Tres simple: FAFL Hawker Hurricane d'Afrique du Nord

[ModelingEdmontonian]

I'm always finding this upper cowl spot to be the most challenging (and most visible) seam to work (including on the Defiant and Typhoon I built before starting this project). Thanks for the tips, @Troy Smith and @dogsbody. I have neither talc nor Mr. Surfacer 1000, but I'll see how super glue works neat. I might try more of my Perfect Plastic Putty too. 

[Troy Smith]

15 minutes ago, ModelingEdmontonian said:

I have neither talc

it's hardly an obscure modelling substance....  have you checked with SWMBO?   Even  a name brand was only a £1 in the supermarket, and it will last a long time.  

15 minutes ago, ModelingEdmontonian said:

nor Mr. Surfacer 1000,

Mr Surfacer works well for smaller imperfections

15 minutes ago, ModelingEdmontonian said:

but I'll see how super glue works neat.

If you have no used it before, try it on something else,  I use it for this,  and it works very well.  not everyone likes superglue fumes though.   

You can also use acrylic nail powder, I got a tub cheap off ebay, it has some peroxide additive which acts as a 'kicker' and it sets almost instantaneously. 

One member here used flour with CA.     I find talc, which  is just very fine soft ground rock work well,  but almost any inert fine powder will act as a bulking agent.   Chalk?  You mentioned children,  any chalks in their stuff?   Just rub a stick on sandpaper, and mix in with CA.  

HTH

[ModelingEdmontonian]

21 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

it's hardly an obscure modelling substance....  have you checked with SWMBO?   Even  a name brand was only a £1 in the supermarket, and it will last a long time.  

Mr Surfacer works well for smaller imperfections

If you have no used it before, try it on something else,  I use it for this,  and it works very well.  not everyone likes superglue fumes though.   

You can also use acrylic nail powder, I got a tub cheap off ebay, it has some peroxide additive which acts as a 'kicker' and it sets almost instantaneously. 

One member here used flour with CA.     I find talc, which  is just very fine soft ground rock work well,  but almost any inert fine powder will act as a bulking agent.   Chalk?  You mentioned children,  any chalks in their stuff?   Just rub a stick on sandpaper, and mix in with CA.  

HTH

Tried superglue and baking powder, in the end, and it worked pretty well. Certainly a technique I will try again and try to improve on in the future.

 

[Troy Smith]

42 minutes ago, ModelingEdmontonian said:

Tried superglue and baking powder,

I'd have to go digging to remember ,  it's either baking powder or bicarbonate of soda that in time breaks down,  and i think both act as accelerants of superglue. (I know baking powder contains Bicarb)

Talc is inert.  Does not speed up the drying.  

But, as one of my Sig lines says,  'if it works for you etc'   

But, did you see what I mean about the drying times though,  as in you can fill and have it sanded in minutes, and then can carry on with the build, and it does look like it worked on that upper cowl seam.  

I was trying to find a great image of Hurricane upper cowl, but it's not turning up right now.

 

cheers

T

PS not the one I was thinking of,  but an unusual angle,  and shows details not normally in photos of the real thing,. ...but very visible in model photos!  This is the Finnish Hurricane, still in the 1943 applied 'warpaint' ... I think the wing join on the port side was lost and this is a new replacement. 

[ModelingEdmontonian]

18 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

I'd have to go digging to remember ,  it's either baking powder or bicarbonate of soda that in time breaks down,  and i think both act as accelerants of superglue. (I know baking powder contains Bicarb)

Talc is inert.  Does not speed up the drying.  

But, as one of my Sig lines says,  'if it works for you etc'   

But, did you see what I mean about the drying times though,  as in you can fill and have it sanded in minutes, and then can carry on with the build, and it does look like it worked on that upper cowl seam.  

Interesting; I found a couple references online to the baking powder which is why I picked it (plus it was easily accessible in my home), and it seemed to work as you indicated. Literally all done in minutes. I reapplied the primer and found a couple tiny spots I had to go over again, but all told I'm pretty happy. Not perfect, but I think I can improve next time.  Btw, when I asked SWMBO about talc she said "what is talc?"!

 

18 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

Awesome angle indeed! Does the gap between cowl and spinner look exaggerated to you or would that be normal? Hoping it's normal, since I always seem to end up with such a gap!

 

Thanks as always, @Troy Smith.

 

[Troy Smith]

17 minutes ago, ModelingEdmontonian said:

 Btw, when I asked SWMBO about talc she said "what is talc?"!

Talc is the abbreviation of Talcum powder,  or baby powder, Johnsons is the classic brand in the UK.    

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talc

 

it notes baby powder can contain cornstarch, I'll have to check the ingredients on mine.

 

28 minutes ago, ModelingEdmontonian said:

Does the gap between cowl and spinner look exaggerated to you or would that be normal? Hoping it's normal, since I always seem to end up with such a gap!

possibly exaggerated by the camera lens and angle, but there is a small gap.  Also, as this is with a flash, you can see the hollow nose of the Hurricane as well.  

Mainly posted as i couldn't find the image I did want, and to show why eliminating the upper cowl seam is important.

