Special Hobby has provided the 1/72^nd scale Supermarine Seafire FR Mk. 47 for review. Subtitle on this boxing is “The Last Royal Navy Propeller Fighter” and (per Wikipedia) it was the last Spitfire/Seafire variant to roll off the assembly line at Supermarine in January 1949.

Looking at Scalemates.com, the molds were produced back in 2012 and this 2024 boxing has new decal markings for No. 804 NAS, HMS Ocean (Mediterranean, 1949), No. 1833 NAS, RNAS Bramcote / HMS Gamecock (1953), and two (2) markings for No. 800 NAS, HMS Triumph (Korea 1950).

In The Box

The kit box is typical top opening with a nice illustration. All the sprues are packaged in a single clear plastic bag with the clear parts package individually bagged. A photo-etch sheet is also included to add extra detail for the cockpit, landing gear, and missile harnesses.

Instructions are well illustrated and easy to follow. Depending on what final configuration you choose, holes will need to be drilled out of the bottom of the wing to add ordnance hardpoints to install missiles, bombs, and auxiliary fuel tanks. JATO packs (Jet Assisted Take Off) can also be installed on the top side of the wings.

The decal sheet is well printed, thin, and the registry is perfect. Also, there are plenty of stencils on this sheet; page 14 of the instructions is a dedicated stencil decal placement guide.

Review Process

Special Hobby kits are known to have “short run” characteristics. Which means the styrene is on the soft side in material hardness, thick sprue gate attachment points, has little to no locating pins for parts alignment, and some of the recessed detail is hit or miss out of the molds. This Seafire FR Mk. 47 fits that reputation.

Before starting, make sure the final configuration of the ordnance has been decided. This can be seen on page 7-9 of the instructions. This will show you where to drill holes for the hardpoint mounts before gluing the wings together. For this review, I decided to make a clean build with no ordnance/tanks or JATO packs.

Assembly starts in the cockpit and PE parts can be used. Due to the size of some of the parts in 1/72^nd scale, I recommend optical magnification assistance. For this Mk. 47 configuration, seeing any of the detail past the small cockpit opening will be difficult to see unless you open the canopy and the LHS access door.

Installing the cockpit into the fuselage will take several test fits. The chance to install it off center is very likely since there the fit of the aft bulkhead is a very loose. Also, prior to gluing the fuselage halves together, make sure to install the camera windows.

When doing test fits before installing the wings, it was noticeable that there would be some fit issues on the upper wing halves. To try and reduce variables during this installation, I first glued the bottom half to the fuselage. Once dry I did another test fit and found the upper RHS wing fit pretty good. However, the LHS upper half did not. It was too long at the wing root by 1.5mm. So, I proceeded to file/sand the edge until the wing was the correct length. A very iterative process.

The propeller connection point is to be glued onto the fuselage nose. However, I wanted the contra-rotating props to move so I drilled out a hole to allow a paperclip to act as the rod axis hub. But to make it attached to the fuselage, I plugged the larger fuselage hole with some sprue and drilled a smaller mating hole for the other end of the paperclip.

When it came time to paint, I airbrushed the model with Mr. Surfacer 1000 gray primer. This was followed by Tamiya XF-21, Sky, all over. Then masking for the upper surfaces and painted XF-54, Dark Sea Grey. A coat of clear gloss was brush applied for decal prep.

The kit decals are thin and releases from the paper backing fast. When using tweezers to move them from the paper to the model, the clear edges tended to “roll” over. To try and prevent this rolling, I decided to place the wet decal and paper near the surface and push it onto the surface with a paint brush. This did not totally stop the rolling, but it did significantly reduce it.

Once the decals were applied, I used a cotton bud to help smooth them out and remove any excess water. Next, I used Micro Sol to help soften the decal so it could conform to the surface. Once dry, I airbrushed a protective coat of Vallejo Clear Satin. After that, I subtly weathered using ground up charcoal applied with a soft brush. Lastly, I airbrushed AK Ultra Matt Clear to seal it all in. Any charcoal weathering that was lost from the last clear coat I lightly re-applied.

Finally, I installed the whip antenna (from a paint brush bristle) just aft of the cockpit and called it good.

Conclusions

So, the question is, “Would I build another 1/72^nd scale Special Hobby Seafire FR Mk. 47?” YES, INDEED! There were challenges along the way but the reward of overcoming those hurdles made the build enjoyable.

Historically, this is the last variant of the Spitfire/Seafire program to roll off the assembly line at Supermarine and an important milestone in aviation lore. It is fascinating to compare this Mk. 47 to the Mk. I and see the evolution over the years of this iconic aircraft.

I recommend this kit to medium-to-experienced builders due to its short run nature, tiny parts, and the added complexity of photo-etch. The decals are thin and will require extra attention due to their “rolling” nature. But with patience, planning, and test fitting a great looking Seafire can be accomplished. It will draw lots of attention on the contest table and look great in your collection, especially if you are a Spitfire/Seafire fan. For the Spitfire/Seafire aviation enthusiast, A MUST BUY!

I want to thank Special Hobby for providing this Seafire FR Mk. 47 kit, and IPMS/USA for allowing me the opportunity to review.