Zephyr91 Posted September 26 Posted September 26 5 hours ago, Nick McV said: Meanwhile... Brilliant. Don't think I've seen that before. 😁 We're always finding something new on BM. Rob 1
Wings unlevel Posted September 27 Posted September 27 16 hours ago, Nick McV said: Meanwhile... I do love Belgium but I would rate it below Finland on my bucket list after watching that. 😂 1
Nick McV Posted September 27 Author Posted September 27 No progress on the Hurricane worth reporting, but my daughter has turned out this small-scale beauty, just a couple of decades worth of aftermarket to buy now! Welcome Archie! 💙 4 3
Wings unlevel Posted September 27 Posted September 27 Welcome to the world, Archie! I know someone who can’t wait to introduce you to the world of scale modelling in just a few years! 😂 1
Troy Smith Posted September 27 Posted September 27 On 25/09/2025 at 08:41, Nick McV said: Regarding the colours, I wondered if the resemblance between Finnish camo schemes and Soviet ones of the same period was intentional or coincidental. For example I have this Il-2 in the stash, which has callouts using Revell paints (naturally). On HC-452 there's a softness to the edges of the camo demarcations that I thought I'd have a go at with rattlecans as I don't have an airbrush, and my local Hobbycraft stocks Revell paints Oh cobblers. I went to add this and just wiped a long post. Right. the green/black, hmm, pre 1941 the USSR just used plain green uppers. Maybe they borrowed the black disruptive from the Finns. I'd test out rattle cans and see how they work, it maybe more bother than they are worth. @Casey did analysis of Revell paint, many are RAL colours, IIRC they have a light blue and olive green that should be pretty close, they also have a very dark grey that may work for the black. The Revell IL-2 is a Zvezda rebox. Right try again on wiped post.
Troy Smith Posted September 27 Posted September 27 On 26/09/2025 at 08:42, Nick McV said: Of immediate interest is the pilot's seat, which doesn't look much like any other Hurricane pilot's seat I've seen, or anything like the one in the kit for that matter. Here's a pic of a seat I presume from another Finnish Hurricane, next to a standard Hurricane seat (? - I wonder where that one came from?) ask the museum, they have always been very helpful, I think the Finns really appreciate it when other people are interested in their history. Re the armour. Finnish made. A blog on the HC-452 restoration, very interesting and has a lot of details I've not seen elsewhere http://hurricanehc-452.blogspot.com/2011/10/toinen-visiitti.html "This week the team has worked with the seat and with the canopy. The plane didn’t have any armored shielding when it arrived in Finland. I can only imagine what it would have been like to fly into a storm of bullets without any armor plating, no thanks! After some demands from the pilots the Hurricane’s seat was soon after arrival fitted with 10mm steel plates. The seat was covered with these plates which protected the pilot from small calibre bullets. When the guys disassembled the seat to pieces they discovered the original fitting pieces of the armor plates in question. Quite probably these were made on the spot using Finnish pinewood. The shape of the fitting pieces had been perfected with an axe. You can’t even compare rudimentary World War Two maintenance standards with present day factory quality control. Actually it would be interesting and possibly even fun to put a seat of a Hurricane right next to seat taken from Finnish F-18 Hornet and compare these two :)" The brown looks to a cloth or leather cover. this from @Kari Lumppio back in 2011 https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/52968-hurricane-mk1-cockpit-colour/#elControls_742480_menu "Thought I would share some of the photos result of a recent visit to the Finnish Air Force museum at Tikkakoski, near Jyväskylä, Finland. (http:// http://www.airforcemuseum.fi/ ). These should fit well under the thread title. Hurricane Mk I HC-452 was there partly dismantled for some preservation and cleaning work. Paints on the aeroplane are original with few exeptions. Cockpit starboard panel has reportedly been painted after some repairs and quite likely the swastika markings have been repainted. They were - or should have been - overpainted after the war when the change for the current FinnAF cocade was made. The overpainting was done also on planes which had been written off, there is photographic proof of that." "Finnish Hurricanes arrived without the seat armour and got it only later in their career. The colour of the installed Hurricane armour looks to be British Interior Green, but it's pedigree is unknown to me as is the origin of the armour (British or Finnish-made?)