1/144 SRN4 Hovercraft (Airfix)

I've wanted to build this kit for 40 years, ever since the kid two doors up got one. Aged 10, I don't think a year's saved allowance would have made it affordable so it was only more recently that I picked one up on Ebay. It turned into a nostalgia item, gathering dust....

Until this spring, when my local IPMS club decided that the group build for this year would be "anything that floats". Since I have never been able to start and finish the obvious choice, a ship build, in less than 8 months, it seemed perfect to give this a go.

Boy, am I glad I didn't get to build this age 10; probably would of killed off the modeler in me right there. I'd give this kit a 9/10 in the "give up" stakes (it would have score a perfect 10 but I finished it anyway). It's horrible. All those 'classic' Airfix features with the added benefits of a really old (and slightly broken in places) mold. I haven't wanted to throw a build against the wall this much in frustration since I was about 13.

It's built OOB. Kinda.

The worst of it:

• The one piece roof has been cut in half lengthways and widened to ensure a clean fit with the cabin sides
• The window parts on the painted side (starboard) came as molded strip inserts; 4-6 windows per piece. About 1/8" thick with surface depressions and bubbles. And did. Not. Fit. At. All. Well. Replaced with clear styrene individual pieces.
• Gaps. Yes, plenty. Real big'uns too.
• Decals. Look at the fins. Yup, logos came as a matching pair, not an opposing pair. Serial numbers are wrong too, but you can't see that.
• Detail on the life raft canisters had to be redone completely.
• I can't think of a worse color combination to work with than gloss red, gloss white and black.
• No interior detail (seats etc) on the painted side despite the big clear windows. That's why they are blue.

The best of it:

• Looks pretty cool
• Decals were easy to form into tight corners. Especially that "Calais-Ramsgate" on the ribbed roof (I'll ignore that it split in a few places and had to be touched up with black paint). Can't imagine what it
• would have been like in the original release without decal solutions.
• Another childhood dream fulfilled.

Gallery updated 12/15/2015

© ModelWarships.com