The Hardest Day -August 18th Part 2 -615 sqn Hurricane (now x 2!) and RAF Kenley blast pen

[Ralph]

Evening all,

In the spirit of biting off more than one can chew, I am starting a diorama of the E shaped blast pen of the type seen at RAF Kenley as Part 2 of my Hardest Day project. I am going populate it with the 64 sqn spitfire currently been put together on part 1 of this project, and (admittedly using some historical licence here) am going to build fabric winged hurricane KW*Z of 615 sqn , which partnered 64 sqn at Kenley. This will be the oft-built Airfix starter kit with these markings, but L1926 (the hurricane depicted in these boxings) saw action with P/O Looker on the 18th, returning home damaged. Although I think it unlikely (although not inconceivable) for it to have shared the same blast pen as a 64 sqn Spitfire, it gets the general idea across!

Am using the Amera vacformed E blast pen, Airfix Hurricane, aftermarket canopy (the Airfix one is all wrong - the horizontal frame is too high up, and it sits too high in general) plus Flightpath trolle acc and CMK resin figures. I am using an piece of sheet wood laminate which just happens to be the right size; not I just have to figure a good way of mimicing the texture of concrete! I've popped a previous Spitfire project into the pen just to give a sense of what it will look like!

 

 

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Ralph

[Ralph]

Some limited progress...I've applied milliput to the rear of the gun access hatches to cover the incorrect fabric patches, which will get a good sanding when dry....

 

[Ralph]

OK...wings sanded down and thinned, I've made a start on cockpit and prop. I've used Tamiya paints for this, and Yahu etch for the seatbelts. The canopy for this will be open, so it will be very visible - just as well, as am rather chuffed with how these have come out. This (and the Spitfire I am building on another thread) have been my first time for using this for seatbelts - most of the time I use Tamiya tape - but won't be the last. I just have to add the instrument decal, and fashion some sort of gunsight which Airfix have unaccountably left off...

 

[Ralph]

As part of this project, I wanted to build a trolley accumulator (used to start the engine) plugged into the Hurricane and ready to go. I do have the Flghtpath set of trolley accs, but of the four supplied only one is appropriate for 1940, and that's put aside for another project. I therefore decided to have a go at scratchbuilding one using the old Airfix polythene trolley acc from the aircrew set. Hopelessly bendy, and totally unable to hold a layer of paint, I used this as a pattern to make a set of parts. I pinched a set of wheels from the Flightpath set, and am rather pleased with the result. Looking at pictures there seem to be a wide variety of wheel types and detail variations, but think it is broadly accurate for the time. I'll connect it using some flower arranging wire(don't ask!) , but all in good time!

 

[Ralph]

More work on the Hurricane, which is now mainly together. The vacform canopy went surprisingly well, and is now painted up and done! I added a pole type aerial for this early build hurricane from plastic rod. I've also fabricated the cable running from the trolley acc and the aircraft, and I have also made up flat ended trapezoidal (?) ends for the blastpen walls - thanks to Merlin from Part 1 of this Hardest Day series for the input on that! More pics in due course, and thanks for looking!

Cheers, Ralph

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Ralph

[lasermonkey]

May I ask what vacform canopy you used? I have a couple of Airfix Hurris which are halfway built and ended up being put aside as I couldn't bring myself to use the awful kit transparencies.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[Ralph]

20 hours ago, lasermonkey said:

May I ask what vacform canopy you used? I have a couple of Airfix Hurris which are halfway built and ended up being put aside as I couldn't bring myself to use the awful kit transparencies.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

Hallo Mark, they are Squadron canopies from Hannants. Hth. Ralph

[Ralph]

I'm about to start masking my fabric winged Airfix Hurricane KW*Z, but was idly googling 615 sqn Hurricanes in general when I found this (for me) very interesting webpage

http://www.aircrewremembered.com/cecil-reginald-young-chapter-3.html

This is about Hurricane KW*B P3231 as flown by P/O Cecil Young during August. More specifically for my purposes, it relates that he flew this 'plane from Kenley on the 18th August, claiming a DO215 confirmed and a BF109 probable. My thinking here is that this will be an ideal partner to go in the blast pen diorama with KW*Z, showing both the early and later Hurricanes used by the squadron on this day, both seeing combat in the dramatic raid on Kenley on the 18th.

For this I will use Arma's top Hurricane kit, and Xtradecal codes and serials. Looking forward to pulling all this together!

[Ralph]

While I dig my Arma Hurricane out of the stash, I figured I'd better crack on the Airfix fabric winged example... so undersides masked off, and Xtracrylic Dark Brown sprayed on. The dark green is free handed on using my Iwata airbrush - pretty pleased with the finish, with only a couple of touch ups necessary. I've whipped off the masking from underneath, and from the over the guns. Pretty pleased thus far! Will aim to gloss and decal by Saturday, and then make a serious start on the Arma hurricane and indeed the blast pen. I have fabricated three ends of the blast pen arms from plasticard, and need to finish these off and glue them to the vacuform blast pen.

 

[dogsbody]

What did you use to mask the cockpit opening? I'm at the topside painting stage on my Hurc but I'm having a bit of an issue trying ot cover that over.

 

 

Chris

[Merlin]

Hi Ralph

Quote

I have also made up flat ended trapezoidal (?) ends for the blastpen walls - thanks to Merlin from Part 1 of this Hardest Day series for the input on that!

Glad you got the plans, I didnt get a read receipt in hotmail so didnt know. I think I mentioned it already, note again the wide middle wall was built at Kenley in 1941, they had a single wall down the middle prior to then, no doubt of a thickness same as the end walls. One photo in 1941 shows the upper pen of two with such being built and the lower still with the single brick wall, which looking at a notch in the concrete footing, went sometimes all the way to the back wall, so a journey up the embankment and down other side was needed between pens ! The Strafe pen shows the single wall judged by the shadow compared to the outer arms. It would I am sure have had a layer of tiles one course down like the end walls. I also now see the memorial pen has had a middle arm added, though the end wall to it is totally wrong, should only be a brick and a half wide at top, not 7ft and same as the other two, which in fact are also very wrong, 7ft versus original of only 4ft, almost twice as wide as they should be !  perhaps even its width at base is wrong, I need some dimensions from it to check but from what I see if they make it correct at top the sides will slope a heck of a lot.

I hope you can add the walk through/access to shelter walls and TALL lintels as without such its not Kenley, in fact without such its not an E pen anywhere as they all had such, the vacform you started with is by someone not modeling a Blast Pen, but a partial fictional work, soil did not edge the passageway thats for sure !  Its based on one where the soil has slumped, the end walls removed by the council etc, as happened at Kenley.  I bought a vacform many years ago, and almost binned it, might be okay for the grass areas but I bet its the wrong cross section. For the brickwork, you could use my true to shape photo, and scribe along the mortar lines (empty ball point pen etc) , squirt it with matt acrylic varnish, Galeria is good, test first. or print to matt photo paper. The multi color per brick makes for a lovely looking wall. They used local brick works, so the E pens like the local architecture take on a character of the area. Cement was the mortar, its outlasted the bricks. Ironic that Historic England in revamping the pens have used an approved mortar for conservation projects, cement not being allowed, and its turning to powder, a golden chance to rebuild and get the walls the correct shape I say. Modern rules... I despair !

 

Merlin

Edited September 25, 2020 by Merlin