." Finnish is the answer. On 26/09/2025 at 08:42, Nick McV said: Being painted in standard interior green this was surely factory fitted, The colour is a puzzle, but the Finns may have got some British paint, or just mixed it to match.... anyway and installed On 26/09/2025 at 09:19, Nick McV said: All of HC-452's kills are known to be Polikarpov I-153s. The I-153 only saw action in the early part of the Continuation War, remaining in frontline service only until early 1942, still within the above timeframe. After this only very few of these aircraft were still flying, and they were relegated by the Soviets to secondary roles and occasional ground attack until early 1943, and in any case by then Finland's Hurricanes were grounded for a lot of the time due to lack of spares. While it's possible that one or more of HC-452's I-153 kills came after 30th July 1942, it's much less likely. So I feel it's safe to apply the kill markings. good bit of digging, but I'd email the museum and ask if you want confirmation, , they have always been very helpful. link this in, they may find it of interest. Congratulations on grandson #2 Archie My daughter is 15 today, hard to believe ...... HTH 1
AaCee26 Posted September 27 Posted September 27 Hello gentlemen, I'll list a few thinks discussed with info dug out from Finnish sources. - Tail numbers were painted during May 1941, - Yellow own a/c id stripes were ordered to be painted 18 June 1941 to wing tips and rear fuselage, - Yellow nose 31. Aug/1. Sept 1941, - Light Blue undersurfaces ordered May 1942, so this rules HC-452 re-paint after that, - A photo of HC452 exists in RAF camo late summer 1942. It was re-painted after that, - HC-455 got a new rudder during overhaul for some reason. - When HC-452 was storaged after the war swastika was overpainted but roundel wasn't painted to it. There are photo evidence of HC-454 and HC-465 with roundels. -- Aluminium seat and tall seat armour are from Brewster. - HC seat back is covered with brown leather. Cheers, AaCee 1 1
Nick McV Posted September 28 Author Posted September 28 (edited) @Troy Smith @AaCee26 thanks sirs, both informative and helpful. I'm going to drop and email to the museum to see if they know when HC-452 shot down her two (and a half) Polikarpovs, and/or when the replacement rudder was fitted. 23 hours ago, AaCee26 said: - HC-455 got a new rudder during overhaul for some reason. So possibly HC-452 got the "number 5" rudder even before the demise of HC-455 then? On 9/27/2025 at 2:14 PM, Troy Smith said: they also have a very dark grey that may work for the black. I've always used Revell's "Anthrazit" for things that might be called black, but aren't truly black, e.g. tyres, and indeed shots of HC-452 in the museum suggest a very, very dark grey rather than a true black. On 9/27/2025 at 2:30 PM, Troy Smith said: The shape of the fitting pieces had been perfected with an axe. Lovely. Very Finnish, somehow. On 9/27/2025 at 2:30 PM, Troy Smith said: Cockpit starboard panel has reportedly been painted after some repairs I have seen some of the restoration blog, with photos of a chap working on this. The steel map holder thing and the "course-height indicator" pouch beneath it were newly remade and added to the panel. On 9/27/2025 at 2:30 PM, Troy Smith said: quite likely the swastika markings have been repainted. I seem to remember seeing pictures of this being done. Hang on... here it is. Harri on the job. Looks like HC-452 kept her swastikas throughout. On 9/27/2025 at 2:30 PM, Troy Smith said: Congratulations on grandson #2 Archie My daughter is 15 today, hard to believe ...... Belated happy birthday to her. Coincidentally. your daughter shares a birthday with my grandson. He was born in the early hours of yesterday as I was driving home from a work reunion in Lancashire, catching up with some people I haven't seen in (again coincidentally) 15 years. A theme of many conversations was where does the time go?! I met the little fella yesterday evening, and he's a beautiful boy, mum and baby doing well. Cheers Nick Edited September 28 by Nick McV 3 1
