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  1. Oh Canada! So I'm in with this one, to be built OOB with decals from the spares box. Academy F-18A Hornet_box by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr With a Sword and two Frog kits currently on the bench, I cannot wait to start something with decent fit and details! Academy F-18A Hornet_contents by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Decals will be for the 2007 Demo scheme which celebrated 25 years of Hornet service with Canada and are from this kit Thanks for looking, good luck with your builds! Cheers, Dermot
  2. Thought I'd pop my placeholder down for my build. In a departure from my usual RAF WW2 Builds - I'm going to build this 1/48 Hobbyboss Kit as a Royal Canadian Air Force BAe CT-155 Hawk Training aircraft which is part of the NFTC (Nato Flying Training in Canada) at CFB Cold Lake & CFB Moose Jaw Here's the obligatory sprue shots 🙂 Not included in the photos are Montex Canopy Masks, Flying Leathernecks Miniature Detonation Cord, Reskit MB Mk.10LH Ejection Seats and Flightpath ASCI Pod with AIM-9L Sidewinder Looking forwards to this one 🙂 Many regards Matt
  3. BCATP Ansons – British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (48042) 1:48 Iliad Designs Originally designed as a fast mail carrier in the early 30s, the original AVRO design was amended in the mid-30s in response to a specification issued by the Aviation Ministry for a reconnaissance aircraft that could also perform other roles. It beat a similarly militarised De Havilland Rapide and was awarded a contract for series production with the name Anson after an 18th Century Admiral of the Fleet. At the outbreak of war it was still performing its given roles, and was engaged in the Dunkirk evacuation where it surprisingly managed to shoot down two Bf.109s and damage another, as they found the low speed of the Anson hard to gauge, overshooting straight into the line of the nose-mounted .303 machine gun operated by the pilot. She was thoroughly outclassed as a front-line aircraft though, so was soon withdrawn from fighting service to form part of the training fleet, and as a communications ‘hack’. Despite its withdrawal from service, more aircraft were built, and they were used as trainers for radar operators, navigators and as a trainer for pilots that were destined to fly multi-engined bombers. Its replacement in maritime service was the Lockheed Hudson, which had a hugely increased range and speed, the Anson only being capable of a four-hour endurance that prevented it from covering much of the Atlantic or North Sea before it had to turn for home. It could carry a small bomb load however, so could take action if it was to find a U-boat on its travels. Following WWII, Faithful Annie as she became known was used as a civilian and business aircraft, although some of the wooden-winged examples that were used overseas began to suffer from problems due to the humidity’s effect on the timber areas. Not all Ansons had wooden wings though, and some of the wooden winged aircraft were refitted with the improved metal wings, although even these were eventually retired, leaving only one airworthy by the new millennium. This new decal set from Iliad in Canada depicts a variety of airframes in the service of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, training aircrews for the fight in Europe. The sheet arrives in a Ziploc bag on with the decals printed on an A5 sheet of decal paper. There are six decal options included on the sheet with side and top profiles printed on the instructions along with captions and arrowed areas that give additional details to help you make your model more accurate. They are intended to be used with the new Airfix kit, which is the new standard in 1:48. There is an older kit from Classic Airframes in 1:48, but the kit is a much more complex build and only available on the second-hand market. The decals would likely fit though, as they aren’t contoured particularly to any part of the model. The top and bottom profiles are small but able to show sufficient detail to be useful, and these too have detail painting call-outs where necessary. From the sheet you can decal any of the following: Anson Mk.I, 6077 (ex R9878), No.7 AOS (Air Observers School), Portage la Prairie, Manitoba Anson Mk.I, 6117 (ex R9956), NO.4 AOS, London, Ontario Anson Mk.I, 2115 of No.6 AOS, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Anson Mk.I, 6013 (ex RAF N9943), Camp Borden, Ontario Anson Mk.I, 9982, No.6 AOS, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Anson Mk.I, 6067 (ex R9835), Prince Albert, Saskatchewan The decals are printed on a pale blue paper in good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. There are some large areas of carrier film between the lettering by necessity, but due to the extremely thin nature of the film it should disappear, especially if you ensure a highly glossy surface before application. Highly recommended. To pick up your set, visit the link below, scroll down, and follow the instructions for purchase Review sample courtesy of
  4. I have seen the name 'George Wittman' listed as a Canadian ace in WW2, with 17 victories. This is a name I am completely unfamiliar with, and can not find any info online. Would anyone have any info on this person and his service? I find it truly odd that he appears on the lists of Canadian aces just below "Woody" Woodward (19.83 victories) and above Willie McKnight (16.5 victories) but there is no indication of which branch he served with, or where. Canadian Aces Thanks, Colin ... update ... It's clear that the problem was the miss-spelling of his last name in the 'Aces' lists. Thanks to JackG for the clarifying link!
