Dr Jimbo

Troy, thank you. More pics and ideas. Your link is to modelling madness is well worth looking at. Going to look at Koster exhausts, 3 Guy decals and reheats instrument decals, although as you say, the reviewer says you don't need much. Mentioned a problem with the wings, but no more details. I assume they are not accurate rather than they don't fit.... Keep it coming, James I'll look at the Aires office too.. Thanks, James

I'm gearing up for my next build, Monogram's He111. For a kit more than 15 years old, it looks fabulous and will be my toughest build so far, having stuck to single seaters and a Ju-87. I can't wait to get going on it, but have to finish my Hurricane first. I am going to pull out all the stops and want to get some aftermarket bits to add to it. I've not bought any aftermarket stuff before apart from exhaust stubbs for the Hurricane and don't know where to start. I have the Verlinden detail set which I hear is rubbish. It has more flash than I've ever seen. Does anyone have any suggestions for what I should get to add to this build. Also, if any of you can remember building this kit and have any warnings, tips or advice, please tell me. The kitchen still smells of thinners and my wife is coming home any minute, bugger... James.

Lovely pics. V useful resource. James

Morning all. Everything always takes longer than you hope. Spent ages prepping stuff for priming, dropping radiator flap, getting rid of the aerial stub previously broken by me, making a replacement with a fine hypodermic, attaching it, milliputting the mess I made with my crap drill on the tail, using some future and masking the front bit of the canopy ready to stick on after priming, sanding the blades and spinner, and trying to get the smell of white spirit out of the kitchen before my wife comes home. Will do more later after have done some of the jobs my wife has given me to do on my day off. Brilliant. Milliput takes ages to dry.... James

Morning Roman, this was my last build. Your office looks great, cleanly made and nicely weathered/dry brushed. This kit looks great but I found numerous problems with the fit. The cockpit, as you found, doesn't go in easily and there is that gap between it and the fuselage, which I only spotted glueing it in place and in the end left as it was. My main problem was the engine and nose, neither of which fitted at all, requiring a lot of sanding, trimming and in the end I sealed the engine in as it was such a mess. You look like you are more experienced than me and I look forward to seeing how you tackle these issues! In the end though, despite these trials, I ended up with a lovely Ju-87 which looked the business. Waiting for some milliput to dry, James

Thank you. As soon as I'd posted my question, I knew that would be the answer. I guess I was hoping I could paint everything in one go. I am getting too impatient. I am going to try to prime everything tonight and paint some stuff tomorrow. Wishing my wife would go to bed so I can get on with it, James

Hello Neil, it's good to see you've caught the bug again. I am also a relative beginner and am building a Hurricane. Using Britmodeller I've learnt a great deal about scribing and rivetting in the past couple of weeks. Have a look at the thread ( CLICK HERE) and see if there is anything helpful in there. It's a bit rambling but everyone has been very helpful. I hate Mondays, James PS How do you plan to get the cockpit into the model?

Sound advice. I need to invest in a hacksaw to get a clean cross section through something metal like brass tubing or a hypodermic. Sprue cutters would leave a 'pinched tip' although I do have a file. I feel some experimenting coming on. Also, my dilemma at the moment is what to with the radiator. I'm not sure if I should stick it to the fuselage now and paint it with the fuselage, or paint it separately and stick it on afterwards. It is slightly confused but the fact that I am doing McKnight's hurricane with the half pale half black underside, so plenty of masking to be done. If I stick the radiator on now, it makes the painting easier generally but I can't work out how to get to the bits inside the radiator. If I leave it off and paint it separately then I have to stick it on afterwards leaving no room for error as I don't want to be sanding/gap filling on an already painted underside. I'm guessing I have to leave it off, make sure it is a perfect fit before painting, then paint it separately and glue very carefully after. Clear as mud? Any ideas/thoughts? Now, where did I put my beer? James

Si, top job. So much going on. You picked the right dog too! James

I was thinking of sending you some needles, but who knows what might happen. I reckon customs might have something to say about it. Troy mentioned using mechanical pencils of varying calibre's. They have a nice strong metal circular tip which could work well, although I suspect wouldn't be sharp enough to cut into the plastic. Maybe they could be sharpened with a file? Am thinking about how to drop the radiator flap and what order to paint everything in. I think I'm going to put the radiator and carburettor intake on before painting, just deliberating. Also just broken the tail radio mast thing. Am properly annoyed as I manage to do it every build and this time I told myself that I must pay attention and look after it. 5 mins later it's gone, having bashed it on the workbench. Am wondering how to repair it. I think I'll sand of what is left of the mast, drill into the top of the tail where it used to be and insert a rod of some sort ?needle ?stretched sprue although I think sprue wouldn't be strong enough to take the tension of the cable... These things are sent to test us. James

Just been using my new rivet punches. Check it out. Been reading Peter's thread on Warburton's Maryland(here) and wondering if I should put something along the rescribed panel lines to make them more subtle. I'm guessing, having only just learnt how to do it, I've been a bit heavy handed. He's used Tamiya extra thin, but I've not got any. What else would do the same job? Ideas please. Off to do some sanding, James

