Special Hobby Plastic Model Kit Supermarine Seafire FR Mk.47 Korean War — 1:72

Manufacturer

Special Hobby is a Czech model-kit manufacturer whose catalogue has a strong emphasis on unusual, historically significant and technically interesting aircraft. The company produces kits in several scales and its Hi-Tech range typically supplements conventional injection-moulded components with finer-detail materials such as photo-etched metal and resin parts.

This particular kit, 72259, is the Hi-Tech boxing depicting the Seafire FR Mk.47 in Korean War fighter-bomber service. Retail catalogue records independently confirm the manufacturer, 1:72 scale, kit number and exact EAN 8594071083649.
Kit contents

The kit is designed to represent the final major production version of the navalised Spitfire and includes:

Injection-moulded plastic parts

Clear parts for the cockpit/canopy

Photo-etched detail parts

Resin detail components associated with the Hi-Tech release

Detailed cockpit and undercarriage components

Contra-rotating propeller assembly

Korean War-era external stores

Alternative bomb and rocket armament

Decals for four marking options, including Royal Navy aircraft associated with HMS Triumph and 800 Naval Air Squadron

Assembly instructions

The retailer documentation specifically describes the kit as a Hi-Tech edition with photo-etched parts and a new sprue containing alternative bomb and rocket armament.

The kit is supplied unassembled and unpainted; modelling cement and paints are not included. Its recorded packaged weight is approximately 170–350 g, depending on the retailer's packaging/product-weight calculation.
The manufacturer and the Seafire

The full-size aircraft was produced by Supermarine, the company responsible for the original Spitfire. The Seafire was essentially a navalised development of the Spitfire, adapted for operation from aircraft carriers.

The conversion required considerably more than simply adding naval markings. Carrier operation demanded structural strengthening, an arrestor hook, folding wings and other modifications needed to cope with the stresses of deck landings and catapult-assisted operations. The result retained the basic character of the Spitfire while becoming a specialised Fleet Air Arm aircraft.
History of the full-size Seafire FR Mk.47

The Seafire FR Mk.47 was the final production variant of the Seafire family and represented the culmination of the development of the Spitfire/Seafire piston-engine fighter.

The Mk.47 differed substantially from the earliest Seafires. It used a powerful Rolls-Royce Griffon engine and a distinctive six-bladed contra-rotating propeller system. The contra-rotating arrangement helped absorb the very high power available from the Griffon engine while reducing the handling effects that would otherwise result from torque.

The Mk.47 also incorporated hydraulically operated folding wings, allowing the aircraft to be stored more efficiently aboard an aircraft carrier. Its folding arrangement differed from that of earlier Seafires, with the outer wing sections folding upward as complete units. The aircraft also featured a modified windscreen and a distinctive enlarged tail arrangement.

The first fourteen Mk.47s were fitted with the Griffon 87, while subsequent aircraft used the Griffon 88, which incorporated fuel injection. Sources record approximately 90 F Mk.47 and FR Mk.47 aircraft being built by Supermarine.

The FR designation reflected the fighter/reconnaissance role. Cameras could be carried for reconnaissance work, while the aircraft could also undertake conventional fighter and ground-attack duties.
Korean War service

The subject of this particular Special Hobby boxing is especially interesting because the Seafire FR Mk.47 saw operational service during the opening stages of the Korean War.

800 Naval Air Squadron operated Seafire Mk.47s from the aircraft carrier HMS Triumph. The carrier was deployed to the Far East when war broke out in June 1950 and subsequently joined operations supporting United Nations forces.

The squadron's first Korean operation took place on 3 July 1950, when Seafires participated in a strike against Haeju airfield, operating alongside Fairey Fireflies. The Seafires subsequently performed combat air patrol, armed reconnaissance and ground-attack missions. During the Inchon landings in September, Seafires were also used for armed reconnaissance and naval gunfire spotting.

The aircraft's Korean service was relatively short. The demanding carrier environment, operational attrition and limited availability of replacement aircraft reduced the squadron's effective strength. By the end of September 1950, only a small number of the original aircraft remained serviceable.

This makes the Korean War boxing historically distinctive: rather than representing the Seafire solely as a Second World War naval fighter, it depicts the aircraft during one of its final operational periods, using bombs and rockets in the fighter-bomber role.