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Found 22 results

  1. Operation Pedestal. Mediterranean Sea, August 1942. Sea Hurricane Mk IB HMS Victorious vs Savoia Marchetti S.79 278th Squadriglia. 1/48 scale, Sea Hurricane is Italeri's built out of the box while S.79 is Trumpeter's with lots of corrections and surgeries to correct everything.
  2. The 48th scale Sea Hurricane by Airfix presents a choice between two equally interesting subjects. In particular, P2731 is well documented in a photograph that has been published in more than one place. The best reproduction I have is in the Aeroplane Collectros' Archive issue on Fleet Air Arm Aircraft of World War II. The Airfix camouflage diagram gives the aircraft as based on HMS Eagle in 1941, however what the published photo shows is rather clearly the deck of HMS Furious. The history of this aircraft, reported in Sturtivant "Fleet Air Arm Aircraft 1939 to 1945", is: To RN 3.41; 880 Sqn 9.41; 804 Sqn ('S7F') 10.41; Yeovilton 1.11.41; Eagle 26.11.41; 760 Sqn Yeovilton 2.42 - 5.42 ...etc. however, something does not match. Furious left Britain on 30 August, carrying Hurricane reinforcements for Malta and embarking four Sea Hurricanes of 880A Sqn. P2731 was reportedly one of these; Furious left Gibraltar on 18 September and eventually reached Norfolk, USA for a refit lasting from 7 October to March 1942. P2731 was reportedly left in Gibraltar Eagle left Gibraltar on 21 October 1941, headed to Liverpool and a refit; having no fighters in her complement (only the Swordfish of 813 and 824 Sqns) Eagle was assigned two Sea Hurricanes for protection during the passage home. P2731 may have been one of the two; Eagle's refit lasted from 1 November 1941 to 9 January 1942, which is compatible with the date of 1.11.41 for P2731 at Yeovilton; the date of 26.11.41 for Eagle makes no sense, could it be 26.10.41? the code 'S7' is usually associated with 804 Sqn. However, this unit is not recorded aboard Furious, where P2731 indeed was. Putting everything together, it would seem that the first half of September 1941 is the only time when P2731 may have flown from Furious. The fact that it had 804 Sqn codes might be explained by the assignment to 804A Flt in Gibraltar, this unit forming right on 18 September. Everything rests on conjecture. Can anybody help with additional information?
  3. Hello good people, Here are a few pictures of my just-completed 1:72 Sea Hurricane MK Ia by Arma Hobby. Its a pretty nice kit, well detailed, and pretty forgiving to build. I built mine to represent a machine from Royal Navy's training squadron No. 760, stationed at Yeovilton, England in early 1942. I'm not entirely sure if I'm correct, but I believe no. 760 was the unit where pilots trained for hurricat duty. Hurricats were hurricanes modified for catapult launch from modified transport ships sailing in the North Atlantic convoys. In case of air attack or snooping from FW Condors, a hurricat would be launched to intercept. The plane would then either be flown to land, or ditched in the water. Sound's like a cold and horrible way to die, to me. Photos of no. 760's aircraft show that they were pretty worn out, with lots of paint patches, and in some cases, whole sections of different aircraft frankensteined together into a flying machine. Here is a photo of the actual plane. And here is my interpretation. I found this model incredibly difficult to photograph, the FAA camouflage seems to absorb light. I'm too lazy to reset my photo booth, so these will have to do. and here is the Arma Hobby kit with its Airfix stablemate, built about 6 years ago, My model was painted with Hataka Red line paints. I found these to be pretty easy to use, but I thinned them with windshield wiper fluid. They are far more robust than Vallejo acrylics, but don't spray as well as Gunze and Tamiya, my typical go-to paints. Like Vallejo paints, though, the Hataka paint was great for hand brushing, and due to their robustness, I will be getting more for detail painting. Weathering was done primarily with oil dot filters. Thanks for looking.
  4. I've amassed over the years a fairly large number of original photos of Indomitable during Pedestal and have now scanned most of them. Here are two images of what I assume is the same incident, cropped from larger photos of Indomitable just before, or during, operation Pedestal. It looks like 880:7G to me, though 7C is a possibility? If it is 7G, then it is Z4849. The aircraft doesn't have Pedestal identification markings, so it is possible that the incident is late July, but certainly before August 8. The engine of the aircraft appears to be missing, so perhaps an attempt to dispose of a badly damaged aircraft that then got hung up? The original of the photo that this image has been cropped from shows three Sea Hurricanes on the outriggers at this time: aft, from stern to bow, are 800:M, 880:7Z, forward 880:7M. We have discussed a photo of a Sea Hurricane going over the side. Could this be the same incident?
