1/144 scale Felixstowe F.2a
Reviewed by Ed Brut; images ©2013 by Ed Brut.
Model in the bare material as ‘printed.’
Shapeways 3D printed 1/144 scale Felixstowe F.2a. The future of model kits?
The Felixstowe was a British WWI naval patrol seaplane used over the North Sea to counter both U-Boats and Zeppelins. It was one of the best aircraft to come out of the war. Bristling with numerous gun positions it was considered the first “flying fortress”.
The printed kit comes in a white nylon plastic with a matte finish and a slight grainy feel.
It is produced by fusing nylon powder with a laser called laser sintering, layer after layer are fused to the one below and it is printed from the bottom up very much like a bread and butter construction of a ship hull. All wing struts and engines are printed/molded in place.
Dimensions are 7.691 wing span by 4.086 in length. Scaled, these dimensions are very close to the real aircraft.
The plane comes with props and machine guns molded (printed) off the tail section and must be cut free to locate. No decals are provided
The material and surface of the model make cleanup and painting the challenge here. The material sands and files like Nylon which is very hard to get smooth, the surface requires a number of coats of primer and sealant like Future floor polish to produce an acceptable surface. It will take both acrylic and solvent based paints after that.
The propellers did not allow any sanding or shaping so I cleaned them the best I could and went from there. The crew are also 3D printed but from a totally different material, frosted and detailed. By detailed, the gunners had goggles. This material though is very brittle. To the model I added only some exhaust pipes to the engine sides and a small wind screen for the cockpit.
I painted it in olive drab with a light deck tan lower surfaces. Many of these aircraft were painted in red and white swirled stripes or some “dazzle paint scheme”, which helped to locate a plane down at sea. I was unwilling to tackle that paint scheme on this small a model.
Decals were from a variety of sources and were laid down on a dried brush coat of Future in the area. Decal setting solutions were used to get the decals to settle down and than re-clear-coated with gloss and than a matte finish. An error in my cutting the rudder decal produced a red white blue of an American aircraft in place of the blue white red of a British aircraft, at this scale my eyes did not catch it until the setting solution was on the decals. So it’s a lend/lease aircraft to the US. Get over it the tail numbers are ok.
Pros: odd subject in the small 1/144th scale mainly for war gaming.
Cons: plastic material and surface finish, and no decals. The cost of the little model is also steep at 30 plus dollars.
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