ModelingEdmontonian Posted June 6, 2021 Author Share Posted June 6, 2021 (edited) I made some progress on Egypt and Iran today, installing the nav and landing lights for Egypt (the Arma Mk IIc kit) . . . I followed @2996 Victor's superb little guide this time and certainly I've improved since Australia, and at this point if I keep improving I'm happy! For Iran (the Legato Mk IIc kit) the cannons are single pieces, so I snipped off the guns and drilled out the ports. Then I installed them and used some putty to try to blend them into the wing. Spontaneously though, I decided tonight to see if I can build a Hurricane in 24 hours, so at 19:00 I opened an Airfix Mk. I ragwing and began. This will be G-AFKX, since it has no camo and should be over all quite simple. I gather it had a three-blade Rotol (so borrowed from Arma) and no aerial mast and guns (which means filling gun and ejector ports and the fuselage hole for the mast). Twenty hours left, and I do plan to sleep and have some other life happening, so we'll see if I can do it! Edited June 7, 2021 by ModelingEdmontonian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 Hi ME, Great progress! Thank you for your kind words - I think you might be over-stating things slightly, but I'm pleased my efforts are of help! Good luck with the Airfix blitzbuild, it's a nice kit and it's about time I got on with building mine! Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 Hi ME, How goes the blitz build? Hope you're progressing well! I was wondering if you'd noticed any distortion in the lower wing panel around the wheel bay opening? The reason for asking is that the wing panel on my Airfix rag wing has a distortion so that the port side of the lower wing sits prouder than the starboard side. Added to this, the dihedral seems more pronounced on that side as well. This has led me to open a second kit and start to build the wing in an identical way. Bizarrely, it's distorted on the opposite side, a mirror image. Difficult to describe, but it you view the leading edge, the wheel opening appears deeper. Cheers, Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 16 hours ago, ModelingEdmontonian said: This will be G-AFKX, since it has no camo and should be over all quite simple. I gather it had a three-blade Rotol (so borrowed from Arma) G-AFKX is an interesting subject, seems the nose ring was modified so it fitted the spinner properly, or the spinner fitted properly .... Note that the doghouse is fabric covered plywood, show up really well here. from https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/76357-hurricane-g-afkx-question?t=74537 Note, G-AFKX was later modified to late Mk.I standard, and camo, but retained the civil registration as a serial, and some natty nose art this is also of interest, I just noticed it was apparently fitted with a Merlin 45 later on! HTH 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 5 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: The reason for asking is that the wing panel on my Airfix rag wing has a distortion so that the port side of the lower wing sits prouder than the starboard side. Added to this, the dihedral seems more pronounced on that side as well. This has led me to open a second kit and start to build the wing in an identical way. Bizarrely, it's distorted on the opposite side, a mirror image. Difficult to describe, but it you view the leading edge, the wheel opening appears deeper. that famed 'quality control' in action again I suspect. If i remember I'll have a look at the pair of wings i have kicking about....... my time in that area though has mostly been devoted to trying to mix various acrylics to match Dark Green and Dark Earth.... which is another story.... which may or may not end up as thread on here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted June 7, 2021 Author Share Posted June 7, 2021 7 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: How goes the blitz build? Hope you're progressing well! Thanks, Mark. Certainly isn't @2996 Victor quality, and if I'm honest it's still very "wet," but I would say I did it* (I'll elaborate on the asterix later). 9 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: I was wondering if you'd noticed any distortion in the lower wing panel around the wheel bay opening? The reason for asking is that the wing panel on my Airfix rag wing has a distortion so that the port side of the lower wing sits prouder than the starboard side. Added to this, the dihedral seems more pronounced on that side as well. This has led me to open a second kit and start to build the wing in an identical way. Bizarrely, it's distorted on the opposite side, a mirror image. Difficult to describe, but it you view the leading edge, the wheel opening appears deeper. I didn't notice that particular issue, although halfway through the day I did notice inconsistent dihedral (I'll elaborate/photograph later) so maybe this was the problem and I didn't catch it. I did find the wheel well doors were very poorly molded, such that I chucked them and took a pair from another box. I suppose different batches must have different issues? 