Scratchbuilder

Troy, this all seems like a nightmare. I can find almost nothing on the 'net in the way of pictures showing differences between the wings. You say the new Airfix Mk 1 is no great shakes. Everyone else says it's the best, but I accept that the Hasegawa II is the one for making a IV. I want the model to be accurate, of course, but there seems to be just too many little things that nobody would notice or think about. This thing about the asymmetric loading worries me. My Dad never once mentioned the tank under one wing. He always talked of 8 rockets. Making those rockets is really easy for me if I can find the info on their appearance, including the blast plate under the wing. Dad seemed to get back home pretty quick after the War, so the silver Hurricane (which I naturally love the look of) wouldn't have been in his experience. He did mention the Balkan operations though, saying he'd been to Yugoslavia or fitted aircraft that went there, can't quite recall which. I suppose what I need is a drawing, if such exists, of a Mk IV in rocket carrying condition that I can trust. Then I can make anything from the kit world fit it. Would I be right in thinking that you're saying no such drawing exists? I wouldn't be surprised. As to fiddly stuff like props and spinners, I would accept what you say on which of each the kites at 6 Sqdn. had and simply model those. Making spinners and props isn't really a problem, although props are a long winded faff! I must thank you and Graham for your trouble in helping me with my ignorance. I wish I could say I was genuinely interested in these matters, but that would be fanciful. This is just for Dad's memory. But for that reason it should ring true. Cheers, Martin

Assume I know none of the common terms. Remember this is for my Dad's memory. I have no interest in militaria, but I can definitely say that 8 rockets were carried when Dad was fitting them. He used to discuss them with his brother and told a story of a fitter who ran around screaming when the OTHER 4 rockets went off together on the ground when the flaps were down and knocked the fitter that side over the latrine block, basically unharmed. The screamer had assumed the same had happened his side, but of course it hadn't. Leaving the flaps down saved the guy on the side where the rockets went off. I have notebooks hand drawn and written by Dad and his 2 brothers while training. They include details of markings and even the building where doping was done on repaired fabric. Cheers, Martin

Troy, that's going to take some reading, thanks. I certainly won't be doing a 24th scale model. I find them just too big and couldn't display one hence 48th. As to work involved, if the wing is very different, no, but if there isn't in fact much difference and both are, say, a similar shape with just different panel lines/details, I could make the changes. Different parts like tropical filter, armored radiator, even rockets are easily knocked up. I could get a chum to cast me 8 rockets from my master. My Dad always spoke of 8 rockets ,so the assymetric load won't be the one I do. If I can get a reasonably priced Hasegawa II I would consider it, unless I can get a discount on an Airfix and the work required isn't too bad. It might be better to start with the best kit of any Hurricane and redo the differences. I will try to find drawings of the different wings on the 'net. Graham, thanks for the colour references. I shall bear your comments on the blast plate in mind, thanks. Cheers, Martin

Graham, by exhausts, I meant the streak of it down the fuselage. I've just read a review of the Airfix kit and the wings appear to be flat panelled rather than fabric, so where are the big differences between the marks? I really don't know the niceties of these aircraft. Cheers, Martin

Very nice, Graham, thanks. that linked to others which showed a light khaki component in the cammo. scheme. What would the colours be and can they be had in enamels or decent sprayable acrylics? The exhaust seems to have been so hot it burnt off the soot except at the edges. Martin

I imagine it's cheap though and as long as has a metal wing I can do anything else, but changing a whole wing is a lot of work. I'll have a look see if there are any around. Cheers, Martin

Thanks Chris, is that Hobby King? Martin

Thanks Rene, so use the Revell instead? the artwork on the Airfix box makes the wing look metal, which I thought was the main difference between them. I must admit I thought it unlikely that they'd do such a different model. I'll look out for the Revell kit on the cheap then. Thanks, Martin

Could the Sea Hurricane kit be better as it has a metal wing? Cheers, Martin

Thanks, Graham, that's what I feared. Do Revell do a suitable Mk II I can adapt from? they tend towards a reasonable price. Cheers, Martin

Not sure if this is the right section to post this enquiry, but....although I have a strong dislike of militaria, it seems to me that a decent model of one of the kites my Dad would have worked on would be a nice thing to have. SO....knowing Bu***r all about Hurricane types, can I ask if the Airfix 48th scale Mk1 can be made into a Mk IV tank buster and if not is there a cheap alternative (by which I don't mean Italeri, Hasegawa, Tamiya, etc, prices)? I simply can't justify those prices. I need to make a rocket carrying version from 6 Squadron in around 1944/45. I also have no idea what the livery was on those desert kites. Martin

Laurie, You're very welcome. Helping out with ideas and experience is the only reason for people like me to be on here after a (near)lifetime of doing it for a living! Oddly after a similar time avoiding them, I now find myself making two kits! Life is suddenly too short, but I do have a scratchbuilt project on the go and my Contrail TSR2 has so many corrections it's almost as much work as a scratchbuild. Correcting with the essential use of a lathe seems rather more than kitbashing! I just wish it was a 48th scale one. Cheers, Martin

