Finally, a Fairey Delta 2

Following shortly on the recent Jet Provost model, I've completed a kit that's suffered a very chequered past.

The Fairey Delta 2 was a British research aircraft from the 1950s. In 1956 test pilot Peter Twiss flew one at 1,132 mph, beating the previous world speed record by over 300 mph! Information learned from the aircraft would later inform the design of Concorde's delta wing plan.

I received the Dora Wings 1/72 scale model of the Delta 2 as a Christmas present in 2024. It looked like a challenging model to build as it included photo-etched brass parts, something I'd never encountered before.

Nevertheless I made a start early in 2025 and got as far as completing the main airframe before disaster struck. The front part of the canopy was meant to slot into a cut-out in the sides of the fuselage. However, it was at best a tight fit: as I forced it into place there was a sudden 'click' and a piece of plastic flew off past my head!  

On further investigation it emerged that the windscreen had split in two and half of it was now missing. Failing to find that half I sadly consigned the remains of the kit to its box and accepted that I would probably never finish the Fairey.

But then, a few weeks ago whist clearing the workbench to make room for a large painting job, I came across a small piece of clear plastic. Yes, it was the missing piece of canopy! My Fairey Delta would never be a perfect model but it could at least be finished.

It's far from perfect; I'm not happy with the attachment of the etched-brass wing fences and the long nose probe that survived initial construction and storage got broken in the process of applying the decals! It is moulded as part of the fuselage rather than as a separate part that could be fitted towards the end of the build. I just knew I'd not get through without breaking it but I'm furious to have got so close to the end before doing so!

In posing the thing for these photographs I've also noticed some stray bits of decal that have somehow ended up near the tail. They'll have to come off or be painted over!

Things to watch out for if you're building this beast:

• the ill-fitting canopy,
• that delicate nose probe (I never even attempted the tiny, etched-brass airflow probes that should be fixed to it), and
• for some schemes a yellow stripe decal needs to be added below the nose before you attach the lower aerial and pitot tube.

All in all I don't think the Dora Wings kit is bad; it's just better suited to a more experienced modeller than I am currently. If I saw one going cheap (unlikely) I'd probably pick it up and model one of the preserved aircraft taking advantage of the option to depict the nose in its Concorde-style drooped configuration.