Paint Scheme

The MLD Sea Fury F-26 with code "6-26" has the standard British Colours of Sky and Extra Dark Sea Grey and the scheme is also the same as on FAA planes. This plane has an orange prop spinner. 

The upper fuselage and wing were given a coat of the standard FAA Extra dark sea grey (WEM paint ACRN02 or Humbrol 123) . The other areas were given a coat of Sky (WEM ACRN01 or Humbrol #90). 

According to my information, wheel bays on Sea Furies had different colours (interior green, white, silver of sky). The MLD Sea Fury main wheel bay was sprayed white. 

A couple of black walkways were sprayed on (after masking the rest of the area) on both wing root sides.

After applying the paint scheme, the overall model was given a couple of coats with the air brush of  Johnson FUTURE to get a good surface for applying the decals.

 NOTE: I forgot to glue part #E29 assuming there was a leading edge light. There is none, so fit and fill.

Markings

The Hobbycraft decals are well printed with 5 schemes provided with stencilling but some decals are inaccurate in areas. Looking at the Dutch naval air service (MLD) scheme, the following comments can be made:

- different styles of lettering can be seen on Dutch Sea Furies. Probably the factory paint instructions were not well adhered to. A mix of British and American styles can be seen on real Sea Fury pictures, so check your references for the particular aircraft you are building. 

I opted to make the Dutch MLD Sea Fury F-26 with code "6-26" of the MLD 860 squadron with orange propeller spinner. It is a nice scheme and I had a couple of pictures.

- Dutch MLD national roundels were usually sized with diameter 81 cm of the fuselage and 92 cm on the wings. The Hobbycraft roundels are the incorrect size: the fuselage roundels are too small, those on the wing too large. I used roundels from a Dutch Decal set #72029 and an old IPMS Nederland roundels-set. The Dutch flag was obtained from the Hobbycraft set. 

- The Dutch numbers on the Hobbycraft kit decals are although nearly the correct style too small. I opted to use decals from Dutch Decal lettering set #72107 although that still needed adjustments: the style "2" on the aircraft 6-26 is very particular and also I found the an inverted "9" was better for using the "6" number. The number should also be less "solid" so I carefully trimmed with scissors the vertical sides to have "thinner" numbers. 

- the KON.MARINE titels are inaccurate in style, so again these were retrieved from a Dutch Decal set #72018
 

 a close-up of the adapted numbers:

Next step is to assemble the landing gear. 
The legs of the kit ask for further detailling. With some metal wire and card, additional details were added.

Additional details scratch made in the bay are retraction jacks and cylinders.

The undercarriage legs were a bit more detailed with metal wire and small bits of spare etched metal.

The colour of the Dutch MLD Sea Fury main gear legs is unclear but seems to be sky with metallic details at retracting parts and so on.

The tail wheel is very simple. I decided only to paint it with some shadows. The kit tyres/wheels were painted dark tank grey and weathered showing their profiles.

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