Revell Hurricane II improvements - some advice needed

[Beard]

I'm currently working my way through my stash of Revell 1/72 Hurricane IIs and need some advice (apart from, "what on earth did you think you needed EIGHT Revell MkIIbs for?").

 

I've worked my way through the list of necessary improvements:

1) reduce the chord of the wing - I've made a template from plasticard, using an AZ MkII wing

2) improve or replace the propeller - I've reshaped it as I can't afford eight Quickboost props

3) move the back of the cockpit forward - easily done, even for some-one with my limited abilities.

4) sort out the fabric behind the doghouse.

 

I'm stuck on the last one: re-doing the fabric effect behind the cockpit so it's parallel with the rest of the stringers, rather than that triangular shape the Revell did.

 

I'm thinking that filling the area, sanding smooth, then using stretched sprue to 'replicate' the stringers might be the way to go.

 

Have any of you got an opinion? Also, are there any improvements I've missed?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Graham Boak]

I agree with shaving all the raised detail off the rear fuselage.  whether it is then worth replacing the stringers is a matter of opinion.

 

The fairings over the bomb carriers need changing from a cross-section like a flat-bottomed London barge to one more like a Canadian Canoe.

 

Replace the canopy with a Rob Taurus or Falcon one.

 

Sell a couple to make the money for replacement props and spinners for the rest.  (I did shave a set of Matchbox Halifax props down to the right size and shape, but never again.  Throw in the changes to the cowling and that's about the same work but for part of one kit.)

 

 

[FinnAndersen]

42 minutes ago, Beard said:

...

4) sort out the fabric behind the doghouse.

 

I'm stuck on the last one: re-doing the fabric effect behind the cockpit so it's parallel with the rest of the stringers, rather than that triangular shape the Revell did.

 

I'm thinking that filling the area, sanding smooth, then using stretched sprue to 'replicate' the stringers might be the way to go.

 

...

Had exactly the same problem a few years back with my Hasegawa Hurricane. Ended up filling the trenches with Mr Surfacer and sanded the excess away. If done carefully (i.e. very very slowly) you end up with the sort of multifaceted surface of the real thing. You should not see stringers as such, just the fabric stretched out between them. 

 

HTH 

/Finn

 

PS: Graham is on to something: Why not sell the lot and buy one of the new Arma kits; rumour has it that they are quite good ?

[Beard]

33 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

 

The fairings over the bomb carriers need changing from a cross-section like a flat-bottomed London barge to one more like a Canadian Canoe.

 

Thanks Graham. I've seen you make that comment before but had forgotten.

 

33 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

 

Replace the canopy with a Rob Taurus or Falcon one.

 

What is wrong with the canopy?

 

33 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

Sell a couple to make the money for replacement props and spinners for the rest. 

 

Now, there's an idea. Just need to find some unsuspecting fool discerning modeller to flog them to. Let's hope, for my sake, that Arma Hobby don't get round to doing a IIa/ b any time soon.

[Jure Miljevic]

Beard, Revell's kit canopy is slightly too low, IIRC. Also, kit has too short a wingspan for about 2 mm. One has to sand off an access panel under the starboard horizontal stabilizer, which on the real aircraft existed on port side only.

I built one of these kits fifteen or so years ago and I replaced kit's fuselage with Heller's IIc one. This involved some epoxy putty and a lot of sanding, but I still think I got off lightly. Cheers

Jure

P.S.: I think there was another thread discussing Revell 1/72 Hurricane about a year ago?

Edited January 7, 2020 by Jure Miljevic
P.S. added

[Beard]

1 hour ago, FinnAndersen said:

Had exactly the same problem a few years back with my Hasegawa Hurricane. Ended up filling the trenches with Mr Surfacer and sanded the excess away. If done carefully (i.e. very very slowly) you end up with the sort of multifaceted surface of the real thing. You should not see stringers as such, just the fabric stretched out between them. 

 

 

Thanks Finn. I plan to use very fine stretched sprue and melt it with copious amounts of Liquid Poly.

 

1 hour ago, FinnAndersen said:

 

PS: Graham is on to something: Why not sell the lot and buy one of the new Arma kits; rumour has it that they are quite good ?

 

I have one of the Arma Hobby MkIs and they're very nice indeed but the only MkII they do is a 'c'. I know I could convert it to a IIa/ b but that seems like a waste of a good kit when I could be practising my skills on a kit  I've got lots of.

Edited January 7, 2020 by Beard

[Beard]

7 minutes ago, Jure Miljevic said:

Revell's kit canopy is slightly too low, IIRC.

Thanks Jure. Looks like Graham's suggestion of selling a couple looks more attractive.

 

9 minutes ago, Jure Miljevic said:

Also, kit has too short a wingspan for about 2 mm.

I think I might have to live with that.

 

9 minutes ago, Jure Miljevic said:

One has to sand off an access panel under the starboard horizontal stabilizer, which on the real aircraft existed on port side only.

Duly noted. Thanks.

 

10 minutes ago, Jure Miljevic said:

I built one of these kits fifteen or so years ago and I replaced kit's fuselage with Heller's IIc one. This involved some epoxy putty and a lot of sanding, but I still think I got off lightly. 

I take it you won't be taking advantage of the cheap Revell Hurricanes that I'll be posting in the For Sale section? 😀

 

12 minutes ago, Jure Miljevic said:

 

P.S.: I think there was another thread discussing Revell 1/72 Hurricane about a year ago?

There was, I was really after opinions on how to deal with the fabric bit.

