Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart

This kit was built in the early COVID lockdown days, with a lot of time and nervous energy on my hands, in 4 calendar days! Someone give me a medal.

Ah, MACH2. Can you find the parts in the flash? The basic shapes are there (with the exception of the clear part), you just have to get to them. The spine needed a large fillet of putty to achieve the smoothness of the original. This would have been easier if I hadn't rushed ahead and glued the tail on first.

I crafted a nose probe from a needle faired in with CA. The windscreen was rounded and looked nothing like the original, so I filed it off leaving a double-crescent-shaped hole. I then cut some clear sheet plastic into teardrop shapes and scored 3 lines in each.

The clear parts were glued in with UV setting glue then faired in with putty. Also note the sanded and rescribed spine.

Polyurethane Badger Stynlrez gray primer was followed by ModelMaster Acryl Gloss Sea Blue.

Kit decals were used but were pretty thick and bad.

Characteristic Convair Dart windscreen, not perfect but a darn sight better than provided! I don't even remember an interior- I think It's black and has a seat.

Main reference was the Ginter Naval Fighters No.23 monograph. Half the fun of these projects is learning about the design history.

Putting brass tubes in the exhaust was actually harder than it looks. Because of the kit design, there are slabs of fuselage plastic that need to be ground off. Again, would have been easier if done sooner in the build, before the intake tunnels were glued on.

I thought MACH2 did a good job of capturing the overall look and sit of this fascinating craft, and details like this strake running down the fuselage.

The skis are quite sturdy. I just enhanced them with some hydraulic lines.

I t

Kommentit

31 17 July 2021, 03:54

B. M.
So here it is, this Sea Dart. I guess the kit confirms the brands reputation.
But it turned out very well and it took you only 4 days for a Mach2 kit! Respect ?
That cockpit / canopy section was a dog to build…

17 July 2021, 11:49

John
Wow - that is a kit that almost requires a scratch-builder's effort. Good job.

17 July 2021, 11:52

Alec K
Wow. In four days and from that kit?? You definitely deserve a medal 👍

17 July 2021, 12:26

Bruce Huxtable
Very impressed with your skills and the final results. Respect ?

17 July 2021, 12:45

John Thomas
Very cool

17 July 2021, 13:10

Robert Podkoński
Impressive, congrats! (Like I've said - I know this kit very well...and THAT is THE ACHIEVEMENT to turn it into such a fine miniature)... Let's only hope that some of new manufacturers will provide us with state-of-the-art kit of this fantastic plane) The only one flying boat that flew over Mach 1!

17 July 2021, 13:19

Mirko Römer
Totally agree with everything said before. Very impressive result!

17 July 2021, 17:11

Mark
Great result of a very interesting subject. 👍

17 July 2021, 17:27

Łukasz Gliński
We definitely need a medal functionality on scalemates for such cases 😄 Exquisite work! 👍

17 July 2021, 19:56

Larry Cherniak
Thanks everyone! I'm glad to finally share some of my builds, and happy you like them. But I am no miracle worker- my MACH2 Arado Ar232 has been on hold for 10+ YEARS so far while I dig up the courage for a scratchbuilt cockpit and all those wheels. And then there's an engine on the Bloch 131 going off at an odd angle...

18 July 2021, 02:24

Mark K
Fantastic work with this kit - congratulations!

18 July 2021, 05:38

Bernd Korte
Great to see this kit being built!

18 July 2021, 07:55

Thomas Ehrensperger
Wow... really well done the kit.
Is also still in my warehouse and I thought that I build in the near future times... have now a few super template photos with your model.
Greetings Thomas

16 October 2022, 16:19