Signal Sea Fury

Fisher Models, 1/32 scale

by John Meyer

The model is of a Hawker Sea Fury air racer owned by Mike Carroll. Mike named it the “Signal Sea Fury” as a promotion of his Signal Trucking Company in Long Beach, California. He purchased as an the ex-Royal Canadian Navy Sea Fury in 1965.
 
Mike had the aircraft modified for racing at Pylon Air in Long Beach. All military equipment was removed. The wings were clipped by 6-1/2 feet and the aircraft was converted to a wet-wing fuel system, which increased the fuel capacity from 240 gallons (stock) to 588 gallons. A small Formula 1 racing canopy was also installed.

Mike’s first race was a 1966 transcontinental dash from Clearwater, Florida to Palm Springs, California where he finished third. The following year, he entered another transcontinental race, the 1967 Palm Springs, California to Cleveland, Ohio race, a distance of 2020 miles. The "Signal Sea Fury" finished 2nd with the average speed of 386 mph. Later that year Mike Carroll entered the Harold´s Club Trophy Race, a transcontinental race held September 21, 1967. Originating in Rockford, Illinois, the finish line was at Stead Field, Reno, Nevada, a distance of 1620 miles. Carroll averaged 417.346 mph to win the race. The model was built to represent the markings of the aircraft after arriving in Reno in September 1967.  (I was starting college that September).

In 1967 Mike Carroll bought a second air racer, a Bell P-39Q Aircobra named “Cobra II” that had been flown by Tex Johnston in the 1946 Thompson Trophy Race in Cleveland, Ohio. The aircraft had been on display at the Planes of Fame Museum in Ontario, California. Mike worked with a team of of engineers and mechanics to modify the aircraft even further than it had been in the races of the 1940s. In reference to its racing past, Mike renamed this aircraft “Cobra III”. Sadly, on August 10, 1968. Mike Carroll was killed in the first flight of this aircraft when it went out of control shortly after takeoff. The Signal Sea Fury has since passed through many owners, but still exists today in a somewhat different form.

I purchased the Fisher Signal Sea Fury kit several years ago.

About a year ago I discovered that CMK had produced a 1/32 Bristol Centaurus 18 cylinder radial engine kit. This 3-D printed kit has amazing detail. It was meant to supplement the new Special Hobby 1/32 Hawker Tempest (Kit #32054) allowing the kit to be displayed with the engine cowling panels open.

I decided I wanted to adapt this to the Fisher Signal Sea Fury kit and purchased the CMK engine kit and the Special Hobby Tempest II (to get the cowling).

I worked on this kit on and off for about a year starting with the Fisher cockpit, which was a kit in itself.

The basic assembly of the Fisher kit was straightforward. A lot of time was spent trimming the resin parts for a good fit. This required lots of sanding and filing. Building the CMK Bristol Centaurus engine and painting all the details was a big job as well. There are 95 parts to this kit and the detail of this 3-D printed parts is simply amazing. 

The biggest challenge of the build was adapting the Special Hobby Tempest cowling and the CMK engine to the front of the Fisher model. Getting everything to fit well took a fair amount of time.

When the basic model was assembled, a great deal of time was spent sanding and filling seams and fine sanding the entire surface of the model to get a smooth, clean surface for painting. AK Real Color paints were used throughout. The basic airframe was first painted pink (thank you John Miller) so that the final yellow color would be bright enough. I prepared a custom mix of the basic yellow as well as multiple colors for the cowling—white at the nose bowl fading into light blue then dark blue then orange. The wheel wheels, landing gear and the insides of the cowling were painted AK Insignia White. A clear coat shot before and after the decals.

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Thumbnail panels:

All paints were diluted to 30% paint with Mr. Color Thinner Thinner with 10% Mr. Color Retarder added. Diluted paints were applied at ~12psi with an H-S Evolution-2024 airbrush

I’ve always liked the scheme worn by the Signal Sea Fury and wanted a replica in my model cabinet for a while. Many thanks go to Paul Fisher of Fisher Model and Pattern for producing a kit of such a lesser-known but beautiful air racer. Ditto for the folks at CMK for producing such a stunning kit of the Bristol Centaurus engine.

Cheers!

John  

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Review Text Copyright © 2025 by John Meyer / Model Paint Solutions
Images Copyright © 2025 by John Miller / Model Paint Solutions
Page Created 11 October, 2025
Last updated 11 October, 2025

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