Hawker Hurricane MkIIc Nightfighter - Finished

[Dpgsbody55]

As my H2K 109E build has ground to a halt due to a still missing cowling, I'm going to put it aside for the moment (not yet ready to mention shelves of doom yet) and start another.  I said I'd support this GB when it started and if I don't start now, it will be too late to finish in time.

 

So here goes with a kit that has been a long term stash resident, which will be finished as a MkIIc nightfighter. 

 

 

I'll be adding these to the build.

 

 

I've built the Hurricane MkI version of this kit seven years ago, which was the second model I put up on this forum.  I said at the time that I wasn't hugely impressed with the model as it has some silly errors, and this is why the kit has remained in the stash all these years.  I still think the Airfix MkI is better, and one of these has been swinging from my ceiling for a long, long time.  I think this is about 30 years old.

 

 

So now it will come down from there and in all likelyhood, it's place will be taken by the Trumpy MkI.  I have thoughts of trying to fit the engine from this to the MkIIc I'm about to start, so to that end I've been doing some comparisons between the two.  I will have to use the Trumpeter kit engine mount and bulkhead as the Trumpy kit is wider by about 3mm.  I'll also have to use the Trumpy prop as the spinner is smaller in diameter by about the same amount.  Then there's the question of how much of the cowlings I can cut away as mounting points are cast into the back of each rear engine side cowl.  This is the look I want.

 

 

..... In more appropriate colours, of course.    The exhaust positioning in relation to the Trumpy kit's exhaust opening is crucial, as is the prop shaft being dead centre of the very front opening in the fuselage.  The Trumpy engine mounts are slightly longer which is correct as MkII Hurricanes were slightly linger in the nose than MkI's.  However, they're not correctly shaped as the lower brace on each side mounts further out on the wing spar.  So I've built up the Trumpy engine block and engine mounts just to get a start as to where the Airfix engine mill mount. 

 

 

I know the engine height is correct from experimentation with an even older Airfix Merlin.  It's now a question of correct fore/aft placement.  So my next step is to wreck the Airfix Hurri and see if it mounts as I hope.  If not, then this idea will be abandoned and I'll go with the crude stock engine and engine mount, and simply close up the cowlings.  Other parts from the Airfix Hurricane will be used in the build anyway, and spare parts are always useful.

 

One other thing I did on the 2015 build was to fabricate some of the rear fuselage structure.  This gives you the idea.

 

 

So I've also fabricated the sides of the Warren trusses that formed the basic fuselage structure.  I won't be going all the way to the tail as that part can't be seen.  This pic is about life size, so you get the idea.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MikeMaben]

[Dpgsbody55]

So the old Airfix Hurricane has now been scrapped for it's internals.  It is an ex plane.

 

 

It is no more.

 

 

This is it's engine I'm trying to mount in the nose of the Trumpeter kit.

 

 

And this is the Trumpeter piece of resistance.

 

 

See the errors and lack of detail??  It would be more obvious if I wasn't such a rubbish photographer, but some stuff should be obvious even in these two pics.  What I've found is that the Trumpy engine mounts are 4mm wider at the front, and 6mm wider at the back, so my first task will be to add on to the Airfix engine mounts.  Once I've made those two adjustments, I'll have a better idea if this conversion is possible.  If so, I think I'm going to have to use the Trumpy timing case and prop shaft.  If not, the engine just gets glued in place on the mounts, unpainted and cowlings glued in place too.

 

In the meantime, I've started on the basic cockpit.  I'll have to remove some of the detail on the left side to be able to use the Trumpeter etch kit, which I should have done before gluing this lot together, but it should be doable without causing further issues.  I hope... 

 

 

The floor boards in the kit did have some detail in them, but this was filed off before construction and the etch pieces attached.  I think they look more convincing.  This will get a coat of Tamiya silver, then I'll start picking out details with RAF interior green.  I'll also be adding a few bits from the Airfix cockpit which Trumpeter made a mess of.  Or left out. 

 

That's it for now.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Landrotten Highlander]

30 minutes ago, Dpgsbody55 said:

It is no more.