Nick McV Posted September 29 Author Posted September 29 After two pages of research, speculation and conjecture I hope to be able to show some actual modelling soon! I've started painting up the interior anyway. I'm going to have a go at adapting the pilot's seat to the kit to resemble the one on the actual airframe, and also look at reproducing that "aftermarket" armour plate behind the pilot's head. The piece in the kit (J13) represents what I guess was the "standard" armour plate for the Hurricane that would protect the pilot from the head downwards: It's hard to see exactly what's going on in the walkaround photos/video because the canopy is in the way, but I've turned up this pic on the restoration blog which shows pretty clearly how the "aftermarket" armour plate behind the head is fitted: I think my best bet is to very carefully drill/file out an aperture in the existing part, then scratch build a new armour plate to mount on the "frame" that's left. Should be an absolute doddle, he says, reminding himself that a few few posts ago he said "regarding accuracy I'm not going to drag myself over hot coals with this one"... Cheers Nick 2
Wings unlevel Posted September 29 Posted September 29 5 minutes ago, Nick McV said: Should be an absolute doddle, he says, reminding himself that a few few posts ago he said "regarding accuracy I'm not going to drag myself over hot coals with this one"... Haha! Sounds like you’ve an excellent plan there Nick. 1 1
Nick McV Posted September 30 Author Posted September 30 (edited) Good lord, some actual modelling! It's not much to look at, but it's a start: I've removed the upper section from the pilot's seat and reshaped and repurposed it so it will now be the head armour, and opened up the aperture in part J13, over which said head armour will be mounted. Didn't even have to drill it, just patient use of a sharp knife and needle file. Now I need to rebuild the seat to the taller/more rectangular shape we see in our Hurricane. It doesn't really matter if it's a bit scruffy as I plan to recreate the leather padding with painted foil which will be placed over the seat back. Here we gooooo! Edited September 30 by Nick McV 5
Wings unlevel Posted September 30 Posted September 30 3 hours ago, Nick McV said: It's not much to look at, but it's a start The longest journeys and a single step and all that…! And with some proper modelling to boot. Great start Nick. 1 1
Nick McV Posted October 1 Author Posted October 1 (edited) This morning I've had a reply to the email I sent to the Finnish Air Force Museum, asking about the dates of the kills attributed to HC-452 and when the "number 5" rudder was installed. Kai Mecklin (Museum Director, LtCol (AF) ret'd) tells me: Rudder: Unfortunately we don't have exact date nor reason of replacement of the rudder. After hard landing (Sep 25th 1942) HC-452 was in repair and returned to squadron Mar 1st 1943 without tactical number in rudder. It got "2" again on its rudder between Mar 1st and Mar 18th 1943. The rudder was replaced with "5" sometime between Mar 18th and Jul 26th 1943. Kills: Pilot in every kill was Lt Esko Ruotsala: Jul 3rd 1941, I-153 Chaika Jul 15th 1941, I-153 Chaika Jan 8th 1942 . I-152 (I-15bis) So for a very brief period in March 1943 she was without any number on her rudder (after being out of action for five months), and then got her "number 2" back, but very shortly thereafter (for reasons unknown) got the replacement RAF camo "number 5" rudder from HC455. HC455 for her part had been written off in an accident a year beforehand, so either they took the rudder off what was left of her or they'd already stripped her for parts. In any case all of the 2½ kills attributed to HC-452 came well before the rudder was switched, in fact even before she was repainted in the Finnish camouflage scheme, so this serves to confirm that my hypothesis that the kill markings were present before the "number 5" rudder was fitted is safe! In other news, I rebuilt the pilot's seat last night but didn't have time to take a pic, and the SBS decals sheet and other aftermarket bits have arrived. Cheers Nick Edited October 1 by Nick McV 2
Zephyr91 Posted October 1 Posted October 1 This is advancing nicely. Loving the history/research bits and how you are going about it. Belated welcome to Archie. My daughters seem disinclined to have kids - probably just as well. I'd spoil 'em and be a very bad influence language-wise cheers Rob 1 1
