patmaquette Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Many thanks to @Stew Dapple for allowing to join in. 😀 My build will be a diorama made from Airfix's "Ready For Battle" box set comprising their Hawker Hurricane Mk1, Albion AM463 3-Point Refueller, Bedford MWD plus ground crew and various bits and bobs. I shall also build the Airfix Spitfire Mk 1a in 1/72 scale as a "paint mule" to daub my paint mixes on before committing them to the Hurricane main attraction. This is something I have taken to doing over the past couple of years of building to try and cut down on the number of models I ruin! The Ready For Battle box is crammed with sprues to make the items illustrated on the reverse of the box...... The text is very stirring: "At the height of the summer of 1940, the fate of the free world rested upon the skill and courage of just a few young pilots as the RAF stood alone against the might of the as yet undefeated German Luftwaffe. In the air above southern England, Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes fought vicious dogfights with the fighters and bombers of the enemy. As they wheeled and fought across the sky it was down to a larger group of men and women based on the ground to keep these vital aircraft serviceable and armed during these crucial summer months. Refuelling was the duty of the then common Albion AM463 refuelling truck, which with its three separate hoses was capable of refuelling three fighters simultaneously thus speeding up the vital turn around between fighter sorties. The aircraft were rearmed and maintained by armies of fitters and gun crews, feeding thousands of 303 rounds into the gun bays of the waiting fighters. Finally, trucks such as the Bedford MWD were used to transport men and equipment across airfields and around the country in this fraught and dangerous time. While the majority of the recognition goes to the fighter pilots of the RAF, who risked everything to defeat the Luftwaffe, the contribution made by the ground crews and other ground personnel must not be forgotten, many were killed and injured in Luftwaffe attacks on airfields and they worked tirelessly to ensure the RAF emerged victorious". Here are the contents of the box....... The parts look excellent., although I haven't opened the bags to fondle them yet. I have built the Bedford MWD in the past so know it is good. I like the ground crew set, they should paint up nicely..... Here is the Spitfire boxing..... That sets the scene - now on with building......... Thanks for reading, Cheers, Pat 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Nice looking set. Airfix are certainly putting in a bit of effort these days. The oversize fuselage codes on the Hurricane will make for a very distinctive model, have fun with the build. Tony. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 I have assembled the Spitfire to the point where I needed to lay down some paint on the interior...... The cockpit detail looks pretty good in the kit... I shall - unusually for me - add the pilot to the cockpit. I've started painting him, along with a couple of Revell ones whilst I have the paints out. The uniform was painted with a mix of Navy blue, black-grey with a touch of Leather brown to obtain a dark tone to which white was added for tinting. The Mae Wests were ochre yellow plus a touch of violet, lightened with white. All paints were acrylic (Vallejo mainly)...... The pilots look lighter in the photos than in reality..... That brings us up to date - thank you for reading! Cheers, Pat 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 Hi @TonyW On 12/07/2020 at 21:05, TonyW said: Nice looking set. Airfix are certainly putting in a bit of effort these days. The oversize fuselage codes on the Hurricane will make for a very distinctive model, have fun with the build. Tony. Yes, you get a lot in the box and it should keep me amused for quite a while 😀 Hopefully the large code decals will settle down over the fuselage contours okay. Pressing on with getting the little Spitfire kit done before turning to the Hurricane, I have completed painting the pilot (along with a couple of Revell ones for future use)..... The Spitfire pilot is a little long in the leg to fully sit in his seat.... .... so I made some cuts behind his ankles..... ... popped some Tamiya thin liquid cement into the cuts, waited half a minute for it to soften the plastic, then pressed the pilot down onto my cutting mat to reposition his feet more "toes up"..... In checking that his head would not interfere with the canopy, I found it necessary to do some trimming to get the canopy to fit. Some thin slices of plastic were removed at the aft most end of the canopy and its corresponding side on the fuselage. The front end of the canopy has a raised step that bears on top of the instrument panel, and this needed to be filed down a little to get the canopy to sit fully in place...... The canopy was