  5. This is the Hasegawa F-104, built as a CF-104 using markings from and old (and I mean old!) Modeldecal sheet. This one is augmented with Eduard details and masks, which were definitely well worth it, plus a couple of BLU-27 napalm tanks (slightly modified) from a Hasegawa weapons set as I generally like my models with live (but valid) loads. The base model was an F-104G so, although the Lockheed C-2 seat and the short exhaust nozzle that came with the kit are correct for a Canadian Starfighter, the MLG doors should not be bulged – ah well, I’ll live! Likewise, the leading and trailing edge flaps would not normally be drooped for a Canadian Starfighter on the ground but I think that it adds interest to that distinctive wing to deflect them. The Hasegawa Starfighter is a great kit that goes together nicely and the Modeldecal markings worked beautifully despite their age. Hope you like it ...
  6. Hi there from St Catharines Ontario, along the southern shore of Lake Ontario in Canada. I have been a big fan of Britmodeller for a number of years and enjoyed the variety of kits and fantastic workmanship demonstrated. My main areas of interest of classic aircraft kits from the 60's and 70's and also scifi from the same era. Here is a Revell Spitfire Mk 1 1/32 scale the kit is from 1967. The decals were cracked so replaced them with Eagle Edition decals. The paint is Tamiya. If I was to do it again I I think I would use Humbrol. The fancy stand is from flight pose. Cheers
  7. I am currently building a lovely Cf-18. I like my aircraft to carry a lot of bombs and missiles, but i am unsure about what canadian horners can/do carry... bomb loadouts would be preferred. Thank you in advance
  8. The Canadian Quad gun tractor a fine old kit from yesteryear sits in my build queue and I have a paint question. Presumably the Quad would have been painted in a dark green in Canada then had #61 Light stone applied in a divisional repair shop , correct? If so would the interior and under hood- correction bonnet🙄 -areas be left in the dark green? This of course assumes the Quad in question was delivered for use in North Africa. Well, how thorough were the Royal Army painters? (and would the Canadian army use Royal Army paint standards for the green?)
  9. Hello! These are from last year, at the Edmonton Airshow were I live. The camera I used is a Nikon D7100 and the lens was a Tokina 150-600 mm. Thanks! Jorge
  10. In October and November 1944 Canadian forces fought some of their bloodiest battles of World War 2 as they tried to liberate the entrance to the port of Antwerp. Known as the Battle of the Scheldt this operation involved the 4th Canadian Armoured Division and the 1st Polish Division, as well as British Naval and other units landing on the Islands of Walcheren and South Beveland. Although I usually build 1:72 aircraft, I intend to build several models in 1:72 to commemorate the battle next year (I'm a slow builder). Would anyone know a good source of images of the (armoured) vehicles and tanks that were used by the Canadian forces in this operation? So far my internet searches came up with very few and mostly very grainy images. I also sent a request via the website of IPMS Canada, but to no avail. Many thanks! Peter
  11. Hi All, Finally, I managed to complete the first model for this whole year. Somehow finding time for hobby was especially complex. Hopefully I will now gain some speed and would be up to my building plans next year And it looks like there has been a lack of T-birds recently on this forum so here is another one! This time it’s Canadair CT-133 Silver Star in its earliest version of RCAF markings. Model is built from Sword kit combined with excellent Leading Edge decals. Sword kit requires some effort to allow for clean assembly. The worst thing in Sword’s kit is the canopy. Front screen does not match in shape and width to the main part. So you can either model canopy open or look for a replacement. In my case, my brother helped me with vacuum pressed canopies that he did earlier for his Sword’s F-94 (it has same issue). Some extensive sanding and dry-fitting was required to make sure canopy sits right on the fuselage. Other changes: lower parts of intakes were cut from large lower wings/fuselage part and attached to each of fuselage sides for easier clean up of seams inside of intakes exhaust tube was replaced with a circular one added pitot tube in front of nose gear and fuel discharge tube on the aft starboard beneath the stabilizer sanded fuel tank fillers from outer sides and cut them through in inner sides of fuel tanks Also some mods were required to convert later service period T-33 into an earlier CT-133: equipment cooling vents in front of the canopy were sanded off as these were added later in T-33 life removed 4 of 6 gun port covers (Canadair CT-133’s had actually only two guns!) and drilled out 2 remaining gun ports drilled starter exhaust on the aft port side, removed US-version exhausts repainted some cockpit PE in black Otherwise Sword’s kit is pretty decent for a short run kit. As a benefit, Sword supplies resin gear bays, ejection seats and painted PE fret for cockpit and for some external bits. Resin wheels were the only purchased aftermarket. On to more photoes: And some family shots. First, with its British cousin that was also a very successful conversion of an early jet fighter into a T-bird: and second is my full collection of jets with centrifugal compressor engines - could not stand making a collective shot of fatty (or not that fatty) buddies Thanks for looking! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! Dennis
  12. Canadian Leopard 2a4m of Lord Stratcona's Horse regiment on the ranges at Canadian Forces Base Suffield; Hobbyboss Leopard A4M-CAM, Leopard Work Shop - Arieal mounts, tow shackles and 'velcor' tabs.
