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1/48th Hasegawa Hurricane Mk.IIc, 135 Sqn, India, Arakan Front 1943


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Hiya Folks,

                  I`m on a bit of a roll at the moment and here is a Hurricane which I have wanted to depict for some time, HL791 `Uncle Joseph' from 135 Sqn flown by Kiwi Pilot Officer `Hugh' Dean RNZAF in the defence of India and in support of the Arakan offensive.

A handful of Hurricane and Mohawk squadrons helped to hold the fort in this theatre until more units and more advanced equipment could be spared and I have always been fascinated by these units and the men who were part of them. This is my small homage to them and men like Pilot Officer Dean who was killed in action on the 31st May 1943 when six Hurricanes were sent up to intercept 16 Japanese aircraft over the Allied lines in the Arakan.

During May Dean had already flown 31 operational sorties during 50 operational flying hours (not including transit flights to forward airstrips nearer to the Arakan front) and he had led A Flight on many occasions, During one of these sorties he had single handedly taken on 12 Japanese bombers.  Like many of the pilots defending the Army on the ground Dean must have been exhausted and it is thought that he was bounced by enemy fighters above him which he had not seen. The wreck of his Hurricane was found in the Burmese hills and he was buried alongside it.   

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Now I`m no lover of `Uncle Joe' Stalin or the Communist`s, far from it as the man was probably an even worse evil tyrant than Hitler,..... but he was portrayed by British wartime propaganda as an ally and many RAF aircraft were adorned wth similar slogans.   

As usual the model was brush painted and the decals came from a Montex mask set, with the roundels etc coming from the spares box as I`m not brave enough to use the masks when brush painting!!

Cheers

            Tony

Edited by tonyot
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Hi Tony,

What a nice Hurricane and I appreciate when a kit has a background story.

You did it both pretty well. Nice done ! Hand brush, can't believe it :yes:

How many kits are you doing a month, I feel like a turtle beside you and the others.

Thank for sharing.

Sincerely.

corsaircorp

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Thank you Sir for posting this, being born where Burma's campaign was fought mean a lot. Great build.

I am trying to make a diorama, 1:72 scale really old airfix kits must be from 60s, really old mould. Palel -1944, Manipur India. IWM say Burma however it is not in Burma, cause Palel is now in Kakching district of Manipur, the airfield is occupied by Assam Rifle now.
japana.jpg

Edited by tomthounaojam
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On 03/04/2017 at 8:36 AM, tomthounaojam said:

Thank you Sir for posting this, being born where Burma's campaign was fought mean a lot. Great build.

I am trying to make a diorama, 1:72 scale really old airfix kits must be from 60s, really old mould. Palel -1944, Manipur India. IWM say Burma however it is not in Burma, cause Palel is now in Kakching district of Manipur, the airfield is occupied by Assam Rifle now.
japana.jpg

Your Hurricane looks wonderful and I look forward to seeing t in its diorama.

My Grandad served in Burma as a Chindit and my Wife`s Grandad served in Burma in 1936 as a pre war regular soldier and after fighting in the desert returned to Burma in 1943 until the end of the war. So the campaign is very dear to my heart.

Cheers

          Tony

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3 hours ago, tonyot said:

Your Hurricane looks wonderful and I look forward to seeing t in its diorama.

My Grandad served in Burma as a Chindit and my Wife`s Grandad served in Burma in 1936 as a pre war regular soldier and after fighting in the desert returned to Burma in 1943 until the end of the war. So the campaign is very dear to my heart.

Cheers

          Tony

 

Thank you Sir, There is a Picture of a Bullock riding next to Hurricane In Palel, trying to make similar to it.

That is a remarkable story you got there, we run a Volunteer museum and I generally donate my build to the museum, it is a small one however trying to preserved the history with whatever relic we can find. Also I colored b/w image to color here is a quick one i did, since the topic was about Hurricane thought I share it here as well.

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1 hour ago, tomthounaojam said:

Thank you Sir, There is a Picture of a Bullock riding next to Hurricane In Palel, trying to make similar to it.

That is a remarkable story you got there, we run a Volunteer museum and I generally donate my build to the museum, it is a small one however trying to preserved the history with whatever relic we can find. Also I colored b/w image to color here is a quick one i did, since the topic was about Hurricane thought I share it here as well.

large_000000-1b.jpg

Wow that is brilliant, you are a very talented fellow! 

Cheers

            Tony

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Just now, JosephLalor said:

Another fine model, Tony.

 

As someone else who handbrushes, I have to ask how you get such an even matt varnish finish?  I resort to arranging for the brushmarks to 'follow the airflow'.

Cheers Joseph,....... for the varnish I apply a couple of thin coats and then dry brush a third one over the top in a scrubbing motion,.....it helps to blend in the brushmarks. A watercolour wash, wiped away afterwards also helps to diity up the paintwork and make it look more realistic. 

If you get raised brushmarks (and we all do!) try lightly sanding each coat after it has dried, it flattens the paintwork out. 

All the best

                 Tony

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1 minute ago, tonyot said:

Cheers Joseph,....... for the varnish I apply a couple of thin coats and then dry brush a third one over the top in a scrubbing motion,.....it helps to blend in the brushmarks. A watercolour wash, wiped away afterwards also helps to diity up the paintwork and make it look more realistic. 

If you get raised brushmarks (and we all do!) try lightly sanding each coat after it has dried, it flattens the paintwork out. 

All the best

                 Tony

Thanks, Tony, I'll try that.  What varnish do you use? I'd be inclined towards Revell Aqua or a Klear/Flat Base mixture

Edited by JosephLalor
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Another one of your great builds with a story behind it.  Dont' know which I enjoy more, looking at how amazing you can get brush painted kits to look, or following the history behind each build.  Thanks for sharing.

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very nice Hurry, I could not believe it was brush painted ! there are airbrushed kits who do not look  as nice as this one !:clap2:

I did not know that some planes in Burma theater carried standard RAF roundels, I thought SEAC roundels were the rule.

 

best,

 

Christian.

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15 minutes ago, JosephLalor said:

Thanks, Tony, I'll try that.  What varnish do you use? I'd be inclined towards Revell Aqua or a Klear/Flat Base mixture

I`ve not used the Revell stuff but it seems OK, maybe thin it down a bit though, I use a few drop of Vallejo Medium Thinner flow agent for my Humbrol acrylics.

Good luck,

               Tony 

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9 minutes ago, cger said:

very nice Hurry, I could not believe it was brush painted ! there are airbrushed kits who do not look  as nice as this one !:clap2:

I did not know that some planes in Burma theater carried standard RAF roundels, I thought SEAC roundels were the rule.

 

best,

 

Christian.

Thanks Christian,..... SEAC roundels were only introduced late in 1943, first of all by painting out the red areas of standard roundels using white, but the white was found to be too conspicuous so the roundels were reduced in sie and then the inside area became light blue.

Cheers

          Tony 

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