Wings unlevel Posted October 1 Posted October 1 1 hour ago, Nick McV said: This morning I've had a reply to the email I sent to the Finnish Air Force Museum How good! 1
Nick McV Posted October 1 Author Posted October 1 1 hour ago, Zephyr91 said: This is advancing nicely. Loving the history/research bits and how you are going about it. Thank you. I often find my builds going in this direction, usually in spite of myself - I pick a subject with a story behind it, and then get lost in the story. I'm conscious that I should actually be showing evidence of modelling at some point though! 1 hour ago, Zephyr91 said: I'd spoil 'em and be a very bad influence language-wise This is in the grandad job description! 😜 7 minutes ago, Wings unlevel said: How good! I know right? @Troy Smith's suggestion to get in touch with the museum, and it got results! 2
Nick McV Posted October 1 Author Posted October 1 (edited) So, here is that SBS decal sheet, with the kit original for comparison: The only decals I'll be using from the kit sheet are the instrument panel and the "red cross" (which hides a unique little surprise, more on that later!) Quite apart from the infamous "Hasegawa White", the kit decals are a bit of a train-wreck, accuracy-wise: The dimensions of the swastikas are all wrong; maybe they took their lead from the "wrong" overwing roundels as painted on at Bristol factory before delivery (which was corrected when HC-452 got her new paint job), but the fuselage swastikas look decidedly spindly too. The SBS sheet covers all bases in this respect. While the callouts on the instructions say that the model can be painted either in RAF dark green/dark earth/"duck egg green" i.e. sky (the latter being wrong in any case as the Finnish Hurricanes never had sky undersides) or the Finnish green/black/blue scheme, the small HC452 serial and the tactical "number 2" markings in that "non-pointy" style will only work for the former. In that case, however, the border of the number two should be blue/grey (as seen on the number 5 on the rudder that HC-452 now has), not (Hasegawa) white. The kill markings on the tail aren't represented at all, although they would have been there at least some of the time if painted in the RAF scheme, and all of the time if painted in the Finnish scheme. As mentioned further up, HC-451/black 1 was a fabric-winged Hurricane and can't be represented accurately with this kit anyway, so the inclusion of that decal option is a duff call by Hasegawa. So I doff my cap to SBS, I think I've gone about as deep into this as I can and it looks like their decals are 100% on the money, where HC-452 is concerned anyway. Cheers Nick PS I've become interested enough in this subject area to want to build a companion fabric-winged Hurricane, WW456, in the RAF scheme (covered by the decal sheet as summer 1941 - no yellow nose, per @AaCee26's welcome input above). Don't get too excited though, there's no way I'll get it done by 9th November! Edited October 1 by Nick McV 2
Wings unlevel Posted October 1 Posted October 1 Great that you’ve documented all the issues Nick - your thread is becoming a reference build for future Finnish Hurricane builders down the track. 👍 1 1
Nick McV Posted October 1 Author Posted October 1 5 minutes ago, Wings unlevel said: Great that you’ve documented all the issues Nick - your thread is becoming a reference build for future Finnish Hurricane builders down the track. 👍 You flatter me with that sir! Footnote: just set about finding a fabric wing Hurricane in 1/48... old Classic Airframes kit (= hen's teeth), or wait for the new Arma release, correct me if I'm wrong, @Troy Smith? 1
AaCee26 Posted October 1 Posted October 1 Hi Nick and thanks for the compliments! A few notes still: - the seat armour was installed inside full original seat. I think it fits to the model better with the cut-down seat so all is fine 🙂 - HC-455 was painted to Finnish camouflage during overhaul so it got a new rudder there and the old one, maybe needing some repairs, was replace with other one. - HC-452 swastikas were overpainted with white after the war but it didn't got roundels. It was like that when I saw it first time not yet 50 years ago. Greetings, AaCee 1 1
