SimonL Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 With a few successful quick builds and a couple of shelf sitters sorted, I think my mojo has recovered sufficiently for me to make a start on my first serious build of the year. Just before Christmas I picked up the Airfix 1:48 Hurricane Mk 1 in its more recent outing in its Tropical form. I rather liked the silver doped machine, however while searching around on the internet I found an Australian example, a single Hurricane Mk 1 fitted with tropical equipment presented to Australia by the UK government in 1941. The aircraft officially had the serial A60-1, however flew with its RAF number of V7476 throughout its career, information about which can be found at the following website: http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a60.htm. I also found information on the markings from the review of an Aussie Decals sheet for this aircraft at the Aussiemodeller website: http://www.aussiemodeller.com.au/pages/Reviews/Decals/A48060Hurricane.html. My intention is to complete the aircraft in its final markings of overall silver with blue and white RAAF roundels and a red spinner. A quick rummage through my decal collection confirmed that I am able to put together the appropriate markings with what I have. Any advice or comments gratefully received! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Looking forward to this build ... Its your build. Though if it were mine id do the Foliage green. Either way im in 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonL Posted January 10, 2018 Author Share Posted January 10, 2018 I was tempted @Corsairfoxfouruncle, however I would need grey characters for the serial, and I just don’t have enough! Besides I like silver aircraft 😁 (and have plans to do a foliage green/sky blue Spit later this year anyway - for which I have the markings already). 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Hi. I built the hasegawa Mk1 in 1/48 not so long ago. I wanted to go silver/ polished metal, and ended up choosing an airframe that belonged to the Rhodesian Air Training Group. But I considered the Aussie plane, and got some interesting feedback, not least from Troy on the"all the Hurricane questions on here" thread. (I expect he'll be along shortly!) Here's a link to my build, although it's Hasegawa. Couple of nice pictures of the Australian plane. I found talk of silver paint all over, but check the pictures - sure looks like polished metal on cowling and wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonL Posted January 11, 2018 Author Share Posted January 11, 2018 Thanks @rob Lyttle, thats going to be helpful when I get to painting :-) It also helps me select the appropriate spinner and propellers. I was playing with using two different "silvers" (Tamiya rattle cans - am off to the LHS this morning to see what they have). What is interesting from the front on image of the nose and wing of the Australian Hurricane is that it appears the machine gun muzzles have been covered over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonL Posted January 11, 2018 Author Share Posted January 11, 2018 Quick dry fit of the main parts. All looks OK, although I suspect attaching the fuselage to the wings may be a little tricky. Found a few sink holes though, which is disappointing - a couple at the tail and one at the nose (which is barely visible in the photo). Nothing a little filler won't fix. So to work. In my excitement to get going I screwed up removing some plastic from the wing to fit the tropical filter. A little bit of scrap plastic dealt with that (the little bit of white showing in the photo) - and I slowed myself down a bit. A followed the advise I had read in a few recent articles and on-line and deviated from the instructions so as to build the whole cockpit structure on top of the wing. A bit fiddly but surprisingly robust once finished. I drilled out a hole for the seatbelts to go through (some leftover etch from my recent Tempest build - probably not 100 % correct but better than tape alone). The plan is to cut the little pins off either side of the armour plate and slide it along with the seat attached up into the fuselage before mating with the wings and the rest of the cockpit. I gather than helps avoid unsightly gaps between the armour plate and the fuselage. While I was at it I drilled out the exhausts as well. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamberrySauce Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Looking forward to seeing how you go with this , I've got the kit somewhere in my stash 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 9 hours ago, SimonL said: it appears the machine gun muzzles have been covered over? Yeah, guns stripped out and blanked over - probably with sheet Ali? I had to go for a Rotol prop and larger spinner for the RATG plane, but it looks like you're good with the standard Hurricane gear up front on this one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 12 hours ago, SimonL said: What is interesting from the front on image of the nose and wing of the Australian Hurricane is that it appears the machine gun muzzles have been covered over? Im guessing as this was a demonstrator and test aircraft, they probably removed and sealed over the gun bays. They probably did this for weight and drag reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 3 hours ago, rob Lyttle said: blanked over - probably with sheet Ali? Although I must admit, taking another look, it could well be silver doped fabric over the gun ports. You can make out the indentations in whatever it is, where the holes in the leading edge are, and it does look considerably different and duller compared to the surrounding metal . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonL Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 (edited) I think I have an answer as to how I can deal with the gun ports. Meanwhile painting and construction continues. Wings were actually quite difficult to get lined up. I needed to sand away some of the interior structure so they would sit properly. Eventually I got them to line up. I gave up on the etch for the seat belts as I made a bit of hash trying to glue them to the seat, so resorted to tape instead. A quick check and the the fuselage seems to “sit” okay. Painted the radiator black and then dry brushed with aluminium. My first go at weathering the insides using a wash of artists oils in white spirit. Cockpit brushed painted with Tamiya acrylics which were then given a good coating of Italeri Acryl Gloss Clear also applied with a brush. Left the wash overnight to dry and then matt coated with Italeri Matt Clear. Pretty happy with the results. Not too dirty I hope. Then time to glue the fuselage together, which was a lot easier than the wings. Edited January 13, 2018 by SimonL 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonL Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 Forgot to take a photo until I was done, but process of attaching the wings to the fuselage wasn’t as fraught as I thought it would be. Just a bit of filler needed here and there. Here is the state of play at the moment - next step priming to see whether I have missed anything. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonL Posted January 28, 2018 Author Share Posted January 28, 2018 Been a bit busy to post progress, but there has been some. First a coat of Tamiya fine white primer from a rattle can. Went down very well, I would be tempted to use this as my normal white from now on. Just a few places needed attention, before and touch ups with primer before I sprayed the silver base colour (again a rattle can - Tamiya AS12) The observant will note I have changed my approach to masking the cockpit - I got significant overspray in the cockpit using tape which will need to be fixed. So I tried plasticine, which worked pretty well. The next step after some masking was to brush paint the fabric parts of the air frame with Italeri Acryl Matt Aluminium. It looks a bit stark from some directions, but subtler from others. Here it is after a brushed on coat of Italeri Acryl Gloss Clear. Next step, decals! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Simon, there's an issue you may want to consider before pressing on. As well as the metal finish areas and Fabric, there is plywood construction around the Cockpit ( referred to as the dog-kennel). It's silver doped like the fabric, but can look different. But needs to be different from the metal finish, especially if it's buffed up bare metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonL Posted January 28, 2018 Author Share Posted January 28, 2018 Hmmm, thanks Robert. Would that be the area immediately behind the cockpit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Yeah, and on the sides too. Bit stuck for time right now, but I'll try to find some pics that can help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Simon, great start . looks FLAWLESSLY NEAT from here a d silver and blue is gonna look Splendid. Keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Got one of these in the stash, so also watching with interest. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 This shows the demarcation between metal and dope 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Hi Simon. Sorry to be a bit short on time earlier. And I didn't mean to throw a spanner in the works of a great build. It's just that I was caught out on my build of V6787, and I thought I'd better pass it on. Bit of judgement is required on how to interpret the photos, and how to represent it. Pictures of the Australian bird suggest to me well polished metal finish on the wings of engine panels. So doped fabric on the plywood is going to be much closer to the fabric areas, and well different to the metal panels. As per the Rhodesian airframe. But your own judgement decides how to play it . She's looking good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonL Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 Thanks Rob, that’s very helpful. Looks like some of my masking was unnecessary! Should be a relatively simple fix. 9 hours ago, HOUSTON said: Simon, great start . looks FLAWLESSLY NEAT from here a d silver and blue is gonna look Splendid. Keep up the good work. Thanks! 9 hours ago, Biggles87 said: Got one of these in the stash, so also watching with interest. John It’s a fun build, that’s for sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Just skipped through this yesterday, and I've just been over it again and read it properly. Regarding primer, I mostly use good old Halfords acrylic grey and occasionally Tamiya fine white, which I've also started using for white painted areas as it's not as ' brilliant ' as normal white paint and so looks more in scale. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Me, too. Also got an Italeri one. One will be V6787 and the other Douglas Bader's 242SQN aircraft. Not sure which kit to use for which aircraft, though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonL Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 Some slight adjustments to the paint scheme, to take account of the “dog-kennel”, plus anti glare panel and the main painting is now done (thanks @rob Lyttle) Time for decals. First -the main blue and white markings, scavenged from a couple of old Aeromaster sheets for Aussie Beaufighter and Spitfires. I’ll get to the smaller markings and serials another day. Really pleased with how this one is coming together. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 She's looking good, Simon. What did you do with the Gun ports? I can see you've dealt with them - just wondering how. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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