  13. Hiya, folks. I finished my Willys, so it's time for something new. This time I decided to build something more modern. I found this Grizzly in my stash. I bought it once in Berlin for a bargain price due to the box damage. It's an easy to build (i hope) model with no interior. It has lotsa mistakes - too bad. I'll try co correct some of them. Here's what's inside the box: But first, the box itself... Rubber tires. Some PE parts. Clear parts. And the sprues. The Hull. I also started on lower hull and suspension. So far everything fits fine, no problems. Some more details added. Some close-ups. As lower hull is nearly done, I'm gonna go for upper one. First I'll fill these 3 holes in the center of the image. They are incorect, the hull should be flat. That is it for now. Cheers. DAwid
  14. Hello everybody, I'm Rob, a recent returnee to scale modelling, and new to this forum. I hale from Winnipeg, Canada, where good hobbies help us cope with dark and cold winters. I see a great deal of inspiring work being shown here, and I hope to show some of my own builds in the near future. Thanks for allowing me to participate. Rob Bye.
  15. A new project. This is a commission job for Champion Towing here in Winnipeg. The truck is a 2015 Peterbilt 367 tri axle with a Century rotator wrecker. The model is being much modified from the First Gear 1/50 Kenworth T880 wrecker. Much of the Kenworth donor truck is die cast. To make a Perbuilt I have to scratchbuild the hood, cab and sleeper along with all the small parts. I was luck and found a PDF Pete manual online with profile drawings and when I printed it, it was almost perfectly 1/50, so I had my pattern. You can see here the start of the hood and the cab side. These are cut from 0.060 sheet. I hope to cast the cab and hood so I can do this again (well maybe), have to learn how to cast the shape of a cab, unless I do it in parts. The grill came off the yellow toy Pete in the backround. It's closer to 1/48. I casted it and shaved about 1/2 mm off each side to narrow it, but i left the height. A long way to go yet. Here's the actual truck.
  16. Hi all! Another appeal to the wise and knowing ;). Does anyone out there know the font used by the RCAF/CAF for serials and codes on, say, the T-33? If so, is it available as a downloadable font?? Thanks in advance. Martin
  17. Leopard 2A4M CAN (Canada) 1:35 HobbyBoss The Leopard 2A4 models were the most widespread of the Leopard 2 family to be built. Featuring an all digital fire control system, and an improved turret. Following the end of the cold war the Dutch and German Armies had large stocks of these tanks which were now not needed. The 2A4M CAN is an upgraded Tank purchased by Canada from Holland. The Tank was upgraded for use in Afghanistan where the Canadians have played an important, if often overlooked part of NATO operations in the region. It was originally planed to upgrade these tanks with the longer L55 gun as used by Canadian 2A6M tanks, however it was found the shorter barrelled gun was more suited to use in Afghanistan. To improve armour protection applique armour such as that found on the new 2A7 tanks was applied along with slat armour to the rear of the tank. Unlike the 2A6M Tanks the slat armour is only on the rear of the 2A4M CAN. The Kit The kit arrives from HobbyBoss in sturdy box with the main hull and turret parts in a segregated end compartment. In addition to the two part main hull and two part turret you get 10 sprues of plastic, 22 small sprues of track links, two photo-etched frets and a 300mm length of brass wire. All the parts are crisply moulded with no sign of flash or mould defects. Of special note is the slat armour provided. This has been moulded quite thin and HobbyBoss actually protect this sprue in a foam layer to stop it being damaged. Construction starts with the wheels. Two return/idler wheels, two driver sprockets and 14 road wheels need to be built up. Each are two part with a poly cap being sandwiched in the middle. In addition four inboard and four outboard return rollers need to be built up. . Once the modeller is finished with the wheels attention turns to the main lower hull. what look to be additional armour plates are added to the lower sloped are and the vertical sides. A large additional armour plate is attached to the bottom. Both sets of return rollers are also added along with the mounting arms for the idler wheels and drive sprockets. The torsion bar ends for the road wheels are also added. The rear of the tank is then added along with all the remaining wheels. Next up the tracks are built. Each side consists of 80 links. The track sprues here contain 8 links per set. According to the instructions the track centres are removed and clipped together with a central linking part. Then the end caps are added while still attached to the sprue. Once attached they can be cut from the sprues. The instructions indicate no glue to be used. The tracks can then be attached to the lower hull. While this all sounds great in reality after completing 8 links