Seafire F.III, S115, 887 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Indefatigable, British Pacific Fleet, August 1945

I initially chose this subject because of the mix of East India Fleet and British Pacific Fleet markings. Once I got to know the details behind them, I’m glad I chose it. I finished this model back in August, 2009.

The Subject

Seafires were typically used for Combat Air Patrol (CAP) in the Pacific Theatre due to their short range but good climb and speed. What made the Spitfire good in the Battle of Britain is what made the Seafire good at sea.

When the British Pacific Fleet was established the predominant Fleet Air Arm fighter was the Seafire F.III for CAP and either Hellcats or Corsairs for long range fighter-bomber sorties. As the war drew to a close and the carriers were able to get quite close to Japan for direct strikes some Seafires, configured with a P-40 drop tank on a centerline bomb rack, provided escorts.

It was on the morning of 15 August that a strike to an airfield near Tokyo the escorting Seafires of 887 NAS engaged a number of “Zekes” and shot down at least 4. This was the last combat engagement of the war for the British; Japan announced their surrender later in the day. S115 took part in that combat.

The Model

This is the CMR resin kit of the Seafire III. It comes with these markings plus two others from 807 NAS British East Indies Fleet. After having made the High Planes Seafire III this kit was an absolute breeze! Cleanup was quick and easy; I assembled the kit using superglue and cleaned up the seams using just a smidge of filler.

The scheme is standard Temperate Sea Scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey (EDSG) and Dark Slate Grey (DSG) over a Sky undersides. I used Humbrol enamels, Hu125 for the EDSG, Hu224 for the DSG and Hu90 for Sky. While it sort of looks right, especially the lack of contrast on the upper side, in the future I’ll be using lighter shades.

After putting Future (Kleer) on the model for a good base for the decals, these were applied using the Microscale system, albeit I had to fiddle with a couple of the decals. No catastrophes, but a couple needed some stronger setting solution to lay down properly. Once done it was sealed with another coat of Future, then I put a wash on it. Looking back I think I overdid the wash, but I was learning.

Summary

I enjoyed this build. The only aspect that was a challenge was the vac canopy, but I’ve gotten pretty good at those for Spitfires and Seafires. I hope to build at least 2 more Seafire F.III’s simply because the markings choices are so varied. I hope to update this post with more recent pictures, once I add the P-40 drop tank, as it adds more interest and was unique to Seafires in the British Pacific Fleet.

Thanks for looking…