tonyot Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 (edited) Hiya Folks, Oh no,..not another Hurricane I hear you say!!! Well, like many out there I was disappointed that Airfix did not follow up their successful fabric winged 1/72nd scale Hurricane kit with a later metal winged version this year, but while this kit continues to sell well I dare say that Airfix have no real incentive to release a metal winged variant yet,....so I decided to bite the bullet and see if I could convert my own instead by chopping off the fabric outer wings off and replacing them with a set of `metal' wings from the older 1980`s Airfix Hurricane Mk.I. So here we go; A standard set of Airfix fabric Hurricane wings can be seen in the centre with the outer wings separated from the centre section below and at the top are a set of `metal' wings taken from an old Airfix Hurricane Mk.I kit; Here are the top and bottom parts of the cut wings along with the `recycled' `metal' wings; This view shows the cockpit fitted inside the fuselage, the wheel wells in place inside the centre section and one of the replacement `metal' wings; While assembling the centre section a spar was inserted through the middle made from scrap sprue which would help strengthen the new wings, this was inserted towards the rear as this was the only free space, leaving room for the rear cockpit bulkhead; After the fuselage was joined together the outer wings were slipped into place onto their spars. It did take quite a bit of sanding and test fitting fitting before a nice join was established and here is the upper wing joint; Here is the lower wing joint which needed a small amount of plastic strip to be added to fill a gap, thanks to over enthusiastic sanding by myself!; And here is how the model looks so far; The interior of the model had already been pre painted earlier so apart from that, what you see here was the result of one evening whittling away in front of the telly! Cheers for now, Tony . Edited June 20, 2015 by tonyot 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Interesting... I shall be watching this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplasticsurgeon Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Nice one Tony! Looking forward to great results. Before it all sets though, check the alignment of that starboard wing - something doesn't look quite right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 I have been mulling trying this for the BoB group build. Happy to follow in such impressive footsteps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobster Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Hi Tony, Following this one...... I really think Airfix missed a trick this year by not introducing the metal winged brother of this great kit, considering the BOB anniversary. Hope all goes well. Rob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimHead23 Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Very interested in this one Tony. I was thinking of grafting the wings of the Revell IIB onto the Airfix fuselage but your idea makes much more sense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted May 2, 2015 Author Share Posted May 2, 2015 Hiya Folks, Here is the latest update; I`ve started painting the model, using Humbrol acrylic Sky for the undersides and Polly Scale Dark Earth for the upper surfaces, using a flat brush to give better coverage; and here is a standard rag wing Hurricane alongside; I`m fitting the metal winged Hurri with a Rotol propeller left over from an old Airfix kit. Next stage is to apply the Dark Green disruptive camouflage pattern, Cheers for now, Tony 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 That's looking really good, you certainly can't see the join where the old was grafted to the new. Having seen what a success you have made of this I am feeling more confident about attempting the same for the BOB group build, standing on the shoulders of giants has always been easier than making the first move! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 "How is she Doctor?" "The surgery was a success, and it looks like she is going to recover completely" Good going here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Looking great Tony, I'm sure you'll be inspiring other conversions after this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 (edited) Cheers lads, Neil- lets hope that I have the same influence upon Airfix that you do eh,.....remember the Blenheims! Here is the latest update; The first coat of Dark Green disruptive camouflage has been brushed on,....only another 2 or 3 to go now! Part of the chosen decal sheet instructions can also be seen, I`ve gone for P3101, DX-? FROM 245 Sqn at Aldergrove, N. Ireland during 1940 which was one of at least two or three Hurricane`s used during 1940 as the personal aircraft of the CO Sqn. Ldr. Simpson; And here are both the metal winged and rag winged Hurri`s together; Here is a close up of some of the options from the decal sheet, although P3101 appears in photos to have a yellow diamond behind the Jester artwork which is worn under both sides of the cockpit and not white as depicted in the decals. The diamond was painted white on a later Hurricane; And here is the full decal sheet,.....massive isn`t it? The sheet is a must for any Hurricane fan and is from the Czech firm DK Decals which have released some really excellent and very well researched sheets lately. This sheet is DK72010 and it would be great if they scaled it up to 1/48th scale! I`m not on commission or anyting but I do recognise a good thing when I see it and here is the DK Decals website address (www.dkdecals.cz) but as the linky thing wouldn`t work you`ll have to use this for a Google search instead; . And finally a sneak peak at my latest 48th scale Airfix Hurricane Mk.I model; It will represent V7544,TP-S from 73 Sqn which was force landed in the desert near Gazala bythe then Pilot Officer Jas Storrar DFC on