it is not that straight forward. The small links which join the track links in the centre are difficult to handle, with tweezers they just ping off an become fodder for the carpet monster so I found its better to do them by hand. It is then best once the centre part is on to lie it flat and join to the next link. The outer end caps are best done one pair of links at a time as its nearly impossible to line up more than one set at a time. While frustrating to put together they do look the part once done. Next up the side applique armour panels are constructed along with various PE parts. Attention then moves to the upper hull. The rear part is added along with various tools on the rear decking. A large applique armour plate is added to the front surrounding the driver copula. The drivers hatch along with light fittings and mirrors are added. The upper and lower hulls can now be joined, and the side armour added. A tow cable utilising the brass wire can be added. Next the rear slat armour is added to the hull. Attention now moves to the turret. The gun, and gun mantle are built up and these are added to the lower turret part. Once in the top and bottom of the turret can be joined. The rear turret bins are made up and added, along with the side mounted smoke dischargers. The side applique armour for the turret is built up and added, along with the rear sections of slat armour. The hatches are added long with various fittings and the machine guns & mount. Lastly the aerial mounts are added. Once complete the turret can be added to the main hull. Decals There is a small sheet of the minimal markings these tanks carried, plus a larger sheet of black rectangles which seem to be all over the tank. Conclusion The quality of the kit is first rate. Although not a widely used variant of the Leopard family it is great to see this one kitted. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  18. This will be my entry for the group build. It's a Mosquito, but with a twist - what I will be doing is a racer version owned by Don McVicar, an icon of Canadian Aviation. He bought a Mossie and fitted it out to compete in the 1948 Bendix race. I will be using this excellent Tamiya 1/72nd scale kit. Decals will be by Thunderbird - I purchased the decals in Telford last November, and have been waiting for the opportunity presented by this group build to get it moving.... (You can read the bones of the story here...more details are in the book mentioned at the end of the decal instructions page) I will, of course, have to "civilianise" the model, as provided in the kit, by removing all military items, and then paint it in this rather interesting cream colour.....(which, according to the decal instructions, approximates to Humbrol 103) I intend to start towards the end of the month....once I can finish the conversion of my attic into a long-awaited "man-cave". The attic was insulated during the autumn, with a pull-down step ladder, and I have been working on it since. Over Christmas, I managed to purchase and assemble some kitchen units, and these provide support to an off-cut of a kitchen worktop, that had been in the garden shed for the past 12 years (since our kitchen was done), This will be be the main modelling surface. Some shelves were added this weekend, as you can see...These should provide places for paints and other items, including all my tools....Still to be done are some more lights, a table for an extractor booth (which I will be ordering in a few days' time), and a chair to sit at while modelling..... See y'all in a couple of weeks.... Philip
  19. This is likely my first or second post here on Britmodeller, and it concerns an F-5 model that is already being built by a number of fine hobbyist's in this campaign. None-the-less, this is the most peaceful, relaxing, and enjoyable hobby I can think of, and I don't feel the duplication should bother anyone. I'm doing mine in the CAF lizard scheme as shown on the boxtop. I have a reference with a pair of decent color photos of that exact aircraft. So mine will be built OOB using the kit decals. Here the prerequsite photos: I'm starting the model this evening, so progress photos should be forthcoming soon. I've been lurking for quite awhile, admiring the outstanding modelling skills of those who frequent this forum. I certainly hope I can hold my ground in the face of the skilled workmanship I see throughout this forum. Glad to be here. Guy
  20. I found out recently that Buffalo Airways' C-46 C-GTXW crashed on Sept 25 2015. She is said to be a write off. Here's the accident report. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20150925-0 Very sad for me because I remember this plane well when she worked for Air Manitoba as "Ancient Lady" until the late '90s along with a few others, DC-3s and HS-748s. I saw her a lot back then thundering low over Winnipeg. I looked on googlemaps at Deline NWT and it looks like a C-46 shape minus wings parked off the runway next to a lodge a short distance from the runway, just very blurry since it's rural.
