Jump to content

Airfix 1/72 Hurricane OOBish - As Good As It's Going To Get


Recommended Posts

19 hours ago, dogsbody said:

My Airfix Hurricane's rad, first painted Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum. I then used some Citadel Black ink applied over the matrix.

 

 

That looks really good Chris. Out of interest, what colour did you paint the inside top of the radiator fairing (I.e. the bit formed by the bottom of the fuselage)? I’ve been assuming it would be some variety of aluminium rather than the aircraft underside colour but I’m willing to be proved wrong!

 

Craig. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Dandie Dinmont said:

That looks really good Chris. Out of interest, what colour did you paint the inside top of the radiator fairing (I.e. the bit formed by the bottom of the fuselage)? I’ve been assuming it would be some variety of aluminium rather than the aircraft underside colour but I’m willing to be proved wrong!

 

Craig. 

 

I painted the interior of the rad housing the same XF-16 as I used on the rads and the undercarriage bays. But, being an old git with a worn-out old mind, I forgot to paint the lower wing area inside the housing. I see I'll have some tricking masking to do in the future. I'm already formulating a plan.

 

 

 

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quick update this morning.

 

Fired up with enthusiasm, I masked the underside of the Hurricane. I used a mixture of standard and flexible Tamiya  masking tape, the latter being a recent acquisition and being used for the first time. It seemed to go on pretty well but the proof of the pudding will of course be when it comes off again.

 

49546803076_6f781580e7_c.jpg

 

Next, the spraying. This was rendered more entertaining than it might otherwise have been by a series of brief powercuts, courtesy of storm Dennis. A wiser modeller than I might have abandoned things after being plunged into darkness the first couple of times but I persevered.

 

49547032202_39256bac51_c.jpg

 

Looking at this image in the cold light of day, it's obvious that some respraying will be required to cover up some of the bare patches I paid insufficient attention to. Understandable in the circumstances I feel. I am, however,  impressed by the Vallejo model air's ability to cover up my other airbrushing sin, that of applying too much paint. When I packed up last night, there was a definite paint run and blob on the rudder which I was sure would require rectification. This morning, it looks fine!

 

Craig.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

When we left our hero, he had just, despite the best efforts of Storm Dennis, applied the first coat of dark green to the topsides of the Hurricane. Further inspection confirmed that this didn't look too bad, all in all, so a second coat was applied. As I think I mentioned in a previous post, the plan was to use the free Arma masks for the camouflage pattern. Never having tried this before, I thought I'd better give it a go on my long-suffering paint mule first which, by happy coincidence was already sporting a coat of dark earth. The masks were applied using the 'little worms of Blu Tac  along the edges of the mask' technique and after the Hurricane had received its second coat, the airbrush was directed towards the mule. The results were pleasing to my eye

 

49587231121_d83d6a6876_c.jpg

 

and so encouraged, the Hurricane was masked up:

 

49587232071_5c9cfd4928_c.jpg

 

and some dark earth applied. Showing great restraint, I waited a whole hour before tearing off all the masking to reveal:

 

49635520306_802b9d9be8_c.jpg

 

Not bad but there were a couple of issues, both caused by the 'worms of Blu Tac' technique. The first was that in a couple of places, the edge of the mask had come away from the surface slightly resulting in a blurred demarkation between the colours. The second was that not all the Blu Tac came away with the masks. Mostly I was able to get it off by dabbing at it with a bigger blob of Blu Tac but in a couple of areas, most noticeably on the port wing, the paint seemed to have lifted with the Blu Tac. I might have done better to have waited a little longer before beginning dabbing. I might also have done better to use something like spraymount adhesive to fix the masks in place but I would be worried about how much paint it would take off with it. Further experimentation required.

 

The Vallejo Model Air paint goes on well but you'd better be very sure you won't want to do any further work on the finish afterwards because in my (limited) experience, the stuff starts peeling off in great swathes at the mere sight of the finest of Micromesh cloths. When this happens, all you can do is cut around the edges of the affected area and do your best to fill in the gaps. You can't even feather the edges of the gap because that will just lead to further peeling. If anyone knows how to get around this, please share the secret (if the secret is "use another brand of paint", I've already thought of that). 

 

Anyway, touch ups were done brush painting the Model Air which doesn't really work (to be fair, it's not what it's designed for) but is ok if the area is small enough. 