Nick McV Posted October 1 Author Posted October 1 1 minute ago, AaCee26 said: - the seat armour was installed inside full original seat. I think it fits to the model better with the cut-down seat so all is fine 🙂 I've done some further work on the seat this evening, it's not possible to make it tall enough without it fouling the head armor plating, but at least I'll have a representation of its overall shape. 4 minutes ago, AaCee26 said: - HC-455 was painted to Finnish camouflage during overhaul so it got a new rudder there and the old one, maybe needing some repairs, was replace with other one. That's interesting, so the rudder was in the "spares box" even before HC-455 met her untimely end! Cheers Nick
Troy Smith Posted October 2 Posted October 2 3 minutes ago, Nick McV said: just set about finding a fabric wing Hurricane in 1/48... old Classic Airframes kit (= hen's teeth), There are 4 options in 1/48 at present. The CA kit, which is heavily 'inspired' by the Hase kit, and OOB most closely builds something it wasn't intended too, as in mid 1940 Hawker fabric wing, as in 2nd starboard hatch and 4 spoke wheels, they miss the early screen type as well. The kit has other issues to deal with. see here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234958668-classic-airframes-hurricane-mk-1-fabric-wing/ then conversions. Aardvark, later re-issued by Heritage Aviation conversion, full resin wing, meant for the old tool Airfix, but fits the Ark kit very well as a result. Good casting, very sharp trailing edge on the Aardvar one I have. Never saw the Heritage one but should be the same. May turn up 2nd hand. I think the old Airfix kit wing is little too thin head on, so this wing is as well. MDC wings. Again, they don't really understand the subject, and it's a badly designed conversion, requiring cutting off the wings outboard of the UC. WHich is possible but means very careful work with the wing join strips, which would perhaps be better if they were replaced with card, or had been provided as etch. Pretty moot as the wing trailing edge is approx 1mm thick and thinning it would destroy the detail etc. They also miss the 5 spoke wheel hubs and other specific details. It can be done but you still have thick trailing edge. Finally, Convert existing metal wing. Actually not that hard as long as you can find a way to do the fabric tape lines, you can buy 3D rib tape decals by Quinta I have some, they look good but not quite enough in a pack for the wings as I found out when I got some and did the maths on it.... https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/QP48014 40 tapes per pack, without a recount I think you need 84 or 88 for a Hurricane not counting the inner panel. I know I was a bit put out when I did the count. Buying one set is as far as I have got on this..... You need to move the landing light in a bay, and adjust the ejector slots, but that's about it. Note the leading edge is metal but covered with fabric... Burnt out ex Yugoslav licence built in Romanian service. Spinner is Yugoslav made and is slightly different to either British DH types I think. I did try this years ago when I had a go at the prototype, Very thin cigarette paper doped down with grey paint over rib tapes made from strips of aluminium tape. 40600182 by losethekibble, on Flickr Using a riveter tool on the aluminium tape might kinds replicate the sewn rib detail, and mr Surfacer may work instead of thin paper. The thin paper can be applied in to replicate the 4 wide diagonal linen strips mentioned in the build I link above. My starter kit for this would still be a Hase Mk.I though, I never got much further than working out the fixes on the base kit, and I think I needed to do the photo as well, or re-do them. The big problem is the fuselage fabric effect, though fixing that means eliminating the starboard hatch is easier to do. 3 minutes ago, Nick McV said: or wait for the new Arma release, correct me if I'm wrong They are doing a metal wing Mk.I As I have posted on here at points, if you want accuracy, then covering ALL the Mk.I Hurricane variations is PITA for a model company. what were in real life small external changes are whole new bits in a plastic model. Starboard hatch? If you are doing the level of external skin detail Arma have done, the only solution is two starboard fuselage halves. Then there is the early type windscreen. The fabric wing is further complicated by the earlier Hurricanes having a fabric panel inboard, which was later metal skinned, whatever the outer wing was? This panel with the fabric blown off. Hurricane17sqdamaged_zps9106b20e by losethekibble, on Flickr There is another detail I didn't spot which applies to very early fabric wings