IainM Posted August 30, 2022 Author Share Posted August 30, 2022 (edited) The build progresses...undercarriage has been fixed, landing light and nav light masks removed, exhaust stacks have been attached. It's had a semi-matte coat applied, and now is ready for some oil and enamel weathering. With a bit of hard work, I think she's turning into a lovely build, however, if I have one major complaint, it's going to be with the undercarriage (fragility) and the way it fits into the resin bay.... This is what I've had to do to make it a little more sturdy.... The lugs at the top of the undercarriage leg (which were just about a lump of misshapen plastic) was removed, hole was drilled and a piece of brass tubing inserted and filed to conform to the shape of the receiving end in the resin bay (which also needed a lot of work. It was all solid, so I had to drill and carve out slots for that brass tube to sit in). This was then drilled and a brass rod inserted from the top side - a corresponding hole was drilled in the bay for this to fit into. Once I attached, it, I used some JB weld on the pin and in the hole to make sure there would be no flex. The extension arm which I replaced with a brass tube in the kit was quite nasty to say the least. I cut off the lug at the end of that arm, drilled both it, and a receiving slot into the undercarriage leg. The rail in the u/c bay floor which the arm and lug attached to was notched, so after a bit of careful measuring, and end of the arm would sit in the notch and provide more rigidity. The lug could then be slid into place over the notch. The axle itself was very undersized circumference-wise and flexible, so I had to drill and pin it through its length with a 0.3mm rod, and then built up the circumference using brass slide tubing. Much better fit into the resin Barracuda wheels I managed to get old of! Thanks @MikeMaben for the heads-up! That's how it looks now. Bit of brass, JB Weld and CA makes it all OK.......but....when I put it on her legs, there was something definitely off..the starboard wingtip was sitting lower than the port wingtip - by 5mm at the tips, which equated to 1.5mm at the gear legs. So even by using a miniature machinists square to ensure that I was getting right angles, etc when attaching the gear, it was still off. I think either the resin bay was slightly warped, or I just messed up. So what I've done to rectify the problem was to sand a little more flat into one of the wheels than the other one, and also keyhole the axle holes in the wheel hubs. The port was was keyholed down and the starboard keyholed up with a bit of plastic shim to force the axle up, and that seems to have done the trick. Looking directly from the front it's not absolutely perfect the way the legs themselves sit, but it'll do! Exhausts were done with Lifecolour rust colour applied as glazes over Alclad Exhaust manifold, with a bit of Mig rust and black powders. The exhaust marks were sprayed - and this all still needs some oil treatments.... The anti-glare panels will be attached once I've done the overall weathering, you can see the slots I've cut for them. Landing lights came out quite nicely. Always nerve-wracking removing those masks! Edited August 30, 2022 by IainM Spelling.... TAG, Cheetah11, Landrotten Highlander and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 That looks absolutely fantastic, Iain! Makes me want to start dragging all my Hurricane kits out of the stash. Kev Scale32 and IainM 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monthebiff Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Very nice Iain, lovely paint work and markings look just perfection. Regards. Andy IainM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 I can only agree with the comments above. IainM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeroen_R90S Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 +1 ! IainM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainM Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 The Hurricane is nearing completion - one of the sticking points was the armoured glass (quite evident on a Hurricane), but I was battling to figure out how to attach it to the inside of the windshield. So I ended up making a frame from annealed brass strip which was formed around the acetate - the acetate will just press-fit into the frame, and this in turn pops in nicely (wedged between the coaming and the windshield). I've just finished painting the frame (and the armoured glass in clear green), so perhaps over the weekend I'll fit them. Glare shields are on, canopy and cockpit masking off, touch-ups have been done. Still need to fit the canopy, radio mast, pitot tube, radio wires, etc, but she's eventually about done Cheetah11, monthebiff, TAG and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Barry Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Flawless beauty! Love the Hawkers! Congrats on hard work well done! IainM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Awesome. Takes me back to building the Matchbox kit when I was a kid. Of course, I brush-painted it with Humbrol gloss black enamel, but still thought it looked pretty sick! Kev IainM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scale32 Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 I love it, seamless build, paint and weathering. It looks just right. Cheers Bevan IainM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainM Posted October 23, 2022 Author Share Posted October 23, 2022 On 10/21/2022 at 2:22 PM, Jim Barry said: Flawless beauty! Love the Hawkers! Congrats on hard work well done! On 10/21/2022 at 3:16 PM, LSP_Kevin said: Awesome. Takes me back to building the Matchbox kit when I was a kid. Of course, I brush-painted it with Humbrol gloss black enamel, but still thought it looked pretty sick! Kev On 10/21/2022 at 6:28 PM, Scale32 said: I love it, seamless build, paint and weathering. It looks just right. Cheers Bevan Thanks for the comments gents, all much appreciated! Just finished her up this morning after getting back from pre-dog shift! Night shift tonight, and then have some days off, I'll get around to taking some pics of her for RFI. Very pleased to have a Hurricane in the collection at last, especially a cannon-equipped NF! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petrov27 Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 Very nice build - really is going to be a stunner - excellent job with the masks and markings! IainM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monthebiff Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 Superb finish Iain, very nice indeed! Regards. Andy IainM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainM Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 She's up in the RFI, link here Thanks everyone for all your help! scvrobeson, Trak-Tor, Fanes and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 A very fine looking Hurricane Iain, really super job! IainM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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