1/72 Eastern Express (ex-Frog) Supermarine S.6

Gallery Article by Gabriel Stern on Nov 3 2010

 

   Some times, for one reason or another, or for no reason whatsoever, you decide to grab an old mold and have fun.  In this case it is the venerable Frog Supermarine S.6b, re-issued by Eastern Express.  Of course a totally new master of this same plane was recently kitted by Pavla in 1/72, one more reason to build the older kit as per the motto “No Kit Left Behind”.

   This old kit is not bad and was built and reviewed so many times that I won’t bother.  I will only say that it has separate control surfaces and fine raised panel lines (mostly rivet lines in the original) that have seen better times.  The back struts for the floats lock in the middle of the fuselage, which is not correct.  The struts should be a bit apart as can be seen in photos of the real plane.  You could even save the strange pilot that comes with the kit which will be absolutely suitable for a “Mummy” diorama.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

   I only wanted to give this kit a fair chance without re-doing the whole thing, so I got a white metal engine, touched-it-up, and cut a couple parts to insert it.  The cockpit was scratchbuilt but as usual due to the small opening not much is seen after the model is completed.  A canopy was made from clear plastic to replace the not bad -but a tad thick- that came with the kit.  My Eastern Express kit came without decals, so a set was scanned from another kit and printed.

   The images illustrate the building process so I will save myself typing time and will save you reading time.

    Your cupboard stuffing or attic insulation material can be built into nice models, just for fun, for old times’ sake.  The pleasure of building could even be re-discovered by you.  Who knows...

Gabriel Stern

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Photos and text © by Gabriel Stern