  5. Finished my Airfix Hurricane and have decided to start this one. Gonna use my new beaut cricut machine to make some camouflage masks, well that is the plan. Thrown out the paint brush and paint. There is a little bit of flash on some parts, not too bad. Thanks for looking. Stephen
  6. Finished this one two days ago, and here are the photos, followed by an interesting 'back story';Sea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (1) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (6) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (9) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (10) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (22) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (24) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (27) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrThe kit was built 'out of the box', without modification, but the markings became one of my head banging exercises. I wanted a Sea Hurricane to join my RAF Ouston, Northumberland, collection, because 804 Squadron FAA were based there for a month in January 1943. This was the only time that the Navy ever used Ouston, and possibly they were doing trials or exercises with new built warships off the Tyne. I thought it would be easy to find 804's markings, given that it is well known FAA squadron, and I had a definite date to work with. Wrong!Sea Hurricane NF700 had an interesting history, and was originally built as a Hurricane Mk.IIc for the RAF with the serial number KW921. However it was retained in the factory and together with others was converted to become a Sea Hurricane IIc. Together with its six (later nine) companions NF700 was delivered to 804 Squadron and embarked on the aircraft carrier HMS Dasher. In October 1942 they sailed for the Mediterranean to join the American led invasion of French occupied North Africa. This was "Operation Torch", and to try and disguise the British participation, all aircraft taking part were painted with American 'stars' in place of the British markings. The theory was that the Vichy French defenders were more likely to capitulate to their 'friends' the Americans.HMS Dasher returned to Britain late in 1942 and 804 Squadron disembarked and spent brief periods at two FAA airfields before arriving at RAF Ouston. By then it is assumed that the "Operation Torch" markings would have been removed and replaced with 804's normal codes, as shown on the model above. After spending the month of January 1943 at Ouston, 804 Squadron moved to Northern Ireland at the beginning of February, and handed all their aircraft over to 835 Squadron, including NF700. The story does not end there, because 835 Squadron had the aircraft overpainted in 'Arctic white' and embarked on the aircraft carrier HMS Nairana to join the Arctic convoys to Russia. It was on this voyage in 1943, that NF700 was landing back on the carrier in rough seas, when the pitching ship made it strike the stern, and it ended up crashed on the flight deck with a broken back. It was classed as a write off, and would have been stripped of useable spare parts, and dumped over the side into the sea. Cold and deep Arctic waters have low oxygen levels, so even salt water corrosion is held at bay, and it is quite likely that the remains of NF700 still exist to this day in its watery grave off Norway.The 'white' Sea Hurricanes of 835 Squadron have been much modelled, and therefore serial numbers for NF700 were readily available. So this was the serial I chose for the model. However the individual code letter it wore with 804 Squadron is unknown, so I guessed at 'S7-A' on the thin assumption that 804's Commander would have chosen the new aircraft with the 'best' serial number for himself.Thanks for looking.
  7. I am building a Sea Hurricane IC from the Airfix 1/48. I have the changes sorted, cannons and wing panels. However I am struggling on markings for it. I have looked at several books but they are either Ib or Mk IIc. Anyone know of a some markings or photos that that i can work from. I did find a colour profile of one that says it was on pedestal and has the yellow tail. But i cannot find any photos? All help appreciated. John
  8. The new Airfix models 1/48 Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk.IB Model Kit is in stock and available to order now.
