Two 1/72 Airfix Mk.I Hurricanes - One finished and in the Gallery

[PlaStix]

And we're off..........

Sean

Ah....that would be what that smell is!................

Couldn't resist doing some more on this project despite having stuff in other GBs. I've decided to concentrate first on the Hurricane in flight - most of the internal details won't be seen but the experience of building it will give me an opportunity to learn more about the kit in preparation for the wheels down version.

First off I decided I ought to tackle the thick trailing edge of the wings:

The lower wing half seems particularly thick at it's trailing edge.

I did some filing, at various points throughout the day, on the inside faces of the edges and ended up with them much thinner - although I've realised it isn't particularly evident in this photo - taken later - but it is a lot better - the parts are not glued together yet:

I also decided I couldn't manage with the ends of the exhausts looking like this:

....so out came the micro-drills and I got them looking a little better:

Some paint was applied to some of the smaller parts:

.....and to the cockpit walls:

Both the green areas and the aluminium ones have had a wash applied and some drybrushing done.

I did some work on the radiators:

.....and in the wheel wells - nothing is glued in place yet though:

I've learnt a few useful things about the kit from what I've done so far which, I hope, will help me when I make the next one - e.g. where there are sink holes which will need tidying up, where the plastic seems a little rough on the lower section of the starboard cockpit wall, how much I will need to take off on the trailing edges of the wings, etc.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

Edited March 7, 2016 by PlaStix

[sean]

Nice mate, I think you'll enjoy building this kit, it goes together quite well, I certainly had no problems with mine.

Wheels up then, I guess we'll get to see a pilot then....

Ah....that would be what that smell is!................

Kind regards,

Stix

Cheeky sod......

Sean

[robw_uk]

nice progress...

question - on the cockpit, over the instrument panel there is a gap and then another piece of plastic - is that meant to be there or is it moulding error? if it is there it really makes me question if you can see the IP form outside the build

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good afternoon Stix

Very nice progress

Patrice

[robw_uk]

nice progress...

question - on the cockpit, over the instrument panel there is a gap and then another piece of plastic - is that meant to be there or is it moulding error? if it is there it really makes me question if you can see the IP form outside the build

ignore this - have looked at other Airfix 1/72 builds and it is left on... will paint black as leave it

[PlaStix]

Nice mate, I think you'll enjoy building this kit, it goes together quite well, I certainly had no problems with mine.

Wheels up then, I guess we'll get to see a pilot then....

Hi Sean. I am thoroughly enjoying building these two so far, although I must admit the fit, in a few places (for a newly tooled kit), leaves a little to be desired! I'm not that far along with it but I can already see I'm going to be doing some fettling in places - the upper and lower wing halves, for example, seem to be different sizes........

And yes I'm going to be using one of the pilots although I have to say the detail on these two figures is a little soft but it shouldn't be too obvious under the closed canopy.....I hope!

nice progress...

question - on the cockpit, over the instrument panel there is a gap and then another piece of plastic - is that meant to be there or is it moulding error? if it is there it really makes me question if you can see the IP form outside the build

ignore this - have looked at other Airfix 1/72 builds and it is left on... will paint black as leave it

Hi Rob and thank you. Sorry I didn't get back to you at the time - I've not been able to get online as much as I'd like over the past few days and it took me a while to actually look at the kit too. It is an odd looking thing isn't it - I even checked Airfix's 1/48 version and it's present there too! Oh well - in this scale it will hardly be noticeable.

Good afternoon Stix

Very nice progress

Patrice

Hi Patrice and thank you too.

I can't wait to do some more on these over the weekend although I really do need to spend more time on my P-47 build as that GB come to a conclusion first!

Kind regards,

Stix

[jrlx]

Great start and impressive detail painting, as usual, Stix.

I was planning to build the same kit, also using Eduard's PE, for the Hurricane GB but I've been without energy for modelling since my Deutsch Prüfung. I also have signed to too many simultaneous GBs and still have 7 builds to finish from previous ones, and all this together is proving quite dispiriting. So, I'm trying to gather some energy and will probably not participate in the on going GBs.

Anyway, I'll be following this excellent build with much interest.

Cheers

Jaime

[Col.]

Tidy work there Stix Having seen your radiator faces I now wish I'd done a wash on them before fitting the parts together as yours has much greater definition.

[sean]

Ah yes, the wing halves.... Mine wasn't actually too bad, a couple of swipes of the

emery board sorted that out handy enough.

There does seem to be some variation on these kits, perhaps due to the timescale

of the production. You'll sort it though....

