If you are looking for a truly demanding challenge in aircraft scale modeling, this large flying boat is my recommendation. The Felixstowe F.2a was one of the greatest challenges I have ever faced, mainly due to its large size. I decided to leave the upper section open, as the interior details are truly spectacular.

I carried out several painting tests on the wings until I developed a new technique that successfully replicated the linen-covered fabric, adding a high level of realism. I also experimented with new products on the hull to reproduce the weathering caused by constant exposure to the sea.

The sheer number of rigging wires, struts, and attachment points required between the wing connections exceeded 200 individual elements, making the rigging phase particularly demanding.

There are many references about this aircraft but this Felixstowe F.2a was the most successful flying boat of the First World War, operated by a five-man crew for long-range reconnaissance, anti-submarine, and anti-shipping missions lasting up to ten hours. Its design evolved from the pre-war Anglo-American Curtiss “America” flying boat, progressively improved by Glenn Curtiss and Cyril Porte. By 1917, Porte developed the distinctive deep V-shaped hull that defined the Felixstowe series, developed at the RNAS Seaplane Experimental Station in Felixstowe.

Powered by twin Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII engines, the F.2a featured advanced boat-style construction and underwent multiple refinements, including changes to cockpit configuration, control surfaces, and hull strengthening. Variants included the American-built Curtiss H.16 with Liberty engines. Related models such as the larger F.3 and F.5 were produced but were generally considered inferior, with the F.5 arriving too late for wartime service.

Felixstowe flying boats were typically finished with dark-painted upper wings, clear-doped linen undersurfaces, and black bituminous waterproofing on hull areas and fittings. These aircraft often weathered quickly in maritime conditions, and from mid-1918 some were painted in brightly colored dazzle schemes for identification.