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Airfix 1/72 Hurricane IIc ****FINISHED!****


Max Headroom

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Ok, I didn’t even know KUTA X was a thing yet!

 

Right then, I’ll throw my hat in the ring with this, the much vilified Airfix IIc of a few years ago.

 

26131012369_5e87e565dc_b.jpg

 

I bought the kit for £2.99 in Modelzone of blessed memory a few years ago. My intention was to see if it was redeemable.

 

So far, most of the trenches have been filled in leaving only the hatches and panels, the wing trailing edges have been filed down to razor thin sharpness, I’m rescribing the tailplane hinge line and I’ve cut out the wing tip lights.

 

I’m not attempting to plump out the too slender nose (yet). If I remember rightly, the prop and blades are pants and need replacement.

 

I’ve resurrected this build because I am building Tamiya’s 1/48 Beaufighter in RDM2 Night with all the scuffs and peelings.

 

Beaufighter.jpg

 

I intend to use this as my ‘paint mule’ experiment. My aim is to use BE500 ‘LK*A’ as the inspiration.

 

Hurricane_IIC_87_Sqn_RAF_in_flight_1942.

 

Onwards and upwards!

 

Trevor

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If you compare the tailplanes to plans, or even the newer Airfix rag wing Mk.I, you'll find that they are significantly too small in chord and off in plan view. When I built this kit I used strip styrene to extend the leading edge of each stabiliser. The other problems include the very poorly shaped small carburetor intake (not a problem if you use the tropical filter); I replaced the Airfix part with a spare from a Hasegawa kit. The wheels are also quite horrible but there are plenty of resin replacements you could use. The prop blades are significantly too short and poorly shaped; I'm sure QuickBoost makes a replacement that will work. The canopy is also bad but I couldn't find an alternative that would fit. Finally, and this is uncorrectable, the airfoil of the wing upper surface is just wrong. On the kit, the thickest part of the wing is near the leading edge but should occur nearer the 1/4 chord point. This changes the shape of the wing root fairing so it looks off when sitting next to other Hurricane models that are more accurate.

 

I love that Hurricane photograph. I've got the Hasegawa 1/48 kit on my bench right now to be finished as that exact aircraft. 

Edited by VMA131Marine
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59 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

.but apart from that, the kit is ok?!

erm, no

the tailfin is too small, and the fuselage hump is too high, so the angle of the rear fuselage wrong, and the wings  are too pointy.  

It's about as good on the accuracy  stakes as say, the 1957 Airfix Mk.IV or the early 60's  Revell kit... 

I can't  remember if this is where the very bizarrre side aceess panels come from,  which look like those on the prototype more than anything else. (and not very like those)

 

It's  a classic example of very inaccurate drawings from a reputable source,  these  were originally official Hawker drawings.  
 

I mean the above look like Hurricanes, sort of,  especially if you have scratched your cornea and everything is a bit blurry until you  eye heals up, hopefully (guess what pillock walked into a low branch in the dark on sat night and spent sunday wandering about with one eye shut...

well, with the blurry  eye they look just like a Hurricane.....

 

Here's the story of the  only trustworthy Hurricane drawings, why thye are, and why so  many others, given out in good faith are wrong....From Scale  Models magazine in October 1980, when Bentley's drawisg  were first published.

 

35568750533_1f3269b366_o.jpg

 

Horrible Hurricane drawings are freely available in many places,  including Francis k Mason's The Hawker Hurricane, credited to Mr Mason himself,  and in this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sydney-Camm-Hurricane-John-Fozard/dp/1853102709

these look to be the source of the Airfix kit,  sharing all  the same faults.

 

On a more positive note the kit  does seem to  fit quite well :whistle:

 

One day  I  will write up the bizzare saga of Airfix and the Hawker Hurricane,  8 kits in over 50 years and all with different faults... 

 

HTH (sorry  if it doesn't Trevor)

 

cheers

T

 

 

 

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

I hope the eye is better

i think it's the way forward for AMS,  sod the detail if you can't  see it

;)   (which is what I looked like)

 

Paint it, enjoy, it's the perfect paint mule.  