 

Now there was the issue of the underside of the starboard tailplane which had caught some black overspray. Knowing that trying to brush paint the Vallejo Insignia White wouldn't work well, I decided to try another couple of whites I had to hand, Humbrol H34 and Tamiya XF-2 flat white. I only had a starter set pot of the H34. It had separated a bit so without thinking, I plunged the business end of my electric paint stirrer into the pot and let fly. Readers, you will be AMAZED to learn that the paint did not rise out of the pot in a great wave and cover me, the cats, the Hurricane and anything else within range. Sometimes, even idiots get lucky. Even luckier I tried both options out on a couple of spare bits first because it soon became clear that neither was a great match.

 

49643549721_959f637e9b_c.jpg

 

So it would have to be the Vallejo after all. Despite all I've written about about how Model Air doesn't brush, I tried it anyway, liberally laden with thinner and flow improver in the hope of getting a smoother finish. The results were...not good.

 

49635801742_a5bd0731f9_c.jpg

 

It's only the underside of the tailplane. Who would know? Sadly, the answer to that was 'me' and I knew I couldn't live with it. Cotton buds were charged with paint thinner and applied to the offending area until I had this

 

49643021028_a068b1448e_c.jpg

 

Unfortunately, on turning over the model, I also had this

 

49643825082_386ac3ae9c_c.jpg

 

This is normally the point in my builds when alarms sound, lights flash, my mojometer pegs on empty and the kit is consigned to the back of a cupboard. I am that most mournful of creatures, a perfectionist who lacks the skills to produce the quality of work he craves and when things start going wrong (which is usually about the point that paint starts getting seriously involved), my interest wanes and the bench remains unvisited while I entertain myself with other pursuits. This time however, possibly because I've been enjoying writing this WIP, I soldiered on. The overspill on the top side came off with some very tentative swipes of a thinner soaked cotton bud and then I did what I should have done in the first place, masked everything up again and used the airbrush (the picture below looks vaguely surgical to me for some reason)

 

49643828707_5ea38c48a9_c.jpg

 

and paint was applied, including to some bits I'd forgotten about like the undercarriage door and the spinner (which will be yellow eventually but needed a light undercoat) 

 

49643829707_306ab3082c_c.jpg

 

Took about 10 minutes, including the time to clean the airbrush. Why didn't I just do this in the first place? Because, as I think I mentioned above, I'm an idiot.

 

Assuming all is well when the masking comes off, I hope to get the gloss coat and the decals on in the next day or so.

 

Craig.

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Admiring the sleek lines of the work in progress, I realised that they were just a little too sleek. Yes, I'd forgotten to attach, and worse still paint, the radiator and air intake. Both were hastily attached, unwanted seams smoothed in with PPP and, for once listening to my own advice about the folly of brush painting Model Air, masked up for spraying

 

49659075162_ea5b65cc15_c.jpg

 

with broadly satisfying results

 

49721072327_9aa486b102_c.jpg

 

The masking was removed and all looked well. Except, was that line between the black and white running down the exact middle of the radiator? No, it was not. Remask and try again. That looked better but it now became obvious that the dividing line on the fuselage was not quite straight, when compared with the radiator. More masking. For the next few days, the demarcation on the fuselage advanced and retreated like the front line in a particularly frisky campaign until finally we had this:

 

49734599453_0135d5c230_c.jpg

 

It's by no means perfect but it's not keeping me awake at night any more.

 

Incidentally, you will note that I have removed the Blu Tac which I was using the mask the undercarriage bays and radiator openings. I have a request for you, readers of Britmodeller. If ever, in any of my future builds, it looks like I am contemplating using Blu Tac as a masking medium again, I beg you to write in in droves telling me not to be an idiot and to use some damp sponge instead. The stuff is a nightmare to extract from cavities and the only really successful technique I have found, dabbing away at the stubborn bits with another lump of Blu Tac, quite often removes chunks of paint as well. Still, it's done and I decided that before attaching the doubtless frail and easily broken undercarriage, I would get the decals on. To this end, a coat of Klear, or at least the modern equivalent available from Lakeland, was applied. I use a wide soft brush for this as I'm terrified of letting the stuff anywhere near my airbrush but the end results weren't bad:

 

49735467697_80e8aacae1_c.jpg

 

I might give it another coat before applying the stickers but the end is in sight!