then given a clean before dunking in Klear and leaving overnight to dry. Trial fitting of the fuselage halves revealed a slight misalignment of the locating pins, so these were snipped off. Gluing started with the front end, making sure the top side of the cowling halves were flush..... The rear end was glued once the front had set. Once again, checks were made to make sure the top edges of the fuselage were perfectly aligned. The assembly came out well and the seams all around are flush... Some plastic strip was glued along the inside of the seams to reinforce them. I have had seams split when working on a model so strengthen them whilst it is easy enough to get access to the inside. Particular effort was made to strengthen the seams each end of the cutout for the wing in anticipation of putting some spreader bars in to close the gap at the wing roots - but in the end I didn't need to put any in. The fuselage was left to set before continuing. Dry fitting of the wings showed only small amounts of fettling were needed and this was a quick job. The lower edge of the wing root joins was scraped away on the fuselage and upper wings to close the gap.... The lower wing was glued to the fuselage, the upper halves being dry fitted to hold the lower wing in alignment whilst the glue set.... The reason for doing this was in case I needed to remove the locating pins from the top halves to improve the fit. In the end I didn't and I was able to glue the upper halves in place without any problems. All the seams have been given a coat of Mr Surfacer 500 and sanded smooth. Assembly should be completed tomorrow and I can make a start on the Hurricane. Thanks for reading folks. I hope your 80th anniversary models are progressing well and you are having fun, Cheers, Pat 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonT Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Nice work, I’m seriously impressed with your pilots! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, SimonT said: Nice work, I’m seriously impressed with your pilots! Thanks Simon. It seems a bit crazy taking an entire day to paint such a little thing! Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Livingston Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 54 minutes ago, SimonT said: Nice work, I’m seriously impressed with your pilots! I am too Pat... and at 1/72 those pilots are nothing short of miraculous! Congratulations... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 Thanks for your comments and "likes" everyone. The little Spitfire has progressed to the point where I can set it to one side and get on with the main topic of interest, the 1/48 Airfix Hurricane. So before I go onto the Hurri, here are a few notes about the Spit. Both have been very enjoyable to build. The oil cooler and radiator are quite thickly moulded at their leading and trailing edges. Here is the oil cooler for example..... So they both benefited from some paring away, referring to photos of the rear aircraft to try and get it right (not that I made a perfect job of it!). The Airfix plastic cuts nicely with a sharp scalpel blade..... The internal surfaces were given a brush coat of Sky and the cooler faces a pale copper colour. Some Vallejo dark green wash was applied to the corners of the Sky painted areas and Citadel Agrax Earthshade over the coolers. The canopy needed further trimming before it would sit fully in place on the fuselage. It was glued using "foam safe" cyanoacrylate to obtain a strong bond without risking fogging of the transparencies. Here is the kit completed ready for masking and painting which I'll do once the Hurricane has reached the same stage. Many thanks for looking! Cheers, Pat 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Fantastic job, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugle07 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Really nice work on the Spit, and those pilots are fantastic! Excellent painting! Geoff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 On 17/07/2020 at 21:15, patmaquette said: Hopefully the large code decals will settle down over the fuselage contours okay. weirdly they messed up, by weirdly, they had the GZ-B as an option in the old tool 1/48th kit for years. the mess up is that the starboard codes should read GZ-B (as per the old kit) and the kit has the a B-GZ. AFAIK there is only one photo of a 32 Sq Hurricane from this era showing the starboard side, GZ-Z and plenty of profiles make the error, as did Hasegawa. The 32 Sq pics exist as the Fox film unit was making a training film at the base, and the stills photographer took a load of images of 32 Sq and 610 Sq Spitfires, which have been doing the rounds ever since.... I note your Spitfire is a 610 Sq plane...from this photo session, perhaps put in the background for a forced perspective effect.... the big codes letters came in only in June 1940, previously they'd been a lot