I told you all, Frank is a magician<G> I have used Frank's suggested decking briefly and find it promising. Where I would argue with him is the cost of Renshape. I bought a piece a foot square from ebay for £10. I have also been given such a piece as an off cut from a rapid prototyping company for nothing several times. Today, I picked up some huge pieces, once used as tooling for vacuum-formed Aston Martin interior trims. All mine for the dismantling and taking away. More than I will ever be able to use. It filled my little car and it was three wheelbarrow-loads from car to shed! So, I can easily send you some for postage only. Cheers, Martin

Ordinary Yellow-green Milliput is perfectly good enough for that job. Use files instead of sanding to keep a nice crisp edge. Keep the files cleaned with file card, pennies from a tool supplier. If the part looks like separating from the main body, run a little thin superglue in the crack between. CA LOVES Milliput. Failing that use Ureol (also known as Renshape) which is a chemical wood as used by patternmakers. I can send you some if you can't get it. Once again, as it's a self skinning foam, CA loves it. Good luck with the scratchbuilding...so fulfilling when you've fashioned something with your own hands and eyes. Martin

I've just foiled everything including the canopy framing, which I'll then paint matt black and carefully chip away at to show wear and tear. The rest of the airframe will all be foiled. I have never found oxidation to be a problem, so I don't intend clear coating. I did a Vampire once in foil and still have it somewhere. It has been kept in a damp garage, an old barn , etc. and now has a very convincing white dustiness to it which I rather like! maybe the act of burnishing the foil protects the surface from oxidation. Of course aluminium oxidises immediately anyway to some extent, which is why it's a pig to solder or weld. We just can't see it for a long time. I think the most important thing is the making of a panel at a time. I would use a round ended scalpel blade and just roll it along the panel line, to avoid the possibility of tearing the foil. I say "would", but don't as I don't have any, but do know how to sharpen a blade on a slip stone like a razor and do so constantly, so I haven't torn any foils, whatever thinness I've used, but would still say roll cut it rather than draw a knife along, to be absolutely certain. Rob, many thanks for those close ups. Very useful indeed and I will keep referring to them to help with the "rivetting" impressions. Interesting how the rivets appear to be a different grade of metal to the surrounding panels. I once had an Albatross speedboat which was made in salt-water-proof aluminium by men who'd once built Spitfires and unless you knew where to look, the flush rivet lines, on removal of the paint, were more or less invisible, so well was the little craft made. That shot of the trailing edge of the ailerons is amazing. Who'd have thought it? I will have to take a file to the kit parts. I assume the F1 had the same feature? I'm itching to get on with it, but the son and grandson have taken over the spare room for the duration of their visit, so I have removed to the garden to tidy "that corner" we all have in our gardens. Cheers, Martin

J-W, thanks. I have an AC 16/90 that I did the master for many years ago that I can put some decent photo-etched wire wheels on and park near it. I did once scratchbuild an Aston Martin LM7 Le Mans car, but I don't know where that went. Martin

Please do. The Mrs. has pinched her kitchen foil back for tonight's family barbeque and the grandkids are in the spare room so no progress on the model till Friday. Sorry for the italics, it's today's little pootah mood swing. Can't correct it apparently. Cheers, Martin

Zac, thanks. I do intend to run through a series of Moths, but the Hawk Moth is not one as I don't like radial engines. But the methods are similar if you want to have a crack at doing your own one. Cheers, Martin

Well, Bill, I got the bronze shade by boiling the foil in eggshells. It can be a bit patchy, but is better than nothing. I tried a 2p coin and vinegar and got nowhere, but will try some other metals and report back. The only sure way is to do a panel by panel job, then you won't be asking the ally to go round too sharp or complex a radius, but you MUST practice on different shapes. I find that Sellotape aluminium foil self adhesive tape is easiest to use as it's more malleable than kitchen foil. Keep the kitchen foil for the colour tones and the flatter panels. I bought some metal leaf glue(size) off ebay for a couple of pounds, free postage, which is SO much cheaper than Micro Doodah. It is best applied sparingly with a cotton wool bud and left to dry a little. Give it a go. It's very fulfilling. Exdraken...I do have a steady hand thankfully. Glad you both like it. Martin

Here's a surprising number of hours more work on the Lightning. Various different foils, front and back, turned this way and that, some cooked in eggshells for different lengths of time. Rivets run up the frame lines with a watch wheel I mounted in a little brass handle. That makes a huge difference. Martin

Got an email yesterday to say the model had already been shipped,so am looking forward to receipt this week. Many thanks, chaps, for all your recommendations. No more work on the Lightning or the Houchin, when it arrives, as the son and grandchildren are coming down for a few days and he'll be in the spare room, which is where I work. Oh well, the garden calls! Martin

Thanks for the recommendation, Mark. It looks like a very complete little kit . The chaps on Facebook's Lightning page have told me where the cables go on both a/c and Houchin too. Martin

And I know the owner of G-ADMT and he would not want a silly scale that nothing else compared with. 1/16th, maybe, then it would match the model I made his friend of his Fairchild 24. I could scratch him a model, but NOT to 1/18th! Martin

I realise that's all they have at Bruntingthorpe,( I have been and felt the thunder) although I don't see how they get 3 phase AC out of a trolley, but in the day, they used Houchins. Martin

I can assure you that Frank really couldn't give a toss! He does what he does because he likes to. That's why we get on so well. Contra Mundum on the whole. He even has the balls to call himself No Scales on my blog followers list. Anyone who can make such a very true impression of a difficult car with no guiding scale and no drawings is a master. Martin