Sean

[PlaStix]

Great start and impressive detail painting, as usual, Stix.

I was planning to build the same kit, also using Eduard's PE, for the Hurricane GB but I've been without energy for modelling since my Deutsch Prüfung. I also have signed to too many simultaneous GBs and still have 7 builds to finish from previous ones, and all this together is proving quite dispiriting. So, I'm trying to gather some energy and will probably not participate in the on going GBs.

Anyway, I'll be following this excellent build with much interest.

Cheers

Jaime

Hi Jaime. Thank you for your comments. I'm sorry you are feeling dispirited. I think I've got the most builds on the go at the moment that I've ever had (although I had quite a few on the go during the Achtung Panzer GB). The problem is there are so many great GBs on Britmodeller to take part in. I'm getting a bit concerned about how much time I've got left for my P-47..........

Anyway I'm sorry you won't be taking part in any GBs - well except for the Vignette GB I hope!

Tidy work there Stix Having seen your radiator faces I now wish I'd done a wash on them before fitting the parts together as yours has much greater definition.

Thank you Col. Yes the radiator parts do wash'n'dry-brush quite well but I wouldn't worry too much as I don't think they'll be that visible once in place.

Ah yes, the wing halves.... Mine wasn't actually too bad, a couple of swipes of the

emery board sorted that out handy enough.

There does seem to be some variation on these kits, perhaps due to the timescale

of the production. You'll sort it though....

Sean

I think your wings must have been better than mine - these took quite a bit of work to get the outer edges matched up. It wasn't hard to do as the plastic is quite soft. You can possibly see the results in the photos below.

I've now got the wings all glued together and sanded down. I've also fitted the cockpit parts that attach to the upper wing plus I've started filling and filing the fabric areas behind the armament bays - still need to do the areas in front. I think these photos show the better thickness of the trailing edge:

View of the wings from above:

The now completed wheel wells:

Next a photo of the cockpit walls:

........as this cockpit is going to be hidden under the closed canopy I'm not doing too much in the way of additional detailing - I'll save that for the other one.

Decal for the IP applied and some weathering started on the exhausts:

Finally the pilot - the detail on the figure is a little soft but I think he'll be okay under the closed canopy:

I'm hoping to get the cockpit installed tomorrow and the fuselage halves glued together.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

[jrlx]

Hi Stix,

Great progress, excellent painting and good pointers to issues with the kit.

Hi Jaime. Thank you for your comments. I'm sorry you are feeling dispirited. I think I've got the most builds on the go at the moment that I've ever had (although I had quite a few on the go during the Achtung Panzer GB). The problem is there are so many great GBs on Britmodeller to take part in. I'm getting a bit concerned about how much time I've got left for my P-47..........
Anyway I'm sorry you won't be taking part in any GBs - well except for the Vignette GB I hope!

Thanks for your kind words, Stix. I spent part of the weekend cleaning up and organising my workspace, which was completely messy. That was really impacting a lot on my motivation for modelling.

I will try to do something for one or two of the on-going GBs. You're right in saying there are a lot of great GBs in BM and the problem is really too little time to participate (but the kits are in the stash ).

The Vingette GB has been tempting me since the list of GBs for 2016 was published. I've never done a diorama before and this could be a good opportunity to try it. I already have a possible candidate: Academy's 1/72 P-51A with Jeep in a desert setting. Let's see if it materialises.

Cheers

Jaime

[PlaStix]

Hi Stix,

Great progress, excellent painting and good pointers to issues with the kit.

Thanks for your kind words, Stix. I spent part of the weekend cleaning up and organising my workspace, which was completely messy. That was really impacting a lot on my motivation for modelling.

I will try to do something for one or two of the on-going GBs. You're right in saying there are a lot of great GBs in BM and the problem is really too little time to participate (but the kits are in the stash ).

The Vingette GB has been tempting me since the list of GBs for 2016 was published. I've never done a diorama before and this could be a good opportunity to try it. I already have a possible candidate: Academy's 1/72 P-51A with Jeep in a desert setting. Let's see if it materialises.

Cheers

Jaime

Hi Jaime and thank you. Your workspace does look much better - wish I had a dedicated workspace.....I do my kit building in the kitchen on the counter and have to tidy away after every session - my modelling stuff all fits into a file box!

Your idea for a possible desert vignette sounds like a great idea! .........hopefully we'll get to see it happen.

