No 1 Squadron Hurricane

[Ferrata]

Since the 1/32 Stuka is entering the final stages I need something new to work on and a BoB Hurricane has been on my mind for a while now. This is the kit,

the latest Airfix offering but I’m going to do it with a little retro twist. I’ll use the decals from the old version specifically the 1 Squadron machine of PO Clowes, P3395.

The kit is lovely and way more detailed than the 70s version that is donating it’s decal sheet for this build so my intention is to build this a out of the box as possible. 
I was already a week into the build before deciding to start this thread so I’ll bring you all up to speed. 
The cockpit and wing spar assembly went together without any difficulty and I added seatbelts from tape just for completeness, drilling a hole in the seat back to accommodate this. 

The instrument panel is just the kit decal.

The kit gives the option of having the guns exposed in each wing so I will do this for the starboard wing only and leave the port on clean. To do this you have to cut out the panel where marked.

Next stage will be to close the fuselage halves which, going by the dry fit, looks pretty good.

That’s enough for now, thanks for looking and happy modelling.

 

[Ferrata]

Merry Christmas all. Not a lot of progress to report, been busy with the usual family stuff for this time of the year and trying to push the Stuka over the finishing line. However in between overeating and the odd drink or two I have managed to finish the cockpit and get the fuselage halves together. The fit of the fuselage halves was pretty good and I don’t think will need any filler.

The cockpit and lower wing assembly also seems to fit into the fuselage without any drama. I’m pretty impressed with the way this is going together so far, well done Airfix. Going to start on the starboard gun bay next and believe I need to open up one of the recessed hand holds to correspond with having the access step in the down position. Probably should have done that before joining the fuselage halves! Never mind. 
Happy modelling and best wishes for the New Year!

[mackem01]

Nice progress. Good to see another Hurri taking shape. Keep up the good work.

[Ferrata]

I thought I would take advantage of the last couple of days of the holidays to make some more progress with the Hurri so I opened up the handhold I mentioned last time. It wasn’t too hard to drill it out, back it with some plastic sheet and put the flap at the top. 

That let me move onto the wings and the starboard gun installation. It’s actually quite nicely detailed so all I did was give it a dry brush and little dark wash to create some depth before gluing on the top halves.

The biggest problem I have found so far has been with 5e tail. There is a bit of a gap with the horizontal surfaces and a big sink mark on the port side.

It’s in a bit of an awkward position but I will deal with it when I sort all the other joints soon.

That’s it for now, thanks for looking and happy modelling.

 

[dogsbody]

1 hour ago, Ferrata said:

 

The biggest problem I have found so far has been with 5e tail. There is a bit of a gap with the horizontal surfaces and a big sink mark on the port side.

 

It’s in a bit of an awkward position but I will deal with it when I sort all the other joints soon.

That’s it for now, thanks for looking and happy modelling.

 

 

The 1/72 kit has the same issue in the same place. I used a wee bit of Mr Surfacer 1000 to sort it out.

 

 

 

 

Chris

[Ferrata]

Probably a terrible picture this but I forgot to take any as I was in the process of sorting the joints.

 

Other than the tail that I mentioned in a previous post there were narrow gaps at the front and rear of the lower wing half where it meets the fuselage. All gaps were dealt with using Miliput Superfine, before it set I cleaned off any excess with a wet cotton bud. After all seams were filled and sanded I dusted on a light coat of light grey to check for any areas requiring further work. 
 

While this was going on I decided to progress the propeller, wheels and some other bits.

Final bit of work has been to put on the ailerons making sure that they match the position of the control stick as done with the other control surfaces. 

I’m going to try to get this one ready for primer this week so that means a number of small jobs and masking the canopy. Not my favourite job so wish me luck.

Thanks for looking and happy modelling. 

 

[Ferrata]

Finally, seams all sorted and primer on.

 

The Vallejo black primer gives a nice smooth surface for the final colours. I’ll let it dry for a day or two before starting the highlights ready for the camo’.

Wheels and propeller are ready for weathering, the observant among you will notice parts for another project I have on the go.

I like to have two models in progress but at different stages so when one is in paint I can still be building something.

That’s enough for tonight. Thanks for looking and happy modelling.

[jackroadkill]

How did I miss this?!  I'll follow this thread and enjoy seeing her progressing.

[Ferrata]

A little bit of progress tonight, highlighting done for the black basing.

 

Next step will be to add some aluminium to the areas for chipping and wear later.

Thanks for looking. 

[Ferrata]

Evening all,

There’s been some good progress with the Hurri’ this week. I started with putting the Skye Type S on the underside which went on with no drama. 

I must be starting to get the hang of this black basing as the colour is showing some nice variation over the different panels. This probably doesn’t show up too well due to my poor photography skills. Next I moved on to mask the sliding section of the canopy and paint it with the interior colour. 