  9. I‘ve always assumed Mk. Is were to be found on fleet carriers as fleet fighters of the day and Mk. IIs were later found on escort carriers (having not made it to fleet carriers before more capable types replaced Sea Hurricanes). However, I’ve been looking at RN escort carrier air groups and found out that some Mk. Is did briefly operate from some escort carriers before they were replaced by Mk.IIs or Martlets. Whilst there are some well-known front line squadron photographs of Mk.Is on fleet carriers (Indomitable and Victorious) around the time of the Malta convoys in July/August 1942, and of Mk.IIs on escort carriers (Striker and Nairana) in 1944, In investigating photographic references on the web, I found the following photo of a Mk. I said to be AF953 on HMS Avenger in June 1942. It is a lovely photo which I thought I'd share. From my references, I make the following observations; I’ve looked carefully at the serial number and it definitely says AF953. It is not in the standard font as used for the ‘ROYAL NAVY’ legend, but in a different font something like STENCIL font (AF953) which I’ve also seen used on the odd Seafire and Swordfish. It seems that the aircraft has had a re-spray and part of the original colour has been left behind part of the ROYAL NAVY legend and serial number. Until recently I assumed this was S.1.E scheme Sky Grey but other topics have discussed Sea Hurricanes in early high demarcation camouflage schemes. It is commonly believed that some were originally delivered in the S.1.E scheme with high demarcation and Sky Grey side and undersides. However Sky Grey was officially replaced by Sky Type “S” in September 1940, well before the Hurricane appeared in the FAA., but although this apparently took some time to filter through to operational units, there seems no reason to suspect any other colour on aircraft delivered to the FAA after this date. Also this aircraft is hooked, whilst the Sea Hurricanes in early high demarcation camouflage schemes seem not to have been. Interesting that the background colour is seen behind only part of the legend and serial number, as if they had been previously applied differently, or perhaps the background colour was in the process of being carefully painted over, after the more general re-spray. The aircraft identifier letter is black (roundel confirms not yellow or blue). There also appears to be some patching up with patches of darker colour (red oxide dope or fresh application of TSS colours Unfortunately, Air Britain’s book on FAA Aircraft 1939-45, doesn’t give any squadron history for this particular airframe. This photo can be found on the ‘World War Photos’ web site (http://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/uk/raf/hurricane/). The caption ‘Sea Hurricane AF953 on the flight deck of HMS Avenger June 1942’ seems quite detailed and smacks of a note on the back of the photo or in a photo album. HMS Avenger was not used as a deck landing Training carrier, so any Mk.Is would have been on her deck for work up or operational purposes However HMS Avenger was delivered in May 1942 and delivery modification work to the flight deck, communications equipment and armament wasn’t completed until July 1942. 802 NAS did visit the ship with Sea Hurricane Mk.Ibs on 13-15th July as part of her pre-operational work up. 883 NAS joined the ship on 16th July and 802 NAS joined the ship on 22nd July, both with Sea Hurricane Mk.Ibs as part of her air group (along with 825 NAS and its Swordfish IIs) for trade protection work. So, is the date wrong or is the ship wrong? Any comments on my observations and queries would be welcome Simon
  10. After the Hurricane IIc & IIC Trop (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234974701-132-hawker-hurricane-mkiic-iic-trop-by-fly-box-arttest-sprues-release-expected-in-february-2016/), Fly is to release in May 2016 a 1/32nd Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk.IIc - ref.32014 Source: https://www.facebook.com/1fly814/photos/pb.420937871446031.-2207520000.1451493112./443640955842389/?type=3&theater Box art V.P.
  11. I'd like to submit my entry for the Hurricane group build... Starting with the Airfix Hurricane Mk1 (New Tool), adding Eduard PE details and some Model Alliance RN decals I'm aiming to build one of the Sea Hurricane Mk1's on the decal sheet - probably P3114 in the typical coastal command colours. This is where it all starts, the necessary box of bits: The decals are still on their way from Hannants, but here is the Eduard stuff: It looks like the kit includes all the parts to build a Mk 1 or Mk1A Sea Hurricane, i.e. without the arrestor hook for CAM duties and with the arrestor hook for MAC duties. It also has the tropical filter, so that should cover all but the mk 2 schemes on the Model Alliance sheet.
  12. Hi folks, Here is a sea hurricane made from Airfix's recent 1/48 hurricane. It is finished in the markings of 'Dicky Cork' of 880 Sqn onboard HMS Indomitable around the time of the invasion of Madagascar (5-7 May 1942). The kit was finished with Xtracrylix, Vallejo products and decals from the spares box. I really enjoyed this build and it went together really well. It will be interesting to see what markings Airfix release the sea hurricane with when they get round to it. Cheers Nick
  13. I am very fortunate to have a model club that host monthly contest for its members and anyone else that wants to enter a model. On a typical month, we have about 30 models on the table that range from Basic modelers who build Snap-Tites to Master Modelers who have won at the national level. Usually four or five times a year, one of the club members will “Sponsor” a special contest where they pick the subject and supply the awards. In this case, the contest was “Any Hawker Aircraft.” I found this model on the “blow-out” shelf at the local hobby shop and since I love FAA aircraft… I couldn’t resist! Of course I waited until a few days before the contest to get serious about the build… The kit is a Hasegawa offering of the Sea Hurricane Mk.IIC “Royal Navy”. It’s Hasegawa’s basic 1/48 Hurricane with a couple of extra resin parts to convert it to the Sea Hurricane. A basic plug aft of the wing that holds the arresting hook and a new gun sight and launch cable hooks. Most notable on the conversion is the lower plug does not go all the way to the transition point between the fabric cover and the lower metal wing. This causes an extra seam on the bottom. If I had a few more days, I might have been able to blend it a little better, but…. Overall it was a quick build but I want to redo the canopy because I’m not real happy with the framing. In the end, it was a fun build. This is the basic profile of the model... One area that is troublesome on this kit is the landing gear axel pins are a bit weak causing the wheels to sit a little funny. Maybe a pin or bushing to make the wheels fit tighter would help. This was the first time I used "Flory Wash" and didn't quite get a good balance between the wash, the smuges and shading on the white... Overall, I think it does a good job representing the aircraft... and my inability to take pictures of my models!
