Fairey Delta FD.2

Dora Wings, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by John Miller

Well, I failed yet again, to walk through Skyway Models, my favorite local hobby shop, and NOT have something in my hands when I left. Ah, well ;) The Fairey Delta 2 rates high on my list of cool experimental aircraft. Moreover, being a Dora Wings kit (a Ukrainian company), there was no doubt this would be a quality kit. So, you see, I had no option but to take one home… I’m not let down. Kudo’s to Dora Wings for both the quality of their kits and a willingness to produce quality models of lesser-known but historically important aircraft.

Keep ‘em coming guys!

Background

The Fairey Delta 2 or FD.In a 2 (internal designation Type V within Fairey) is a British supersonic research aircraft that was produced by the Fairey Aviation Company in response to a specification from the Ministry of Supply for a specialized aircraft for conducting investigations into flight and control at transonic and supersonic speeds. Features included a delta wing and a drooped nose. On  October 6th, 1954, the Delta 2 made its maiden flight, flown by Fairey test pilot Peter Twiss; two aircraft would be produced. The Delta 2 was the final aircraft to be produced by Fairey as an independent manufacturer.

The Fairey Delta 2 was the first jet aircraft to exceed 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 km/h) in level flight. On March 10th, 1956, it set a new world speed record of 1,132 mph (1,822 km/h), exceeding the previous official record by 310 mph (500 km/h). The Delta 2 held the absolute World Air Speed Record for over a year. It continued to be used for flight testing, and was allocated to the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) in 1958.

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A testbed aircraft was required to verify design calculations and wind tunnel results for the Concorde “ogee delta” wing design so one of the aircraft was extensively rebuilt as the BAC 221. On May 1st, 1964, the modified aircraft performed its first flight. The FD.2 was also used as the basis for Fairey's submissions to the Ministry for advanced all-weather interceptor designs, culminating in the proposed Fairey Delta 3 to meet the F.155 specification; however, the FD.3 never got past the drawing-board stage.

Text adaptesd from Wikipedia

In a lidded box with nice artwork depicting a Fairy Delta in flight come sixty five light grey, styrene parts are conveyed on five sprues. There is one clear sprue with 2 canopy parts, a photo-etch fret with wing fences and pitot tubes, masks, and decals.

The initial impression is one of limited production but top-shelf limited production. The inscribed panel lines have a constant depth across the larger parts and are comparable with the inscribing seen on kits by big name manufactures. Likewise, details rendered in relief are crisp and scale appropriate. Of note is the cockpit tub that has side panels with individual switches; nice.

For such a simple model, there are a fair number of parts (65). The sprue gates are a bit large and there’s some minor flash on some of the smaller parts; nothing that can’t be fixed by just a few moments with a sanding stick.

The parts layout and engineering are conventional. As such, assembly begins with the cockpit that uses decals for both the main instrument panel and ejection seat harness. I’ll be replacing the seat harness decals with a PE set from the spares box.

The variable-droop nose section, containing the cockpit is assembled first. The remainder of the fuselage is a separate assembly. This permits the drooping nose to be positioned for flight (Up) or landing (Down) during construction.

The wings are comprised of upper and lower halves with separate inboard and outboard control services. The assemblies are  augmented with photo-etch wing fences on the dorsal surface of each wing. The wings fit onto the assembled fuselage via slotted spars.

The landing gear assemblies are nicely detailed as are the wheel wells. Both will be very convincing under a coat of paint enhanced with a touch of dark panel liner. 

Markings

The decals, by Dora Wings, are crisp with good color density.

Markings are provided for four colorful schemes worn by two airframes, WG774 and WG777. Die-cut vinyl canopy masks are provided.

Okay, there’s a lot to like in this little box. Although this won’t be a “shake ’n bake” build, I see no red flags and suspect this will be a fun and relatively easy building experience for beginner and experten alike. The result will be a never-seen, colorful, head-turner at the next modeling club meeting for sure :) Highly recommended!

Keep your airbrush wet!

John

For more on this review visit ModelPaintSolutions.com

https://modelpaintsol.com/reviews/dora-wings-1-72-fairey-delta-2

Text and images copyright 2024 by John Miller/Model Paint Solutions.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2024 by John Miller
Page Created 14 June, 2024
Last updated 14 June, 2024

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