1/72nd Metal Winged Hurricane Mk.I,...using the new Alley Cat resin conversion set.

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

To answer the dreams of a lot of Hurricane fan`s Alley Cat have produced a superb resin conversion for the 1/72nd scale Airfix fabric winged Hurricane Mk.I kit,.....to make it into the more numerous metal winged variant.

The set includes a superbly cast resin wing with separate lower forward section plus clear resin landing lights, wing tip lights and a late pattern windscreen with flat lower section as opposed to the curved one of the early variants.

Here is the underside of the wing with the separate section dry fitted;

Here is the wing dry fitted to the Airfix fuselage,....a very nice fit;

Also,.....I received this additional photo to highlight a modification needed to the kit parts inside the wheel well,...a small section just needs to be cut off;

I`ll be making quite a few of these in the near future,...thanks to Alley Cat for releasing this superb conversion set and it deserves to sell like the proverbial hotcakes,

Cheers

Tony

[JimHead23]

When did you receive yours Tony as I ordered mine virtually the minute it was put on the Alleycat website?

Regards

Jim

[tonyot]

Last week Jim,...... I believe that they are churning them out as quickly as possible so you should get yours soon I would think? It is worth the wait anyway!

Cheers

Tony

[JimHead23]

Well at least I can learn from your build (As always)!

[johnd]

Is there any reason why we can't assemble the fuselage while waiting for the wings to turn up?

John.

[Mitch K]

Super!

[rob85]

Really glad your doing this one Tony!

Any thoughts on the scheme you will finish her in?

Rob

[Stew Dapple]

I've got a few of these on the way, so I'll sit in too, if that's okay...

Cheers,

Stew

[Squibby]

Cool,

I'll be looking forward to how you go with yours, the resin replacement wing should take care of half the fit issues with the kit.

[JimHead23]

I am assuming that the trailing edges are a bit thinner than the wing they are replacing Tony?

Regards

Jim

[tonyot]

Hiya everybody,.....I don`t have any instructions with mine but I`ll try to answer what I can;

1- Yes you can get on and start your fuselage sections,.....but as the resin wing takes care of the wheel bay you should trim down the rear framework of the cockpit,......which is below the armoured panel behind the seat. I`ll be completing my fuselage before adding it to the wings.

2- Trailing edges,.....well they seem OK to me,......I sanded the seams on my rag winged models.

3- Fit,.....well I`ve only dry fitted it so far and it didn`t seem much different to the Airfix parts,......once the cockpit is in place that should force the fuselage halves further apart and help things a great deal. You might have to trim a tiny sliver from the front section of the part which fits into the wing trough, I did it right at first and on my second try I trimmed it slightly, so there is nothing in it really.

4- Scheme,.....I`ve got a few ideas,.....I have 2 wings so should be doing 2 models,......one might be a Sea Hurricane,...the other may be from the Greek campaign?

I`m just painting the interior bits now and will get on with construction shortly,

Cheers for the comments and all the best

Tony

[rob85]

Greek campaign would be good to see, currently (re) reading roald dahls 'going solo' to the kids for bed time (their request) and would love to find more info on the aircraft used.

I see even more hurricanes in my future now!

Rob

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

I`ve got a bit more progress to report,.......

The parts have been pre painted and ready to assemble, with the lower section of the backrest part cut away;

Then the cockpit was inserted into place while the lower forward section of the centre section was also fitted ;

......on both models;

Then the fuselage halves were joined;

And finally the fuselage and the resin wing were joined and the clear resin windscreen fitted ,.....the lower rear fuselage section needed to be trimmed a little at the front in order to fit, with a small sliver also being taken from the fuselage section which projects down into the wing,..but not much;

And here are both models;

The underside of the nose will need to be sanded to help blend the resin and plastic sections together and some filler along the wing roots too, but no more than the standard Airfix kit. So now to find some nice schemes!

Cheers

Tony

Edited May 10, 2016 by tonyot

[Stew Dapple]

They're looking good Tony. how well do the panel lines on the resin match up to the kit ones?

Cheers,

Stew

[tonyot]

Cheers Stew,.....yes everything lines up really well, the resin wings fit just like the kit wings. I`m just researching some colour schemes now and finding decals to match!

All the best

Tony.

[johnd]

the resin wings fit just like the kit wings.

Oh, no! I've ordered two of these

John.

[airjiml2]

Tony,

Looking good, any choice of markings yet?

Still eagerly awaiting my wings out here in the Colonies.

Jim

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

Well I`ve slapped a bit of paint on,......the first one is going to be a RCAF Sea Hurriciane and after 2 coats of Polly Scale Dark Slate Grey here it is so far, although I`m not sure whether to use Dark Green rather than DSG? I was intending on doing 2-A which has a lighter version of DSG,....but I could not find suitable decals ;

Here is the real aircraft;

And here is the 2nd one,....which will be an aircraft flown by 73 Sqn over Tobruk,.....it has 2 coats of Polly Scale Dark Earth applied;

This aircraft was captured by the German`s after it made a wheels down landing in the desert and there are quite a few pics available of it,...showing it fitted with a Vokes filter, so as I`ve run out of resin ones, I`ve used a part from an AZ Model Hurri IV kit;

Here is the real aircraft;

I was toying with doing TP-K with the `Spaghetti' scheme on the nose and wing leading edges,......I might go for that one yet?

All the best

Tony

Edited May 14, 2016 by tonyot

[Cookenbacher]

Great builds Tony, thanks for showing off the new metal wing.

[heloman1]

Lookin' very good Tony, seems like good conversion set.

Colij

[tonyot]

Cheers lads,

Here is my latest update with the upper surfaces almost painted;

RAF;

Dark Earth/ Dark Green- Polly Scale,......MSG codes to use later.

RCAF;

EDSG/DSG- Polly Scale,.....although the light was bad and I`ve now spotted a few untidy gaffes on this blown up photo which need to be tidied up,.....codes from SAM Publications BPF Sheet.

Cheers

Tony

[Steve Coombs]

Very nice work there.

I received three sets of the tin wings the other day. One of them has some vicious warping at the leading edge/undercarriage bay area, but this should be fixable with some hot water and TLC.

I'll build a Hurricane once I've finished off the Hawk on the workbench, I think.

[rob85]

They are looking delightful Tony, and done very nice scheme choices, as one would expect for yourself

Rob

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

Here is my latest update,......the paint is now on them both;

RAF, Egypt;

RCAF Sea Hurricane;

And then both were given a coat of Humbrol gloss varnish ready for the decals next week;

I`ve got three other Hurricane`s on the go too and all ready for decals, plus a Mosquito, so a Mega decalling session is on the cards,

Cheers

Tony

[Beard]

They both look good, Tony. I'm looking foward to seeing all five Hurricanes, and the Mosquito, finished.

(Edit: to mention the Mossie too.)

(Edited a second time to correct the spelling in the first edit.)

Edited June 8, 2016 by Beard