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A pair of Hurricanes for some fallen "Aces"......


bdthoresen

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Howdy All. When I first heard of this Groupbuild idea, I though it was a great one. I met Larry through these boards years ago, and he always was cheerful to chat with, eager to help out with missing parts, and was not above a random act of kindness. I had sent him some parts for his legendary parts yard, and in return he sent me a plain brown box containing a Smithsonian release of the Revell Hawker Hurricane. All the parts were loose, as there was no kit box, and it came with no decals. Someone had cut most of the parts off of the sprues, and cut all control surfaces away except for the flaps. I had just finished reading Peter Townsend's book on the Battle of Britain, and have wanted to model his aircraft ever since.....

 

I also will build another Hurricane concurrently, this time the PCM release, as an early Mark I before the Battle of Britain. I will use some of the unused parts from it to dress up the Revell kit. I will try and build this one in honor of Russ and Dave(Rotary)....they both helped me out a couple of times out of sheer kindness, and it left an impression. Dave was a wealth of knowledge on some of the subjects I was researching, and really came to the rescue. Russ was a complete maniac, but I always enjoyed the hell out of that about him.

 

It is to these fellas I want to dedicate this undertaking. Pics to follow in a few days when there is something to show. Just a couple of boxes of parts right now. With the deadline almost a year out, Even I think I can finish them at my glacial pace in time.

 

Thanks for looking. More to follow.......

 

THOR

Edited by bdthoresen
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Thank you Derek and Harv. I must admit I am looking forward to these builds. The PCM Hurricane I am planning on building as an early RAF rag-wing, with the two bladed prop and early exhausts. I also like one of the schemes in the kit decals with the white/black/sky undersides.

 

The Revell kit as I said is the Smithsonian release of the Mk.IIc, which I will backdate to Mk.I standards. I know that Revell just modified the weapons in the wings to release the Mk.II, so the wings will need to be addressed. I will not being going crazy on correcting the build of the kit like Radub did on his. But I will be adding a scratchbuilt cockpit, as well as correcting the wheel well parts. I have started to build the cockpit tubular structure of the Revell kit based on some of the parts of the PCM kit. The Revell kit bears no resemblance to reality. I promise to post some pics when there is something interesting to show. Right now it is just a few tubular bits of styrene.

 

Anyway, thanks for the well wishes. I do appreciate it. More to follow.

 

Thor

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And so a small beginning. I have been quietly working on both of the Hurricanes over the last week and a half or so, focusing primarily on the Revell kit at this time. I have removed most of the PCM kit's parts from the sprues and cleaned them up, deciding that I could use them as patterns to build a new cockpit for the Revell kit. Suprisingly, PCM's kit is fairly accurate in shape and detail. I looked at the parts that Larry had sent me in the Revell kit, and decided to bin them immediately. Not all of the parts were even present! Here is what I got in the box from Mr. Hawkins.....

 

DSC03188.jpg

 

As you can see, the Revell cockpit comes with a solid floor, with the seat cut in half between the floor and rear bulkhead. The sidewall is also solid, which is not correct. The stick is too short, and oversize in many details. Also, the molded harness has to go. So, I decided to start with the basic structures of the cockpit....

 

DSC03194.jpg

 

I started with the floor, using .060 styrene tubing for the main parts. I copied the details of the PCM floor, which is good. I added the details from scrap sheet, and used Mr. Surfacer 500 on all of the tubing joints.....

 

DSC03192.jpg

 

The sidewalls were constructed in the same way. Many details to follow, but they are getting close to completion. The overall shape is there, but a lot of details remain to ba added.

 

DSC03191.jpg

 

The seat was kit bashed from the Hasegawa Spitfire Mk.V kit. Being that it is too tall for the Spitfire, I ended up cutting off the sides, and tapering the seat back per the Hurricane. I made some new sides from .020 styrene, and attached them with Tenax. I applied Mr. Surfacer to the joints and sanded them down. I have a bit more sanding on a sink mark on the seat back, as I had to add some more Mr. Surfacer to it.

 

DSC03195.jpg

 

I fabricated a rear bulkhead from .040 styrene, originally to replace the kit part. It still needs to be cutdown, and an armor plate fabricated. But it is a start.

 

DSC03189.jpg

 

The final photo shows all of the parts so far. I also fabricated the rudder bar from styrene and some leftover Hasegawa Spitfire rudder pedals. I cut them down and attached them. I will add the straps later...

 

That is all for now. Look for another update next weekend. Thanks for checking in.

 

THOR :ninja:

Edited by bdthoresen
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Fantastic work Thor! I have a couple of Revell Hurricanes in the stash myself, and will be looking for your build when the time comes.

 

Kev

 

Thanks Kevin. Appreciate the following. I will try not to let you down,mate!

 

 

Hummm... I can not see anything wrong with the Revell pit ... :rofl:

Good job my friend on that replacement pit, it looks good already.

:goodjob:

 

Thanks a lot Loic! I appreciate the feedback. I really am enjoying the Do335 build. Thanks so much for stopping by.

 

 

Nice work and good improvment.

 

Mark

 

Thanks a lot Mark. I appreciate you stopping by.

 

 

OH, this is gonna be good!(already is) Watching big time!............Harv :popcorn: :goodjob:

 

Thanks Harv! Glad to have you along. Really enjoying your P-38 thread.

 

Now I am currently working on some of the detail parts for the sidewalls in the cockpit. I also need to track down a harness for the seat. After that it will be onto the instrument panel. I will post more pics next weekend. Thanks fellas!

Thor

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Hey Doug thanks for following along. I am really enjoying the builds right now,as I have not built a Hurricane in many years, the last being in 1/48th about ten years ago. Never have built one in 32nd scale before.

 

The one complaint I have about the PCM instructions is that the info regarding equipment fit for each of the markings options is a little vague. I would like to do one of the fabric winged RAF versions from sometime around the Battle of France, but I cannot find any supporting photos of the actual aircraft. Not even sure the markings are correct. Might have to dig a bit harder. Would also be nice to know if a three-bladed Rotol or DeHavilland prop was installed, four or five spoke wheels, early or layer exhausts,etc......

 

Oh well. Look for another update this weekend.

 

Thor

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Hey Doug-

 

I am leaning toward the 151 Squadron option, GG-L, a Mk. 1 based out of Sealand, mid 1939. Not sure if the marking scheme is correct for it, whether or not it had an A or B camo pattern. Not even sure of the airframe serial, as it is not mentioned in the instructions. The paint instructions show later exhausts, and the pointed spinner of the two-bladed Watts prop. Not sure which wheels to use either. The instructionas are a bit vague.

 

Any insight?????? What about the other two RAF options in the kit? Are any of them accurate?

 

Thanks for any clues-

 

THOR

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  • 8 months later...

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