SR.N8 - FINISHED

[TomZ]

I normally don't post build reports, waiting until everything is finished. But for this I thought I would try to put the steps on the forum.
However, as my builds often take a very long time, it might be awhile before this is finished......

A number of years ago when the Airfix SR.N4 kit was out of production, I bought a partly built kit with the idea of cleaning it up and finishing it.
However this never happened.....




A few years later the kit came back in production and I bought a second one:




Again this also stayed on the shelve for quite some time.

So now I have 2 ( or 1 1/2) SR.N4s.


The idea is this:

The original SR.N4 hovercraft were stretched 55 feet in the Mk III, almost doubling the capacity of the original Mk Is. But what of the design was taken even further.......


Original Mk III

Now I have two ideas, don't know yet which way I will go:


SR.N4 Mk IV. Stretched further, six engines.

or


SR.N4 Mk V. Both stretched and widened, eight engines.

I'm leaning towards the second. It means more cutting and scratching some roof parts but I think it looks better.
I probably start cutting in the coming week.


TomZ

[The Rat]

You, Sir, are a modelling masochist, and I can't wait to see this underway!

[PR19_Kit]

I LIKE that idea Tom. 

I have three of them, with the avowed intention of building one of the two Mk IIIs, one of which I worked aboard for a short while in the 70s.

I think your top drawing is actually Mk II though, the shorter but wider version of the original Mk Is. Only the cabin part was wider, not the main hull, and the Airfix kit is a Mk I, so there's a fair amount of work to do even to get that far.

[TomZ]

I think your top drawing is actually Mk II though, the shorter but wider version of the original Mk Is. Only the cabin part was wider, not the main hull, and the Airfix kit is a Mk I, so there's a fair amount of work to do even to get that far.

I wasn't sure what the drawing was. And I also didn't know for sure what version the Airfix kit was. I had a suspicion that it might be a Mk I. So my model will be a converted Mk I and not a converted Mk III. 

TomZ

[McColm]

You'll have to be very careful when cutting the clear plastic roof.  I tried that once with a razor saw and it shattered.
The Airfix kit works well with the Revell Lockheed Sea Shadow,  extending the outer skirts shouldn't be a problem.

[buzzbomb]

Well this should be very interesting.
I was fortunate enough to do a channel crossing on one of the last Hovercraft Pax only services a bit before they stopped running and it was an interesting ride.

[Captain Canada]

Wow, that will be something !

[PR19_Kit]

Well this should be very interesting.
I was fortunate enough to do a channel crossing on one of the last Hovercraft Pax only services a bit before they stopped running and it was an interesting ride.

That would have been aboard one of the two Mk IIIs, the long ones. How did you find the ride, apart from 'interesting'? 

[McColm]

I've been on the smaller hovercraft passenger service to and from the Isle of Wight. I didn't see alot out of the windows,  that was on a school trip back in 1978.

[Rheged]

I can remember travelling on a Denny built hovercraft ** between Greenock and Dunoon in July 1963 (great adventure!!) and with my wife of 36 hours on the SRN4 service on the way to Paris for our honeymoon. That would have been 21st December 1986.  All either of us can remember of the journey (and back across  the Channel 8 days later) was the noise and bounciness of the journey

As an aside, we arrived in Paris, the Metro went on strike, and we walked everywhere for our entire stay.    I'm still married to the same person, so I think we possibly both made the right choice.

**http://secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/DennyD1Hovercraft

[buzzbomb]

Well this should be very interesting.
I was fortunate enough to do a channel crossing on one of the last Hovercraft Pax only services a bit before they stopped running and it was an interesting ride.

That would have been aboard one of the two Mk IIIs, the long ones. How did you find the rise, apart from 'interesting'? 

Photo from my Covid lockdown project... scanning all my slides 

Early 90's I suppose, main thing I can recall is being unable to see anything with the spray, plus it was all very exciting at the time, because knowing of the Airfix kit, this was certainly a big moment.

[PR19_Kit]

Ah yes, 'The Princess Anne'. (Note the use of the definite article in the craft's name...) That's the one that I worked on and the one that's preserved at the Hovercraft Museum.

And you can tell it's a Mk III (but called a Super 4 by Hoverspeed for some strange reason....) because a) it's so long and b) it has the mast in the centre of the roof, which Mk Is and IIs don't have.

Lovely pic too. 

[kitbasher]

Remember very well a trip on on of those in the late 80s.  Very rough sea - family of Italians sat across the aisle were VERY sick.

Whilst we were still on the ramp with the engines running!

[McColm]

Have you thought of a double deck(er), an extra upper deck to increase loading space or extra passengers?
It could be useful in the military,  not too sure how many guns you would need on the ramparts to repel boarders!

[TomZ]

I've made some progress. Cut the bottom parts and fitted all the skirts.
They do need some PSR to make the skirts smooth.

It does like a quite "normal" SR.N4 like this in the sense that the length and width looks quite like the real thing.
I think I will do part of the interior of the car deck and pose the front door partly open to show the size of the cars inside.
Of course the roof will not be transparent as it will require quite some cutting and rearranging to make it fit.



TomZ