Airfix 72nd scale fabric winged Hurricane`s X 3

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

I`m having a run on Hurricane`s at the moment and among them have been quite a few built using the lovely new 1/72nd scale Airfix fabric winged Hurricane kit including these three which I`ve just finished today. My thanks go out to fellow Britmodellers Edward (Procopius) and Martin (Lightningboy) who were kind enough to respond to my request for help with decals for LK-A & JX-G,.....so cheers lads.

Here we go then starting with;

The above Hurricane represents L1630, LK-A, 87 Sqn, France 1939/40 flown by Plt. Off. Dennis David who added a skull marking above his crowned red lion crest on the cockpit escape door for each of his five kills scored in France. When this aircraft was destroyed at Merville a rigger brought the door back and it now owned by the RAF Museum, but on loan to the Shoreham Aircraft Museum, Kent. The kits A1 Type roundels have been painted out using a small brush and the main inspiration for this was L2047/ LK-H which served alongside LK-A, had roughly converted roundels and features in a great photo, sitting on its nose with the top of its wings plain to see.

Having recently read the book `Fighter Pilot' I had to build a model of L1679, JX-G, 1 Sqn, Vassincourt, France 1939/40 flown by Flg. Off. Paul Richey DFC, the author of `Fighter Pilot'. He flew this aircraft throughout the Phoney War and scored one unconfirmed kill plus a confirmed third while flying this aircraft which he regarded as `his beloved G' before it was destroyed by bombing at Mezieres following a landing accident that occurred on the third day of the German Blitzkrieg.

Last of all is L2039, SD-A, 501 (County of Gloucester) Sqn, RAF Tangmere 1939/40 flown by the CO Sqn. Ldr. Montague Clube whose rank pennant is applied to the tail. I`ve wanted to build a model of this one for quite a while and own a couple of original photos of it,..but unfortunately the Xtradecal sheet has the wrong shade of blue in this pennant and so a lighter blue has been shakily painted over the decal, I need to touch this up further!

EDIT- Thank you to Vampire Dave for pointing out that this Hurricane could well have been L2045 rather than L2039.

Cheers again to Edward and Martin for your help lads,

All the best

Tony

PS- I meant to add that the latter two have Freightdog`s resin 5 spoke wheels rather than the incorrect 4 spoke ones provided for this early version in the Airfix kit! I bought the last two sets that Colin had taken to the Huddersfield show and I must order some more for my remaining kits,....I`ve got another three on the go at the moment with more in the stash!

Also,.....I forgot to mention that the part of the wing upper section behind the gun bays should actually be metal skinned, otherwise the armourers would be forever punching holes through the fabric when loading the guns,...but Airfix have missed this and I didn`t have the time to do anything about this as I had a tight deadline for these models and it would be quite hard to alter.

PPS- Sorry,.....as pointed out by Wolwe82- I forgot to mention that I sanded the rear fuselage behind the cockpit slightly to allow the canopy to fit in the open position,....just keep test fitting the canopy as you go.

Edited March 15, 2014 by tonyot

[stevehnz]

A nice trio there Tony, nice to see the variety of schemes that these early birds wore.

Steve.

[Chris Ferguson]

They didnt take you long !! Top work lad !

[Navy Bird]

Nice work, Tony. That new Airfix kit does look like a keeper, I'll have to have a go at building my copy soon.

Cheers,

Bill

[VG 33]

These are very nice Tony. I prefer JX-G due to the three colour rudder.

Patrick

[Rick Brown]

They're just about perfect!

Seeing these seems to be bringing back some of my mojo.

Rick.

[tonyot]

Thanks folks,

Glad you like em!

Cheers

Tony

[Trot5ky]

Lovely work here. Inspiration to continue with my build of the later metal wing hurricane

[Wolwe82]

very nice work tony:) this kit is realy great fun to build only, how did you do the canopy to fit so well?

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning Tony

Very good job ..

I really hope AIrfix will release the metal wing version very soon

[Lightningboy2000]

Hi Tony, nice to see the end results! Glad to be of help.

All superbly done and interesting reading.

Makes a change & can't remember the last time I saw that many fabric winged 1/72 Hurricanes built together like that.

All the best

Martin

[batcode]

fantastic trio, they look great.nicxe job on the schemes , great job

[tonyot]

Cheers Folks,

Martin- thanks again for your help with the decals,..it was much appreciated.

Wolwe82- Sorry I forgot to mention that I sanded the area of the rear fuselage behind the canopy to thin it slightly to allow the canopy to fit in the open position,....it wasn`t much though and the Hurricane looks better with the canopy open in my opinion.

Cheers

Tony

[Wolwe82]

ye it does, i was wondering if you have some special trick or just sanding it down looking great

[PlaStix]

Three great looking Hurricanes!

[AndyL]

Brilliant work, as usual. I love them.

[John Laidlaw]

Lovely work as always, Tony . I do like LK-A...

[vampiredave]

Tony,

I really like your model of the 501 Squadron Hurricane.

However, it is not only the colour of the pennant that is wrong but also the serial? The Xtradecal sheet indicates that Hurricane, L2039, was the 'personal' aircraft of Sqn Ldr 'Montagu' Clube of 501 Sqn.,'RAuXAF'. I was acquainted with 'Monty' Clube and his Christian name was Montague. Also, it should be AAF, as they were not awarded the Royal title until December 1947.

