Among the latest releases from Roy Sutherland's Barracuda Studios is a beautifully detailed and produced resin upgrade set of Airfix's 1:48 Hawker Sea Fury. With master patterns by Roy himself, you can count on something special and, indeed, the simple set is a clear and very worthwhile improvement over the kit's original parts.

The set arrives in a zip-lock bag with a card liner and a small sheet of colour-printed instructions and comprises five beige resin parts. The casting is faultless in the review sample, with no sign of any bubbles or other problems.

There's a bit of preparation required before the parts can be assembled, removing the substantial casting blocks and channels. Beginners to working with resin should be especially careful here, because it will be quite easy to damage the parts if you rush things. Thankfully, Roy provides clear step-by-step instructions on how to clean up the parts, backed up by very useful colour photos of how to tackle the spinner safely.

The level of detail is really excellent. While the front of the Bristol Centaurus is tucked away quite deep behind the cowling ring, it's an instant improvement over the Airfix version with a lot of extra detail on the cylinders and exhausts. Meanwhile, the spinner is noticeably less bulbous than the kit part, and does away with the dreadfully heavy panel line in favour of a delicately scribed version. The spinner and its back-plate feature correctly angled openings for the blades and will work with the kit propeller without any need to modify it.

The cowling front is cast beautifully thin and will work equally with the Airfix kit or Barracuda's own cowling replacement set (BR48350).

Conclusion

This Sea Fury set is another excellent release from Barracuda Studios. It should be very straightforward to install, so it would make a good choice as a first resin upgrade, but beginners with the medium should make sure they read the instructions carefully. Highly recommended.

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