Ralph Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 (edited) Hallo all, I've long had a consuming interest in the Battle of Britain, and it's funny how niche interests can lead to niche, niche interests- if you know what I mean! In this case, I have developed an interest in early (i.e. L series serial numbers) fabric winged hurricanes that survived long enough to fly in the Battle of Britain. I've found three thus far that I can tie up with serials, code letters etc, specifically: 1) the famous KW*Z (L1591) of 615 sqn, and flown on the 18th August - the 'Hardest Day'. I've built the Airfix kit with these marks in the 80th anniversary BoB group build last year. 2) 312 sqn (Czech) DU*J (L1926) that I think was involved in a shoot down of enemy a/c over Liverpool, although I need to find out more. 3) 605 sqn Hurri (L2021) flown by P/O TPM Cooper-Slipper on -appropriately enough- 15rh Sept 1940 -Battle of Britain Day. He was climbing to intercept and collided/rammed a Do17 of KG3 bringing both it and him down. He got out safely, although the impression I get is that it might have been different if it had been a more robust metal winged Hurricane! It's the latter I am going to build for my annual summer holiday BoB model. The reason for becoming aware of it at all was browsing through my Battle of Britain Kaleidoscope books by the renowned Battle of Britain author Dilip Sarkar, where I spotted a fabric winged Hurricane (note the early windscreen and the winged landing light close to the wing guns) much to my excitement. In the book, Sarkar thinks that this his most evocative pic from the BoB and it has all the ingredients and atmosphere of a plane waiting for the scramble in that crucial summer. It had the squadron and serial number -yay- but alas no code letter info. (Always looking for a reasonably priced Vol III - they seem to be absurdly expensive!) Luckily this is where Britmodeller is utterly fantastic, since a quick query revealed it was UP-V from squadron records -thanks AndyL! Anyway, will be using the rather good Airfix kit with some mods, not least of which will be a replacement main canopy to replace the inaccurate kit one, a Yahu instrument panel, a Yahu harness, 5 spoke wheels and generic xtradecal codes/serials. There'll be a little scratchbuilding as well...the picture shows a distinctly non-standard windscreen mirror on the early style externally armoured windscreen. Ought to be fun! Edited August 4, 2021 by Ralph 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 Hi Ralph, Great start and research: I'll be following along if I may? It's a great little kit - the only real issues are the height of the canopy and the areas of the upper wings that should be metal, not fabric. I've had a few issues with distortion of the wing panel mouldings, but I think I've got to the bottom of that now! Enjoy your build! Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 Always keen on 1/72 Hurricanes, and I think I'm finding I'm especially fond of the earlies! Looking forward to following this one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted August 5, 2021 Author Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) OK, getting the basics done. I've built the wing assembly with part of the cockpit in place. I tend to use a mix of Tamiya and some Xtracrylix paints, in thus case Xtracrylix silver and Tamiya xf-71 interior green. The wing fit between the top and bottom of the wings isn't great, to be entirely honest, and though cutting off the location pins helps, I still have a mismatch between top and bottom which needs filler. I've started the port wing in this regard. I've also started to remove the fabric effect behind the gun access hatches; this was metal skinned in real life. The gun ports have also been drilled out. I've also started on the fuselage internals. Am currently putting the cockpit together the Yahu instrument panel,- will post soon. Edited August 5, 2021 by Ralph 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted August 5, 2021 Author Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) Cockpit shot...the Yahu instrument panel is great although my photography doesn't really do it justice. The paint on the p/e harness is about dry, and I'll be getting this on shortly. I've read that Hurricane pilots and groundcrews used to drape the harness over each side of the canopy sill to enable the quickest possible take-off when scrambling. The pic of L2021shows precisely that so I'll do the in due course. Oh, and I've made a pole type radio mast from plastic rod-just a bit more in scale than the kit pole mast I think... Edited August 5, 2021 by Ralph 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted August 9, 2021 Author Share Posted August 9, 2021 A little more work...the prop has been sprayed with tamiya yellow over a base coat of white, and the main airframe loosely put together to see how things are looking. The Airfix kit captures the look of the Hawker fighter very well, but the kit canopy throws things off a lot. The problem is that the middle horizontal frame is too high, which makes the lower panels rectangular rather than square. As it happens, I have a Squadron vac form but also a spare 'open hood' Arma Hurricane canopy which fits very well. More when I get back from hols! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Right, back from hols...more work on the Hurricane. Prop done, seat belts in, fuselage buttoned up and a Quickboost gunsight in place. Waiting for the milliput to go off so I can finish sanding, and undercoated next! Oh, and I have found a Flightpath Trolley Accumulator which will be rather fun to pose with the 'plane! Rather getting into this project! 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Excellent, Ralph, great to see you back and great to see your progress! Hope you enjoyed your hols, too! Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Just now, 2996 Victor said: Excellent, Ralph, great to see you back and great to see your progress! Hope you enjoyed your hols, too! Cheers, Mark Sure did...Northumbria at its best! Even got to visit the Kit Box model shop in Whitley Bay...used to go there as a kid and it hasn't changed much in 35 years! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 49 minutes ago, Ralph said: Sure did...Northumbria at its best! Even got to visit the Kit Box model shop in Whitley Bay...used to go there as a kid and it hasn't changed much in 35 years! Glad to hear you had a great time. It's an area of the country I've never visited although Jane, my better half, has told me it's a beautiful coast and I've been promised a holiday there. Think I'd like to visit Kit Box as well, given the opportunity - proper old-fashioned model shops are a rare treat these days! Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 This looks a rather nice and interesting project, the Airfix Hurricane kits are lovely especially for the cheap cost they were. Great work on your model Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted August 24, 2021 Author Share Posted August 24, 2021 Small update...very small! Have been tidying up and finishing the cockpit which entailed detail painting the gunsiight, and adding the scratch built reflector sight glass, which was an exercise in patience! Am pleased with the outcome. Wheels and undercarriage next... 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted August 27, 2021 Author Share Posted August 27, 2021 (edited) More buts and pieces done. I've finished the undercarriage, including resin five spoke wheels associated with early hurricanes. I've also made headway on the flight path trolley acc...changed the handle with plastic rod into something more in scale. A quick spray up with Tamiya blue grey after replacing the rather overscale handle with plastic rod and its looking OK. I've drilled a hole to accept the cable that runs from it to the aircraft, and fashioned this from flower arranging wire of all things. I just need to find some left over Eduard wheel masks of the right size so I can do the wheel rims, and that will be finished up. Finally, and as an aside while I am waiting for the early type armoured windscreen that Airfix supply to dry after its Future dip, I played around with Arma's later type armoured windscreen as fitted to most Hurricanes. The reason for doing this is because at some point I'd like to model one of the 50 mid production Hurticanes that for some reason were fitted with fabric wings despite being produced long after the shift to metal wings. There's some really interesting threads here on Britmodeller on the subject, as well as photos of them in service during the BoB. There's a well known 601 sqn example and it seems that Pete Townsend of 85 sqn had one as well (VY*Q). I had toyed with the idea of mating an Airfix fabric wing to an Arma fuselage, but that looks potentially hard work. My thought here is to put an Arma late windscreen on the Airfix fabric wing kit. Arma helpfully supply over trees of their thinner canopy sprue introduced with the MkIIB kit which saves biting into a kit. The difficulty is that the early windscreen has a curved base, whereas the later one was straight. As the pic shows, the Arma windscreen 'fits' quite well in terms of overall dimensions; it will just need a little filler to eradicate the curved cut out of the Airfix kit, and remember to scribe jn the later panel on the right hand side of the fuselage. Anyway, refocusing on the current project; will next be studying the pic of UP*V and working how to scratch build the distinctly non- standard rear view mirror; then it will be on to painting! Edited August 27, 2021 by Ralph 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 AlleyCat makes a metal-wing conversion for the Airfix kit that includes the later windscreen. https://www.alleycatmodels.co.uk/metal-wing-conversion-for-airfix-hurricane-mk1-fabric-wing-6534-p.asp Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 17 minutes ago, Ralph said: one of the 50 mid production Hurticanes that for some reason were fitted with fabric wings despite being produced long after the shift to metal wings. need for fighters, wings already made. Note, Peter Townsend was the S/Ldr, I suspect he picked the fabric wing one, as they apparently were more manoeuvrable as the wing was lighter at the tips, so they may not be as obsolete as they seem. 17 minutes ago, Ralph said: There's some really interesting threads here on Britmodeller on the subject, as well as photos of them in service during the BoB. There's a well known 601 sqn example and it seems that Pete Townsend of 85 sqn had one as well (VY*Q). Note, Townsend had two VY-Q, P3166, white spinner, lost late Aug, and then P3854, which is the fabric wing one. famous from the airborne photo series at Church Fenton in Oct 40. There is one, maybe 2 from 17 sq, the one for sure, YB-F, no visible serial though, the other has a hard to read serial. TM-V from 504 Sq, pics are in one of the Kaleidoscope books, Vol IV and has the side and front shot of this, and a 401 Sq, though the photo does not make it clear if fabric or metal, the 601 Sq, P3886. the quoted individual letter, is often wrong. I'll have to go on a hunt for details. The Wingleader book has a photo of one with what look like a 'bullet' Rotol as well, but no codes are visible, that would be a combination which really would look odd. Neat work so far. cheers T 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 Lots of Wingleader Hurricane photos here: https://www.wingleader.co.uk/ww2images?limit=20&page=1&searchType=any&searchString=hurricane Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 Looking good, Ralph. I've a few of these kits in my stash and really enjoyed building the one that I've got around to working on. It'll be good to see how yours turns out - I'm willing to bet that it'll blow my efforts out of the water! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted September 4, 2021 Author Share Posted September 4, 2021 (edited) Evening all, Right, another very small-but important- step, with the fabrication of the rather unusual homebred rear view mirror. Early spitfires and hurricanes had a variety of improvised windscreen mirrors installed on a unit level early in the BoB, where the utility of seeing one's 'six' became a matter of life or death. Some units adopted a squadron level modification, 64 sqn spitfires being a case in point. There are some non standard hurricane types if one looks, and L2021 appears to have a very unusual mirror- akin to 64 sqn as far as I can make out. Here's a close in of the original reference pic to show you what I mean. A fiddly 20 mins with the thinnest plasticard and scalpel got me this, made with a square and two very tiny triangles of plasticard. Am rather pleased with it, and looks pretty close to the pic above I think. Oh, and a 99% complete trolley acc...just need to paint the guide wheel tyre. Priming next! I am going to aim to complete this by September 15th, BoB Day and 81 years ago to the day this Hurricane met its fate in the skies of southern England... Edited September 4, 2021 by Ralph 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 Another variation of a mirror installation on a fabric-winged Hurricane: Chris 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 1 hour ago, dogsbody said: Another variation of a mirror installation on a fabric-winged Hurricane: must have been on of the first ones fitted, as this is 85 Sq in France, winter 39 or spring 1940, also of note are the instrument venturi still in use, and AFAIK the disc under the cockpit is a personal emblem. @Ralphneat work on the mirror. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted September 8, 2021 Author Share Posted September 8, 2021 Very quick update...am conscious that I am going to have to get cracking to get this ready for Battle of Britain Day on the 15th. Term has started, and am rather tied up with all that...this regrettably bites into the time every right minded chap needs for the important things in life. Am increasingly thinking that education is seriously overrated, but have to pay for model kits somehow...anyway, its a case of hurry up and wait in terms of painting the thing. I'm glad I've got all the fiddly bits done...once the main painting is done it'll all come together very quickly. A quick all over prime with Tamiya interior green which surpringly showed very few areas to fix and then an underside coat of Tamiya xf21 sky, which is my fave rendition of this colour, rightly or wrong. A good dry tonight then masking and xtracrylix dark earth awaits tomorrow...the 'wheels up' option Airfix gives you makes fab masks for the undercarriage bays. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted September 9, 2021 Author Share Posted September 9, 2021 (edited) And on with the dark earth, courtesy of Xtracrylix. Have to say I have to work hard with this brand, and they lack the effortless and very forgiving sprayability of Tamiya paints. It is however my favourite Dark Earth...nothing else looks as right, and if nothing else the rest of my rather extensive BoB model collection is the same paint, so it is at least consistent. I am going to let this dry good and hard overnight before it's out with the blutack and tape to mask-off for the Dark Green courtesy of Tamiya, which is again a really convincing match. It goes very well withe xtacrylix Dark earth when varnished. Then it's all the decals and detail painting when it all comes together. Anyway, meanderings on paint aside, am looking forward to finishing the painting of this tomorrow,accompanied by Hits of the 80s on the radio, and a pile of chocolate. Life rarely gets better. Well, it does but you know what I mean... Edited September 9, 2021 by Ralph 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted September 10, 2021 Author Share Posted September 10, 2021 (edited) So much for a relaxing modelling session...duly masked off using Peewit masks...thought I'd try these instead of blutack, and have to say they worked very well. Literally took a few minutes, and here we are...apparently all good. The translucent masks make the brown look like it's already been sprayed green. However, I hadn't noticed that Peewits masks were designed to be used with a base coat of green not brown... I duly peeled off the masks to reveal one of the best paint jobs I think I have done...but something didn't look right. The penny dropped after studying pictures that I had in fact an inverted scheme...a few choice words later, a coat of green all over, dried off using my airbrush at full blast and then remasked and sprayed brown. A high risk strategy but it seems to have paid off...am now going to leave this to dry off properly before I go near it again. Am now unclenching. I occasionally laugh when I hear talk of hobbies being relaxing. It can be very nearly as stressful as work...😬 Edited September 10, 2021 by Ralph 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 I had a similar effect with the AML masks on my Airfix Hurc. Chris 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 Great work, Ralph, and a great save on the camouflage - that sounds exactly like my sort of trick but you've got it sorted Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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