  21. Since I'm waiting for decals to finish off my F-8s, I'm building a truck. I was commissioned by the KW saleman who sold the actual truck, part of a fleet to Morgan Fuels. Morgan hauls bulk fuel for Esso in southern and central Ontario and sometimes Manitoba. The model is a First Gear KW T880. I was lucky and found it on evibay. I say lucky because the truck originally had a lowboy trailer, the seller had two that he kept the trailers from. I also found an International Durastar with the near correct tank. Making one from the two. I hope to sell the IH and the leftover KW parts and get some money back. The pictures ahow the actual truck(will be #49)and the other shows what I am starting with. Had some fun with the lift axle before removing it, ever wonder what a KW would look like with hydraulics? Here's where it is right now. Lots more trimming than I expected. Lengthened the rear of the tank, this covers the hose reels. When I glue the top and bottom of the tank body, I missed seeing that it should have been a bit taller. No way to cut this up so I had to ad frame rails under the original tank frame. Added to the rear bulkhead, made a new end cap. I couldn't decide to move the under body cabinets back or just cut them off and make new ones, well I cut them off. Most of the worst parts done now. The bag of sand was inside the tank, I guess just to weigh it down for the die cast effect? Also shown is the test page for the decals.
  22. Finally got this Busch 1/87 GM bus finished. Here's the link to the WIP page. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234985178-ho-gm-fishbowl-bus/
  23. Venturas in Canada 4 1:48 & 1:72 Aviaeology by Skygrid Studio This decal set is for post war Venturas used in Canada for Bombing & gunnery training, as well as Target Tugs. The sheet features marking for two B&G trainers, and two Target Tugs. As usual with sets from Aviaeology there are copious instructions. To be honest for me they are in very small print on photocopied pages which are not the best to read. Different styles of national markings are provided given the changes at this time in the RCAF. Full details of these are provided in the text. The decals are printed on a pale blue background with a slightly mottled patina, and are of good quality as you'd expect. Registration, colour density and sharpness are up to snuff, just as you'd expect and the clear carrier film is pretty tight to the edges of the printing. Conclusion If you are a fan of all aviation things Canadian, want something a little different, or you are a big fan of stripes then these decals are for you. Recommended. 1:72 1:72 Review sample courtesy of
  24. Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome! I've had a little down time from modelling and this GB gives me an opportunity to build an aircraft outwith my normal scale range and away from my normal profile of British or American aircraft. I've had a look through the various aircraft used by the RCAF, the RCAF and the RAF share a lot of historical aircraft so WWII was fairly out as it was just for me what I would build normally. The next option was the popular jets - the CF-18 in Canadian demo colour schemes - and there are some exceptional schemes. Then of course there is the Arrow, the Canadian answer to the TSR-2. Very much bombs and bullets and for coming back into the hobby I wanted something a little off field. So I searched and settled on the Polaris - an airliner turned military jet out with my normal scale, that's a good start. I initially wanted to build the new blue, white and red scheme however there are not yet any decals for it and normally I would ask the very good Mr Park's of Paul Park's decals to run me off a set to make the aircraft however I want to break myself in softly so I will be building the Grey scheme seen below. Simplistic, minimalistic but very smart and military looking, with the very distinctive Transport Command style band. The aircraft I will use will be the Revell 1:144 A310 shaken straight from the box with a custom paint do and some CanMilAir Decals. All to be bought as well as a full new modelling tool-kit, not at home any more so this is also a test of whether of not I can do this remote from my stockpiled bunker of a man cave, in early Jan so watch this space! If anyone has any suggestions, ideas or warnings please let me know! Ta Jim
  25. Apologies for this monster post! This subject has been touched upon in previous posts, but I thought I’d try to collate everything and add my own research, since this might affect the modelling of specific airframes, for example those within the AE9** and AF9** serial ranges present during operation Pedestal and those airframes which took part in operation Torch. I'm sure there are Hurricane experts out there who will be keen to put me right where I have misunderstood, assumed in error or just plain got it wrong! Where I have a query, I have put a '?' To briefly summarise the Royal Navy classification of UK built Sea Hurricanes... Sea Hurricane Mk.Is : all had Merlin IIIs and DH Hurricane prop/spinners. The latter was required to address aft Centre of Gravity shift issues associated with the carrier equipment fit. They fell into three classes, depending on the accelerator/arrester fit. Mk.Ia - catapult