 

Thanks for reading,

Craig.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Many a long week has passed since I last updated this saga but progress has happened. Pleased with the glossiness of the Klear, I set to work applying the decals. These went down pretty well but unfortunately, I don't seem to have taken any photos of the finished article. Take my word for it, it looked great. 

 

And there things stood for a good while, partially because I was being distracted by the Hurricane's sister from Southampton but mainly because I knew that I was going to have to go where no modeller (or at least this modeller) had never gone before, into the weathering dimension.  Yes, I have never weathered any of my previous models and indeed remain totally befuddled with the whole affair. All this talk of oil spots, washes and pin lines has me thoroughly confused. In addition, my wish to use only acrylics rules out many options. I did recall reading somewhere (and believe me, I wish I could remember where) about someone's technique of using a very little acrylic paint with a surfeit of water and Klear to produce a wash. So that's what I tried. A drop of Humbrol black, a drop of Humbrol brown, 10 drops of water and a random squirt of Klear (the syringe I was using to measure out everything slipped) finished off with a drop of flow improver and we had a small pot of dubious looking liquid. This was sparsely applied in the direction of the airflow with a wide brush. On top, I didn't notice much of a difference

 

49927060737_7659c46464_c.jpg

 

but underneath was a different story...

 

49926763721_5b28ca282c_c.jpg

 

Have I completely mucked the whole thing up? Join me next time as, armed with a damp cotton bud, I find out!

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Craig.

 

 

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The excess on the white area should likely come off easily with a damp cloth or paper towel. The Klear coat should protect the underlying paint. As for your weathering mix, you might want to try putting a few drops into the crevices/incised lines of the control surfaces/gun bays, just to define those details a bit. A small brush is useful for this.

 

At least you've painted your Hurc. Mine is still waiting for paint. I always freeze up at this point. I've ruined too many kits in the past with crap paint work.

 

 

 

Chris

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

The excess on the white area should likely come off easily with a damp cloth or paper towel. The Klear coat should protect the underlying paint. As for your weathering mix, you might want to try putting a few drops into the crevices/incised lines of the control surfaces/gun bays, just to define those details a bit. A small brush is useful for this.

Thanks for the tip Chris. I'll give that a go.

 

Quote

At least you've painted your Hurc. Mine is still waiting for paint. I always freeze up at this point. I've ruined too many kits in the past with crap paint work.

Likewise! If I look closely, I can see a lot about the paint job I don't like (fuzzy lines between the colours and the like) but I'm prepared to live with it in the hopes of getting the thing finished. You've done great work on your hurricane so far, it would be a crying shame not to finish the job. Go for it!

 

Craig.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't forget the nav & landing lights, you might need some touch-ups later on the paintwork there. Best get it over with* ;)

*/me at the same point of assembly/paint

 

Edited by alt-92
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Reading your write-ups is as much fun as building my own models - and despite your protestations, this looks great.  I've got the circa 1475 tooling of the Hurricane to attempt at some point; it looks decidedly agricultural.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/23/2020 at 7:22 PM, alt-92 said:

Don't forget the nav & landing lights, you might need some touch-ups later on the paintwork there. Best get it over with* ;)

*/me at the same point of assembly/paint

 

Good point! As you will see, I have taken heed of your advice.

 

On 5/23/2020 at 7:39 PM, jackroadkill said:

Reading your write-ups is as much fun as building my own models - and despite your protestations, this looks great.  I've got the circa 1475 tooling of the Hurricane to attempt at some point; it looks decidedly agricultural.

Aw shucks! Your Hurricane may be from the primordial age of modelling but I'll bet you make a great job of it anyway and at least the frames of the cockpit canopy will be in more or less the right place. That's a challenge I still have to face on this build.

 

Anyway, I bet you're all agog to see how the weathering worked out. Be agog no more as I present you with... (descending swanee whistle effect)... this

 

49930888126_85a072cf31_c.jpg

 

49930375073_59ff0181fa_c.jpg

 

As you can see, I took @dogsbody's advice and ran rather too much highly diluted paint into the various cracks and crevices on the airframe. I also took @alt-92's experience to heart, rammed some blobs of clear plastic sprue softened over a candle into the holes where the wingtip lights should be to get an approximate shape, drilled small holes in the back and dripped what I hope is the appropriate colours into said holes before gluing them into place. Some extremely delicate sanding coming up in the next episode, I fear.