3 hours ago, Troy Smith said: G-AFKX is an interesting subject, seems the nose ring was modified so it fitted the spinner properly, or the spinner fitted properly .... Among other aspects of this model that speed necessitated not doing properly is the prop/spinner. I'm really struggling with these Arma Mk. I prop/spinners, and you can see mine is definitely not fitting properly. 3 hours ago, Troy Smith said: Love this photo so much; at first I mistook the reflection in the metal fuselage as some strange oil or exhaust smoke staining! I even picked up an oil paint to mimic it! Glad I looked more closely. Wouldn't have a clue how to replicate that mirroring quality, so just tried to make mine really shiny. I also totally failed to have the fabric/metal distinction so apparent in this photo. Perhaps some matt clear on the fabric would help, but arguably it would just need a different paint to do it justice, I think. In this case I was just spraying Tamiya AS-12 on top of Tamiya white primer. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 I'd say that's a definite result: excellent, and no mistake! 8 hours ago, ModelingEdmontonian said: I didn't notice that particular issue, although halfway through the day I did notice inconsistent dihedral (I'll elaborate/photograph later) so maybe this was the problem and I didn't catch it. I did find the wheel well doors were very poorly molded, such that I chucked them and took a pair from another box. I suppose different batches must have different issues? Good to know that the distortion I've got doesn't seem to be universally present. My lower wing panels also seem to have a twist in them somewhere around the centreline. I wonder if its an issue with cooling and stacking the sprues when they come out of the moulding process. The plastic is very soft compared to, say, Arma. As Troy mentioned, Airfix's quality control seems to need a bit of work..... 8 hours ago, ModelingEdmontonian said: I'm really struggling with these Arma Mk. I prop/spinners, and you can see mine is definitely not fitting properly. I have to agree here - Arma's Mk.I prop/spinner assembly is a right faff! I think I assembled it dry and then ran MEK into the joints, but to be honest I can't really remember. @Troy Smith, is G-AFKX's prop and spinner from a Spitfire? As for the polished panels, I would think bare metal foil or Alclad are possibilities, but there are those here on BM far more qualified than me to comment on such sorcery. Which neatly brings me to say, once again thank you again for your kind words, but I think you're crediting me with a far greater ability than I actually have! Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 44 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said: is G-AFKX's prop and spinner from a Spitfire? I don't know. G-AFKX had various props fitted, as detailed in one of the links, for ease of reference "According to Mason, L1606 went to 56 Squadron in June 1938; he doesn't give a return date, but confirms that it was re-registered as G-AFKX, with its armament removed. Its first trial (at Langley or Brooklands) was (as G-AFKX) 24-1-39 with Merlin III + 10'6" Rotol c.s. prop. 31-1-39, same prop, then 7-2-39 also Rotol, 27-2-39 Watts prop, 13-3-39 Watts with nose diaphragm, 14-3-39 Rotol, 14,15,18,-4-39 Rotol with 150mm blade roots, 4-7-39 metal wings fitted, 15-8-39 new Rotol, 9-6-40 1st flight with Merlin IV, 5-7-40 Dowty tailwheel, 6-7-40 Lockheed tailwheel, 9-8-40 climb to 36,000', 30-8-40 performance with new Rotol, 3-5-41 1st flight with Merlin 45. After that the trail goes cold, and unfortunately, no photographs." I would suggest the photo is when 'rolled out' so Jan 39, (note bare trees) but that is just a supposition. The 'Spitfire' spinner according to a poster here @V Line is the ES/6 unit, but the whole saga of these units is something that really deserves some archival digging. 