too, not my spot and all I can say right now.... what Arma have announced is sure fire seller, the mid-late production metal wing Mk.I, the BoB classic and covers most Mk.I's, about 4,200 Mk.I's were built, and approx 600-650 with fabric wings. (I'm not sure the exact amount is known, records as to which had fabric and metal in the L and serials seem patchy) So, while the early and/or fabric wing have some very interesting marking options, they are difficult to cover I sent Arma my thoughts on this ages ago, with suggestions as to how they maybe able to cater for these options, in particular doing two starboard fuselage halves, but making it a 'feature' as in a built in paint/decal mule to allow the modeller to allow the modeller to test out finishing on the same surface first, but I don't know how easy it would be to cater for both screen types on the fuselage mouldings, as well as the fabric wing problems etc etc, if you want to cater for very early production there are even more bits to allow for, one piece nose ring, non hole UC doors, short rudder, no fuselage keel are the big ones, for a limited range of options, basically under 100 airframes. What Arma intend to do in the future I don't know, they are paying for it, so is commercially sensitive, any input of mine that makes for a better Hurricane model is, well from my perspective rather surreal but great that they do listen and ask, not just me I should add but from the model community in general. It maybe the case that the doing the most produced variants may generate enough interest to then do lesser produced variants, be interesting to see if they cater with Mk.I metal wing to allow it to be used to make a Mk.IIA The full complexity of these issues will become far better known with the 1/32nd Kōtare Hurricane kits though.... HTH..... 2 1
Nick McV Posted October 2 Author Posted October 2 (edited) Thanks for the exhaustive reply @Troy Smith but yikes that's a load of faff! I thought I'd heard somewhere that Arma were doing a ragwing Hurri, clearly I've got the wrong end of the stick. Short of a CAF kit coming up at a reasonable price, maybe building a second HC(-)452 in her pre-paint job RAF camo would be an easier shout, but then I'd effectively be doing the same build twice but for some different paints, and I have many kits in the stash whispering "build me, buuuuiiild meeee..." As you say at the end of the day Arma is a business, and while (some) modellers would dearly love to see every variant and iteration of a given type, at the end of the day it's down to what's going to sell! I'd be interested to know what percentage of modellers are at the "casual/occasional modeller" end of the spectrum, and which are at the "serious hobbyist" end. For a company like Arma perhaps more skewed to the latter than the former, the other way round for a brand such as Airfix perhaps. The sort of modeller that has the expertise to pull up a kit on the very slightest fault is probably a rarity, but they help keep the kitmakers honest I suppose. I consider myself in the "middle ground" of modellers... I like to have my builds as accurate as I can manage, but as the old prayer goes "God [or alternative deity or deities of your choice, or not], grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." If there's a visible issue that can be corrected with a bit of aftermarket (e.g. resin five-spoke wheels) or modest scratch-building (e.g. my efforts with the pilot's seat - not really Hasegawa's fault that one, in fairness) I'll sort it, but I'm not going to get too hung up on a slight dimensional irregularity. Cheers Nick Edited October 2 by Nick McV 1
Troy Smith Posted October 2 Posted October 2 3 hours ago, Nick McV said: I thought I'd heard somewhere that Arma were doing a ragwing Hurri They may in time. I was just clarifying that it's not as simple as just tooling up "a fabric wing" for a Mk.I kit, The 1/48th Mk.II kits have been very well received by almost everyone, and there are a few folks who are never going to be happy with anything. I noted in another thread you had issues on the Arma Hurricane cost. It is expensive, but it is also way beyond any other Hurricane kit ever made so far in surface detail and from numerous builds I have seen, it requires careful sprue nib clean up but builds exceptionally well. I'm a bit scared of it, though I found their 72nd Mk.I very good but did require care, I stumbled on paint, well, paint colours but that is another tale. 3 hours ago, Nick McV said: I'd be interested to know what percentage of modellers are at the "casual/occasional modeller" end of the spectrum, and which are at the "serious hobbyist" end. Arma are very much aimed at the serious hobbyist end, but they are in the right place, central Europe. But then the existence of serious hobbyist firms brings up standards and generates interest. 