It is deceased,

It has kicked the bucket,

It is stone-dead,

It is bleedin' demised....

 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Landrotten Highlander

[Dpgsbody55]

Let me start this off by saying that I don't think my old Airfix Hurricane was pining for any Norwegian fjords as these were very dangerous places for RAF planes.

 

On another sad note, after lots of mucking and fiddling about, I've abandoned the fitting of the better engine into this build.  There are too many shape differences around the nose of each of these kits to make this a reality.  I think I would have had to dig out some of the upper engine cowl to get the engine height right, and perhaps also have had to make a complete new engine mount too.  I think this would likely be too weak to hold the engine in place and swing such a large propeller off the front of it.  So I've spritzed a bit of Tamiya rattle can black on each side and glued it in place on one half.

 

 

 

The cowlings will be glued in place, so the paint was only for appearance should any of the engine be visible through the exhaust cut outs.

 

So on with the cockpit.  I've painted the frames in rattle can silver as this is a later production Hurricane, and many of these had bare metal fuselage frames.  Parts added in were usually painted, however.  Next was the rudder pedals.  MkII Hurricanes had dual height pedals like the Spitfire, but the Trumpy kit one is a little sparse.  So the Airfix single height pedals were cut down as these had the fore and aft adjuster wheel on them, and a hole drilled through to mount the cut down Trumpeter pedals.  Once dry, some etch leather straps were added.

 

 

Painted.

 

 

These will be mounted later, once I'm sure that they won't get in the way.  My attention was then turned to the left side of the cockpit, and all the kit detail was removed.  The lamp was replaced with an etch bracket to hold a new lamp made from 1.2mm stock rod, with a length of black wire drilled and glued into place. 

 

 

You can see that the rudder trim wheel and various other parts have been cut away from the frames, and I've added the rudder trim wheel mount, radiator flap indicator on the left, right side flap indicator, then a gauge that sits between the floor boards.

 

Next is the landing light beam adjustment lever.  This is all Trumpy etch bits, to which I've added the operating cable made from 0.3mm wire.  This took a bit of time as the wire needed to be secured which I did by making a loop then passing a piece of 0.5mm rod through the lever and wire loop.  The wire will disappear through the bottom of the cockpit and out into the wing.

 

 

Once glued into place, I started on the elevator trim wheel, which comprises two wheel rims, the centre and another small centre piece.  Once built up, this was painted a woody brown.  Again, I used a piece of 0.5mm rod attached to a hole drilled through the trim wheel to act as a mount and this was passed through another hole drilled in the remains of the elevator trim wheel, and then the chain added behind that.  Lastly, the rudder trim wheel, below the rad flap indicator, has been has been added and painted, as has the fuel selector above this which is still a work in progress.

 

 

 

I've also started work on the pilot's seat.  As this will be fitted with a Sutton harness, I made a hole in the back of the kit seat and glued on the etch frame that goes around it.  I'll probably thin the plastic behind this hole to try and make it look like a thinner metal seat.  I could have used the etch parts provided, but my experience with those has not always been positive.  This way will simplify the build a little.

 

 

That's it for now.  More cockpit work, staying with the left side tomorrow.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

Progress has been slow these last couple of weeks, but some progress there has been.  My next step was to add my cockpit extension frames and add the cross bars, then I built a rear wing spar, which can also bee seen as you look down into the cockpit.  Since I can't fit the engine and detail that, this is a bit of a distraction from that disappointment.

 

 

Here's what can be seen as you look into the fuselage.

 

 

 

 

It's not a lot, but given how open the Hurricane's structure was, I think it adds to the model.

 

This was then painted and more detail added to the structure.  This includes the wire bracing that will be visible, as well as hydraulic parts added from my scrapped Airfix Hurricane on the right side, and a little more detail such as the fuel selector on the left, engine primer plus the beginnings of the left and right consoles.  Unfortunately, I broke one of the attachment points for the rear fuselage stucture when adding the wire bracing, hence the clamp holding the two parts in place.