Next I moved on to paint aluminium in all the areas where it was going to be worn. As you can see from the picture below this aircraft was quite heavily worn in specific areas so I am going to try and replicate this. 

This is where it could all go horribly wrong as I will be using chipping medium for the first time over Vallejo Metal Colour which I have never used before either!

The Chipping Meduim is from VMS and I applied it on the areas to be worn with a brush and allied to dry.

The plan now is to spray the green and brown colours then try to wear it off with a brush and water, wish me luck. If anyone has used this stuff before I’d love to hear how you got on and any tips you picked up.

Finally, a question to all the RAF experts out there. Should this aircraft have the yellow gas square on the wing and if so where? I can’t find any pictures from above and I don’t have the instructions from the original kit which donated the decals for P3395. Can anyone help?

Thanks for looking and happy modelling.

 

[Ferrata]

Hi all,

 

The airbrush has been getting a good workout this week! I work out that P3395 had the Type a scheme so got to work painting all the Dark Earth areas. I’m using my normal Vallejo Modelair for all the main camouflage colours on this build. Once this was dry I started masking off the Dark Green areas with white tack. This is the first time I had tried this and it didn’t go well. I just wasn’t happy with the way the lines were looking or masking in between them so I stripped it off and decided to go back to masking tape. A quick search on the internet and I was able to download and print off a set of mask patterns. The only problem was that these were to cover the green areas not the brown that I had painted! Never mind, I was still able to use them as a guide to cut a set of masks and eyeball it onto the model.

Four hours later and it was into the booth and start painting.

The green went down pretty well and after a few hours I was able to remove all the masking.

There are a couple of little bits of overspray to fix but nothing major. The next step is to see if this chipping medium has done its stuff and replicate the wear in the photo of the original then I’ll let it sit for a couple of days so the paint is fully dry before a coat of gloss.

Thanks for looking and happy modelling. 

[jackroadkill]

That's looking very smart indeed, sir.

[Ferrata]

On 2/6/2022 at 2:34 PM, jackroadkill said:

That's looking very smart indeed, sir.

Thanks!

[Ferrata]

Got the chipping done, what do you think?
 

Not exact I know but I was hoping to capture the flavour? Think I may have overdone it a bit but it looks ok using the 2 foot rule 🙂. Anyway, clear coat on now and decals next.

 

 Thanks for looking.  

 

 

[Ferrata]

Hi All,

Been cracking on with this over the last week or so. The decals went on with no fuss, just a little Microsol and Microset to settle them down over any raised details. I thought I might have some issues with the codes and the wasp/hornets as these came from the older generation kit but all went down well. 

Next I added some more chipping along panel edges then gave it a coat of Flory wash and cleaned that off.

After this I gave it a coat of flat to seal it all in. All that remains now is to add exhaust and oil stains with some oil paint then final assembly to add all the little details.

 

Thanks for looking and happy modelling.

 

[mackem01]

Great job so far, the chipping os spot on!

[Ferrata]

Thanks mackem01, it’s the first time I’ve tried it so a learning experience.

[corsaircorp]

Well done Ferrata, congratulations !!

I'll giva a try to this chipping medium

It look helpfull !!

Sincerely.

CC

[Ferrata]

Thanks corsaircorp.

[Ferrata]

Well, here we are, final post. Last night I attached all the final small parts such as the pitot tube, access step, gun covers and canopy after removing all the remaining masking tape. I also added some subtle exhaust and oil stains using oil paints and that was it, finished! Actually, no. One thing was missing that I noticed when looking at the photo that inspired this build, the rear view mirror. A bit of a strange thing for Airfix to have missed especially since their previous 1/48 scale Hurricane had it but I guess they were going for an early version before the mirror was added. Anyway, it only took two bits of plastic card and this omission was dealt with and it makes all the difference!🤣

I’ll post a set of pictures in the “Ready for inspection” area but here are a couple of the finished model.

 

 

Thanks to everyone who followed and commented, happy modelling.

 

 

[dogsbody]

At least one early fabric-winged Hurricane was fitted with a mirror, but it was inside the windscreen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[jackroadkill]

That looks fabulous!  What a cracking job.

[Ferrata]

On 2/18/2022 at 6:20 PM, dogsbody said:

At least one early fabric-winged Hurricane was fitted with a mirror, but it was inside the windscreen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

I had no idea. Thanks for sharing the photos, you must have sharp eyes to spot that detail!

[dnl42]

Sorry I've missed this. Looking fabulous! 

 

I had the same sink marks on the empennage--you've down a fine job on them. 

[mikevillena]

Thoroughly enjoyed watching your build progress. Having built the old Airfix kits four decades ago, I'm awestruck at the quality and the details of the current Airfix models. Additionally, I'm now wishing that I hadn't gotten rid of my very dog eared copy of Paul Richey's "Fighter Pilot". Thank you for the inspiration. Cheers!