27 replies to this topic

[LSP_Kevin]

Looking good John - and moving fast too! I think this must be one of the best-looking Revell pilots ever. None of the ones I have look as well-moulded as this one. I don't have the Hurricane kit though (I'm still on the hunt).

Kev

[mywifehatesmodels]

Thanks, Kevin.

The pilot is actually from the Hasegawa Spitfire II kit. It's a mix of the Revell fuselage with newer tooled wings. Not sure of the origin of the pilot, but it does look a little better than the old Revell pilots. So, it may actually be Hase. I'm not sure.

Thanks again,

John

[PhilB]

Strewth John,
You are going to be finished before we've had a chance to have a good look!
I know about doing a quick build, good therapy after you have been grinding away at another project for a long time!

Phil

[mywifehatesmodels]

I did an undercoat on the metal surfaces of Aluminum Plate Metalizer. Forgot to get a pic of that, though. Then, I painted the underside with MM Sky. The Upper surfaces are MM RAF Dark Earth and RAF Dark Green and I used a raised, card mask. The camo pattern isn't perfect, but I think you would have to be a Hurricane expert or do a close comparison with photos to see the differences. It's shaping up, nicely.






Happy Modeling,

John

[Baron von Blutwurst]

Looks great to me John....nice paint m8.

Cheers
Randy

[mywifehatesmodels]

Thanks, Randy.

It's actually finished. I just came in from the shop. However, I had a minor catastrophe and I'm just going to have to live with it. I'll try to get some pictures up in the next day or two.

Thanks again,

John

[big matt]

Blink... Hurricane! Wow, that was fast! Looks great. I really like the camo job. How is the paint adhesion to the metalizer? Are you using enamel or acrylic?

[mywifehatesmodels]

Blink... Hurricane! Wow, that was fast! Looks great. I really like the camo job. How is the paint adhesion to the metalizer? Are you using enamel or acrylic?

Thanks, Matt.

The paints are Model Master enamels. Adhesion is typically good with this combination. But, I like using the metalizer as an undercoat, as it makes it a little easier to "chip" when I'm weathering (adhesion is good in the sense that it doesn't just rub/flake off, but can be pulled off when you want to). Normally, I would take a bit of masking tape and form it to a point, press it firmly on the paint and then pull it off, to get a paint chip. However, on this one, it didn't seem to work like that, so I ended up using an X-acto blade to scrape the chips off.

I hope to have pics up later, today. I'll let the cat out of the bag now, though. I normally use Testors Flat Lacquer on my models. I ran out, though. So, I used Microscale's "Micro Flat" on this one. I figured that the worst that could happen would be that it would not be as "dead flat" as the lacquer. Unfortunately, I was very wrong. Not only is it not as flat, but it's glossy! Even though it's dry, it still looks wet! On top of that, there are a few spots on the finish where it developed a "crackle" effect. Fortunately, most of those spots are on the underside, but that still doesn't change the gloss finish it has. I tried to lightly sand it with 600 grit paper, but it makes the finish turn "milky" looking. So, I'm not sure if I can fix it, or not. I think I'll give it a few weeks to completely cure, then do a test spot with some flat lacquer, when I get some more. Not sure if that will work, or make it worse.

I'm hoping to do a photo shoot, today. Unfortunately, when you want the weather to be overcast, it's bright and sunny!

Thanks,

John

[mywifehatesmodels]

I sneaked out to take some pics. There's not a cloud in the sky, so the sunlight was more than I would like, but it is what it is (kind of like this build, as a whole!).

First off, before I weathered it, I made my own decals for this aircraft's serial. They may not be a perfect match, but they look the part.




The rest of the decals came from various sources. Originally, I was going to use the roundels from the Smithsonian Edition IIc kit. However, they were all wrong and I questioned how well they would settle down, given their age and origin. After rifling through my spares and kit stash, I found a set of decals in the Hobbycraft (Trumpeter) AVG P-40 kit. These fit the bill. The only exception,(which I didn't think about until after they were on) were the decals for the tail flash. This is larger than my reference profile for this particular airframe, but it's not out of place for a Hurricane of BoB vintage. The code letters are from the Carpena RAF code set. The gun tapes were cut from the red portion of the IIc tail flashes (the gun muzzle openings weren't perfectly round, so I decided to cover them). All of the decals reacted well to Micro Set/Sol, spare one upper wing roundel, which developed a tight wrinkle, which eventually cracked. I mixed some dark blue to touch it up, but it's still visible, if you look closely.

Weathering was done by chipping the paint with an X-acto knife, then an acrylic black/brown wash, thinned with alcohol. I finished it up with pastels for the smoke/oil/dirt stains. As I explained in my last post, the normal flat lacquer that I usually use was substituted with Micro Flat and it turned out glossy. I was not happy. But, given the other warts that were a result of me and/or the kit, I guess it's par for the course on this one. I think it turned out okay, but I will certainly be adding a better representation of a Hurricane to my collection, at some point.

Here's a couple pics. The rest can be viewed at the "Ready For Inspection" forum, HERE.

Thanks for following along!

John

[Allok]

Nice one John.

[LSP_Kevin]

Congrats on getting her finished John, and in quick time too! That first shot is amazing.

Kev

[mywifehatesmodels]

Thanks, guys.

Congrats on getting her finished John, and in quick time too! That first shot is amazing.

Kev

I don't know about "amazing", but I had to have at least one shot where the bright sun would work to my advantage.

[Out2gtcha]

It looks fantastic with the forced perspective back drop...........Well done!

Brian