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13 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

sod the detail if you can't  see it

 

Well said Troy!!!!!!  On that PERFECT observation I am off to bed. :sleep_1:  There is lots more fun to be had tomorrow - nite nite all :sleeping:

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Don't forget the rudder. The kit one has a full curve at the rear, where the real one flattens out for a while.

 

 Valiant Model Wings do an upgrade set. It includes a propeller (no spinner as the Airfix one is ok), wheels, pitot, cannons, carburettor intake, wheels and exhausts. Useful, but could have done with a rudder, elevators and canopy too ☺️

 

John.

 

PS if you have an old Airfix I/II kit lying around for spares, the prop for that fits nicely in the IIc spinner. It's not 100% but is a huge improvement on the later one.

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9 hours ago, johnd said:

Valiant Model Wings do an upgrade set. It includes a propeller (no spinner as the Airfix one is ok), wheels, pitot, cannons, carburettor intake, wheels and exhausts. 

Unscrew control column.

 

Lift.

 

Throw away aeroplane.

 

Replace aeroplane.

 

Lower control column.

 

Reattach control column.

 

Trevor

 

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13 hours ago, johnd said:

 Valiant Model Wings do an upgrade set. It includes a propeller (no spinner as the Airfix one is ok), wheels, pitot, cannons, carburettor intake, wheels and exhausts. Useful, but could have done with a rudder, elevators and canopy too ☺️

What a bizarre idea.  Lipstick on a pig.   About the only thing you can say in favour of it is that it's not as bad as the retool of the MiG-15.

Edited by Seahawk
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There's not a single part of that kit that doesn't require replacement or correction but it has a certain charm. I think it's a mix of the chunky plastic and the challenge. To be fair to it, the rear fuselage has the fabric covering spot-on and the transfers are of decent quality with three interesting schemes.

 

Are there such things as single kit group builds for classics such as this? :smile:

 

John.

 

 

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Whilst I wait for the primer on the Beaufighter to dry, I turn my attention to my paint mule.

 

In a mad spurt of activity I have ‘stuck things on’ and applied some filler.

 

24485775768_3658e0b74c_b.jpg

 

38357257831_c4be87d03c_b.jpg

 

 

Meanwhile in my box box of Hurricane bitz I came across these......

 

37643200524_c190d9fae4_b.jpg

 

A Revell IIc fuselage and a Hasegawa IIc wing (don’t ask why).

 

I feel a Franken Hurri in my future.

 

I also think I may have some Hobbyboss bits in there too.

 

Trevor 

 

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A quick burst of progress for this evening.

 

First the primer

 

26622438459_877b57c3f9_b.jpg

 

 

26622442369_ccca0d36e0_b.jpg

 

and then the black (it will matt down on drying!)

 

37683869174_1dc740075d_b.jpg

 

 

In the the spirit of the inaccuraciness of the model I’ve not put the glare shields above and behind the exhausts (ok I forgot!)

 

Trevor

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A couple of more photos now that the paint is drying.

 

38345311736_6e777a9277_b.jpg

 

38369070002_44c498dbcb_b.jpg

 

Notice how it’s not drying evenly.

 

Even though the primer appeared even, those parts I sanded have come out matt. I think that by accident I may have come across my patchy peeling paint look. 

 

Now of of course I have to prep the surface with gloss varnish to accept the transfers and then matt it down afterwards. It’ll be interesting to see how the accidental weathered look survives the process.

 

Trevor

 

 

 

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I really enjoyed reading this and am totally guilty of this phenomenon too. I start a build to just practice a new decalling /painting / weathering technique and end up correcting lots of mistakes as well and like you generally obtain an unexpected good result, sadly months later as opposed to the quick test piece it was supposed to be. I hope unlike me you are able to reproduce it again on your other project. Watching with interest

Graham

 

(the Hurricane is still my nemesis)

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I remember in the 70’s when in school, our science essays be they biology, physics or chemistry were all logged in the same way. We started with the ‘Experiment’, followed by the ‘Method’. We would then have ‘Observations’ and ending funnily enough with ‘Conclusions’.