 

I honestly don't know what to think about my tyro weathering efforts. I think my problem is that I don't possess an artistic bone in my body so I have great difficulty in picturing the effect I want. I think I need some inspiration so I'm going to spend the evening perusing one of those web sites which caters for gentlemen of a certain age and specialised interests. Anyone know the URL of 'Aeroplanes With Mud On'?

 

Thanks for reading,

Craig.

Edited by Dandie Dinmont
Speeling
  • Like 3
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, dogsbody said:

Here are the wing tip lights I did on my Hurricane.

 

Looking good Chris (you have to finish this you know) and immediately, I can see that I’ve drilled the holes in mine in the wrong place.:banghead: Back to the drawing board!

 

Craig. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wait! Before you change the small holes in your lights, check a reliable reference. I'm not too sure if mine are correct now, but they shur as heck ain't comin' off now.

 

 

 

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine are wrong. The light under the clear cover should be mounted on the rear/aft face of the cut-out. I mistakenly put mine on the side faces. 

 

When I did mine, I didn't look close enough at the picture I was using, and got it wrong in my head. It was only recently that I realized my mistake. I'm going to leave it because trying to get those off with all the superglue and multiple coats of Future would be nearly impossible.

 

Use it as not a job well done, but as a bad example. The story of my life.

 

 

 

 

Chris

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

Mine are wrong. The light under the clear cover should be mounted on the rear/aft face of the cut-out. I mistakenly put mine on the side faces. 

 

Too late! I’d already snapped my version off. No harm done though, given how easily they came away, they would never have stood up to the amount of sanding required and I was able to recover them so I can always glue them back on a bit more firmly. 
 

Thanks for the heads up Chris!

 

Craig. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

3 hours ago, Dandie Dinmont said:

I honestly don't know what to think about my tyro weathering efforts.

looks fine.

Aeroplanes are NOT tanks,  they don't work well when dirty and ill maintained (despite how many models are presented...)  so less is more.

A plane about to set off after being serviced overnight will have exhaust deposits and oil leak stains cleaned off.

 

Your actual subject, VY-G, is the subject of several photos.

early 1940

large.jpg&key=4f8e9ccab85c0e2e587b25eb30

 

and then in May 1940, 

 

large_000000.jpg?action=e%26cat=photogra

Note how the fabric fades or weathers in a different way to the metal areas,  and the bare metal behind the gun ports.

close up of the tail, clearer view of the fin stripes

large.jpg&key=79e4e5e58ab643b5805958a59c

 

and what is probably the other side

 

large.jpg&key=0452d9eb83f7c18b436f013d32

 

Some oil stains on the gear doors, faint exhaust stain,  minor paint dings around the fastener catches.  

 

I tried to get the fabric fading by scrubbing the fabric areas of mine with pale grey pastel chalk dust.

the difference in colour between metal and fabric I wondered in a light or film effect, and i maybe due to difference in finish, as in a gloss and matt version of the same colour can appear different.  

 

Now if you study this pre war colour shot, and pay attention to the wing fabric/metal change, and the metal and fabric panels beneath the cockpit.

2527541716_bdf7872519_o.jpgHurricane by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

I'll say it again,  study photos carefully,  and avoid modelling trends  and fashions.  

 

HTH

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

 

looks fine.

Aeroplanes are NOT tanks,  they don't work well when dirty and ill maintained (despite how many models are presented...)  so less is more.

A plane about to set off after being serviced overnight will have exhaust deposits and oil leak stains cleaned off.

 

Your actual subject, VY-G, is the subject of several photos.

early 1940

large.jpg&key=4f8e9ccab85c0e2e587b25eb30

 

and then in May 1940, 

 

large_000000.jpg?action=e%26cat=photogra

Note how the fabric fades or weathers in a different way to the metal areas,  and the bare metal behind the gun ports.

close up of the tail, clearer view of the fin stripes

large.jpg&key=79e4e5e58ab643b5805958a59c

 

and what is probably the other side

 

large.jpg&key=0452d9eb83f7c18b436f013d32

 

Some oil stains on the gear doors, faint exhaust stain,  minor paint dings around the fastener catches.  

