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Desert Fighters 1/48


85sqn

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Hi everyone,

here are 2 aircraft I have finished over the last year. The Spitfire is the Airfix Seafire/Spitfire Vc kit which is the old fuselage with a new wing which is too thick. I rescribed the fuselage to try and match it a little better to the newer wings. The dihedral of the wing is however too shallow. I added some resin wheels and exhausts. It is finished in the colours of Sqn Ldr M. Rook, 43 Sqn, Jemappes, Algeria, 1943. Decals were Xtradecal. Apologies for a bit of dust in places.

The hurricane is the Hasegawa kit. i had some massive difficulties when it came to the finish. I used montex masks for a 208 sqn aircraft but I must've used too thick a mix as some areas stood quite proud of the finish and the ribbed effect of the Hurricanes fuselage added to the difficulties of using the mask. So after sanding that down i used the kits decals which went on very well but after using Humbrol clear, the paint finish had white marks all over which refused to go. So sanding back down once again I used some Model Alliance decals for a Greek aircraft. Lovely kit however.models1007.jpgmodels1008.jpgmodels1006.jpgmodels1005.jpgmodels1004.jpgmodels1002.jpg

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Neat job on the old Airfix Spitfire.

The thick wing is easy enough to scrape down and thin, it's just a bit dull to do...

The Hurricane has come out very well, except for 'access door' , which is an escape hatch, it's not a hinged access door.

It was sometimes removed for servicing, but then whole thing comes out.

This is a very common error on models, Italeri even show it like this on their kit's instructions....

This is worth a read

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=21994

note post #3, from a Hurricane pilot...

May sound a bit strange but, in several hundred hours in the Hurricane, I never gave thought to the 'breakout panel'.

Note that the foot and hand holds are on the port side of the plane, I'm sure pilot would have liked a entry hatch, as it's quite a step over!

The open hand hold in pic below, it connected to the footstep, when you pull the footstep down, this opens as well. The foot hold in the picture is spring loaded.

terryprendergasthurricaneburma.jpg

thanks for posting, and hope of interest.... I'm a bit of a Hurricane Anorak in case you hadn't of guessed...

cheers

T

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Both very nice builds, paintwork and weathering look spot on. I can relate to your problems with the Hurricane, my own matt varnish has suddenly turned white too.....great save though, you would never know you had problems with it, and the Greek codes look very interesting.

@ Troy, thanks for the info, for future reference!

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Thanks for the replies folks, the volks really changes those clean lines. Troy, thanks for the insight I wasn't aware of that. I am glad I've opened it up though as the detail inside is quite nice on this kit. Perhaps we'll just say its having a bit of maintenance!

The model alliance decal sheet is very nice so its an excuse to build more!

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Thanks for the replies folks, the volks really changes those clean lines. Troy, thanks for the insight I wasn't aware of that. I am glad I've opened it up though as the detail inside is quite nice on this kit. Perhaps we'll just say its having a bit of maintenance!

The model alliance decal sheet is very nice so its an excuse to build more!

HI 85

I hmm'd and haa'd about pointing out mistakes, in this case if you could pop it off the hatch and lay it on the wing then you are away!

I have suggested before for accuracy the panle to remove to show of a Hurricane cockpit is the one below the escape hatch, let in light and allows you to see detail.

see here for what I mean http://www.flickr.com/photos/rupert_brun/4718735346/

Your other builds you have posted have been very neat too.

It can be a tricky balance between research and building....as I'm not set up to build at the mo I get to do way to much research!

cheers

T

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