Greif8

Very nice build Thomas. The leading edge camo pattern is an eye-catcher and your did a great job weathering the aircraft. Ernest

Thank you Brian, coming from a modeler with your skills that means a lot. Hi Dennis, right up front I will say test fit, test fit, test fit before any glue is used. The kit is actually coming together thus far, but I have put far more thought into the assemble process than I normally do. I spent a good deal of time studying the instructions and thinking about how the kit will fit together before I started to build it. I am also doing my best to look ahead and anticipate potential problems before they rear there ugly head, and that is where some forward planning - and thoughtful test fitting - can help. For example, after thinking through how the cockpit will fit into the fuselage, taking into account where resin parts glue together with styrene ones, I decided to modify the construction sequence because I think my way will be less of a "stress test" when the time comes to putting the pit in place. We shall see if my assumptions hold water very soon! Ernest

The interior has been painted and the detail painting is also done. I added a few decals to simulate stenciling putting the down with future to avoid silvering. I will be gloss coating next, followed by some weathering. Ernest A poor shot, light conditions are not the best today for at the bench shooting, of the cockpit parts. I have finished everything except the joystick which needs a couple of small painting touch ups. The IP looks pretty good. Macro of the port console. Starboard side of the tub. Port side, the "chain" I scratched now looks the part. Another port side macro showing the assembly I made that I know believe operates the Sutton Harness tensioning and release. This little project actually turned out better then I thought it would. The joystick about 80% complete.

Like you Mike I generally stick to WWII, followed by WWI subjects. I have built a grand total of two modern jets for friends. Ernest

Another thing to remember when constructing an aircraft flown by Galland, or any other leading ace for that matter, is that his/their aircraft very likely received more tender loving care than a fighter flown by Joe Nobody meaning it, again generally, looked a bit less beat up. During the BoB timeframe, and for a couple of months afterwards, German JG operated from forward base, very often from grass fields with little to no permanent maintenance structures; and several of the JG had gotten very little break after the Battle of France was completed. So their aircraft were more worn than say later in the war when the JG in the west mostly operated from established airfields. Gives us modelers a lot of latitude when it come to weathering. Ernest

You are spot on Thierry, The simple little additions to the PCM MkI Hurricane that I did took a lot of thought, and looking through my spare bin/AM stuff, to come up with things that would look fairly close to accurate. The actual assembly was quite simple in comparison.

If only all scratch building dilemmas were as simple and straight forward as the oil cooler I would do more of it! <grin> Continued outstanding work Thierry! Ernest

Thank you Troy, sometimes the moon stars align for me. Ernest

Thank you Gaz! Ernest

Nice picture, given the victory bars it was probably taken sometime between late Nov 40 - the end of Mar 41 I would guess. Ernest

Hi guys, this is my second build for this group build. I plan to build the aircraft marked as a No. 17 Squadron aircraft. No. 17 Squadron was based at Tangmere during a large portion of the battle so it fits well as a protagonist of the JG27 Bf109 I built. Being a short run kit the PCM offering will have some challenges to be sure, but hopefully I can master them. Like the 109 I will build the Hurricane mostly OOB; and will use only an HGW seatbelt, some of their wet transfer stencil markings and Zotz decals. As you can see in the following photos I have already done more scratchbuilding in the cockpit than I did with the 109. This is mostly minor stuff such as adding knobs, levers and buttons with their mounting plates in some cases, though I did go a bit further with a couple of items. Ok, on to the photos of what will - hopefully - be a fun journey that will (even more hopefully) result in a decent representation of a BoB era Hurricane. Ernest Overall shot of the cockpit framing showing my additions. On the port side I added the throttle friction adjustment wheel (the white circular item mounted on a slightly larger black circular friction plate.). The landing flaps selector lever and cabling, (The beige lever with the copper wire running down from it.). The chain for the trim adjustment wheel, I pinched a thin piece of Evergreen strip to emboss the chain look into the plastic. Somewhat crude but as it will be mostly hidden it will do. Finally, on the upper port tubing, I added parts to represent those found on the actual aircraft, but I'll be darned if I know what it does. On the starboard side I added the T Handle that operates the emergency flare. Above that is what will be a brass painted button that was used to operate the windshield de-icing system. Finally, the beige object above the de-icing button is FLIGHT/GROUND lever. The white strip on the tubing will be flap indicator. All these items will be painted the, what I think, are the correct colors after I spray the interior green. Another view of the port side stuff. A shot showing the throttle levers (a repair and an addition), the oil priming button (the white item) and above those, a silver lever on the circular object that I also don't have any idea what it does. Like the other stuff these will all be hand painted the correct colors after interior green is applied. Electrical cable for the trigger. The joystick is pretty basic and I may summon the energy to improve it, we shall see. A closer view of the starboard side additions. A closer view of the mystery item on the port upper tubing.

Thank you Mike! Ernest

Hi Nick, it is possible, though highly unlikely the either of Galland's aircraft that he used during the Battle of Britain had the 74,75, 65 scheme. Official instructions to change to that exterior camo scheme were not issued by the Luftwaffe administration until Nov 41. Again, it is possible that RLM 74 and 75 were being experimented with during the BoB timeframe, but it is unlikely that is so. A plausible explanation for the Hasegawa color scheme is that RLM 74 can look a lot like RLM 71 depending on such factors as how the light is striking the painted surface, the amount of wear the painted surface has had and where a particular RLM color was mixed; all of which can effect the color tone. There is nothing absolutely definitive when it comes to RLM colors and how/when they were applied however; so you could justifiably use 74/75 and explain it as one of Galland's innovations along with the forward canopy mounted telescope and ashtray in the cockpit! Ernest

Very nice job! Ernest

Really nice work John. Your combination of BMF and camo looks great! Your figure is also just fine, and you got the fit in the cockpit correct - not an easy task. Ernest