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I thought I should start a separate thread for this now. This won’t be a standard build, I’m using the kit as a loose base to develop a pretty full transkit for. I’ve made a start on a few things already. here’s the things that jumped out as needing attention first; not exhaustive, but what caught my eye. so far I have tackled the wheels:- next I’m tackling the engine Big thanks to Malc2 for sharing his amazing photo references. Nick

I'm opening a new W.I.P. topic while my work on the 1/72 Spitfire Mk.XIVe is slowly progressing toward (hopefully) a happy ending and BEFORE the Spitfire devil possesses me again in the form of a Mk.XII build. I bought the Arma Hobby Hurricane Mk I some months ago in the hope of building it with minimal modification. As it happens I started to build up info, pics, books and really I could no more consider an out-of-the box build. Worst of all I put my hands on a copy of Arthur Bentley's scale plans (considered to be the most accurate out there) and here I start this WIP. Please consider it as a guide to some modification work which is not really necessary, but could be an improvement of the still beautiful Arma Hobby kit. I sincerely hope not to be misleading to the reader so I plea for some help by contributors like Troy White who know a LOT more than me about Hawker Hurricane. I start with a comparison between the Arma fuselage and the Bentley profile view as well as a measurement of the fuselage length with my faithful Mitutoyo caliper I do not have the original 1:24 plans and I make reference to the scaled-down plans of Model Aircraft Monthly (november 2005) In reducing the size of the scan I took care to respect the dimension of the RAF roundels depicted in the plans (gives you the right proportion for both x and y directions). The resulting measured length should be 113.95-114.00mm- with all of the approximation, it seems that the fuselage is slightly long (0,75mm?) More on this argument later. With reference to the first picture, the main difference in profile between Bentley (B) and Arma (A) could be summarized as: -"hump"height (B is higher) -"hump" shape (A has a recess for the closed canopy which doesn't exist on the real a/c -upper engine cowling profile (B is more convex than A) -lower fuselage depth (B is deeper than A) -tailwheel fin shape (the B fuselage being deeper, its slope is less than in A) -fuselage spine (A is more arched than B, being slightly concave). For your pleasure, in the next post I'll examine these points one by one.

Well, since my 2 current builds (both 1:72 scale WWI aircraft, which is my speciality) are on hold for parts, and I don't want to "start" anything new, I've decided to finally dig out the old Airfix kit that's been in my stash for over 30 years. I did make a start on it back then, but stopped due to lack of good references (I was obviously not TOO dumb a kid!). This will be a long term build, as I intend to finish the 2 that are "in progress" before I get seriously involved in this one, but I will post updates as and when I get anything done. Since I now have a good few pics as referances and a pretty good build log to check up on from another modeller, I have made a new start on this one, and have spent the last 2 days cleaning up what I'd already done many years ago, and correcting the kit parts. I've got a fair bit done, but there are plenty more improvements needed before construction proper can begin, and that will probably wait until my Muromets is finished. Here's where I am now: The chassis: I've drilled out the front end, thinning the top and bottom parts of the chassis rails and extending the gap in the U frame further forward to where it should be... (since these pics were taken I've also removed the big doughnut that is supposed to represent the stearing rack mount). The stearing column: The bevel gear end was way too big, so I removed it, cut off the plug on the top and the bevel gear housing, thinned the housing by over 1/2, replaced the shaft with 9/32nd tube, chamfered at one end to blend into the stearing column, and reattached the other bits, blending them in with Mr Dissolved Putty. I think the lower part of the bevel housing that was cut off the original may be a little small, but it'll do. The firewall: I removed the moulded oil lines and the blank over the oil tank hole, the latter was replaced with card. The moulding for the throttle mounting was added from stock rod, glued together to get the right size, then sanded to shape. I added rod to the lower edge of the firewall where it meets the floor, then sanded it to the correct slanted profile to match the slope of the floor. 5 thou sheet has also been added to the rear of the firewall to give the correct smooth surface, and the flange around the edge. I also corrected the small lip on both upper corners which shouldn't be there. The floor: the hashed steel moulding has been removed, and the floor now needs to be narrowed slightly at the front - the sloped part is only between the firewall edges, not running right up to the bodywork. The fuel tank: a start has been made on stripping the moulded detail, wire mesh has been ordered to replace it. There are also some nuts missing on the firewall, I've ordered some and they're on their way! This is turning out to be very enjoyable! Any advice from car model builders will be welcome, it's over 25 years since I built one and it was OOB! Particular help will be needed for sources for wiring/plumbing materials, replacement resin nuts/bolts (I have some plain nuts on order but can't find castle nuts or dome nuts) and any other auto specific parts I may need (carb linkages?) all of course, in 1:12th scale..... Ian