spools but no arrester hooks. These were used on the CAM ships. Mk.Ib - catapult spools and arrester hooks. These were used on the fleet carriers such as Indomitable, Eagle and Victorious. Mk.Ic - no catapult spools but with arrester hooks. The Mk.Ics replaced the standard 8 guns with four cannon and were intended for use on escort carriers, but this didn’t happen. All evidence suggests that only one or two prototype examples were tested, and these reverted to standard armament because of the weight of the weaponry (added to the weight of the naval equipment) eroded performance to unacceptable levels. The lack of one on Pedestal was confirmed by pilots and an armourer from 880 Sq. Sea Hurricane Mk.IIs : all had two stage Merlin XXs and the lighter Rotol Hurricane units were usually fitted as per RAF machines as the longer (extended by 4”) noses provided the required forward C of G shift. They fell into two classes Mk.IIb - with 12 guns (sometimes 8 guns?) Mk.IIc - with four cannon This reflects RAF terminology. However, these aircraft were only used from escort carriers without accelerators, so it is quite possible that they did not possess catapult spools. The Mk.IIb and Mk.IIc didn`t have a pilot`s head rest because this assembly was designed to protect the pilots neck during a catapult launch, so maybe they were not fitted with catapult spools either? Canadian built machines : The Royal Navy didn’t differentiate between Canadian and British manufactured machines, referring to them as Mk. Is or Mk. IIs according to whether they had Merlin IIIs or Merlin XXs (or 28/29s if they were retained?). This is not surprising since I imagine operationally, there wouldn't have been fundamental differences between Canadian and UK built machines, especially when UK Merlin engines were fitted. Some references, for example the Airfile publication on Operation Torch, and the Aviation Workshop book on the Hurricane, refer to Sea Hurricane Mk. Xs and XIIs being used during operation Torch, but I don’t think these were designations recognised by the Royal Navy? Perhaps the last of the Canadian manufactured machines kept their Merlin 28/29s and they kept their canadian designations accordingly? The first production batch of Canadian Hurricanes (P5170 – P5209) were 40 Merlin II or III powered Hurricane Mk.Is. They were not re-designated as Mk. Xs when this designation was introduced. These used engines and Watts or De Havilland propellers imported from the UK. According to sources (see below) The completed airframes were exported to the UK in between march and November 1940 and six airframes (P5180, P5182, P5187, P5203 and P5206) were subsequently operated by the Royal Navy. P5187 as a Sea Hurricane Mk. Ia and the rest as Sea Hurricane Mk. Ibs. Designation for the next Canadian production batch was then switched to the Mk X. The Mk. X, XI and XII designations were used to identify Hurricanes manufactured in Canada. References state that these were manufactured with American manufactured Packard Merlin single-stage, two-speed 28/29 (Merlin XX equivalent) engines. Canadian built Hurricane Xs converted to Sea Hurricane standards were often classified either Mk.Ia or Mk.Ib by the RN depending on the accelerator/arrester fit. Those which were re-engined with merlin XXs were classified as Mk. IIs. This is where the confusion starts…. Most references state that Mk. Xs were manufactured with the single-stage, two-speed Merlin 28. This means that they would have had to have the Mk.II 4" nose extension required to accommodate the single-stage, two-speed Merlin. In which case why did the Royal Navy classify these long nosed airframes as Mk. Is when they classified other long nosed (Merlin XX powered) airframes Mk.IIs? Long and short nosed Sea Hurricane Mk. Is? On the face of it the Sea Hurricane Mk. I designation did not relate to the engine and therefore in theory you could have had both long and short nosed Mk. Is. The only engine which seems to prompt a Mk. II designation was the Merlin XX. But is that really the case? It is conceivable that all Sea Hurricanes sourced from Mk. X airframes did have the Mk. II extended nose. On carriers, where parts storage was limited, you would have thought they would have used the same DH Hurricane prop/spinners used by their short nosed companions, rather than the Rotol set-up usually seen on Mk. IIs? The oil spill ring was on all versions from the Mk.II onwards, but it can also be seen on late Mk.Is. It was certainly on some Sea Hurricane Mk.Is during Pedestal, so this isn’t necessarily an identification clue either. So (unless the Mk. Xs had the later articulated tailwheel) you would be relying on spotting the subtle 4” differences in the nose panels between the cockpit and the exhaust stack to spot the long nosed machines. However, photographic evidence tends to discount long nosed Mk. Is (see below). Long and short nosed Mk. Xs? It is claimed in another posting that the first production batch of Mk. Xs were in fact built with Merlin IIIs and that Hurricane XIIas were all rebuilt aircraft that started out as Merlin III powered RCAF Hurricane Xs or Sea Hurricane conversions of, which were rebuilt to XII standard with Packard Merlin 28s and associated longer noses, but retained the eight gun wings for their