Hawker Hurricane Mk1 R4118

[Bonhoff]

So here's mine - Not sure if it's bending the rules but rather than having a link with the country, this is more of a tenous county link.

 

I've lived in the fair county of Leicestershire since 2001 so I've been looking in my stash to see if I have anything suitable, I'm only a few miles from Wymeswold Airfield so a Meteor F8 stationed there could be a possibility given that Airfix do the 1/48th kit and Xtradecal do some markings. However, I don't have either the kit or the decals so sorry for wasting your time there.

 

What I do have though is Airfix's 1/48th Hurricane and I can claim a tiny link with the county as follows....

 

R4118, which as we all know is the ex Peter Vacher BoB Hurricane restored to flying condition, required major repairs on a number of occasions during WW2, one such overhaul was carried out at Taylorcraft of Rearsby, manufacturers of Auster aircraft and located in Leicestershire.

 

As an extra tenuous link for me, I spent 18 months working in part of the old Taylorcraft / Beagle / Rearsby Automotive complex preparing cabin provisions for the 2012 Olympics, witnessing more damage caused to the factory by the "Great Rearsby Hailstorm of 2012" than the Luftwaffe managed in 6 years of war (Roof punctured numerous times, 50+ cars wrecked in the car park, including mine, which looked like the surface of the moon afterwards)

 

So here we are, Airfix's Mk1 Hurricane, using the second markings option of R4118, UP-W of 605 Squadron.

 

 

 

And some figures and accessories to go with it...

 

 

Let's see what we can do with this lot, construction has started already.

 

KR's

 

IanJ

[Robert Stuart]

1 hour ago, Bonhoff said:

So here's mine - Not sure if it's bending the rules but rather than having a link with the country, this is more of a tenous county link.

It is encouraged, but not compulsory - but you do have a wonderful collection of tenuous links

 

[stevej60]

Nice to see another build of this kit Ian,enjoy!

[Bonhoff]

 

Liking how this one assembles, despite it being an early pressing there's a little bit of warpage on the wing spars, consequently I used the lower half of the wing as a jig to hopefully line everything up correctly - Phone camera foxed by the lighting at work, so this picture is a little blurry.

 

 

This then requires a little bit of thought as to how the wheelwell is assembled in situ, the coolant pipe has been left off and will be fitted from underneath once the cockpit floor and framing have been glued in place. 

 

Bit of primer slapped on ready for Vallejo Aluminium applied with a hairy stick - Couple of hours work so far.

 

I'll let the paint dry over the weekend and return to it on Monday.

 

IanJ

[Ozzy]

I really enjoyed my build of this kit, I hope it's the same for you Ian.

[Bonhoff]

Spent a few lunchtimes to get to this state, won't be able to progress any further until I return from my hols starting next week.

 

Seat harness made from coffee can foil is the only extra beyond what was in the box.

 

 

 

Laters

 

IanJ

[Bonhoff]

So - A couple of days after returning from my hols I'd got to this point.

 

 

The two fuselage halves went together acceptably well with only a minor amount of trimming of the two front bulkheads.

 

The upper surfaces seemed to go OK as well until I did a test fit of the fuselage / nose / wings and discovered the step in the above picture.

 

It transpired that the wing uppers hadn't glued down to the internal structure as well as I thought, giving a smidgin too much curvature to the roots, the solution was to clamp down the wing roots and glue them again to the wing spars, that and a light sanding of the top of the wing roots, seemed to sort the worst of it.

 

After that, the final assembly of the airframe was a breeze.

 

 

This is how the nose ended up - Not perfect but will do for me.

 

 

 

Don't panic - The prop assembly is simply lodged in place at the moment - There's also a couple of sink marks on the top of the tailplane roots that needed attention but we're getting close to taking it home and preparing for paint.

 

KR's

 

IanJ

[Blitz23]

Looking good Bonhoff, I loved building this kit, enjoy.

[monsjmse]

I'd love to get hold of one of these kits, but they are not available at the moment - the same for the new tool 1:48 Spitfire Mk I. Seems crazy to me that Airfix stop making two of their new tool staple best sellers.

[Bonhoff]

On 5/31/2018 at 7:59 PM, monsjmse said:

I'd love to get hold of one of these kits, but they are not available at the moment - the same for the new tool 1:48 Spitfire Mk I. Seems crazy to me that Airfix stop making two of their new tool staple best sellers.

 

You need to keep an eye out for the current Sea Hurricane boxing - It's the same plastic within.

[Bonhoff]

Painting finally commenced...

 

 

Primed and preshaded - New needle and jet in the airbrush and it's like starting out as a beginner again - Having a few issues trying to get finer preshading at the moment.

 

 

Have used Tamiya "Sky" for this

 

And now to mask out the uppers - I'd purchased a pack of these.

 

 

Vinyl masking sheets from that auction site for a fiver.

 

Which has speeded up the masking process so far, I've enlarged the kit instructions so I can cut out the outlines onto the vinyl sheet and now have this pleasing result.

 

 

Only a couple of weeks left 

 

IanJ

[Bonhoff]

 

Used Gunze acrylic Dark Earth - No bleeding apparent once the masks came off, impressed with the masking film so far.

 

IanJ

[Robert Stuart]

Mmmm, I like it, but, I've painted the base colour first, and then masked the second colour (says he, who has just painted a 'B' scheme Spitfire when he wanted an 'A' camouflage pattern 🤔)

[Bonhoff]

Normally I'd do that too, but I've been wondering if I lose some of the preshading under two coats instead of just one.

 

It does mean masking out twice though.

 

IanJ

[Bonhoff]

Now I've posted the pictures into the gallery, I'll update the build thread....

 

Anyway, masked out the dark earth with the vinyl masking and used Tamiya RAF Green for the second colour, once again no bleedthrough or lifting.

 

It was then a case of building up bits and bobs, masking and painting the glazing and then start decalling.

 

 

 

Major decals completed - Deadline approaching and there is a danger that I could be dragged away for domestic duties....

 

 

No problèm, the doglet is on sentry duty...This worked for a bit, then the doglet needed walking, I then get home and see that we have a visitor.

 

At 10pm I get back in the Ìancave for a final push - Why is it that Parkinson's Law always means I'm up against it timewise?

 

Anyway - Made it with 10 minutes to spare! (agaìn) 

 

 

Thanks for visiting,

 

IanJ

 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

Very well done Ian... I’ve got a daughter like you, always looks like she’ll be late but somehow managers to pull herself together just in time. The Hurricane has really turned out lovely. One again, so good to see this late splurge of GB entires added to the gallery. 

 

Cheers.. Dave