[Mjoo]

I’d like to add two notes to what @Troy Smith has said.

 

1) The mixture is quite pale and difficult to see e.g. on grey plastic; I’ve mixed some bright pigment to talc to make it more easily visible. (Quinacridone red, as was readily available at the local art store and was labelled as non-toxic unlike the cobalt blue they had.)

 

2) All CA is not equal when mixed to fine powder like talc. If the “open time” is short, then the mix may harden really fast. I’ve had some fast CA to harden immediately after mixing. Best to experiment with what CAs you have before using on a model. And only mix the amount you need immediately.

 

Talcum I have is pure, bought it from the pharmacist. The stuff at my usual grocery store had some additives to it but I can’t remember if it was corn starch or something else. Both were sold as baby powder. Pharmacy had higher price but a small bottle will go a long way.

 

[ModelingEdmontonian]

I've moved on to underside camo and it went on nicely over the primer.

 

 

I found I had to hack off the rear wheel to access the strake. In the end I think BG707 has the other style rear wheel anyway (which Fly provides), so I painted it and attached. I did the UC doors as well while I had out the azure blue.

 

 

I did the pitot tube too... I saw a good picture of a Hurricane's pitot tube in a book I got from the library that had it looking bronze-y like this, although I've more often seen other modelers use aluminum. Not sure if there is a definitive answer or if colour/metal used may have varied?

 

[ModelingEdmontonian]

Going back to the super glue/baking powder seam fixing, my technique was to apply the super glue, then dump the baking powder over it, then shake it/brush it off, which sounds slightly different than what @Troy Smith and @Mjoo are talking about in terms of mixing the glue and powder prior to application? Perhaps no difference in the end, I'm not sure.

 

Anyway, turns out I have MUCH more room for improvement with this technique than I originally thought. As I've begun applying upper camo, I realized the "seam" "pops" 🙄😖 

 

 

Now I think the glue was drying too fast for me to sand adequately (or, actually, I should have gone more conservatively with applications and built it up more slowly). I feel very unmotivated to deal with this, but I suppose some careful cutting could remove it. Sanding isn't going to work, I don't think, because it is much too hard now. I think any remedial work could just make it all worse and given my relatively low standards for completed models I might just live with it and pretend I can't see it, but certainly it has me feeling glum for now.  

[Grandboof]

Can be saved . layer by layer cutting or filing slowly  followed by wet and dry sanding . Always hope . Hang in there 

Martin H

[Mjoo]

Hope you don’t feel too bad about it. Careful wet sanding may save the day but may take some time. But be careful. The plastic around will probably sand much easier than CA and possibly make the situation even worse.

 

Cheers,

-M

Edited August 6, 2021 by Mjoo
Sent accidentally before message finished

[ModelingEdmontonian]

I managed to scrape down the cowl seam with my knife blade such that it is a little less obnoxious, and then moved on with more upper camo. Here she is after a couple of evenings of work. Probably one more go at the dark earth and then some touch ups and we'll be ready for pledge! I already applied pledge underneath as I find my Vallejo azure blue does not hold on especially well until a clear coat is applied.

 

[ModelingEdmontonian]

A little touching up here, a little pledge there,

 

and a little decaling here and there,

 

 

and this is where she is maintenant. Sorry the photos are so poor, mostly being taken late in the evening without natural light.

 

[ModelingEdmontonian]

The tail decal (which is the Fly one) was causing me some issues, but some copious amounts of Microsol and some touch ups with paint and some sanding around the edge have me happy enough with it. I used the Fly decals for the stencils, tail, serial, and fin #1, but the roundels, including the red cross of Lorraine, are from Print Scale. 

 

Reapplied Pledge and have begun some weathering--mostly with watered-down burnt umber acrylic, which I find looks good on the desert camo. I'm even no longer noticing the cowl seam issue as I've moved along here... 🙂

 

 

Same burnt umber acrylic on the underside, plus some Tamiya panel liner. 

 

 

Only weather I intend to do beyond this is some exhaust staining, which is fairly significant in the photo. I will use some oil paint for that bit.

 

Meanwhile, prop is all ready to go:

 

 

And so is the landing gear:

 

 

We're getting close!

[ModelingEdmontonian]

Legs on, exhaust stains applied, and matt spray now drying . . .

 

 

I must say, overall, despite the strange camo suggested and bad markings provided, etc., that this kit goes together quite nicely. Definitely does not have the detail of the Arma kits, but just in terms of how pleasant it was to build (what this still new-ish modeler is mostly worried about), it compares favourably. 

[2996 Victor]

Great work, ME, definitely coming together nicely!

 

Cheers,

Mark

[ModelingEdmontonian]

I've attached the prop and the landing lights and canopy, and also painted silver lights where required. I think I'll need to touch up around the canopy when the Micro Klear dries, but otherwise I think she's done! Thanks for watching, see you in the RFI!

 

[Grandboof]

Looks great . Looking forward to the gallery pics 

Martin H

[2996 Victor]

Lovely, ME, and another one to tick off the list  

 

Cheers,

Mark

[ModelingEdmontonian]