 

I tried to get the fabric fading by scrubbing the fabric areas of mine with pale grey pastel chalk dust.

the difference in colour between metal and fabric I wondered in a light or film effect, and i maybe due to difference in finish, as in a gloss and matt version of the same colour can appear different.  

 

Now if you study this pre war colour shot, and pay attention to the wing fabric/metal change, and the metal and fabric panels beneath the cockpit.

2527541716_bdf7872519_o.jpgHurricane by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

I'll say it again,  study photos carefully,  and avoid modelling trends  and fashions.  

 

HTH

I have this kit in stash and agree with Troy. Less is more. My early getting back into this hobby efforts I have weathered my models overdone 1969 Battle of Britain gun movie stains etc but I’ve learned to use restraint. On my wingtip navigation lights I haven’t  used any colour on my hurricanes as they are hardly noticeable in this scale to me. As for weathering Here is my mk2 and I used a dark wash to bring out control surfaces along with a bit of pastels and eyeliner make up to simulate weathering.  A Few panels have been picked out

DF5BFC05-B598-4AFD-9557-A9B02302543D

 

 

My Burma hurricane is a bit more battered 

E804EA14-4A7A-404C-A042-EDB9F1F527CB

 

 

Not greatest image but metal parts are slightly different finish to the fabric parts. But yours looks good and don’t forget to stop once in a while and look. If it looks like it’s too much it probably is! 

Edited by Wince
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Convinced by all your kind words that the weathering job was at least passable, I broke out the airbrush and gave the Hurricane a couple of coats of Xtracrylic flat varnish which damped down the weathering effects a little more. Satisfied with this, I attempted to remove the canopy and windscreen which had been serving double duty as a paint mask (suitable covered in masking tape of course). I wish I could remember what I used to attach them because they were impressively firmly affixed to the fuselage. I eventually succeeded in prising them off without ruining things.

 

49956475136_2ce7425aa3_c.jpg

 

If you squint closely at the above picture, you will note that

  • I still have some areas to paint

and

  • after my last post, I reaffixed my home made navigation lights, sanded them into shape and touched up all the collateral damage around them.

Puzzlingly, one of the lights seems to be larger than the other, perhaps due to some over-zealous wingtip sanding, but I intend to address this by only photographing the model from the side from now on so that no comparisons can be made.

 

For spraying the model, I had been in the habit of inserting a bit of thick wire into the nose of the Hurricane to provide an impromptu stand/handle. Extracting the wire after one session, I found this on the floor of the spray booth

 

49956475111_35e11bc17a_c.jpg

 

Clearly I had gone a little too deep. Now that the canopy was off again, I could assess the chances of replacing the problem pedals. Lacking a DIY home endoscopy kit, I rated the chances at zero. So it goes.

 

Here is what I hope will be an interesting and informative comparison, despite my lousy photography.

 

49956759717_d87805d084_c.jpg

 

On the left is the kit canopy, widely regarded as being more representative of the Hurricane prototype. My faithful ruler puts the distance between the base of the canopy and the first horizontal frame as 4.5mm. On the right is the canopy (albeit for a Mk.IIc but I don't think they differed that much) from my recently acquired Arma kit. On this canopy, the distance is 3.5mm. And in the middle is the Rob Taurus replacement vacform canopy which as @Troy Smith foretold is a direct copy of the Airfix canopy and also comes in at 4.5mm. What to do? The Arma kit comes with both an open and a closed version of the canopy so I could use the open version on this kit and the closed version on the Arma kit when I come to build it (given that this will likely be my first attempt at building a fully PE enhanced cockpit, hiding it somewhat is an idea not without merit). On the other hand, the Rob Taurus canopy cost me 50 quid (admittedly £47 of this was for the 1/48 He-111 plus PE that I added to bring it above the minimum amount for a Hannants order) so I'd like to use it. But I'm going to try something else. As a wise man once said, I have a cunning plan...

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Craig.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't sweat the rudder pedals. Unless you're going to get right in close, with an extra lens on your phone's camera, like I did, no one will ever see that they are missing.

 

49123255006_18d844b3df_o.jpg

 

 

Chris

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...