9 hours ago, ModelingEdmontonian said: I'm really struggling with these Arma Mk. I prop/spinners, and you can see mine is definitely not fitting properly. they do not assemble properly as supplied. I needed to file and carve the blade slots and the spinner inside quite a lot to get the blades and backplate to fit properly. It's quite fiddly, and also I clamped the whole assembly while the glue set. It's quite fiddly, and I think required adding the blades to the backplate with a small amount of glue (ie removable) , making sure the blades were flat, carving out the spinner a little at a time, and then when happy, clamping it. which, eventually, gets you this I have seen a fair few builds where the spinner is not seated properly it it just looks wrong. HTH 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 37 minutes ago, Troy Smith said: they do not assemble properly as supplied. I needed to file and carve the blade slots and the spinner inside quite a lot to get the blades and backplate to fit properly. It's quite fiddly, and also I clamped the whole assembly while the glue set. It's quite fiddly, and I think required adding the blades to the backplate with a small amount of glue (ie removable) , making sure the blades were flat, carving out the spinner a little at a time, and then when happy, clamping it. which, eventually, gets you this Absolutely! I seem to recall clamping the blades to help them align as near to correctly as possible, and relieving the spinner is still on my "to-do" list Unusual spinner markings on your build, too. G-AFKX certainly had a busy life! One wonders why Watts props (which I presume are two-bladed?) were fitted after the Rotol unit - comparison purposes, perhaps. Cheers, Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted June 7, 2021 Author Share Posted June 7, 2021 Thanks for the prop/spinner tips, @Troy Smith and @2996 Victor. I may end up trying to yank this one off and start over (honestly tempted to put a Watts on since I like that look, although this punchy Rotol spinner is cool and it would be nice to (one day) be able to assemble an Arma prop properly given that I have so many on the go)! 5 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: I'd say that's a definite result: excellent, and no mistake! Thanks, but definitely some mistakes; most prominently, the decal for the starboard side shredded, hence why my quick photo above is the "wrong way 'round" compared to the historical one! Starboard side is now very bare... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliGauld Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 Looks good. Hope you get the decal situation sorted. Cheers, Alistair 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted June 7, 2021 Author Share Posted June 7, 2021 Again, obviously wrong way 'round, but here they are side-by-side: Here are some other pics: You can see above that I tried something different on my nav lights--small drops of red and green in the corners of the plastic cut outs to attempt to represent the real thing. I suppose I like it better then keeping it bare, especially on an all silver plane. You can also see that my filled-in ejector ports aren't filled in enough. After painting I realized this and tried to rectify, but my putty wouldn't stick and I was running out of time (I literally finished this as is with no time to spare). This one shows you how wet it still was at the 24 hour mark--prop has wet Pledge on it and fuselage has some touch up paint below around the cockpit that looks ugly. I also somehow got some silver paint on the port tire! I was really rushing to reach my goal! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 What a blooming shame about the starboard side decals have you got any suitable replacements? But the port side looks splendid to me! It's such an unusual subject, and you've portrayed it brilliantly. Makes me think I might finish my Arma Mk.IIC as LF363 when it was AVM Sir Stanley Vincent's toy, after all! Cheers, Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted June 7, 2021 Author Share Posted June 7, 2021 55 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said: What a blooming shame about the starboard side decals have you got any suitable replacements? Yes, very sad and I have never had that happen to me before I have no replacement, but I put an appeal out in this RFI--maybe someone has some spares from AZ or Iliad or anyone else who did them in 1/72, you never know. For now, it is sitting on my shelf with only one side showing... 1 hour ago, 2996 Victor said: It's such an unusual subject, and you've portrayed it brilliantly. Makes me think I might finish my Arma Mk.IIC as LF363 when it was AVM Sir Stanley Vincent's toy, after all! Awesome: in "ice blue" as I've read about (is that for real?) or aluminum? Can you do it in 24 hours? I would be amazed if someone managed an Arma kit in 24 hours, and I certainly won't attempt that! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 26 minutes ago, ModelingEdmontonian said: Yes, very sad and I have never had that happen to me before I have no replacement, but I put an appeal out in this RFI--maybe someone has some spares from AZ or Iliad or anyone else who did them in 1/72, you never know. For now, it is sitting on my shelf with only one side showing... You can, almost certainly, get a sheet with the correct sized letters on. Sheets of letters and numbers, on various sizes, are always a good investment. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 As Simon has mentioned, you can probably get a sheet of appropriately sized civil registration letters. I'll have a look in a moment and see if I can spot anything.....(watching Return of the Jedi at the moment while Jane is out - got take such opportunities when they arise!). As for LF363, ice blue sounds good, but I think the general consensus is that it was in the RAF's contemporary high speed silver. A 24-hour build is, I think, way beyond me certainly with an Arma kit! Cheers, Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 5 hours ago, ModelingEdmontonian said: the decal for the starboard side shredded, Well ! Hey, Iliad makes a set of those decals and I have two sheets. Want a set? http://iliad-design.com/decals/72Prehurri.html I can just cut those codes off and mail them to you. Chris 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 ^^ this is what I love about BM! Good on you, Chris Cheers, Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted June 7, 2021 Author Share Posted June 7, 2021 1 hour ago, dogsbody said: Well ! Hey, Iliad makes a set of those decals and I have two sheets. Want a set? http://iliad-design.com/decals/72Prehurri.html I can just cut those codes off and mail them to you. Chris Ha, this is awesome! Yes, if you don't need them I would love to take the codes off your hands! I'll PM you. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted June 7, 2021 Author Share Posted June 7, 2021 3 hours ago, Beard said: You can, almost certainly, get a sheet with the correct sized letters on. Sheets of letters and numbers, on various sizes, are always a good investment. Hmm thanks for pointing this out, I probably should look into this. I think @dogsbody will bail me out in this case, but I have a single letter correction I need to do on my Luftwaffe decals which this could make easy. I suppose I could have found a single serial number to correct what I believe is an error on Poland too. Never realized this was a thing, but as I Google it it looks like there are lots of options, just need to figure out how to match up sizes I guess! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 Both Ventura and Xtradecal do a wide range of letters and numbers, in various sizes and colours, for RAF & Commonwealth aircraft. Lutwaffe is not my area of interest but I imagine they're available. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted June 8, 2021 Author Share Posted June 8, 2021 7 hours ago, Beard said: Both Ventura and Xtradecal do a wide range of letters and numbers, in various sizes and colours, for RAF & Commonwealth aircraft. Lutwaffe is not my area of interest but I imagine they're available. Do you know if there was a standard RAF (or specifically Hawker Hurricane) squadron code lettering size? I've found some information on serial numbers, but not squadron codes. The Luftwaffe decals I'm referring to are for this captured Hurricane: To be honest without thinking about it I assumed the squadron codes on here were from the RAF, so I'm glad you've unintentionally disabused that notion! The issue is my decals include a "G" instead of an "S." But now I realize I'll need two different sizes... 🙄 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted June 8, 2021 Author Share Posted June 8, 2021 10 minutes ago, ModelingEdmontonian said: Do you know if there was a standard RAF (or specifically Hawker Hurricane) squadron code lettering size? I've found some information on serial numbers, but not squadron codes. Just did some more research; looks like this is a bit of a can of worms... 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 Look for the Ducimus booklet on RAF Fighter Camouflage and Markings: The Hawker Hurricane. It is available in pdf format: if you can't find it contact Troy Smith who will be able to help you. Basically there were standard sizes but the initial ones were really too tall for the Hurricane so although some units squeezed them on, others dropped down a size. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 53 minutes ago, ModelingEdmontonian said: Do you know if there was a standard RAF (or specifically Hawker Hurricane) squadron code lettering size? I believe 48" was the 'standard' size but smaller were allowed, if space was tight. Also, I think that photo may be of a Hurricane I, not a IIb (as per the decals). I'm sure Troy will be along shortly with more information. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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