Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 This one may seem to progress very quickly, but that's an illusion. I have been working on it since the start of the GB. It is the new tool Airfix 1/48 Hurricane. It will be built as P2923 VY-R of 85 Sqn based at Martlesham Heath. This aircraft was the usual mount of Flying Officer Albert Lewis. It was also one of the aircraft that had oddly coloured undersurfaces. The required colour was Sky, however initially the depots could not supply enough paint to satisfy demand. Units started to apply their own mixes, leading to controversies which have lasted to this day. In the case of P2923 it is likely that the undersurfaces were painted in Sky Grey. P2329 was lost on 18 August 1940 when flown by Fg Off Dickie Lee. Lee was last seen chasing three Bf109s over the Channel. No trace of him or his aircraft were ever found. I will be using decals from Xtradecal sheet 48086 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 Lets start with some sprue shots. An oddity here is that the kit has options for a tropical filter, but neither of the kit schemes require it. Even stranger is that the nose panel for the filter requires a chunk of plastic to be cut out from the wing undersurface part. Although it's quite a aimple operation, it's likely to be beyond the capabilities of Airfix's usual target market. Is this a case of Airfix catering for the more advanced modeller who is willing to do this sort of surgery? Whatever... I'll certainly be building a Tropical Mk.1 in the forthcoming Hurricane STGB. It seems as though there will be a Sea Hurricane boxing released in the future as there is a separate rear fuselage section and a hook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 This one may seem to progress very quickly, but that's an illusion. I have been working on it since the start of the GB. It is the new tool Airfix 1/48 Hurricane. It will be built as P2923 VY-R of 85 Sqn based at Martlesham Heath. This aircraft was the usual mount of Flying Officer Albert Lewis. It was also one of the aircraft that had oddly coloured undersurfaces. The required colour was Sky, however initially the depots could not supply enough paint to satisfy demand. Units started to apply their own mixes, leading to controversies which have lasted to this day. In the case of P2923 it is likely that the undersurfaces were painted in Sky Grey. P2329 was lost on 18 August 1940 when flown by Fg Off Dickie Lee. Lee was last seen chasing three Bf109s over the Channel. No trace of him or his aircraft were ever found. I will be using decals from Xtradecal sheet 48086 ???? No likelihood of Sky Grey, just a supposition by Xtradecal. The painting guide is not good. Black spinner with green? why? It does have all the hallmarks of an infield repaint, and has been discussed before.. and with some cut n paste.. Yep, can of worms. If you have a serial number, you could at least have chance to know if it was painted at the factory in sky, or repainted at MU or unit level when 'sky' was introduced on 6th june 1940. I doubt Xtradecal really know, and 'sky grey' is a guess. What scheme you are planning might get you a better answer, or even better a photo. But, from what I have read about the subject, I doubt a 'sky grey' but odd pale blues and pale green's are quite possible. There are threads here which talk about the actual pigments in sky, and the possible variations from unit level mixing..... right, this got me curious, so I looked up the Xtradecal sheet, and from the instructions you want to VY-R, P2923? Well, the Xtradecal instructions for this are really not very good. Why? This plane is a rarity from the era in as much as there are a series of Life pics of it, show both sides and a taxiying frontal shot. It's certainly an infield repaint, and the instruction totally fail to show the high demarcation line on the nose, and the wavy leading edge on the wings. Don't trust a profile with a photo is my motto! It shows the spinner as 'black with light green bands' ...where the got that from is anybody guess. More likely is red with yellow or white, as the spinner most closely resembles the fin flash in greyscale. But it's not black! [Edit, I think white stripes are most likely, as there is yellow visible in the photos, and the stripes are lighter in tone] as seen here the other side. Note high 'sky' line on rear fusleage and carry over onto base of rudder. and from the front, clearly showing the wavy leading edge. Also, just noticed, the similarity ot tone of the spinner to the doped gun ports. There is also a shot in flight, as well as 6-8 other shots of this plane, look on the IWM site for more. EDIT plane in fight in linked thread [doh], so here's the pic Coloured spinners? why? as at the time of the pics , taken at Castle Camps in july 1940, 85 Sq was quite possibly using spinner painted in flight colours, there is a pic of a pilots with a plane with what looks to be yellow, and also of Townsend plane with looks to be a white spinner [as he was C/O I guess] 85 sq seemed to be media darlings, and there are are 5 separate photo sets from 1940 ish about [France, phoney war, many 1940, Castle camps July 1940, October 1940 and as nightfighters winter 1940/41] see here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234907653-hurricane-i-vy-cg-of-85-sqn-lille-seclin-around-apr-1940/ Note this [page has links to other Hurricane threads....like that your interior framework and wheels wells should be aluminium paint... I hope this helps. I really should avoid these posts as I end up getting carried away... cheers T 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 I started construction with the wing and undercarriage bay. Once the wing is assembled, the cockpit can be built up on it. There is an incredible amount of detail straight from the box. I used some Eduard PE seatbelts, rather than the superfabric ones shown in the first photo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 Thanks for the photos, Troy. I might be a little too far on with this build to make changes - especially as I'm just spraying the matt varnish on. The high demarcation on the nose might be feasible but the code letters are a lot thicker on the photos than they are in the decals. I'll give it some thought and see what I can do. I might just leave it be and accept having a "representative" model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 The main airframe assembled, filled and sanded. Actually, there wasn't too much fillage and sandage as the parts go together very well indeed. Primed with Alclad2 black primer And sprayed overall with Xtracrylix XA1002 Various stages of masking and spraying the disruptive patter using my favourite technique of blutak worms and Copydex masking. The green is Xtracrylix XA1001 Undersurfaces sprayed with Lifecolor UA521 And finally with the stickers applied.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREG DESTEC Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Great work Enzo. I look forward to the next update 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 25, 2015 Author Share Posted October 25, 2015 (edited) And we're finished! Not the most accurate model, markings wise... but I like it. The kit is just wonderful. I can hardly wait for the Hurricane STGB early next year. I shall be building two more of these Airfix kits - one as a Desert Air Force machine and the other as a Sea Hurricane 1b. All the parts are in the box! Edited October 25, 2015 by Enzo Matrix 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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