1/48 Hobbycraft Hawker Hurricane Mk II C Night Intruder *** FINISHED ***

Started by Louis Gardner · 28 · 1 year ago
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    Louis Gardner said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Here’s my contribution for this group. If time allows I will build a few more aircraft for the group.


    This is a kit that I have had in my stash for years now. It’s a very simple model and it’s going to be an out of the box build with no frills.




    The decals look like they are still in good condition.


    These are two of the decal options. I’m leaning towards building “LK*A” with the red spinner. I’m liking the idea of a single color paint scheme. We had a saying in the Army about “KISS” and I’m not talking about the Rock Group from the 70’s and 80’s 😉

    Keep it simple stupid ! Hey it worked for me.

    There’s another decal option for a French Hurricane that was in service during 1945.

    As always comments are encouraged.

    Thanks for stopping by.

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    John Healy said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Nice pick, Louis. That kit is definitely still worth building. Looking forward to seeing it take shape.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Yet another superb entry, my friend @lgardner! This classic kit looks great in the box, cannot wait to see it tackled by you. For sure, a wonderful result will emerge!

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    Eric Berg said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Good choice, Louis. Those decals look almost brand new. The white in the roundels hasn't yellowed at all. Hobby Craft did a good job there. I vote for Red Spinner LK-A. More colorful. I'll be watching your progress.

    Question: Is aircraft ZY-V restored and currently flying?

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Wonderful choice, Louis @lgardner
    My vote goes to the LK-A as well, I always like those red accents.

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    Louis Gardner said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    John Healy (@j-healy)
    Thanks John. I have started working on this one now, and you are absolutely correct. The fit has not been too bad so far. I'm actually pleasantly surprised by this.

    Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten)
    Thanks my friend. I hope to get this one done soon. And then I want to tackle my Korean War Hobbycraft Sea Fury. It has been placed in the "queue" to get started soon. I wanted to build it for our Korean War Group, as it will be drawing to an end soon.

    Erik Gjørup (@airbum)
    If Erik is OK with it, I would like to make a double entry, and post it here as part of the Hawker Group as well.

    Eric Berg (@eb801)
    Hello Eric ! Yes sir, I am very pleased with how the decals look. I have kept most of my stash squirreled away in our closets over the years, so they have been kept in a smoke free air conditioned setting, which I think helped tremendously. Time will tell me soon enough if they are as good as they look. I'll scan them first before I soak them in water just to be safe...

    I am going to do the red spinner plane. I have it built and painted now, the prop is ready to install when the time comes. I had to add a touch of LQS filler on the back sides of the prop blades because there is a small sink mark at the base of each blade. It was no big deal and it only took a few minutes of sanding once the LQS had fully dried. I'll try to post up some progress pictures soon.

    Yes the ZY-V has been repainted into the colors you see here. My understanding is that it was one of the Hurricanes that was flown by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. They decided to give the old girl a facelift and she really looks sharp. They did a wonderful job with it. It was a close toss up over which one I wanted to do. In the end, the more colorful version won...

    John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)
    I agree with you 100 percent. In fact I have already completed the spinner, the fuselage is assembled and I have the cockpit ready to be installed. Hopefully I can get some pictures posted up soon.

    Thanks everyone for stopping by.

    Please stay tuned, I'll try to get some pictures up here soon. 🙂

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    Erik Gjørup said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    I am OK with double postings Louis, as people have different interests some might follow one of the groups and not the other (personally I am happy to use the "my groups" button whenever I log in)

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    Louis Gardner said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    I have been working on the Hurricane. I was “in the zone” and I had completed a lot of work before I noticed that I had not taken too many photos along the way.


    The cockpit is very basic. There’s not much detail but it has a closed canopy so it will not be a problem for me.


    The canopy was then glued in place.

    Here are some pictures showing the assembled airframe.

    I pre painted the main landing gear wells using a "Flat Aluminum" color. I also thought it might be better if I had pre painted the area surrounding the wheel wells using a Flat Black. I'm hoping this might make it a little bit easier later on when the finish painting is done.

    The multi part propeller was assembled. I painted the spinner first, then installed the individual blades. I used some LQS to fill in a small sink hole that is present on the back side of each propeller blade near the base where it "plugs" into the spinner.

    This was a quick fix and now you can't tell there ever was a problem.



    The main landing gear was also built and painted.

    The tires were assembled, and I sprayed the wheel hubs at this time.

    This one is going together quickly. There's not a whole lot of detail, but so far the fit has been pretty good. It's not a Tamiya or Hasegawa quality fit, but it has only needed a little bit of LQS along the fuselage center seam on the spine.

    It's building up as I would expect a Hobby craft kit to. I actually enjoy building them. It's a nice change to do something nice and simple every once in a while. Good for the "mojo".

    As always, comments are encouraged.
    Thanks for stopping by.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    You are progressing nicely on this Hurricane, Louis @lgardner

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    Erik Gjørup said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Many nice little tips in this build Louis. A joy to follow.

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    Louis Gardner said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    The remaining small parts have now installed.


    The wing cannons were glued on. I thought it would be better to glue them on now before I sprayed the airframe Black.

    The radio antenna was also added.

    This is a Night Intruder Hurricane. I was lucky enough to find a picture of the original Hurricane. This photo shows that the original aircraft had a set of anti glare exhaust shields.

    I went back through several books I have, and I found another great reference picture showing the details online.

    This is what the Hurricane looks like now.

    As always comments are encouraged.
    Thanks for stopping by.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Great work, Louis @lgardner
    So many tiny elements make it a challenge to not brake them, but they would look much nicer when painted together with the airframe.
    The exhaust shield are a nice addition, never noticed them before on a Hurricane.

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    Christopher C Tew said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    This nice work on the small stuff, Louis, makes everything look better in the long run. HobbyCraft had such a mixed reputation, but it produced several quite good, very basic, kits. I have a couple of the Ju-88Ss, which will look fine enough with resin seat sets, and a couple of the Hurricane II variants. Your build here will be a valuable reference!

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    Louis Gardner said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Thanks gentlemen for the compliments. I made some more progress in the past few hours.


    The canopy was masked off. I painted the frames using RAF Interior Green in preparation for the final coat of Black.

    I decided to go with a Gloss Black for the final color. I did it because it will hopefully make it easier for the decals and possibly eliminate any silvering.

    I can always come back and tone down the shine. I have plans to do this on the fabric covered portions of the Hurricane.

    This will have to sit for several days so that the paint will have ample time to completely dry. If this is rushed then I take a chance of smudging the paint or possibly leaving fingerprints on it.

    I decided to take a pair of exhaust from one of the Hasegawa Hurricane kits I have in my stash. The Hasegawa parts look much better than the ones that Hobby Craft have included in the kit.

    I’m getting closer !
    As always comments are encouraged.
    Thanks

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Looks wonderful so far, my friend @lgardner! A good decision to apply gloss black and an equally great decision to use the Hasegawa exhausts.
    Looking forward to it!