Hawker Hurricane MkIIc Nightfighter - Finished

[Dpgsbody55]

And I'm back from Melbourne, having brought back an unwanted passenger in the form of a stinking head cold.   Other than that, the trip was great and I saw lots of lovely shiny cars I can't afford, and enjoyed wandering the streets.  Thankfully, Melbourne turned on it's best weather for this time of year too, which is handy if you want to walk anywhere.  This year is the seventy fifth anniversary of Porsche and Ferrari, and there were plenty of the latter on display, but not so many Porkers, which was disappointing.

 

My Hurricane is now painted, varnished, decal'd and varnished again.  Here it is shiny.

 

 

Not looking much different from the last update, but applying a layer of gloss clear is a must unless you like the look of decal carrier film.

 

Here we are, now with the decals on and a coat of flat varnish.  This is as the model is now.

 

 

The dark red patches highlight an advantage of the Hurricane's construction, being very easy to repair after it's been shot up.

 

Top side views.  I've also removed all the masking, as you can see.  I was concerned about glue around the bullet proof screen, but it's all OK.

 

 

 

 

So now it's on to final fitment.  Undercarriage is next, I think.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

[MikeMaben]

Nice Mike I want to do a Squadron 1 MkIIc in day fighter scheme.

 

 

...someday

[Dpgsbody55]

On 10/17/2022 at 1:42 PM, MikeMaben said:

Nice Mike I want to do a Squadron 1 MkIIc in day fighter scheme.

 

 

...someday

 

Thanks Mike.  I built this plane (BE581) decades ago in a smaller scale (1/72, I think) and always wanted to do it in large scale format.  I bought the kit about fifteen years ago, then found the decals a while after, and it's been sitting on my stash ever since.  This GB has finally given me the impetus to get it done.  But rest assured that I have other kits in said stash that are in the someday category .  Like a Trumpy Wildcat for starters.

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MikeMaben]

They have sufficient coolness factor for me ...

 

 

 

[Dpgsbody55]

I decided add other bits first, but the undercarriage is a work in progress at the moment.  First job was to add the exhausts, starting with the exhaust stains along the side of the plane, as this is easier with the exhausts themselves not yet attached.  The exhausts consist of three parts on each side, so these were painted individually in steel, then dry brushed firstly in gunmetal, then burnt metal.  After assembly, the cowlings were removed, the exhausts added, then the cowlings glued permanently in place.  Then the exhausts were subjected to some staining.

 

 

More weathering was added for oil stains at the crank hole and lower cowling behind the prop.  There is an oil shield fitted to the top cowling to prevent oil fowling the windscreen.

 

The next thing was the guns, which in my case are brass aftermarket.  Each gun comes in three pieces, gun barrel, springs and barrel mount which was fitted previously when I put the wings together.

 

 

Their fit is exact, so I glued the halves together and primed and painted them, without painting the barrel mount.  Trial fitted:

 

 

The barrel mounts should be gunmetal too, so they were masked off and painted, then the guns fitted properly.

 

 

In this shot, you can also see the landing lights with their etch details added.  So much better than stock.  

 

Here's a close up of the nav lights too.  The background was painted aluminium, and the inner half of the light was painted clear red or green, as appropriate.  This is common on aircraft as the fitting often has two halves for the clear left and right beacon and left and right nav lights.

 

 

That's it for now.  Back to the undercarriage, and in particular the wheels which are giving me grief as the kit is fifteen years old and the vinyl tyres are a tad hard.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

10 minutes ago, MikeMaben said:

They have sufficient coolness factor for me ...

 

 

 

 

Nice picture, Mike.  There seems to be spread of aircraft ages here, judging from the serial numbers.  JX-Y looks well worn.  I have this picture in a book I have on RAF squadrons.  It appears that this picture was taken immediately before the squadron moved to Acklington in July 1942 for conversion to Typhoons.  At this time, 1 Squadron is back on day fighter ops.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MikeMaben]

Yep, there are other pics of this same flight ... inspiring.

 

[Dpgsbody55]

On 10/20/2022 at 1:28 PM, MikeMaben said:

Yep, there are other pics of this same flight ... inspiring.

 

 

If that was in colour, that would be one to frame for the wall.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

The Hurricane was completed a week ago, but this is not my last report on the build, as I have something else to present when it's not 12:02am as I start writing.

 

Undercarriage is first, and here's a (not very good) shot of the now completed undercarriage bay, to which I've added a little of the hydraulic lines.

 

 

Next is the wheels and tires, which presented their own little challenge thanks to the age of this kit.  I bought it at least fifteen years ago, and in that time the vinyl tires have gone a little hard, which made fitting them onto the wheels difficult.  In the end, a little brute force and ignorance saved the day.  I've also flattened the bottoms of the tires for that weighted look, and the wheel centres have been enhances with a little etch.

 

 

Now attached, and with the addition of brake lines made from fine gauge electrical wire and insulator.  The undercarriage doors have also been added and some dirt added on both sides.

 

 

 

Next to go on was the propeller.  The constant speed housing is supposed to be glued to the rest of the prop, then it is slid into place over the prop shaft.  This guarantees it's going to come off every time you pick up the model, unless it's glued solid on the prop shaft.  So I put the prop in place without the C/S housing, then glued that onto the shaft to act as a retainer.  The prop spins nicely now.

 

 

Then the spinner went on.

 

 

Now it's just finishing touches, and since neither of the outer gun covers sat in place well, a little grinding was called for on each.  The inner gun covers on the left were fine.

 

 

These were then touched up, as were the frames surrounding the gun openings.

