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a Pair of 1/48 Early Hurricanes………. Airfix Mk 1, and a Classic Airframes ”cloth wing” version

Started by Louis Gardner · 106 ≡ · ↻ 6 years ago

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Louis Gardner said 6 years ago:

Tonight I made more progress on the Airfix Hurricane.

I had an idea for the landing lights. These parts are clear as supplied in the kit.

I have studied various lighting and these types appear as if the background of the bulb has a mirror like finish on it.

I decided to give something new a try.

I used Ultra Bright Bare Metal Foil and applied it to the face of the lights.

Then I trimmed off the excess with a brand new razor blade in my Exacto knife. This should look pretty decent once I add the lens cover to the leading edge of the wing.

This got me thinking...

What about the identification light on the underside of the fuselage ? So I did the same thing, but this time I painted it using clear yellow Tamiya paint.

I'm going to let this dry overnight and tomorrow I will install the lens cover here too.

Since I was researching the lights for the Hurricane, I ran across a great picture that showed the light used on the rudder. It turns out that the light housing was black, and the actual glass lens was blue ...

So I painted mine the same.

I added the antenna cable and mast. Then I gave the whole airframe a few more coats of flat clear.

This is how it looks now.

I'm calling it a night. Hopefully tomorrow I can wrap this kit up.

As usual comments are encouraged.

Thanks for looking.
david leigh-smith said 6 years ago:

You re really doing a number on this, Louis. If the devil is in the detail, we’re gonna need father Karras to pay a visit before you finish your Hurri. Love the close in shots.
David Mills said 6 years ago:

I always wondered what Tamiya flat base was used for !
Thanks for taking the time and effort in posting such a detailed response - its one of the great things about the site - seeing how others go about things.
I always find Matt coats a bit tricky to get right - so this was great !
The Hurricanes are looking superb - and the cloth wing version was an inspired choice - these did a lot of the hard fighting in battle of France against a far superior Luftwaffe
Paul Barber said 6 years ago:

That's a great call on the lights, Louis - you should write a book on your innovations! The Hurri's are looking just lovely! Now, I'm off to find some Ultra Bright!
Louis Gardner said 6 years ago:

Thanks gentlemen for the kind words.

Today I made a little more progress.

I painted a tiny black dot on the center of the lights before the clear lens cover was added. It was the final finishing touch.

Here's another use for Bare Metal Foil. I have been using this for the oleo struts on my builds. It gives you a little extra "pop" on the landing gear.

Then I painted the background for the wing tip lights using aluminum color. As it was drying I placed a drop of red on the inside of the lens, and a drop of metallic blue on the inside of the other side.

The underside fuselage light was painted as the landing lights were by adding a drop of black on the center before installing the lens cover.

As soon as I get the canopy painted, this one will be done.

Getting really close now !

As usual comments are encouraged.

Thanks again for looking.
Louis Gardner said 6 years ago:

Last night I was busy at the Iron Werks with masking canopies and spraying them Dark Green. I painted the clear bits for the BP Defiant, and the Hurricanes.

I test fit the sliding portion of the canopy that was left over from the Airfix Hurricane onto the C/A kit. It fit very good in the open position. Ironically the part was originally intended for use as the "closed" option for the Airfix plane.

If things work out as I hope, then this leftover Airfix part will be put to use as an open canopy for the C/A Hurricane.

Since it fit very well on the C/A Hurricane I decided that I would mask it and paint it at the same time.

Here you can see both canopies are painted. I marked the tape to keep them properly organized.

Now I'll check to see if the early Hurricanes used the same type of sliding canopy as what is provided in the Airfix kit. If so I'm a little bit closer to finishing up the C/A version.

If not, I'll have a good spare in the parts bin.

Lastly I installed the freshly painted canopy onto the Airfix Hurricane.

I can say that this one is done now. I might add a little weathering and dirty stuff up just a little.

Either way this is the last picture of this one before the reveal.

This new Airfix Hurricane has been a joy to build. I can honestly see myself doing a few more of them in the future.

Possibly later tonight I will get some more work done on the C/A Hurricane. If so I'll post updates on the progress.

As usual comments are encouraged.

Thanks !
Chuck A. Villanueva said 6 years ago:

Smashing Louis, simply smashing...truly excellent on the final finish on the Hurricane.
david leigh-smith said 6 years ago:

Bravo, Louis, Bravo. Excellent work.
Tom Cleaver said 6 years ago:

That is really superb!

Interestingly, the Airfix "closed" canopy option also looks better on the Airfix kit in the open position. Done that on all four of mine. The "open" canopy is just a bit too big IMHO.
James B Robinson said 6 years ago:

Great update Louis! Now you have me thinking about building one of these kits. Looking real good buddy.
Louis Gardner said 6 years ago:

Thank you gentlemen for the kind words.

I'm very happy with this Airfix Hurricane. It's a great model and has a lot of things going for it right out of the box. I have built up their new Spitfire kits, but if I had to choose a favorite based on assembly I would pick the Hurricane.

It's that good !

I still have a few Hasegawa Hurricane models left in my stash and a Hobby Craft version as well. These remaining kits will hopefully get built up in the future, possibly the later part of next year.

I sincerely thank you all for the compliments and support you have provided me along the way.

Tonight I managed to get some more work done on the Classic Airframes Hurricane.

I'll be posting this progress next ...

Thanks again !
Louis Gardner said 6 years ago:

As mentioned above, here's what happened with the Classic Airframes Hurricane earlier tonight.

