1/32 FLY Hurricane: spinning wild

[quang]

Hello again,

 

Now that we're past the turbulent waters, comes the fun part: detailing and painting the cockpit.

 

This is what FLY gave us to start with:

 

What we're trying to achieve is THIS:

 

It's not as daunting as it looks. It's just a matter of adding things to the existing framework and sidewalls. We will use stock parts (mainly resin) and scratch build some others. I'm not too impressed by the featureless and uni-dimensional photo-echted parts provided and prefer making my own from plasticard or tin foil.

 

As for the reference, many photos can be found on the internet. For the sake of authenticity, I'd rather choose the ones from original, unrestored machines over the modern 'warbirds'. Having said that, I relied quite often to 'creative gizmology' (a term coined by master modeller Sheperd Paine) to give a busy, cluttering  atmosphere to the cockpit. The main goal here is not 100% accuracy but rather an 'authentic' ambience.

 

The stock resin seat is quite good. Only missing are the height-adjusting lever (made from brass tube) and the leather patch – designed to stop the parachute ripcord chaffing on the metal – made from tin foil.

 

Details on the tubular framework: 

– the plywood triangular placard (featureless brass part in the kit) was made from plasticard  and detailed.

– The stock brass floor boards are too narrow and discarded. New ones were made from scored tin foil.

– Various instruments are attached to the framework by tin foil 'clips'.

 

The control column is next. As it's the main point of attraction of the cockpit (together with the IP), I decided to discard the stock part and build my own from brass tube and solder. The green stuff is Duro, a 2-part epoxy putty. First try (on the photo) slavishly based on the stock item was too short. I had to scrape it and build a new one   

 

 

 

The emergency escape hatch was glued to the RH fuselage half and various items added to the sidewalls. Map case from plasticard, pouch from Duro, charts from scored tin foil.

 

Left side: dark grey items are stock resin parts. The rest is built from scratch. Note cockpit lights from telephone wire.

 

Backplate armour made from plasticard with sprue rivets. Featureless tock brass part on the left.

 

Cockpit walls primed in black and given a coat of grey-green:

 

 

Framework primed in black and painted with AK Flat Aluminium

 

Camera fast forward. Shading and hightlighting completed. Test fit.

 

Pfftt! THAT was a long post. 

 

In the next step, we'll finish the cockpit and button up the fuselage

 

Until then, keep well.

 

Cheers,

Quang

[Old Dog]

Very nice ! Looking at photos of British interiors always gives me the impression of chaos, like things were just stuck anywhere they fit rather than building to a plan.

[Chek]

Very nice Q.

It's looking very busy already and should come together nicely.

[mywifehatesmodels]

I'll be watching this one closely. I've always wanted to build a better Hurri IIC, after having done the Revell kit as a kid. This is very inspiring. Great details and construction, so far, Quang!

 

John

[LSP_Kevin]

Terrific work, Quang, and very expertly handled.

 

Kev

[dodgem37]

Nice clean fun.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[petrov27]

Extremely nice cockpit work there - love it!

[quang]

Thank you all for your kind words.

 

The cockpit was fun to do. For once, there is a lot of documentation, mostly on the internet. The hardest part was to sort out which detail is relevant and which is not. For instance, a bomb release switch on a Mk.IIC? Or a GPS?   

…or else, a pilot's friend?

 

Cheers,

Quang

Edited June 23, 2016 by quang

[Chek]

I wish my daughter was ten years younger - she'd have loved that teddy-in-a-'plane touch. 

 

As did my son when I made a beautiful Engine Grey/aluminium/day-glo orange and penguin bedecked R5D on South Pole duties for a client almost twenty odd years ago.

 

A nice individual and plausible addition Quang. Very imaginative. Fur's a bugger to model though....

[quang]

 

As did my son when I made a beautiful Engine Grey/aluminium/day-glo orange and penguin bedecked R5D on South Pole duties for a client almost twenty odd years ago.

 

I remember that one, an old favourite. Was it Esci or Italeri?

 

As for the fur, it's all in the painting. Stippling effect made with an old brush.

 

Q

[Chek]

I remember that one, an old favourite. Was it Esci or Italeri?

 

As for the fur, it's all in the painting. Stippling effect made with an old brush.

 

Q

 

Actually, it was the Rareplanes vac-form.  A very nice kit

[quang]

Oops. I mistook it for the R4D (C-47 variant). I'm a sucker for airplanes on skis and arctic red. 

[quang]

 

It's time to finish up the cockpit and close the fuselage.

 

The painted framework parts were re-assembled and glued together. Last additions were made. Yet I couldn't find a way to adjust the seat in its correct position.

 

So I decided to cut off the horizontal tubes behind the seat

 

and replace them by 2 (red) plastic rods on the framework

 

Finished cage:

 

Now onto the instrument panel. Stock items are made from brass etchings and printed film.

 

I was somewhat disappointed by the result. The instruments printed on the film were nearly invisible and the Vallejo acrylics would not stick to the brass. So I decided to make the jump and order the newly-issued YAHU instrument panel.

 

It's not cheap but I never looked back because the YAHU is a marvel of technology. FLY (left) vs YAHU (right)

 

It's different from your casual Eduard printed IP being made of laminated transparent films. The precision is remarkable even under extreme magnification. Here's the YAHU with added switches, compass and reserve bulbs for the gun sight.

 

 Now comes the itchy part: attaching the cage to the fuselage.

 

The framework is cemented to the right fuselage half using the shelf and the firewall as attachment points. I used Tamiya extra thin polystyrene cement as it would allow me to make minor adjustments once the parts are in situ.

 

View from the bottom 

 

After dry-fitting with the left fuselage in place and everything squared and centered, the assembly is strengthened by running gap-filling cyano over the joins. The IP is cemented and the seat is dressed up with RB Productions Sutton harness. I prefer the RB because it has the necessary 'heft' for simulating the heavy webbing used on real-life harnesses.

 

After checking for last chance additions, I closed the fuselage and called it a day. 

 

Next stop: wheel wells.

 

Keep well,

Quang

[mywifehatesmodels]

Quang,

 

I wonder if enamel or lacquer paint would have adhered better to the instrument panel. However, it's hard to argue against the aftermarket panel, since it looks just as amazing as the rest of your cockpit!

 

John

[Chek]

That Yahu panel is totally amazing (like their others) Quang, and is actually what Eduard's pre-printed items should have been instead of the lo-res printed step backwards they've gone with.

 

Radu's harness also looks far better than the HGW version I bought too. I think a change is needed, and is coming.

 

Your reworked head armour is a vast improvement as well now it's seen in place

 

And the're all plainly visible in the model once installed! How often does that happen!

 

The Tempest definitely needs a Yahu panel.

In fact I wish they'd also consider including some of the other cockpit sub-panels to the same standard too.

 

But... no helmet or harness for the bear???