SRN4 Hovercraft British Rail

[Bigfoot57]

After my disastrous attempt at a Tamiya MkIX Spitfire I still don't know what went wrong there I thought I would try something completely different this time a kit that’s been in my stash for years namely SRN4 Hovercraft and seeing as I used to be a British Rail employee I thought why not do it in British Rail colours instead of the more normal Hoverlloyd as is normally depicted
So as usual there are the sprue shots which in all fairness most of the parts have fell off not surprising given the time factor and about 9 house moves over that time period
Next I have laid out the car deck and the skirt the car deck has been washed in soapy water and left to air dry as will all the parts as we profess through this build
Colour wise inside I have to rely on airfix for the colour scheme as interior shots of the inside are virtually non existent especially the car deck where they claim it is red but on some models I have seen it has been painted silver
As this is an old kit flash and injector marks are prevalent so a through clean up is needed before construction can begin
So let’s see if I can actually finish this one this time here’s hoping

Regards

Colin

[Tim Marlow]

Could be interesting Colin. By the way, do you know they have one of these at the hovercraft museum? They might have some interior shots available to give some colour information if you need it.

[Jim R]

Hi Colin
Interesting and unusual. If you could source a couple of 1/144 scale period vehicles you could make a dio similar to the box art.
Jim
In fact are they little cars on the clear sprue?

[papa 695]

I’ve wanted one of these for ages, but at the price there going for, I’ll just pull up my chair and watch this build Colin.

[Guest]

Having crossed the Channel in one of these a couple of times in the 1990s, this is an interesting build for me Unfortunately I can’t help you with the colours of the car deck, other than that I think it had asphalt on the floor. The passenger areas were, in my memory, a sort of light cream/off-white colour.

[Bigfoot57]

Small update
Built the skirt sections can’t go any further until new supply of paint arrives

[Bigfoot57]

So paint arrived this morning enabling me to make a start on the colour scheme for this model after which construction can begin
It is now mid afternoon 1st coat has been applied to relevant pieces now waiting for few hours before applying 2nd coat
Ok now early evening 2nd coat applied should be able to assemble section 1 by around 1900 today if the paint drying is the same as previous

1925 and have assembled stage 1 considering the age of the kit once the flash has been cleaned off the fit of pieces is remarkably good so far no gaps and no filler the red mark on the rear is an ejector pin depression will have to clean that up and not sure about the front sections colour some of the buff will need to be removed once the outer walls are on and I can see where it should end similarly the are other areas on the white that look like they require buff added to them again once the outer walls are assembled it should guide me as to where the paint is needed

So here’s the latest batch of pictures

Regards

Colin

[Bigfoot57]

Stage 3 complete
The initial perfect fit has somewhat disappeared at the moment the walls were each custom shaped and adjusted to fit where they should not perfect but will be adequate for this build
And after a lot of research from the internet I found a video made by British Rail called project Seaspeed or something similar anyway it would appear Airfix were spot on with their colouring this time as the original Princess Margaret which I’m building did indeed have orange passenger walls a red car deck and two tone car deck walls
The only thing I can see they got wrong is the passenger seats had white headrest covers fitted and the air conditioner units and cupboards were blue panelled other than that I can see no reason not use the painting guide as an accurate rendition anyway here’s where I got to so far

[scottie3158]

Colin,
Coming on nicely those skirts must have taken some lining up.

[Bigfoot57]

Funny enough the skirts fitted perfectly it was the cabin walls where I had the issues

[papa 695]

Looking good Colin.

[adt70hk]

Coming on very nicely - and quickly - Colin.

ATB

Andrew

[boatman]

YES it is an im following this biuld Colin keep it goin as this is something different
chris

[Jim R]

Hi Colin
Coming together well. Looks like you have sorted the fit issue with the walls. Good that Airfix got the colour scheme right.
Jim

[Bigfoot57]

Stage 4 complete
I’ve added all internal details with exception of the cars but all seats and tables have been done along with various cupboards and ac units
Also made a start on the outer side panels and life rafts and the control cabin

Regards

Colin