[Seahawk]

27 minutes ago, Beard said:

I have one of the Arma Hobby MkIs and they're very nice indeed but the only MkII they do is a 'c'. 

So far.  But I thought I picked up a hint in their year-end newsletter that other Mk.II variants might be on the way.  However I haven't got my hands on a IIc yet to see if the part layout on the frames supports this idea.  

[Jure Miljevic]

Sounds very tempting, Beard, but I think I'll pass. There are two more Revell Hurricane II 1/72 kits in my stash, and while I got one as a gift, I have no  reasonable explanation nor plausible excuse why I bought yet another one! Cheers

Jure

[Beard]

14 minutes ago, Seahawk said:

So far.

Let's hope they keep it that way until I've flogged some of my surplus Revell ones.

[dogsbody]

So my 3 Revell and 2 Hasegawa kits should just be reduced to spare parts?

 

 

Chris

[Beard]

27 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

So my 3 Revell and 2 Hasegawa kits should just be reduced to spare parts?

 

 

Chris

Nah, build 'em, try out new techniques, enjoy yourself.

[Graham Boak]

Not sure which spare parts you'd keep from the Revell one, to be honest.  It looks to be a nice kit (first rate engine cowling shape) until you look closely.  The bombs?  The Hasegawa one suffers from the rear fuselage fabric problem, but otherwise is a very good kit  I have two of the Arma Hobby ones but am not getting rid of my one Hasegawa Mk.IIc.   I might just pinch the hook and the transfers from my Revell Sea Hurricane.

 

Re the canopy - someone said the slope of the windscreen was a bit off, but I should admit to not having checked.  However the vac canopies look nicer anyway, given half an excuse.

[Work In Progress]

13 hours ago, dogsbody said:

So my 3 Revell and 2 Hasegawa kits should just be reduced to spare parts?

 

It's the same deal as all errors in kit designs. It either bothers you or it doesn't. The only opinion that matters is yours, there's no police force for this, no rule that says you can only build models which are as accurate as the state of the art allows.

 

Personally I couldn't put any hours into a Revell Hurri II or a Hasegawa 1/72 Hurri because of the very different ways they screwed up the rear fabric. Even the quickest look at the kit and it glares out at me and annoys me.  But that's my emotional response, not yours, and there are other kits where I am happy to ignore known errors because they don't annoy me.  The Heller IIc has a slightly excessive wing chord. I know it and it doesn't bother me at all.

 

Someone told me before Christmas that he can't contemplate the Revell Lancaster because the span is a few mm too short and it really gets up his nose. He's right about the couple of mm, but for me once I've corrected the dihedral on the outer wing panels I'm happy to build that kit all day long, its other faults don't bother me in the slightest.  I don't mind the 1/48 Hase Spitfire Vb being under-scale. Others can't stand that. All these are  subjective emotional responses, only you can judge whether the finished product will be something you want to look at or avoid once you've finished it. 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Work In Progress

[Work In Progress]

13 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

from the Revell one... first rate engine cowling shape

Hmm, Graham has given me an idea. If someone wants to pass on a cheap or abandoned Revell Hurri IIc, or just the fuselage parts, I might try transplanting the cowling onto the 1979 Airfix I with the metal-covered wings. Apart from its under-endowed nose it's still worth building and I have a couple in stock.

[johnd]

5 minutes ago, Work In Progress said:

Apart from its under-endowed nose it's still worth building

Graham has a fix for that.

 

Cut the panel just in front of the exhausts vertically to about half way down. Wedge the fuselage along the cowling to the correct width. Glue the fuselage together and then the part in front of the exhausts that you cut earlier to preserve its circular shape (will require clamping). This will leave you with a gap which you fill to build up the 'shoulders'.

 

Hope that makes sense. It was easier to follow the way Graham explained it...

 

John.

[Work In Progress]

Yes, I know the Graham fix, and highly enterprising it is. I still want to try a transplant.

[Troy Smith]

37 minutes ago, Work In Progress said:

I don't mind the 1/48 Hase Spitfire Vb being under-scale.

AFAIK, this is one of the legends, I read it was nearer 1/50th.  I got one cheap,  compared it with a new tool Airfix Vb,  it's a little short, but otherwise it seemed the same size and shape. Also perhaps the first 48th Spitfire to get the cockpit sides approaching correct.

 

FWIW, again, 'on the net'  the oft repeated comment on the 1/48  Special Hobby family is "they are based on the old 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire" , which they are not, if they have an inspiration, it's the Hase Vb.....

 

Sorry off topic.... and, no,  no really good suggestions on the Revell Hurricane.... the day when me, brain, camera, plans, layout space and enthusiasm for having a good compare and problem solving session with 72nd Hurricane its has not occurred as yet....

44 minutes ago, Work In Progress said:

The Heller IIc has a slightly excessive wing chord. I know it and it doesn't bother me at all.

this is not too hard to fix, the excess is in the outer panel, I found that if you take out the ailerons, and IIRC, it's easy to reshape the wing, and then reuse the ailerons with some minor mods, and rescribe the flap line, it was a easy enough fix.  Part done one in a box, never got round to documenting it.

I was very impressed with the Heller fuselage fabric as well.  

[Graham Boak]

Just to round-off the comments, the Heller nose shoulders need building up too.  Presumably the same fix will work.  (It was less easy with the Airfix Mk.IIc because the plastic was too thick, it was necessary to saw off the top of the cowling above the exhausts.  But we needn't consider that kit nowadays.). The Heller spinner is lovely but the props anaemic.

 

 

[Work In Progress]

28 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

the Heller nose shoulders need building up too.  Presumably the same fix will work

Good thought, and worth a try