I didn't end up with as much time for modelling yesterday - went out for the afternoon - but I did fit the seat and IP sections on the port side of the fuselage. A few photos before it's all sealed away:

For the above photos the fuselage half was only resting on the wing section.

Then I got the fuselage halves glued together:

Once again the fuselage is not glued to the wings - the fit doesn't seem too bad actually.

Monday morning now seems a long way from next weekend!

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

Edited March 14, 2016 by PlaStix

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning Stix

Very good job so far ..

How I wish Airfix had released a metal winged Mk1 ..

Patrice

[PlaStix]

Good morning Stix

Very good job so far ..

How I wish Airfix had released a metal winged Mk1 ..

Patrice

Thank you Patrice and I totally agree - a metal wing Hurricane would be an excellent addition to Airfix's range.

Kind regards,

Stix

[TEMPESTMK5]

Thank you Patrice and I totally agree - a metal wing Hurricane would be an excellent addition to Airfix's range.

Kind regards,

Stix

Good morning

Maybe Airfix would listen to us if we launch a petition ?

Patrice

[rob85]

But if they did that I wouldn't have had so much fun converting three rag wings into tin wings....

Rob

[PlaStix]

Not much progress on this one - I'm currently trying to drag my P-47 Thunderbolt towards the finishing line over in the STGB of the same name.

I was determined to do something on this project yesterday so I got the wings, lower fuselage section, stabilisers and rudder glued on the one that will be displayed in flight. The fit of these parts wasn't perfect and I have started doing a bit of cleaning up around some of the joints. I still need to add some filler along the wing roots on both sides.

Some photos:

Hopefully next weekend I'll get more time on this project.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

[robw_uk]

similar position to mine - I have tried to do the filling (which is one reason I moved off aircraft.....) and I have the air scoop (assume thats the bit under the fuselage) built - needs slightly filling then adding to the airframe then off to the paintshop.... hope easter will give me some chances to hit this with primer and paint

[PlaStix]

similar position to mine - I have tried to do the filling (which is one reason I moved off aircraft.....) and I have the air scoop (assume thats the bit under the fuselage) built - needs slightly filling then adding to the airframe then off to the paintshop.... hope easter will give me some chances to hit this with primer and paint

Hi Rob. Yes I'm hoping to get more done on this project over the Easter Weekend although I also need to get my P-47 finished as there's not long now until the end of that GB!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Wolwe82]

nice progress so far Stix, cant wait for ht painting phase

[PlaStix]

nice progress so far Stix, cant wait for ht painting phase

Thank you Wolwe - I am almost at the painting stage but.........not quite.

I've been following Col.'s build of this same kit and he's been adding all sorts of extra details which are taking his model to the next level. I have already warned him that I might "borrow" some of his ideas and yesterday, while waiting for the Pledge coat to dry on my P-47 build I started adding similar things - in my defence this is my first Hurricane build and I need all the help I can get!!

First off, following Col.'s lead, I added the struts at the rear of the radiator unit:

Then the rod in the front:

Followed by the rudder control bits:

I also started work on the sight which is mounted on the front of the curved section at the front of the cockpit:

Today I've done a bit of filling and sanding so I'm hoping that next I'll be adding some paint.

A big thanks to Col. for the inspiring work!

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

[stevej60]

Great progress Stix,superb little kit as I,m sure you now know,love the painting on the pilot figure too!

[PlaStix]

Great progress Stix,superb little kit as I,m sure you now know,love the painting on the pilot figure too!

Thank you Steve. Progress has been slower than I would have liked due to me trying to get my Thunderbolt finished - now that it is complete I can turn my attention to these and my Spitfire. I have got a bit more done on this - the pilot is in place as is the windshield plus I've started the pre-shading.

Kind regards,

Stix

[jrlx]

Hi Stix,

Good progress and great tips on adding detail. I'll build mine using Eduard's PE when the time comes and I believe some of the detail is already catered for in the PE frets but it's always good to know where to add some more, as I'm no Hurri expert.

Cheers

Jaime

[PlaStix]

Hi Stix,

Good progress and great tips on adding detail. I'll build mine using Eduard's PE when the time comes and I believe some of the detail is already catered for in the PE frets but it's always good to know where to add some more, as I'm no Hurri expert.

Cheers

Jaime

Hi Jaime and thank you. I look forward to seeing your build of this kit. For my second version of this kit, in this project, I'm also going to use the Eduard set - if you check out my initial post from this thread you can see the set I'm using - is it the same one you are going to use! These are my first Hurricanes so I'm learning all the time from the Hurricane experts on here!

Kind regards,

Stix