 

So in the spirit of those long forgotten days, that’s how I’ll proceed.

 

EXPERIMENT

 

To replicate the worn RDM2 Night/Special Night finish using black enamel paint on a Tamiya 1/48  Beaufighter. 

 

METHOD

 

By using a test model, firstly a base of grey Tamiya Primer was lightly sprayed over the pre prepared model using a spray can. This was left to dry overnight. Then Humbrol Black was subsequently lightly sprayed over the base and left to harden overnight.

 

OBSERVATIONS

 

The black paint was noted to dry unevenly, with some areas exhibiting a matt finish and others gloss. This was attributed to the surface of the kit plastic, with those areas being subject to repeated sanding finishing as matt areas. One half was then micromeshed smooth, whilst the other half was gloss varnished.

 

to to be continued.........

 

Trevor

 

 

 

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Ok so I’ve micromeshed one wing and left the other as is.

 

24648888838_c58e6bafac_b.jpg38489158552_6a226bdac9_b.jpg

 

Can you tell the difference?

 

No neither can I really. The port wing is the one that was rubbed down<_<

 

So I satin sprayed the starboard top surface with Tamiya own and this is the result.

 

37805310214_57dc933ca8_b.jpg

 

Not a great deal of difference.

 

So based on this experiment, I will spay the Beaufighter and unless there are any gross areas which need sanding I will gloss rather than micromesh.

 

Onwards!

 

Trevor

 

 

 

 

 

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......aaaaand I’m back.

 

Slight change of plan. I had intended to finish this off as BE500 LK*A of 87 Sqn (see piccie above). I had even found a set of Almark transfers for it. Ok it was for a BoB one and the code letters were a tad large but as this was a paint mule anyway, it didn’t matter much. I’ve used Almark many times but these ones were more than a little fragile and all that was salvageable was the starboard roundel and separate red centre and the port roundel (without the centre). They tore if I As much as looked at them :angry:

 

I then made A Decision that I would finish it as a generic example. Scrabbling through my Hurricane bitza box I came across the Revell IIc sheet. So I used the wing roundels, tail flashes and the red dot for the port roundel and stuck them on.

 

Then in a fit of hubris I found an unused Airfix Mosquito sheet (best thing about that kit if you ask me) and made it my personal mount. :rofl:

 

So without further ado, here is where I am now.

 

38580854616_e3af1ff48f_b.jpg

 

38580833446_c1c0d8b540_b.jpg

 

38637182621_5c77e98197_b.jpg

 

Next, the canopy, propeller and legs.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Trevor

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

And this is what happens when I apply matt varnish from a rattle can.

 

25084502988_a2c01bd612_b.jpg38240034144_29bb5f2b08_b.jpg27179155029_ca156b428f_b.jpg

 

You can see that the contrast in finish has been knocked back and it is a more uniform sort of matt.

 

My experimentation will continue. I’m considering areas of hand brushed gloss varnish around the wing leading edges and some other random areas. I’m also thinking of patches of black from other paint manufacturers just to see how it will look.

 

Remember this is just a paint mule experiment for my Tamiya Beaufighter, so I’m not overly concerned if it doesn’t come out quite right :rofl:

 

Trevor

 

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Sooooo........

 

I’ve dabbled a bit with some paint and with gloss varnish

 

38921389562_5c646b88c7_b.jpg

 

and this is the result.

 

38071540435_1196cd50fa_b.jpg24092757147_43523c5404_b.jpg25085908118_08f5ce0640_b.jpg27180320119_e52f2eab2a_b.jpg

 

As an experiment I’m pleased that I can achieve a varied finish. I think the technique needs refinement but I’m confident enough to progress on with the Beaufighter.

 

And what’s more, this is my FIFTH completion this year (with another on finals - no, not the Beau). My output has certainly increased by leaps and bounds this year :lol:

 

Trevor

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13 minutes ago, SleeperService said:

That has come up with a great effect. Very well done. I have made notes for future reference (unless I lose them).

 

Pleased to help 👍🏻

 

Trevor

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