maltadefender Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) Fast and furious building required to get this done! However, I've got the stand that came with my Spit Mk.Vb and Messerschmitt 109F, so it's time to try and make a scene from the depths of the siege. First up is an Airfix 1/48 Hurricane Mk.I - because I love them. This one came without its box as CanadaMoe kindly sent it across the Pond, but here are the sprues: Adding to this kit will be a Red Roo resin Vokes filter and, because it's in flight, I shall use my first ever set of Prop Blurs. In a fit of excitement I've primed the whole sheet: The markings will be 'L' from the Aeromaster Defenders of Malta Part II set, which I believe was one of the pool of surviving Hurricanes shared between squadrons during and immediately after the first Luftwaffe blitz on Malta in early 1941. I know from reading around the forums that the decal set's serial number of Z4189 is wrong. According to the maestro, Graham Boak, this aircraft never saw Malta. However the rest of the markings look good to me. I'm going to paint her in Tropical Land Scheme of Gark Green/Mid Stone/Azure Blue. Finding photos of Hurricanes that are definitively in this scheme is hard. However it was tried out for a period, and was successful in that it worked well with the Maltese landscape when the aircraft were on their airfields. As the vast majority of fighters were destroyed on the ground, it would have made for a sensible choice but evidently Tropical Land Scheme died away. In his book Onward to Malta!, Tom Neil states that during the 'lull' in the Axis offensive during mid-1941, enough fresh Hurricanes were delivered to allocate them to individual squadrons and these were repainted. Squadron codes were added and, in the case of Neil's Red Section of 249 Squadron, red spinners were applied - although this was very rare. After Neil departed Malta, Laddie Lucas inherited the last of these red-nosed Hurricanes still in service and quickly had its spinner repainted black to avoid drawing attention to himself! I'm going to mount her on the Dogfight Double stand together with the Italeri 1/48 Fiat CR.42 - pictures of which I'll add when I get around to building her. Edited June 30, 2012 by maltadefender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Very cool project. This was something I wanted to do with my Beurling Spit, but the short amount of time allotted would not make it possible. For me, three months is enough time to complete one project. So yea, I'm one of those slow builders. regards, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robw_uk Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Cant wsit to see this develop. Now i am done i can sit back qnd watch everyone else...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Looking forward to this. I've seen the finished article with the propblur and have always liked the look of them, but not a WIP so I'm interested to see how you get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Thanks guys. Technical bit done (!) - blobbed black paint on the tips of the Dogfight Double stand and marked where to drill... Once more unto the breach, dear pegs, once more... Whilst the wings were drying I did my best to convince the pilot to look as though he was wearing tropical kit. (Ah, somewhere I hear SPike Milligan going: Tropical Kit? I knew her so well...) As the pegging goes on into the night... Up early this morning, slapping filler about... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Go MD go! Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 I'm going Cliff! Fingers are a blur here... The Red Roo piece fits nicely. She's glued up and taped shut and ready for the first coat. Having tried my hand with hairspray technique I'm throwing it all at this poor old girl. She's got to look like she's lived through 2-3 months of daily bombardment, scrambles and charging headlong into 100+ bandits whenever serviceable. And there we are - Humbrol rattlecan aluminium. I've got very, very tired of how some Xtracolor shades go on with a brush - not all that well, to be honest. So I painted the whole of the top surface in Tamiya acrylic Dark Green and then put on the first coat of Xtracolor Middle Stone: Then applied the second coat. Yes, that is Dark Green, not Dark Earth! Now to let it settle and wreck it with some Wet'n'Dry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaMoe Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Nice to see the Hurricane get built. Great Job so far. Given me inspiration for the other one sitting on my to be finished pile. CanadaMoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 Azure Blue went on without drama. I think hairspray might well be a decent settler-in for paint regardless of whether you then scrub some of it off again! Hairspray technique in action. As you'll notice, it was starting to come off the 'No Step' area so there's been a bit of touching-up Decals on and ready for another dose of weathering... A blurred prop! Used standard primer from Halfords, blown over with tyre black in very, very light coats On with the opposition... Fingers of fire for these last few days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Yesterday I realised that there wasn't a cat in hell's chance of getting the Fiat completed for tonight. So I'm making this a Hurricane flypast, with the Mk.I joined by a Mk.IIa nightfighter. It is the Hobby Craft kit of the Mk.II which has been repackaged time and again for different types. Decals from the 'Defenders of Malta Part 2' set. Mine came without any packaging at all as it was flown in an envelope from Canada Moe - once again, many many thanks both for the kit and the correct Mk.II tail wheel. Here's the progress of a very, very hectic 32 hours so far... Here's the kit. Pilot and cockpit coming together Fuselage coming together Rattling through the build... Blurred prop painted Plasticard exhaust shrouds made and fitted Xtracolor RAF Night Black going on Meanwhile the Mk.I has been matt coated and the prop fitted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Bugger it. So near and yet so far for the 1941 Hurricanes. So glad to have learned the hairspray technique thanks to you guys however. And of course I'll finish this as my little tribute to the defenders of Malta. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 The props look good! I hear your pain on missing the deadline, but we both know that's not really what counts. This GB has put three new models on my shelves in record time, and I've learnt a lot about the siege, and seen some great models by the others. Thanks for your moderation work, Mister Defender! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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