 

 

 

I'm presently working on the radio panel which will go on the green panel to the left of the pilot, then I can finish the console above.  I've also painted the inner wings and fuselage halves.  Green on the metal bits, and a rusty red on the cloth bits to represent the red dope used to tighten the linen fuselage covering.  The lap belts have been added to the seat using an HGW set I had in stock.  I don't get on with these and they've really tried my limited patience.  Once I've made the shoulder harness, I'll fit the seat and belts to the cockpit.

 

 

The instrument panel is still a work in progress too.  The next bit to do is the compass which will be made up of etch parts, then I'll add the left side of the panel, and that can go into place too.  The fuel tank is also ready to go into place, then I can fit the rudder pedals.

 

I've also started detailing the wheel well.  I painted this first having completely forgotten about the etch bits needing to go in.  That's been part of the issue with this build in that I haven't been able to focus properly on one section of the build.  The scatter gun approach...  But it will get there in the end.  So here's the wheel well with the said etch bits added.  More details to add, of course.

 

 

I've painted the other side of this in green to match the cockpit walls, as well as the lower wing.  Part of the gun structure has also been added and painted too.  No pics, alas. 

 

That's it for now.  Next time I present this, the fuselage will be together.  Must spend more time applying derriere to chaise at the modelling desk.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

Edited August 28, 2022 by Dpgsbody55

[Dpgsbody55]

My Hurricane is beginning to take a recognisable shape now as the cockpit is complete and the fuselage together.

 

Starting with the instrument panel, I added some Trumpeter etch.  There are three pieces comprising the panel itself, being the left and right sides and also the standard RAF blind flying panel.  I started by painting the backs of the acetate instrument faces then gluing this to the kit's backing panel.  Next, I added the centre panel and let this dry, followed by the right side to which I'd previously added the Boost gauge coloured surround.

 

 

The left panel is more complex.  I started by painting the red and white centre for the automatic boost cutout, then drilled 0.5mm holes for the pull knob.  This was followed by 0.4mm holes for each of the magneto switches.  The starter buttons to the left were painted gloss black.  Next, a decal from an Airscale 1/24 placard set was added above the oxygen gauges.  This broke into three as I set it in place, but it actually looks more like the real thing.  Bonus .  After that, it was glued down to the panel and allowed to set.  Once dry, I further drilled the holes and added two mag switches from 0.3mm wire, cut to the same length, as well as the knob for the boost cutout which was made from the an unused piece of the Trumpy etch set and 0.5mm stock rod.  The brass piece was drilled through and the rod CA glued into place, then painted red once dry.

 

 

Next, the compass was added.  The kit part was removed and the left and right etch parts were CS glued to the compass base.  Once painted, I added the kit compass to which was added the compass face and an etch surround.  The whole assembly was then CA glued to the instrument panel.  I'd left part of the kit compass support in place to give the etch assembly something to locate to.

 

 

In my last report, I showed a picture of the pilot's seat with the lap belts in place.  One thing I didn't mention was the leather protective patch that I made from brown painted paper, which was then cut to size and glued into place before attaching the lap belts.  So my attention was then turned to the shoulder harnesses.  I have used an HGW Sutton harness set I have lying around.  I don't get on with these fabric sets at all.  I know some here like them, and I've read their tips in using them and I think their results are great.  But I still hate them.    As I had to set the main parts of the shoulder harness front to back then bend the rear part back to get the shape of the belts, part of that rear bit showed white, so I mixed up a small amount of paint to match using some Mr Colour H85 sail colour tinted with Tamiya RLM02.  Perfect match, if I do say so myself.  The rest of shoulder harness took quite a few days to do as I was gluing the bits together and letting each of them dry for 24 hours before I came back to them.  I tried scrunching the belts up to make them more flexible, but this still didn't help in getting them to sit properly.  Once the harness was finally assembled, I trial fitted the seat to the cockpit and laid the belts in place to get an idea of where I wanted them to sit.  The rear part of the harness was then fed through the seat hole and glued into place.  Once dry, I then glued the harness itself to the seat, leaving the locking mechanism and tightening straps free.  Again, this was left to dry at which point the seat was then glued into place.