3 hours ago, Nick McV said: For a company like Arma perhaps more skewed to the latter than the former, the other way round for a brand such as Airfix perhaps. Airfix suffer from being tied to Hornby. They still have the Hoover/vaccuum accolade in the UK, being synonymous with the plastic kit. They are pretty serious as the quality and accuracy of many recent kits has been excellent, but they again suffer from aspects being run by accounts/managers who snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, the plastic grade used in India until recently for example and poor quality control. They do still have the brand name, and if you want an idea of a broader spread of modellers look on youtube and Facebook, the quality of discussion and modelling here is a very high standard which is easy to forget. 3 hours ago, Nick McV said: The sort of modeller that has the expertise to pull up a kit on the very slightest fault is probably a rarity, but they help keep the kitmakers honest I suppose. Hmm, problem is having an idea of what can realistically be achieved as well, and once it's been done that's pretty much it. Lynn Ritger has posted about working with Revell on their 1/32nd bf109 G before, That companies now seek input is the way to get it right before any tooling is made has in large part happened because of forums like this, and them being able to find people who know what they are talking about. On 01/10/2025 at 11:01, Nick McV said: to get in touch with the museum, and it got results! what were the results? As I said, they are very helpful. Cheers T 2
Nick McV Posted October 2 Author Posted October 2 20 minutes ago, Troy Smith said: I noted in another thread you had issues on the Arma Hurricane cost. It is expensive, but it is also way beyond any other Hurricane kit ever made so far in surface detail and from numerous builds I have seen, I daresay, never built one but seen one in the box and it looked lovely but I'm used to being able to pick up an Eduard 1/48 Profipack with the mask and the etch and all the decals around the £25-30 mark. As with everything, you gets what you pays for I guess. This is my first Hurricane in 1/48 scale and I'd certainly like to another in a desert scheme, as mentioned I have the Airfix kit in the stash but might go all in with Arma when the time comes. (I really like the look of the II d with big guns from Hobbyboss, but by the time I've bought that + aftermarket decals to replace the kit ones which I gather are poor on colour I'll be around the Arma price anyway!) 26 minutes ago, Troy Smith said: They still have the Hoover/vaccuum accolade in the UK, Indeed, I have seen many kits from various manufacturers listed on Facebook Marketplace as "Air fix" (sic)! 27 minutes ago, Troy Smith said: That companies now seek input is the way to get it right before any tooling is made has in large part happened because of forums like this, and them being able to find people who know what they are talking about. Indeed, and why not? I imagine enthusiasts are happy to share their often considerable expertise at negligible cost to the manufacturer (a credit? free kits? how does it work?), and they're easy to get to in the internet age. Reminds of something I once read about the early days of Airfix, after they launched their first lamentably inaccurate "RG904/BT-K" Spitfire in the early 50s they were inundated with letters from indignant customers, some of whom had actually spent time up close and personal with the real thing as ground crew during the war. One of these founding fathers of the rivet-counting movement (tongue very firmly in cheek here), John Edwards, went on the become Airfix's chief designer, and made sure the next Airfix Spit was a great improvement! 35 minutes ago, Troy Smith said: what were the results? As I said, they are very helpful. Scroll up a bit, email from the museum's director confirming dates of HC-452's kills and shedding some light on the puzzle of the "number 5" rudder. Cheers Nick 1
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