  14. This is my first RFI and I do appreciate that there are many better modellers than me on here but I enjoyed making it. It is an Airfix Modeller's Club special edition and comes along with a Swordfish. The kit is brush painted with Xtracrylix paints and I used a Peewit paint mask. It went together pretty straightforwardly but the under fuselage insert for the arrestor hook was a bit of a challenge. And I don't think I did the best job on it. Originally the pilot's head barely cleared the cockpit sill so I packed up the seat with scrap. Hope it passes muster. I had terrible problems with Photobucket so sorry if the pictures are ropey
  15. Hello All, Here's a Revell Sea Hurricane that sort of fell together on the bench whilst I was trying to finish the Airfix Blenheim. I pushed the cockpit insert a bit further forward (should have done more) to reproduce the part that goes under the canopy, replaced the seat belts with wine bottle foil and replaced the canopy with a home-made vacform left over from a build of the ancient Airfix IVRP. There is a minuscule lump of plastic to represent a (too small?) rear view mirror perched on top of it. I also extended the arrester hook so it would actually work, and added the wire holder on the aerial and the light on the spine of the fuselage. I made some new landing light covers out of the plastic sheet that comes with new shirt collars.I actually dunked the plastic into my tea wrapping it round the leading edge of the wing to shape it. The tea is just about hot enough set the plastic - saved me a trip downstairs to the cooker! Paints are acrylic: Revell 79 and Humbrol 224 above and Humbrol 90 below. I wanted to try out a lighter look, as Humbrol 79 and Revell 67 looked quite dark. The wingtip, ID and tail lights I faked up with dark and light grey and a touch of bulb colour. Sorry about the pictures. I was going to take some outside this morning but there's a fine mist of rain. It's a Summer weekend in the UK... Thanks for looking, Adrian
  16. 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
  17. I'm currently building the Italeri Sea Hurricane in 48 scale, and plan to do it as Nicki, one of 835 NAS White Sea Hurricanes. Is anyone familiar with the Aeromaster Sea Hurricanes at War II decal sheet? I bought one in preparation for the build. The reference pictures I've seen of Nicki clearly show the red shield on the starboard cockpit access panel but it seems to be missing from the decal sheet Is this a known omission, or are there other reference pics of Nicki without the shield? If not, does anyone know where I might find a decal for the shield? My skills wouldn't be up to painting it....! Thanks in advance for any advice Justin H
  18. Hi folks, I was taking March off from modelling, pending a couple of upcoming GBs, when I decided to throw together a Revell Sea Hurricane, trying to correct a couple of outline errors in the process. The result is shown below as a rocket equipped SHurri IIC from HMS Vindex (I'm following a profile on Wings Palette, so don't know how accurate it is) but as a quick build, it met the need. Prop / spinner is from Quickboost, vacform sliding canopy is from Squadron (I think) and the rockets / rails I believe came from a Hi-Tech Smer kit of the IIC although I may be wrong. Anyway, the rest is hacked about Revell plastic. Decals are from the spares box apart from the s/n (which is from the kit and is therefore wrong for this aircraft). regards, Martin
  19. Hi there thought i would try something different , possibly went a bit heavy on the weathering .But my thinking is these birds are out in all sorts of seas/weather hope yous like and most importantly it was fun to do!
  20. I spoke too soon. I realised that I had this "hanger queen" sitting on my to be completed shelf, it had been waiting for just a final coat of matt varnish. Built straight out of the box as a Sea Hurricane from 835 Naval Air Squadron on HMS Nairana, 1944. Brush painted Tamiya acrylics, dirtied up with some watercolours. Many thanks for looking.
  21. For this Group Build I'm planning to build Revell's 1:72 Sea Hurricane IIC along with some aftermarket that came with it when I made the purchase. Here is the obligatory box shot of the box contents and the aftermarket bits I'm using. I'm going to use the informative article written by Tony O'Toole in January 2006 issue of SAM to correct some of the issues in this kit. Corrections I plan to make include:- Detailing the cockpit and moving the armoured backrest further forward Replacing the canopy. Reducing the wing chord Correcting the wheel well to be squared off instead of following the contours of the openings. If I can I want to make the air intake symetrical but not sure I can do this one. Replacing the prop, exhausts, gun barrels and main gear doors with the parts shown above. I also need to source some wheels. Thanks for looking, Mark
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