Yet Another Hurricane Fabric Wing Question

[Tony Sherry]

Dipping a toe into WW2 modelling, I've bought the Italeri Hurricane and the Iliad Design decal sheet 'Pre-war Hurricanes'.

My chosen subject being:-

The Iliad leaflet states "This machine has the later metal wings" although I'm not 100% convinced, it also says "aircraft before L1977 had fabric-covered wings, though most were later retro-fitted with metal skinned examples".

So my question is - are both, either fabric or metal, o.k. for these early Hurricane wings?

Thanks for any advice that you can give me.

Tony.

[Admiral Puff]

Dipping a toe into WW2 modelling, I've bought the Italeri Hurricane and the Iliad Design decal sheet 'Pre-war Hurricanes'.

My chosen subject being:-

The Iliad leaflet states "This machine has the later metal wings" although I'm not 100% convinced, it also says "aircraft before L1977 had fabric-covered wings, though most were later retro-fitted with metal skinned examples".

So my question is - are both, either fabric or metal, o.k. for these early Hurricane wings?

Thanks for any advice that you can give me.

Tony.

At the risk of being shot down, I'd say from your reference photo that your chosen subject was fitted with metal wings.

I presume the protruberance above the starboard wing was a camera of some kind.

[dogsbody]

Yes, that looks like a gun camera to me, too.

Chris

[Tony Sherry]

At the risk of being shot down, I'd say from your reference photo that your chosen subject was fitted with metal wings.

Phew! .... that'll save some work

[Troy Smith]

Dipping a toe into WW2 modelling, I've bought the Italeri Hurricane and the Iliad Design decal sheet 'Pre-war Hurricanes'.

My chosen subject being:-

The Iliad leaflet states "This machine has the later metal wings" although I'm not 100% convinced, it also says "aircraft before L1977 had fabric-covered wings, though most were later retro-fitted with metal skinned examples".

So my question is - are both, either fabric or metal, o.k. for these early Hurricane wings?

Thanks for any advice that you can give me.

Tony.

Tony

sorry, but that's fabric winged for sure. Note how the rear wing root panel and outboard of the gun bays is a paler colour, they are the fabric bits.

I've seen this on other planes, like below. This taken May 1940, in France, still fabric winged. The pic above is pre-war.

see this thread. Has some notes on the Italeri kit, and detail of the earlier versions, plus links to walkrounds, in this post of mine specifically, http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...st&p=902551

but the whole thread is worth a read

see http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...topic=234907653

The 'camera gun fitted' must be an early test version, as the standard one when fitted it was in the wing.

This is in the post above, but here's the only surviving fabric winged Hurricane, very detailed walkround.

http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/mark_hay...cane_mk1_l1592/

finally, unusual pic in being one of the very photos I've seen of a Hurricane on the ground with dropped flaps.

HTH

T

Edited July 28, 2012 by Troy Smith

[deecee]

Just looking through the walkaround on Prime Portal as referred to by Troy, I spotted a feature which I wasn't aware of on the Hurricane.

The undercarriage doors do not appear to fit flush into the wheel well, but rather the edge of the door overlaps slightly the edge of the well by perhaps 1 or 2 inches.

This is best shown in the photo on page 2, fourth one along the top row.

This is the photo, but it is better to view it on Prime Portal because it is much larger and easier to see.

Now I can tell that looking at other views of this area in some places the metal is a little bent and this may affect the way you see it. However, I am convinced that the door is larger than the well so does in fact sit 'on' it rather than 'in' it.

You wouldn't normally notice this because most of the time the views are when the aircraft is on the ground, even if you were actually standing by it, it would be hard to tell without measuring.

I don't think this feature is moulded into any of the Hurricane kits - I have just checked the Italeri kit and the door fits exactly 'into' the well.

"Is it worth it?", I hear you say!

Probably not - maybe in 1/24th scale with the undercarriage up!

I always assumed that doors fitted into wells.

Do any other aircraft have this overlap feature?

I should be interested in your comments.

An interesting posting - I didn't know that there was a colour tonal change when the paint went onto a fabric surface. Now that would be worth depicting, because it is very noticeable, isn't it.

deecee.

[Troy Smith]

Just looking through the walkaround on Prime Portal as referred to by Troy, I spotted a feature which I wasn't aware of on the Hurricane.

The undercarriage doors do not appear to fit flush into the wheel well, but rather the edge of the door overlaps slightly the edge of the well by perhaps 1 or 2 inches.

T

You wouldn't normally notice this because most of the time the views are when the aircraft is on the ground, even if you were actually standing by it, it would be hard to tell without measuring.

I don't think this feature is moulded into any of the Hurricane kits - I have just checked the Italeri kit and the door fits exactly 'into' the well.

"Is it worth it?", I hear you say!

Probably not - maybe in 1/24th scale with the undercarriage up!

I always assumed that doors fitted into wells.

Do any other aircraft have this overlap feature?

I should be interested in your comments.

you are correct, they overlap.

This feature is commented on in the AL Bentley drawings, they overlap by 3/4 of an inch.

Both the Typhoon and Tempest have a small recess around the gear opening which the door sits in.

http://data3.primeportal.net/hangar/howard..._i_03_of_13.jpg

http://www.hawkertempest.se/album/la607/iw...9d0da472d3c.jpg

the Tempest V at Hendon is hanging up gear retracted, so you can see the fit

http://www.hawkertempest.se/album/nv778/iw...77bfd6e0492.jpg

This feature was replicated in the scracthbuilt temepst V by Paul Budzik

read and weep...

http://paulbudzik.com/models/tempest-const...nstruction.html

Note the method of panel lines engraved onto the finished paint!

An interesting posting - I didn't know that there was a colour tonal change when the paint went onto a fabric surface. Now that would be worth depicting, because it is very noticeable, isn't it..

This may be an trick of the light, as while doped fabric is smooth, it's not as smooth as painted metal, so may appear different depeding on light conditions.

Or it maybe the paint on the fabric faded faster.

I don't know to be honest, but it's very clear in the above pic.

One point, also often missed, the area around the Hurricane cockpit, the'doghouse' is plywood covered in fabric. the brick red bits here.

you do see models with bare metal scuffs under the cockpit....

HTH

T

[Tony Sherry]

Thanks T for all the info, too late alas for this one as it's nearly finished but it's been an enjoyable experience and I'll build another I'm sure.

Never having built the Hasegawa or Airfix Hurricanes, I can't make comparisons, but I really liked the Italeri kit.

Tony.

[Tony Sherry]

I'd like to ask one last question of that photo, if that's ok guys. The patch on the starboard wing - is that a gas indicator? or perhaps where damaged fabric may have been re-patched? Any ideas?

Tony.

[mhaselden]

My bet is it's residue from a gas detector panel. The appearance of the fresh paint applied over the old Type A1 upper wing roundel, turning it into a Type B roundel, is interesting (to me at least!).

[Tony Sherry]

My bet is it's residue from a gas detector panel. The appearance of the fresh paint applied over the old Type A1 upper wing roundel, turning it into a Type B roundel, is interesting (to me at least!).

Interesting, yes. I toyed with the idea of trying to replicate it on the model, but thought it would just look like over-large carrier film on the decals.