smaller....as see here, captured in France in May 1940 (fin flash came in early May) This will not help matters.... on a casual glance, looks good... I don't know when this done, or why, thew caption is wrong, but they are warbirds.... the nose to the left is clearly a Mk.II, and the other two have the later knuckle tailwheel and the tropical vents in the panel below the cockpit.... I've been playing with the Hurricane kit. A tip, clean up the wing spars, and rear of wheel well and then dry fit them into the wing, taping the upper wing into place, this will ensure they are in the right place and the interior parts are correctly aligned on top. As instructed there, that first step is just to easy to mess up, this way you have the main parts aligned. I have to say, I don't really see why they went for assembling the cockpit on the wing. If Airifx were Tamiya, and didn't use plastic that seems to be 10% soap, then you can pull tricks like this, as it is there are pitfalls for not being really careful. clean up carefully, dry fit, check for alignment I'd also suggest dry fitting the fuselage onto the assembled cockpit, and add the lower fuselage and nose panel in the dry fit for rigidity, you will most likely need to adjust the lower wing/nose joint. One builder cut the tabs off the seat bulkhead and fitted that into the fuselage first. Oh, and either set of blades will fit to either spinner.... I've seen model with them mixed up... some pics from the series, GZ-L, P2921 I don't know if the two following are 32 sq, but are great for detail note, most of the chaps on the wing are wearing plimsouls, also the oil stain in the gear door and another, though this is another in my new pet subject, BoB era Hurricanes with fabric wings and Rotol props... the kit subject HTH 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 6 hours ago, Troy Smith said: This will not help matters.... on a casual glance, looks good... I don't know when this done, or why, thew caption is wrong, but they are warbirds.... the nose to the left is clearly a Mk.II, and the other two have the later knuckle tailwheel and the tropical vents in the panel below the cockpit.... I wouldn’t use this as a reference photo. The planes are fibreglass replicas which are used by the Battle of Britain museum at Hawkinge. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 Thank you, Troy @Troy Smith, that is really helpful and much appreciated! Lots for me to think about. I have trial fitted the cockpit and gun bay in the wings and they are okay, but haven't tried the fuselage halves as yet. 🤔. I like your description of the plastic being 10% soap - it is spot on ☺ Thank you also, @Ozzy and Geoff @Bugle07 for your kind words. I'll post some WIP photos of the Hurricane shortly. I have really enjoyed assembling it (so far!). Cheers, Pat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 3 minutes ago, Heather Kay said: I wouldn’t use this as a reference photo. The planes are fibreglass replicas which are used by the Battle of Britain museum at Hawkinge. Thank you for brightening my day, Heather, that made me chuckle 😁 Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 On 23/07/2020 at 00:39, Troy Smith said: I've been playing with the Hurricane kit. A tip, clean up the wing spars, and rear of wheel well and then dry fit them into the wing, taping the upper wing into place, this will ensure they are in the right place and the interior parts are correctly aligned on top. As instructed there, that first step is just to easy to mess up, this way you have the main parts aligned. I have to say, I don't really see why they went for assembling the cockpit on the wing. If Airifx were Tamiya, and didn't use plastic that seems to be 10% soap, then you can pull tricks like this, as it is there are pitfalls for not being really careful. clean up carefully, dry fit, check for alignment I'd also suggest dry fitting the fuselage onto the assembled cockpit, and add the lower fuselage and nose panel in the dry fit for rigidity, you will most likely need to adjust the lower wing/nose joint. One builder cut the tabs off the seat bulkhead and fitted that into the fuselage first. Thank you, Troy, that's really helpful. I had already glued bits of the cockpit together so missed the tip about popping the spars between the wing halves to set their position before adding the cockpit framework. Definitely good advice that I would have followed. You alluded to fit problems with the bulkheads, so I was careful in checking them out. Anyway, here is what I did....... First off, there are some ejector pin marks that have to be taken care of with some filler. I wish these were raised rather than sunk as I could have dealt with them straight away and got on with assembly, rather than having to wait for the filler to set, sand, repeat because I missed a bit, etc. There are three pin marks on the cockpit floor and one on the side framework. All others