lifetime. I assume that early Mk. X Sea Hurricane conversions were therefore delivered to the RN with the Merlin IIIs and short noses they were originally manufactured with, hence the Mk.I classification. If they were delivered with the long nose and then fitted with Merlin IIIs during the Sea Hurricane conversion process, you would have thought they would have retained the long nose (is that possible?) to help address the aft C of G issue? As stated above, the first production batch of Canadian Hurricanes were 40 Merlin II or III powered Hurricane Mk.Is, fitted with engines imported from the UK. They were not referred to as Mk. Xs. Designation for the second Canadian production batch was then switched to the Mk X (Mks. X upwards were allocated to Canadian built machines). I believe that that designation related to the country of manufacture and not necessarily the engine they were built with? First production batch of Mk. Xs Looking at Francis Mason’s book on the Hurricane and the Hurricane production details therein, then cross referencing with Sturtivant’s Air Britain book on FAA aircraft 1939-45, I note the following; Production of the first Mk. X batch was split into three parts. Jackson says the first two parts of the first Mk. X production batch were built as Mk. Is with Merlin 28s and 8 gun wings. Some being subsequently re-fitted with Merlin XXs in the UK and re-designated Mk. IIs. The third part was built as Mk. IIbs with Merlin 28s and mostly shipped to Russia. Part 1 All of the first part (AE958 – AE977) were shipped to the UK in June 1940 before being converted into Sea Hurricane Mk. Ibs in 1941. Four airframes were lost en route and four were initially delivered to 401 sqdn in Sept 1940 before (according to Sturtivant) also being converted to Sea Hurricanes Mk. Ibs in 1941. Part 2 The second part (AF945 - AG344) were shipped to the UK in August 1940. 21 of the first 22 were converted to into Sea Hurricane Mk. Ibs in 1941. The exception was AF961 which was fitted with cannons and used by 43 sqdn RAF. Sturtivant concurs with this, although a couple of airframes (AF958 and AF975) are described as Hurricane Is rather than Sea Hurricanes, despite being delivered to the Royal Navy. Of the remaining airframes from this part, some were converted to Hurricane Mk. IIbs by 13MU Henlow through the fitting of Merlin XXs and some of these (AG292, AG332, AG334, AG335 and AG340) were used by the Royal Navy. AG292, AG334 and AG340 were later converted to Mk. IIcs. Those not converted to either Sea Hurricane Mk. Ibs or Hurricane Mk. IIs , remained classified as Mk. Xs but many had 12 gun or 4 cannon wings fitted. Part 3 The third part (AG665 – AG684) were shipped to the UK in 1941 as Mk. IIb equivalents. The first six frames stayed in the UK, the rest were shipped to Russia. Of those that stayed in the UK, three airframes (AG666, AG667 and AG669) were used by the Royal Navy. Two (AG666 and AG667) were subsequently converted to Mk. IIcs in 1942. Sturtivant refers to the aircraft as Hurricane Mk. IIs and concurs with Jackson. No mention of fitting Merlin XXs is made but that isn’t to say it didn’t happen as per previous UK Mk. X to Mk. II conversions. Discussion Building Hurricanes as Mk. Is but with single-stage, two-speed Merlin 28s, seems to be a contradiction. This would suggest that the first part and at least some of the second part were built and exported as Mk. Is with Merlin IIIs (perhaps those engines leftover from those imported for the first Canadian production batch of hurricane Mk. Is?). Photos of Sea Hurricane Mk. Ibs in the AE958 –AF982 serial range confirm that there were no substantive differences in appearance between them and other UK built Sea Hurricane Mk. Ibs. There are photos of such airframes (AF974 7●D, AF955 7●E and AE966 7●F) taken during or around the time of operation Pedestal. The Squadron/Signal book ‘Fleet Air Arm’ by Ron Mackay has several large photos of Pedestal deck scenes. Graham Boak has studied Pedestal Sea Hurricanes in detail, publishing an article in Scale Aircraft Modelling January 2000 and submitting posts on this forum. He sees only short noses, De Havilland props and 8 gun wings. It might be that all the airframes from the first two parts were manufactured with Merlin IIIs, but that would mean that there were both short nose (parts 1 and 2) and long nose (part3 onwards) Mk.Xs. It has been said in other posts that there were in deed short and long nosed Mk. Xs. Those second part airframes converted in the UK to Mk. IIbs had Merlin XXs fitted so if they were exported as short nose Mk. Xs, they would have needed more than just an engine change. Alternatively they could have started fitting Merlin 28s in long nosed airframes post AF982 (during production of part 2). Photos of unconverted Mk.Xs in the AG101 – AG280 serial range would help confirm if they were exported with short or long noses. Looking at the Air Britain RN Hurricane records, the first of the airframes from the second part to be classified as a Hurricane Mk. II is AG292. This and several of the subsequent part 2 airframes and three from the third part (AG666, AG667 and AG669)) are classified as Hurricane Mk. IIbs even though they were operated by Royal Navy squadrons. This is not unusual since many of the subsequent (UK built) Mk. II airframes used by the RN are referred to by Sturtivant as Hurricanes, rather than Sea Hurricanes. Second production batch of Mk. Xs The two Royal Navy operated airframes (AM277 and AM288) from the second production batch of of Mk. Xs (AM270 – AM369) continue this pattern, being referred to as Hurricane Mk. IIbs. Jackson states that this batch was shipped to the UK in 1941 with Merlin 28s and 8 gun wings before being converted to Hurricane Mk. IIbs by 13MU Henlow in November 1941 through the fitting of Merlin XXs and 12 gun wings. Third production batch of Mk. Xs Interestingly, the three Royal Navy operated airframes (BW841, BW855 and BW856) from the third production batch of Mk. Xs (BW835 – BW884) are referred to by Sturtivant as Sea Hurricane Mk. Ias (BW841, BW855) and a Mk. Ib . Again, these were apparently manufactured with Merlin 28s and 8 gun wings. Most were shipped to Russia with others kept for RCAF service. Perhaps they ‘missed the boat to Russia’ and were impressed into training service by the Royal Navy? But why the short nose Mk. I designation if they were fitted with Merlin 28s? Did Sturtivant or the Royal Navy get it wrong, or were they imported with Merlin IIIs as per early production airframes? Jackson offers no airframe histories for this batch. No mention made of the fitting of Merlin XXs (or Merlin IIIs) in the UK, but that isn’t to say it didn’t happen as per previous UK conversions. Perhaps they retained their Packard Merlin 28s, thus attracting the Mk. I designation. Photos of other airframes from this batch would confirm whether they were built with Merlin IIIs (unless they were subsequently re-built as XIIas as suggested in other posts). First production batch of Mk. XIs (and fourth production batch of Mk. Xs?) References refer to Mk. XIs as similar to Mk. Xs (manufactured with Merlin 28s and 8 gun wings) but with Canadian specific equipment for RCAF use only. However Jackson states that the majority of the batch (BW885 – BX134) were shipped to the UK and onwards to Russia, although a few were retained for RAF use. Another sources states that a batch of fifty (Mk. XIs) were mixed in with Mk IIs (Mk. Xs?) on UK contracts. The latter scenario would seem to resolve the contradiction. Jackson gives airframe histories for three airframes (all RAF) only. Sturtivant identifies 8 Airframes from this batch which were operated by the Royal Navy ( BW886, BW900, BW911, BW921, BW929, BW991, BX126 and BX133). These are described as Sea Hurricane Mk. IIb (BW929, BW991, BX126 and BX133) and Mk. IIcs. No mention of the fitting of Merlin XXs, but that isn’t to say it didn’t happen as per previous UK Mk. II conversions. First production batch of Mk. XIIs (and second production batch of Mk. XIs Serials given are JS219-JS371 and JS374-JS468, no indication is given re the split between Mk. XIs and Mk. XIIs (perhaps first lot Mk. Xs and second lot Mk. XIIs?). Some were manufactured with Merlin 28s (Mk. XIs) and some with Merlin 29s (Mk. XIIs). What’s more, 185 were manufactured with 12 gun wings (Mk. XIbs and Mk. XIIbs) and 63 with four cannon wings (XIIcs). Again, no indication as to which airframes received which wings. Many shipped to Russia but some were retained. Sturtivant lists the following airframes as Sea Hurricane Mk. IIbs. JS265, JS272, JS274, JS297, JS314, JS320, JS324, JS328, JS331, JS336, JS348, JS356, JS357. All but JS314 were converted to Mk. IIcs soon after transfer to the Admaralty in August/September 1942. Other airframes are noted as Sea Hurricane Mk. IIcs from the start (JS222, JS225, JS226, JS231 – JS233, JS235, JS241, JS248, JS253, JS260, JS261, JS269, JS270, JS272, JS273, JS280, JS292, JS304, JS310, JS318, JS319, JS327, JS332, JS333, JS335, JS339, JS345, JS346, JS351, and JS353 – JS355). No mention of the fitting of Merlin XXs on arrival, but that isn’t to say it didn’t happen as per previous UK conversions. Conclusion So in conclusion, the first one and a half (possibly two) parts of first Mk. X production batch was delivered with Merlin IIIs and 8 gun wings. Subsequent airframes from the first and second production batches were delivered to the UK with Merlin 28s and 8 gun wings where many were converted to Hurricane Mk. IIbs through the fitting of Merlin XXs and, in some cases, 12 gun wings. Many were later converted to Mk. IIcs with cannon wings. The third production batch of Mk. Xs don’t fit the pattern since the three Royal Navy operated airframes are referred to as Mk. Is. It might be that; the Sturtivant references are wrong, they were fitted with Merlin IIIs or they were fitted with Merlin 28s and not re-fitted with Merlin XXs and the Royal Navy regarded these as Mk. Is, despite the longer nose. Subsequent Royal navy operated airframes from production batches of Mk. X, XI and XIIs are referred to as Sea Hurricane Mk. IIs by Sturtivant, although it is not noted whether they retained their Packard Merlin 28/29s or were re-fitted with Merlin XXs, once they arrived in the UK. For operation Torch, references tend to refer to cannon armed versions as Mk. Xs and 12 gun versions as Mk. XIIs, but it clearly isn’t that simple since all three versions were probably present with differing armament. .......I'll get my coat
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