Hi Peter, I'm watching this one with interest, picking up tips and watching it all fall into place. Thanks for taking us along for the ride. You say you had to rescribe the wing roots having sanded them down. From your pics it looks like you've put something along the panel lines afterwards. Is this to make the rescribing look cleaner. The reason I ask is that I'm at the same stage on my build (here) and have just had to rescribe the roots. I think my efforts are a little heavy handed and will look too obvious when I eventually put a wash on. What did you use? CA? Thanks, James

Mossie, don't let my(and other) comments put you off. It's still a good kit and I'm enjoying doing it. As a relative beginner to the hobby, I am finding some of it a bit of a challenge, but nothing that can't be overcome with a bit of filling and sanding. Off to find my children, I'm sure I had 2 last time I looked... James

I'll test the canopy tonight to see if I'm brave enough to trim the fuselage. If not then may well get vac canopy. I have the Italeri boxing, but, tw*t that I am, I didnt look at the decal sheet properly. Hurray, it's the weekend, James PS - Just noticed that the * was automatically inserted into tw*t, and not by me. Interesting... BB is watching...

Shows how much attention I pay! I thought I'd looked and didn't see them, but if they are there then I'm happy. Must drink less spirits, James

I've seen your pics before and like what you did. I see what you mean about the canopy though. Those decals aren't from the kit, where did you get them as I'd love to use them? James

Am half way through making mine(thread here if interested) and agree with you on everything I've come across so far. I had a nightmare of filling, sanding, filling, breaking, glueing filling and sanding and finally rescribing alot of the wings all because the gun ports were such a poor fit. It was all a royal pain in the bottom and took a couple of weeks to get right but I learnt alot of techniques doing it. I didn't realise the canopy doesnt fit in the open position which is where I was planning to have it to show off my wrongly painted interior green cockpit. Bummer. Maybe that is not such a problem. Hey, this is all sent to test us and it's part of the fun of this hobby. Off to count some rivets, James

Bob, hello. I appreciate your words of encouragement, thanks. Always good to hear. I think experimentation did get the better of me with the cockpit. I was so keen to try a few new things I forgot about the fact that these planes had a relatively short lifespan and although the exterior could have had quite a beating, the interior wouldn't look quite as battered. You're right about the chief bit and I'm sure they would have been on it immediately if the pit looked like that! Heads down and back to work(real work unfortunately), James

Hey Troy, thanks for putting me right. I got carried away with the cockpit and learning how to chip and use the salt trick, and forgot to stick to the reference pictures. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, but did kick myself when I went back to the reference pics and realised what I'd done. Thanks for the link to prime portal, I had a brief search for hurricane pics on the site when you mentioned it first time, but missed the ones you've put a link to. I don't think I've got the patience to rivet the wings like this for this build, I just want to get on, touch up what I've done so far and put some paint on. It makes you realise how inaccurate some of the kits are and how much work you would have to do if you want your build to be completely historically accurate. Keep the comments coming, I'm on a steep learning curve, James PS I like the mechanical pen tip

I'm so excited about learning how to do rivets and making my own rivet punches from hypodermic needles that haven't got around to the tail bit. The rivet stuff all works though and I'm chuffed to bits. Needed to cut down several needles and file them flat before getting the right results. I feel like a modelling genius! I am amazed that putting in a couple of rivets can be so uplifting! Ignore the small wonky panels, I can't do freehand obviously. I'll redo them, and the panel lines need some work too. More tomorrow if time. Thanks for following, (a very enthusiastic) James.

Yeah right you can't scribe(sarcasm if you've not British!). I'd never scribed until a week ago and have learnt thanks to these forums. If you can scratch build like you've proven then scribing should be a walk in the park. James.

Wow, I've just joined the thread. This is amazing stuff. The most scratch building I'll do is only if I have to, but seeing work like yours is quite inspirational. I am going to watch with interest. Your attention to detail on the guns is awesome. James.

I started another thread on this topic just to get some ideas. Now to get on with the build. Spent a couple of hours sanding last night. Am going to add rudder, tail bits and ailerons this evening. Photos late maybe, more likely tomorrow. Beginning to look like a hurricane.... James

Just tried it. Works a treat. It's difficult to score in a precise circle around the hypodermic, but after a couple of tries I managed it. I had to use moderate force to snap the needle but the break was clean. I've brought back different needle sizes to get the most appropriate diameter for the rivets. I can fix it into a pin vice et voila, my very own rivet maker. I can't wait to try it out this evening. Every day is a school day. 24 hours ago I didn't know what to do, thinking I would have to buy some kind of rivet tool thing and wait a week for it to be delivered, or even make do with several fewer rivets(criminal). Instead, thanks to your advice I am armed with the knowledge and tools for the job. Brilliant. Thank you. I have to express my thanks to everyone who makes Britmodeller what it is. I have started a few threads now, asking about techniques and tips, and each time I have had an excellent quick response which has helped me no end. 3 months ago I considered myself a modelling beginner, but now, although far from an expert, I feel that I have learnt a lot and my skills have developed significantly, thanks to everyone's input. I appreciate everyone's friendly banter and at the risk of sounding pompous, the sense of online community and support. Nobby's silk purse from pigs ear thread is a perfect example. Fabulous reading and quite addictive and emotional at times. Share the love, James. (now back to counting rivets)

Thank you. Just looked at your link. Very useful. Not used that site before but looks as if it has lots of good stuff and some very fine brass tubing. Ta, James.