 

 

The last thing added was the pilot's retractable step, and the model was done.  Oil staining was added around the nose and radiator, as well as exhaust stains on each side of the fuselage and gun shell ejector chutes under the wings. 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope tomorrow to be able to write the last update on this, and present more pictures as well as show you what else I've added to the display of this model.  And it's not a diorama.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

This particular Hurricane, BE581, is one I have wanted to build in large scale for a very long time.  I like the look of the day time camouflage on the top and black nightime camo underneath.  I built it decades ago as a 1/72 kit and always wanted to do it again, but bigger.  BE581 was flown by Karel Kuttelwascher, a Czech pilot who joined 1 Squadron RAF in October 1940.  He started his flying career in the Czech airforce in 1934, aged 18, finally gaining his first posting in 1937.  Following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and the dissolving of the Czech air force, he made his way via Poland to France, and flew with the French air force until July 1940 when his French unit had been evacuated to Morocco.  During this time, he shot down two enemy aircraft.

 

Kuttelwascher made his way now to England and joined the RAF.  After training on Hurricanes, he joined 1 Squadron in October 1940, during the later stages of the Battle of Britain.  He shot down his first plane in April 1941, and two more over the following two months.  By July 1941 and newly promoted to Flight Lieutenant, the squadron had moved to Tangmere and was primarily engaged in night intruder operations, something which required great skill and bravery, flying over occupied France at night, with only a map and compass to find your way about.  No radar.  Typically, aircraft flew with long range tanks operating over a range of 900 miles, and the guns were loaded with only 91 rounds of ammunition which gave nine seconds of firing time.   This lasted until July 1942 when the squadron moved to Acklington to convert to Typhoons.  From April 1942 to July that year, the squadron had accounted for 21 enemy aircraft, Kuttelwascher being responsible for fifteen of them. 

 

Kuttelascher didn't go with 1 Squadron when they converted to Typhoons, instead being moved to 23 Squadron at Ford, near Tangmere, operating Mosquito NFII's.  Paired with his radar operator, he flew missions over France and the Netherlands, but did not manage to add to his score.  He was withdrawn from operations in October 1942 and had a number of staff appointments until being appointed as a test pilot at RAF St Athan in Wales.  At the end of the war, he returned to Czechoslavakia and rejoined the Czech Air Force but his wife and children did not adapt to life in that country and returned to England in January 1946.  By May, Kuttelwascher had also returned and joined British Overseas Airways as a first officer.  Divorced in 1951, he started a green grocery business, but continued to fly and was promoted to Captain in 1956.  Unfortunately, while on holiday in August 1959, he suffered a heart attack, and died after suffering another while in hospital on 13th August, aged 42.  He was the most successful night intruder pilot, highest scoring Czech pilot, and sixth most successful night fighter pilot.

 

During 2007, the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight repainted one of their Hurricanes, PZ865 (the last Hurricane built) in the colours of Kuttelwascher's plane in tribute to him, as it was on the night of 4/5 May 1942 when he shot down three Heinkels near St Andre, France, within four minutes.

 

 

Sometime after this, the plane was painted all black, but was returned to day fighter scheme by July 1942.  I have tried to duplicate the plane as it was on that night, but my rendition shows the damage repairs previously incurred as indicated by the red patching over the canvas parts.

 

 

 

 

 

I've spent a bit more time on the weathering, as I wasn't happy with my efforts previously.

 

 

 

 

And here it is on the display shelf.

 

 

Which brings me to the last part of this.  The engine is the one I pulled out of my old Airfix Hurricane, from which a few parts were gently removed and repainted, plus some time spent adding more detail.  Here's a reminder of what I started with.  I had wanted to put this inside the model, but there are insurmountable issues caused by shape differences between the Airfix kit and Trumpeters offering.  I found that the exhausts would have exited the model in a slightly lower place than is realistic, so this idea was the next best thing.  Trumpeter's Merlin offering is a little on the small side and wildly inaccurate, so it just supports the prop.

 

 

It's not a good shot, and readers please forgive my mistakes.  This was built half a lifetime ago, and well before the internet age and all the benefits that has brought to the modelling world.  This is  better base for this display, but still not as accurate as some of today's 1/32 offerings, particularly around the carburettor.

 

Here is is now.  I built a stand from 4mm stock square tube, then proceeded to add as much detail as I could, including as much as I could of the rods and levers at the back of the engine.  This includes the operating rods for the ignition timing advance/retard mechanism around the magnetos and supercharger.  Unfortunately, as it's all painted black, it doesn't stand out that well.  I recommend squinting.   I've also added a few of the Trumpy parts such as the hydraulic pump for the undercarriage which would have been found on later Hurricane's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's not 100% accurate, but attempts to show the mechanism and operating rods in this part of the engine.  Here's a picture of a Merlin III, originally from a Fairey Battle that I took while on holiday in Darwin earlier this year.  The RAAF Darwin museum is well worth a visit if you're ever in Darwin.

 

 

One more pic, for luck .

 

 

So that's the end of this build.  Mostly it was a lot of fun, but with two disappointments along the way.  Firstly, that I was unable to replace the Trumpeter RR Merlin with the old on from my old Airfix kit, and secondly, that I was unable to find some suitable drop tanks to add to this build.  I couldn't find any on the wide world of web to buy, but I thought I had something in my spares box, only to find that I'd tossed them out a while back thinking "I'll never use these".    I thought I had a suitable set left over from the VFS P-47 I built some years back.  Never throw any unused parts out, is the moral of that story.  Just don't ask me where you're going to put them after half a century of model building........ 

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

PS.  I have more picture of this early Merlin and if I can ever remember how to do a Walkaround presentation here, I'll put them up.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Dpgsbody55

[MikeMaben]

Very nice Michael 

[Gazzas]

Well done!

 

[BradG]

Great job mate I will add you to the gallery.