircraft was spotted, and after engaging the enemy was supposed to either fly to the nearest land, or ditch in the sea. This is actually a good choice for a model; these are historically unique aircraft, and as far as I know, no one has previously provided decals for one. The “Hurricats” were Hurricane Mk.Is, strengthened and fitted with catapult spools. The drawing on the instructions shows LU-Y without a tail wheel; this is incorrect, as Hurricats retained their landing gear. A photo of this specific aircraft in the Squadron/Signal Hurricane in Action clearly shows the tail wheel still fitted.

The second Sea Hurricane, AF966, a Mk.IB of 880 Squadron, is considerably more problematic. The instructions identify it as a Mk.IB, and note the “small spinner and narrow prop blades.” Things are a bit more complicated than that. The designation Sea Hurricane Mk.IB only indicated that the aircraft was fitted with an arrester hook. There were no Sea Hurricanes Mk.Is built from scratch; all were converted from existing Hurricanes of various marks. The first Sea Hurricane Mk.IBs were converted from Hurricane Mk.Is, but later Sea Hurricane Mk.IBs were converted Hurricane Mk.IIs, with either eight- or twelve-gun wings.  This makes modeling a specific aircraft difficult without accurate references. Tracing the serial number reveals AF966 to originally have been a Canadian-built Hurricane Mk.X, equivalent to the British Mk.II. The first 100 or so Mk.Xs were fitted with eight-gun wings, and the rest with twelve guns; AF966 was definitely in the first 100, by serial number, so it probably had eight-gun wings. Hurricane Mk.Xs were fitted with Packard Merlin 28s, driving Hamilton props rather than the Rotol or de Havilland props of the British Hurricanes. They were delivered without spinners, and many were later fitted with non-standard spinners in service. This explains the note in the instructions. To correctly model this aircraft, you’d have to use a Revell Sea Hurricane Mk.IIC fuselage mated with the wings from the Revell Hurricane Mk.IIB, with the two outer gun ports on each wing filled in. (The Revell Sea Hurricane has cannon-armed wings). You’d also have to pinch a prop from a suitable American aircraft with a Hamilton prop, and fashion a replacement spinner. There is a photo of this aircraft in Squadron/Signal’s Fleet Air Arm 1939-45, and once you notice it, the non-standard spinner really sticks out. One nice feature that AeroMaster provides is codes in both Sky and White, as the researchers were unsure of the color. If the photo of another contemporary Sea Hurricane of 880 Squadron in the aforementioned Fleet Air Arm is anything to go by, they were clearly Sky, but it’s nice to have the option.

The next two aircraft are Swordfish Mk.Is, which were involved in that aircraft’s two most famous operations. One, which took part in the attack on the Bismarck, can be modeled straight from the box using the Frog, Airfix, or Matchbox kits, with an additional option of modeling it during a later stay in Jamaica. The second Swordfish is the lead aircraft from the Taranto raid, which would mark it as one of the two or three most historically significant aircraft in FAA history. Swordfishes on the Taranto raid had only two crewmembers, and featured a conspicuous extra fuel tank fitted in the observer’s cockpit. This tank is not present in either the Frog or Airfix kits; I don’t have a Matchbox Swordfish close at hand, so I don’t know if a tank is provided in that one, but if it isn’t, you’d have to scratchbuild your own to make an accurate model.

Three Seafires are provided, which would be great if anyone made a 1/72nd scale Seafire kit. One is a Seafire Mk.IB with tropical filter, a beautiful station hack finished in Royal Blue with a white cheat line, and the other two are Mk.IICs. One of the Seafire Mk.IICs is in American-style markings from Operation Torch, and had the distinction of making the first confirmed Seafire kill. All could be modeled using a Spitfire Mk.V kit as a base, but all would require an arrester hook to be added, and the rear fuselage modifications needed to accommodate the hook. None of the three had folding wings, so we can be thankful for small miracles…

Some Seafire Mk.IICs had three-blade props, and some had four-blade props. According to Spitfire: The History, both examples given fall squarely into the range that would have three-bladed props. The Seafire also had its main gear moved two inches forward, but anyone who tries that in 1/72nd scale deserves to be committed. One, MB189, is credited as being flown by 880 Squadron in February 1943, but neither Spitfire: The History nor David Brown’s The Seafire list it as such among their extensive individual aircraft records.

The final choice is a Kingfisher on floats, wrongly attributed to 768 Squadron, but actually from 765 Squadron. This aircraft is illustrated in the May 1984 Scale Aircraft Modelling feature on American aircraft in the FAA, but with a considerably different camouflage demarcation line on the cowling than on the AeroMaster instruction sheet. Fortunately, a lovely Charles E. Brown photo in Owen Thetford’s British Naval Aircraft Since 1912 shows this aircraft, and indicates that the AeroMaster drawing is right. This one can also be built straight from the box, using the Octopus (Pavla) kit if you want the most accurate model, the Airfix kit if you don’t want to scratchbuild half the parts shown on the Octopus instruction sheet, or the Lindberg kit if you want the padded cell next to the guy who tried to modify his Seafire landing gear.

I think it’s wonderful that AeroMaster would even do this sheet; there isn’t another subject I’d rather see decal manufacturers tackle than wartime FAA aircraft in 1/72nd scale. But it would be nice for them to do markings for aircraft that are readily available in kit form, and to specify in the instructions what changes or modifications have to be made. This sheet looks great, and I’m sure I’m going to use it. But the execution, and the instructions, could have been so much better!

References:

Hurricane by Edward Bishop; Smithsonian Institute Press, 1990; ISBN 0-87474-221-8

1939-45 Portfolio: Fleet Air Arm by Roderick Dymott; Ian Allan Ltd, 1981; ISBN 0-7110-1053-6

Hurricane in Action by Jerry Scutts; Squadron/Signal, 1986; ISBN 0-89747-174-1

Supermarine Aircraft Since 1914 by C.F. Andrews & E.B. Morgan; Putnam, 1981; ISBN 0-370-10018-2

The Seafire: The Spitfire That Went to Sea by David Brown; Naval Institute Press, 1989; ISBN 0-87021-989-8

Spitfire: The History by Eric B. Morgan & Edward Shacklady; Key Books, 2000 (revised edition); ISBN 0-946219-48-6

Fleet Air Arm: British Carrier Aviation 1939-1945 by Ron Mackay; Squadron/Signal, 2001; ISBN 0-89747-432-5

Fairey Swordfish in Action by W.A. Harrison; Squadron/Signal, 2001; ISBN 0-89747-421-X

British Naval Aircraft Since 1912 by Owen Thetford; Putnam, 1982; ISBN 0-370-30021-1

Scale Aircraft Modelling, May 1984, “Wartime American Aircraft with the Fleet Air Arm” by Ray Sturtivant