Jump to content

FLY 1/32 Hurricane : spinning wild


Recommended Posts

Hello modeller friends,

FLY Models caused quite a stir when they released their 1/32 Hurricane in April 2016. By a general consensus on the modelling forums, it's the best Hurricane on the market: accurate shape, good dimensions, adequate surface detail and unbeatable bang for the buck, etc…

One question remains: HOW DOES IT BUILD?

Strangely there are but a very few WIP's (one on this very forum) on the internet for such a popular model. Furthermore they all stopped still after a few instalments. What happened? Is there a monster glitch out there waiting for the unwary modeller?

I decided to find out and share my experience with you.

Before starting up, let me tell you that I've never been interested in the Hurricane as a plane and that I've never built a Hurricane in all my modelling years. That is before a friend showed me the FLY kit he just bought . I was unexplainably drawn to the box and before long I was cutting up the sprues, dry-fitting the parts … and buying the kit back from my friend.

So let the build begins. First, the box with the 'meh' painting...

image_1.jpeg

… and the all-important documentation, excellent references I got from another friend. Most of it sadly OOP:

image_4.jpeg

Next episode: Dry-fitting the parts

Until then,

Cheers,

Quang

Edited by quangster
  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you gents for your support.

Now back to the build.

First thing to consider: this is a LIMITED-RUN kit. So be prepared to do more clean-up work than usual, sharpen and correcting small details, scratch-build some others, dry-fit and more dry-fit. Nothing dramatic. It's well within the abilities of the average modeller and the final result would only show off the effort you have put in it. All you need is patience and a sharp blade.

The lack of locating pin is a non-issue as it can be easily remedied by the 'zipper system' well-known to vacform builders : small alternating plasticard tabs glued on each of the mating surfaces:

image_9.jpeg

image_12.jpeg

The resulting joint apart from being precise is also much stronger than the locating pin system found on 'regular' kits.

Likewise, plasticard tabs are used for a positive location of the resin wheel bay:

image_10.jpeg

image_8.jpeg

It is important to remove the excess resin on the top of the wheel bay EXACTLY as per the indication, otherwise the 'cockpit' – which will be resting on the wheel bay 'ceiling'– won't fit.

Once the excess resin is removed, some areas of the wheel bay will be wafer-thin so be slow, be precise and check regularly.

One first observation is that the fit of the main parts is excellent. No gap, nor step, nor mismatched panel line. My kudos to the FLY team :thumbsup2:

image_32.jpeg

Next episode: the 'cockpit'

Until then,

Cheers,

Quang

Edited by quangster
  • Like 16
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you gents for your support.

Let's get to the cockpit. This is where the boat starts to rock.

First, a little reminder for the modellers new to the Hurricane.

As a transition between the WWI biplane of strings and canvas and the all-metal monoplane of WWII, the Hurricane presented some rather unique features. The fuselage consisted in a metal tubular armature covered with canvas and plywood (tail and cockpit) and sheet metal in the engine section.

In the cockpit, the pilot's seat and the various instruments were grafted onto this framework. There were also instruments attached on the plywood sidewalls and on two narrow shelves at the pilot's elbow. There was no cockpit floor. The pilot's feet rested on two sheet metal boards.

FLY gives us the bare sidewall with the moulded shelf (here on the left fuselage half). A word of caution: the small circles are NOT ejection pin marks. They're meant to represent the plywood disks on which the instruments are mounted.

0cd137f0-a476-4191-b0df-7d64b731f4be.jpg

image courtesy mmscalemodels.com

We also get the naked framework in 4 parts (left-right-centre and a triangle). It's meant to look like this when assembled:

]Cage%20original.jpg

The main issue of this kind of scaffolding is to keep it square and true.

Well, FLY didn't help us in that matter. The parts are flimsy and prone to breaking (I broke two and had to replace them with brass tubes) with no positive location apart from some vague indentations. The ambiguous instructions didn't help neither. So all one can do is to resort to guess work. It's also helpful to check out the other Hurricane builds on the internet.

Next question: where does it go and how does it attach to the fuselage?

In order to find this out, I had to temporarily glue the parts together. When I did find out (after a few days of soul-searching), I had to disassemble them to add the instruments and re-assemble them again after the painting is completed :banghead:

To make it short (and despite having to give you a little spoiler), this is how the cockpit should look like after assembly.

b66f3fe2-b6f9-4a6a-846e-75b40c73444d.jpg

Note how the uppermost tube align on the edge of the shelf. The 'cage' butts against the firewall at the front. These are the two areas where the cage is attached/glued to the fuselage.

If I have to do it again, I'd glue the firewall on first and work from there using the firewall and the edge of the shelf as reference points to build up my framework.

Next episode will be easier on the brain: detailing the cockpit

Until then, good night and good luck!

:guitar:

Quang

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello again,

Now that we're past the turbulent waters, comes the fun part: detailing and painting the cockpit.

This is what FLY gave us to start with:
Cage%20original.jpg

What we're trying to achieve is THIS:
sovhur_seat2.jpg

It's not as daunting as it looks. It's just a matter of adding things to the existing framework and sidewalls. We will use stock parts (mainly resin) and scratch build some others. I'm not too impressed by the featureless and uni-dimensional photo-echted parts provided and prefer making my own from plasticard or tin foil.

As for the reference, many photos can be found on the internet. For the sake of authenticity, I'd rather choose the ones from original, unrestored machines over the modern 'warbirds'. Having said that, I relied quite often to 'creative gizmology' (a term coined by master modeller Sheperd Paine) to give a busy, cluttering atmosphere to the cockpit. The main goal here is not 100% accuracy but rather an 'authentic' ambience.

The stock resin seat is quite good. Only missing are the height-adjusting lever (made from brass tube) and the leather patch – designed to stop the parachute ripcord chaffing on the metal – made from tin foil.
image_11.jpeg

Details on the tubular framework:
– the plywood triangular placard (featureless brass part in the kit) was made from plasticard and detailed.
– The stock brass floor boards are too narrow and discarded. New ones were made from scored tin foil.
– Various instruments are attached to the framework by tin foil 'clips'.
image_40.jpeg

The control column is next. As it's the main point of attraction of the cockpit (together with the IP), I decided to discard the stock part and build my own from brass tube and solder. The green stuff is Duro, a 2-part epoxy putty. First try (on the photo) slavishly based on the stock item was too short. I had to scrape it and build a new one BANGHEAD2.jpg
image_13.jpeg

e4264cf6-e96e-4557-9b07-b76458159257.jpg


The emergency escape hatch was glued to the RH fuselage half and various items added to the sidewalls. Map case from plasticard, pouch from Duro, charts from scored tin foil.
image_24.jpeg

Left side: dark grey items are stock resin parts. The rest is built from scratch. Note cockpit lights from telephone wire.
bef229b4-d50e-467f-9766-406dcd17f679.jpg

Backplate armour made from plasticard with sprue rivets. Featureless tock brass part on the left.
image_28.jpeg

Cockpit walls primed in black and given a coat of grey-green:
95e02f10-765d-41f6-bccf-dcb9fa9ee970.jpg

37f03596-d555-4ca2-84e7-0231e9a3cbf3.jpg

Framework primed in black and painted with AK Flat Aluminium
image_44.jpeg

Camera fast forward. Shading and hightlighting completed. Test fit.
LHcockpit_1.jpg
856f1fe3-c768-4f75-ad44-7a47d0dbf2f5.jpg

Pfftt! THAT was a long post.

In the next step, we'll finish the cockpit and button up the fuselage

Until then, keep well.

Cheers,
Quang

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That looks good so far nice work.

Guy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...