the 2nd February 1941, Cheers for now, Tony Edited May 3, 2015 by tonyot 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimHead23 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Fantastic Tony. You can never have enough Hurricanes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Great conversion Tony, that seam is seamless! (Oh how funny I am) very interested to see how this turns out. Another great build no doubt Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 That isn't the one with the controversial spinach camo thingy is it.....We'll never hear the end! Seriously though.....Smashing models and some really top-notch brushwork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 What a great production line. Hope you treat the elves to a takeaway tomorrow tony for all their hard work! Love that desert one, great choice of scheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Intersting project. But would it not have been OK to fill the fabric areas and scribe the detail on? Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 (edited) Oh yeah never thought of that! ....... Seriously though Paul,....I`ve wondered how easy it would be to do this conversion ever since the Airfix kit was released so it was bugging me,.....I had a spare set of wings available from a trashed model and I thought,...why not , so I cut off the wings and decided to just roll with it! Also I`m not convinced in my own ability to totally eradicate the ribbed effect of the fabric wing by sanding and filling and in my opinion the metal wings were much beefier than the fabric wings anyway plus the landing light locations would have to be moved outboard too. Compared to the metal wings some parts of the overall outline of the fabric wings are also totally different, especially along the top of the wing tip where it would have to be built up quite a bit because the fabric wing slopes downwards towards the tip. One aspect of the kit which I have just realised cannot be just `bodged' is the fact that like the Spitfire the later stronger windscreen of the Hurricane has a straight edge where it meets the fuselage whereas the older windscreen provided in the kit had a curved edge,....so the respective curved opening in the Airfix fuselage needs to be filled in so that the replacement vacuformed canopy will fit without leaving open gaps beneath it! Doh!! Cheers Tony Cheers Tony Edited May 3, 2015 by tonyot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempestwulf Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I always though the way you complete your kits was very familiar Tony but could never put my finger on it. That is until I was flicking through an issue of SAMI where you build several Martin Baltimores. Going back though other issues I finally put my finger on it, being one & the same. Must say, it's a pleasure to watch your builds come to life in both mediums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) I always though the way you complete your kits was very familiar Tony but could never put my finger on it. That is until I was flicking through an issue of SAMI where you build several Martin Baltimores. Going back though other issues I finally put my finger on it, being one & the same. Must say, it's a pleasure to watch your builds come to life in both mediums. Thanks very much and I`m glad you`ve enjoyed watching my efforts over the years, I must admit that the two Baltimore articles were up there among my favourites although the models cost me a fortune to buy!!! I`m currently writing a similar historical and modelling effort about Commonwealth flown Martin Marauders in the Med but I have a feeling that the articles covering 14 Sqn`s Mk.I`s and B-26B`s, then the SAAF Mk.II`s and a final one about the SAAF & RAF flown Mk.III`s will be too long for current magazines which don`t like going over 5 pages max for an article nowadays,...we`ll see what happens eh. Cheers Tony Edited May 4, 2015 by tonyot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted May 14, 2015 Author Share Posted May 14, 2015 Hiya Folks, Just a quick update,....the painting is almost complete with the 3rd coat of Polly Scale Dark Green brushed on; so it will soon be time to apply the gloss varnish ready for the decals and then re scribe those panel lines in the wings which have all but vanished under the paint! Also,....here is my 3rd 48th scale new Airfix Hurri kit; Progress is a bit slow at the moment due to personal matters taking up more of my time and my back killing! Cheers Tony 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Nice going! Could you use pencil to get the panel lines back on the wings? Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 Cheers Adrian, Yes I suppose that could be my plan B, but as some of the panel lines are still faintly visible I`ll see about opening them up again first. I may mix up both techniques and open up the gun bay panel lines and draw on the others and I was intending to paint on the ejector ports underneath the wings, Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Here is the latest update,.......the camouflage has been finished off and touched up with gloss varnish applied ready for the decals and the propeller from the old Airfix Hurricane is ready for painting. Rather than fitting a new windscreen I`ve sanded the kit item to flatten the side panels and also removed the panel detail from the top of the armoured section. After adding the gloss varnish it became apparent that there was still a curved seam showing from the kits windscreen so more filler was applied to cover this; and here it is with the standard fabric winged Hurricane; Cheers for now, Tony Edited May 27, 2015 by tonyot 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Brilliant results Tony, very jealous Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Excellent result Tony. I plan on unashamedly copying you for the BoB GB. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now