Things started with removing the main landing gear from the parts tree. These had a little flash on them and required some clean up, but this was expected. The fit of the main gear leg into the square box receptacle was good. The other parts were a little "off", but still look OK as they are.

I also added the tail wheel. What I said above about the minor flashing was present here too. However it's not a deal breaker for me, as for now this is the only game in town if you want a very early Hurricane.

One of the most prominent features of the early Hurricane (besides the cloth covered wings), is the lack of the ventral keel. This was added somewhere around the 77th machine produced. It was added to help with directional stability. The lower portion of the rudder was also extended when they added the keel.

Since this C/A Hurricane is a very early machine, it lacks the keel. It also has the shorter rudder. It's very noticeable when you have both parts sitting side by side.

Now having built the new tool Airfix kit, and looking at how the parts are laid out... it could be possible that eventually Airfix may add an early Hurricane to their lineup, by simply adding another small parts tree, and a set of cloth covered wings. The model is designed very well for future updates... Also many of the cloth wing Hurricanes were eventually upgraded to the metal wings that you see on the Airfix model.

Here the Hurricane is standing on it's legs for the very first time. By now I have painted the landing gear assemblies using "Aluminum Dope" color. I still have to add the main gear doors. But before that is done, I'm going to wrap the oleo struts using Bare Metal Foil.

This next photo shows the resin kit supplied "Kidney Exhausts" that are part of the "early" Hurricane. I had these parts painted a while ago, and they simply drop fit in place and were secured using a little CA glue.

Here's the same tail wheel with some of the "Aluminum Dope" slopped on... It will look better once I paint the tire.

I lost the upper instrument panel shade visor. So I had to make one from sheet card plastic. Here it's installed and painted using RAF Interior Green.

I went over the remaining parts that were left on the trees. I noticed this part was not installed. I think it's a throttle or a landing gear control lever, but I'm not 100 percent sure. Maybe someone "in the know" can enlighten me ?

This part was glued in place and painted using RAF Interior green. ON the real item, there's a large red button right in the center. I still have to paint the details on... It's simply glued in place sitting over the top fuselage longeron.

The last thing I need to mention is the landing lights. These parts are provided in resin, and they fit rather nicely into the opening on the leading edge of the wing. Once installed, they were also painted using "Aluminum Dope" color.

These will also get the "Bare Metal Foil" added on the lens just as I did on the Airfix model. The I will add the clear covers...

It's getting closer, and that's a good thing, because I have a whole bunch of Spitfires waiting...and the deadline is right around the corner.

Thanks for following along, and as always:

"Comments are encouraged".

Good night.
Louis Gardner said 6 years ago:

Our friend and fellow Imodeler Paul Nash sent me several different fuselage code letters to use on my early Spitfire builds that are under another build journal here at the 100 Years of the RAF.

Because of this, and the fact that the deadline is steadily approaching, I have decided to try and knock this early Classic Airframes Hurricane out... I really need to get these Spitfires done... and this Hurricane is clogging up the bench.

So out came the Bare Metal Foil... I used it to wrap the oleo struts on the landing gear.

Here's a close up. It doesn't show up too well on silver struts. It looks much better when you use it on a darker or more contrasting color, such as Dark Sea Blue that was used by the US Navy, or Black as used on various Japanese aircraft.

I used it on the landing lights too...

Then I painted the front of the propeller spinner. Some decal sheets say this is a Dark Earth color, others have it listed as a Dull Red. After studying some B & W photos (which is not the best way), I decided on a red that is very similar in color to the red used on the center of the RAF insignia roundels.

Once the paint dried I glued it and had the propeller parked in the vertical position, as this is how you see a lot of these early two bladed Hurricanes when they are parked.

I asked my friend who helps to restore WW2 aircraft why this was routinely done. His reply made sense.

He told me that this was a typical way to line the planes up for inspection. It made everything uniform when all planes had their props positioned this way. Then he went on to add that it was much less likely for a maintenance person to walk into a parked prop blade when they are in this position. You see the prop and walk around it, rather than walking "into" it and possibly causing injury.

Makes sense to me... The WW1 wooden props were often parked with the blades straight across from each other. I read somewhere this was done to help keep the propellers in balance. Apparently moisture could possible gather in one end of the "downhill" prop causing it to get heavier thus throwing the balance off.

But I wondered how moisture could pass through a sealed finish like varnish that was used to weather proof wood...

Maybe I just think about things too much.

On to the landing gear... I added the gear doors.

and installed the "Closed" canopy that was left over from the Airfix kit. I used tape to secure it as it dries. Yes it's in the "Open" position, but it was designed to be used on the Airfix kit in the "Closed" position.

Hey it works...

The main wheels were up next. These were given the Bare Metal Foil treatment on the hubs. Then I installed them using CA glue.

I painted the tail wheel...and now it looks much better.

I'm almost out of parts left to install. This is a good thing with the deadline coming.

Finally, here's how the C/A Hurricane looks. It's getting much closer to being done.

And that's a good thing.

As usual,
Comments are encouraged.

Thanks for looking.
Jeff Bailey said 6 years ago:

Looks outstanding, Lou! I didn't used to like the looks of the double props on Spits, Hurris, and 109s. Now I've grown into appreciating them.

Well done, Buddy!
Paul Barber said 6 years ago:

Well done Louis! It’s looking just marvellous. The prop is a thing of beauty my friend! Absolutely stunning!

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100 Years of The Royal Air Force Group Build

a Pair of 1/48 Early Hurricanes………. Airfix Mk 1, and a Classic Airframes ”cloth wing” version