should be hidden once assembled..... Here are the cockpit parts all prepped and ready to stick together..... Airfix give some nicely detailed parts for the gun bays. You have to cut away the panels in the top wing halves, but Airfix do supply them as separate pieces to place on top of the wing..... I marked the position for holes to be drilled inboard of each corner using the pointy end of a No11 scalpel blade and then went ahead and drilled through the plastic... I then cut between the holes using a small circular saw. It took no time at all..... A little work with a small Airwaves photoetched saw allowed the waste to be removed. The edges were then pared to shape using a scalpel..... Now back to assembling the kit. As @Troy Smith mentioned, it is critical to get the framework alignment right. I have some magnetic clamps that were ideal for holding one frame upright and in position against the forward spar. A hairclip held the joint together. The grid on the cutting mat was used to get everything square. A small drop of Tamiya liquid adhesive was placed into the join and everything left to set solid..... Some weights were used to hold the front and rear spars flat whilst the remainder of the framework was built up following the instruction. I had great fun doing this - so thanks Airfix! The first stage completed, although I left off the rear cockpit bulkhead to paint it separately........ Having then read Troy's message, I then checked out the fit to the fuselage halves and found problems with both the forward and aft bulkheads. I had read elsewhere in this GB about fit problems with the front bulkhead so was on the lookout. I found that it is positioned too far aft and clashes with the front end of the cockpit framework, as you can see in this photo.... My solution was to broaden the location slots in each fuselage half as marked below..... The fuselage now fits well to the wing.... The rear bulkhead also doesn't fully fit into the slot at the rear of the cockpit...... This was addressed easily enough by trimming away some material on the "shoulders" of the bulkhead and at the very top. I think the idea to trim away the locating pips and glue the bulkhead directly to the fuselage as definitely the way to go. I guess I am getting close to slapping some paint onto the insides. I need to double check the colours first. Thanks for reading and any comments are most welcome ! Cheers, Pat 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 21 minutes ago, patmaquette said: I guess I am getting close to slapping some paint onto the insides. I need to double check the colours first. rear bulkhead, upper cockpit side walls and a few other bits, grey green, I was unsure about ethe the insides of the metal panels behind the cockpit side framework maybe grey green, but all the rest are aluminium, and I suspect they are, everything else, aluminium paint, gun bays, wheel wells, rest of cockpit. this pic, which will enlarge, and shows the grey green bits, and the inside of the panel behind that board on the port side, on the enlargement, it's aluminum. Note the armour plate is of Finnish origin, the rest is as it left the factory. HTH 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 6 minutes ago, Troy Smith said: HTH Most definitely ! Many thanks Troy, Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 The kit's wing trailing edges look a bit thick to me. Here are the wing halves dry fitted..... There is quite a large area of material along the join to remove.... After trying sanding discs and drums in my Dremel and coarse abrasive, I found the quickest, simplest and most precise way to do the job was by scraping the plastic away with a scalpel blade...... A wooden block to raise the work above the bench was helpful, as was a strip of firm rubber to support the plastic from underneath from deforming against the pressure of the blade as the plastic got thinner (and it helped avoid taking slices out of my fingers!). Here is the result...... Don't forget to thin the trailing edge of the wing tip as well. The ailerons also need thinning. The bottom one in the photo below shows a large flat area..... I scraped material away from the underside only, to avoid damage to the fabric effect moulded into the top surface. The detail lost from the underside was put back in. Some fine dimples were added by twisting the pointy end of a scalpel blade, using the other, unmodified aileron (on the left in the photos below) as a template.... Fabric effects were reinstated by scraping with a curved scalpel blade.... Here are the modified items dry fitted together..... There will be some adjustment needed to the rear end of the wing fillet moulded into the fuselage halves, but it looks fairly minor and can be done once the wings are glued together. So I think the work was well worth doing. Once you see the kit's thick trailing edges, you can't stop noticing it! Cheers, Pat 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 56 minutes ago, patmaquette said: I found the quickest, simplest and most precise way to do the job was by scraping the plastic away with a scalpel blade...... A carpentry goose neck scraper works really well, fast and controllable. A scalpel for fine adjustment. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Proops-Wood-Cabinet-Carbon-Steel-Goose-Neck-Scraper-180mm-4-5-UK-Made-W3340/113459859349 Like the work on the ailerons. I tried cutting down the trailing edge, but not happy with results. I found a quick file of the rear of the aileron bay and doing the wing tips helped. This is still the best build i know of for correcting Airfix glitches BTW HTH 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Nice tidy work Pat. Thick trailing edges are unfortunately a "hallmark" of most new tool Airfix kits. A scraper definitely works better for larger areas than a scalpel, but you have to burnish an edge to the scraper with a burnisher (or you can use a screwdriver shaft) With a burnished hook on the scraper you get nice shavings. I make my own scrapers to different shapes as I find the carpenter scraper a bit too large. Another way to deal with the ailerons is to cut them in half. They are so thick that it is easy to do and this will preserves the casting detail on both sides. Cheers, Peter 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 27, 2020 Author Share Posted July 27, 2020 Thank you once again Troy @Troy Smith for information about the scraper and the link to Peter's Hurricane build. Peter @Basilisk, thanks also for the information and link about the scraper. I was gobsmacked by your Hurricane build that Troy gave me the link to. Absolutely stunning . Mine won't be anything like approaching that, but I shall certainly be referring to it as I stumble along! Cheers, Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 (edited) I'm doing the same idea as you, with a Hurricane from 501 Sqn being refuelled at RAF Gravesend. I've got the Albion built so far and 3 figures to go with it, a driver, someone operation the pump controls and a bloke lying on the wing with the fuel hose. I'm using the Hasegawa Hurricane kit which doesn't have the faults of the Airfix one (but has its own of course ) One thing to be aware of though, when these were being refuelled, there was usually no other work being done on the aircraft. The number of dioramas that have planes being refuelled, rearmed and repaired all at the same time is legion. This tended not to happen as refuelling was dangerous so the participant were usually kept to a minimum. Good luck with the wings! Edited July 29, 2020 by Kallisti 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 11 hours ago, Kallisti said: One thing to be aware of though, when these were being refuelled, there was usually no other work being done on the aircraft. The number of dioramas that have planes being refuelled, rearmed and repaired all at the same time is legion. This tended not to happen as refuelling was dangerous so the participant were usually kept to a minimum. Thank you for that information, @Kallisti, that will change my plans. I have the Classic Airframes Westland Whirlwind in the stash, so maybe I'll divide the ground equipment and personnel between the two. Thanks once more, Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patmaquette Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 I decided to add a little further detail to the cockpit before getting the paints out. I worked from photos such as the one above plus others I Googled and those in the Haynes and SAM Publications Modeller Datafile on the Hurricane. I like doing this sort of thing as it helps me get to know how the cockpit of the real aircraft was laid out A few bits and bobs added on top of the simplified detail on the cockpit walls of the Airfix kit.... I added a surround for the Sutton harness into the seat back (rather than cut out a slot), a lever on the port side for setting the radiator flap position and another on the starboard side for the hydraulic hand pump...... Pipes and other details were added to the framework. Some material had to be scraped away from the inside of one of the fuselage halves to make room for the large pipe (for the radiator feed)....... My thoughts are to airbrush it all with a dark aluminium colour and then pick out the areas which catch the light with aluminium (remembering the aluminium is painted on the real aircraft). I'll then paint the upper cockpit side walls and the triangular panel on the port frame with grey-green. Should be fun (there I go - tempting fate!) so looking forward to it. Thanks for reading and any comments or pointers would be much appreciated! Cheers, Pat 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Nice detailing Pat, that will look the business Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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