Now, the serial: I have copies of the Squadron Flight Log from March 1939 to June 1940, together with extracts from 'Monty' Clube's log book. Both logs agree that he first flew L2039 on 11 September 1940 and (intermittently) until 7 December 1939, when it was passed to No.13 MU. It is uncoded during this period. He then begins to fly L2045, which assumes the codes 'SD-A' and he takes it to France on 10 May 1940 when the squadron joins the AASF. He continues to fly it on the odd occasion but, strangely, despite being recorded as being badly damaged in a forced-landing at Rheims on 12 May 1940 by Fg Off 'Gus' Holden, 'Monty' Clube flies it for the last time (06.40 - 07.25), two days later!

Although the source of the serial applied to this Hurricane is acknowledged as being obtained from "Mason-Hurricane" (I haven't seen it, so cannot comment) I believe that it originates from an article by Leslie Hunt, some forty years earlier. Therefore, IMHO, the serial of this Hurricane should be L2045.

Finally, I was interested in your comment that you own a couple of original photos of the aircraft - can I ask if you mean that you have copies of it in your personal collection, as the RAFM / IWM also have copies (the original is lodged in the squadron collection) and I think that they used Leslie Hunt's article as the source for their information?

I hope that this rambling is of interest?

DW

[tonyot]

Hello DW,

I `m glad that you like the model and thanks for saying so,....I must apologise for leaving the e off the end of Sqn. Ldr. Clube`s Christian name,....I did mean to type Montague as per my references,.... I can only put it down to poor typing or a sticky keyboard, in the same way that you`ve said that Clube`s first flight in L2039 was in September 1940, when I`m sure you mean 1939?

Thank you for the additional information too, it is very interesting and useful,..cheers,..L2045 it is then!.

I do take issue with your putting me straight about the R.Aux.A.F. though as I didn`t even say this,.....the RAF title was a prefix to RAF Tangemere and I`m well aware that the Royal was not added to the AAF until 1947.

The photos that I own in my personal collection (having bought them from a well known author & collector) show SD-A at Tangmere flanked by a Handley Page 42 transport and an AW. Ensign (?) and also following a crash landing,....but is it the same aircraft? The crash landed aircraft would appear to have been fitted with a 2 bladed Watts prop while the other photo shows it with a 3 bladed DH prop,.....if it was the same aircraft was it fitted with a Merlin III engine during repairs and fitted with a DH 3 bladed prop? The crash landed aircraft also appears to have a larger rank pennant on the fin than the one pictured at Tangmere but the serial cannot be seen on either photo and may even have been painted out. I think that there is a date pencilled onto the back of the crash landed SD-A photo but unfortunately I don`t have access to it at the moment to check if it matches the dates that you have provided, because it has been loaned out to a friend in Yorkshire!

The Mason book, while good and one of the few readily accessible records of individual Hurricane histories does have quite a few errors so should not be taken as `gospel' without further research! Once bitten twice shy shall we say?

Cheers

Tony

Edited March 14, 2014 by tonyot

[Gimme Shelter]

Hi there - this is a nifty and smart looking build - thank you for posting. I was in the London Science Museum yesterday stood next to a Hurricane suspended from the ceiling - I can't believe how small the real machine is, and how lucky we have grown up in a time when our sons don't have to risk their lives in these - the cockpit looked so small from where I stood and looked on

[Paul J]

Glad I looked here. Admire the models Tony and whats more I would have missed the fact about the fabric area on the wing where it should be metal. Having just bought the kit I'm inspired but when I'll start it heaven knows

[tonyot]

Hi there - this is a nifty and smart looking build - thank you for posting. I was in the London Science Museum yesterday stood next to a Hurricane suspended from the ceiling - I can't believe how small the real machine is, and how lucky we have grown up in a time when our sons don't have to risk their lives in these - the cockpit looked so small from where I stood and looked on

Hiya Gimme,

Thanks mate and yes I agree,....you might not have realised but the Science Museum Hurri is the only surviving fabric winged Hurricane left, which is the type depicted here.

Also,..Airfix have just released a Starter Set kit of the Hurricane with the same markings as the Science Museum`s aircraft,....which it wore during the Battle of Britain until it was shot down by a Bf 109E and had to crash land. It was repaired and served with other units including the Special Duties Flight at Christchurch later in the Battle,...but was saved for museum display mid war.

Cheers

Tony

[Shoggz]

Tony, lovely models of one of my absolute favourite aeroplanes.. Please can I ask you a specific question? How do you achieve the finish you do on the exhausts? It's something I've been attempting using various 'home-grown' concoctions.. but none of mine match yours for reality.

[tonyot]

Tony, lovely models of one of my absolute favourite aeroplanes.. Please can I ask you a specific question? How do you achieve the finish you do on the exhausts? It's something I've been attempting using various 'home-grown' concoctions.. but none of mine match yours for reality.

Cheers Shoggz,

Glad you like em! For the exhausts I use Humbrol 70 Brick Red and then dry brush on some Humbrol Metalcote matt Aluminium along with a little Gun Metal. Another way to do it is to lightly apply pencil to the painted exhausts and then rub them with your finger and polish the pencil up.

Cheers

Tony

[woody37]

Lovely builds Tony, and great schemes too