 

 

I'm reasonably happy with the result, but still prefer the steel belts.  The upper attachment has yet to be glued to the frame here.  You can also see here that the rudder pedals have finally been added, as all the build up of the cockpit sides has finished at this point.

 

The control column was next, and this also took some time, thanks to the addition of two etch pieces and a length of 0.5mm black wire for the brakes.  The kit part is poor in it's detail, so the upper part of the aileron control mechanism (just flat plain plastic) was cut away, along with a short length of each control rod.  The etch chain and chain wheel was then glued into place and the ends of the chain wrapped around the control rods.  After drying, the chain guard was bent to shape and added.  The spade grip was painted gloss black on the stem and rear of the gun button, and flat black on the grip.  The front of the button was painted brass and a red button painted on once dry.  Then the wire brake control was added and held to the column itself with a short length of wine bottle lead wrapper, CA glued into place.

 

 

My next step was to get the cockpit sides finished to a point at which I could assemble the fuselage.  This is a mixture of kit parts, etch and a little black 0.3mm wire.  Starting with the left cockpit side, the larger lever and base I think is the prop pitch control.  This has an etch ring piece behind it painted black on the lower half and red on the upper half.  There is also an etch light at the back of the cockpit to which the black wire attaches.  I should have done the same at the front, but I'd forgotten to grind this off before painting the green sides, so that was just painted.  I don't think that will be all that noticeable once it's closed up.  I'm not sure what the three red dots are, but that's what the kit instructions say, so I've played the silly game and followed the said instructions.  The switch beneath the two red dots is the kit part, to which I've added the switch knob from 0.3mm wire.  There is also an Airscale placard decal in place, as per the pictures I'm referencing for this kit.  The rear fuselage sides in hull red are to represent the red dope used on the linen covering that part of the fuselage.  I realise it's a bit dark, but it's the only colour I have resembling this, and I think it will help the fuselage structure added to the back of the cockpit frames to stand out a bit more.  The right side is all stock kit, painted appropriately.  The emergency hatch has not yet been built.

 

 

Stay tuned, please.

Edited September 5, 2022 by Dpgsbody55

[Dpgsbody55]

At this point, it's now time to put everything together.  First up was adding the seat height adjustment levers on each side of the seat.  The Instrument panel was a bit tricky to get into place, so this was glued on next, followed by the control column.  I also felt it was now safe to add the last switches and levers to the left side console, so the last kit lever was added, followed by two wire switches made from more 0.3mm wire. The wire for the control column was passed through the "floor" and bent forward.  The brakes on both the Spitfire and Hurricane operated pneumatically off the lever on the spade grip, and differential braking was achieved by operating the rudder which triggered a release of pneumatic pressure on the opposite side of the turn.  IE, right brake pressure was reduced for a left turn by left application of rudder.  No toe brakes.

 

 

 

 

The fuselage tank was added.  This was very hastily painted using hull red and white muxed ip.  This part doesn't show in the completed fuselage as no engine cowlings will be removable, but I thought it best to dawb some paint on anyway.  I trial fitted the complete assembly into each side.  Right side first.  This will look better once I complete the emergency hatch.

 

 

A couple of views of the left side.

 

 

 

There's still a couple of parts to be added to the right side of the cockpit , so this was glued permanently into the left side and left to dry.  Next, I've added the radiator coolant pipe from the old Airfix Hurricane.  This has been repainted, and I'll be adding a little more pipe later that will twist it's way through the structure and down to the radiator.  Later for that bit.  I've also added some of the lines to the hydraulic hand pump.

 

 

So now I can add the other side of the fuselage.

 

 

It's got a bit of a bulge along it's length, so clamping tape is essential.

 

Next update will be wings and tail planes.  At the moment I'm trying, without luck, to find some pics of the cannon installation but so far Google has not been my friend.  If  anyone has any links to pics, I'd be grateful if you'd post them below.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

13 hours ago, MARU5137 said:

EXCELLENT  work so far..

 

Not quite.  After starting on the wings, I've found that I've installed that rear wing spar about 3mm too far forward.  It fowls the wing tanks. 

 

Thankfully an easy fix to move it back.  Simply shortening it isn't a goer as it will make the ends visible.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

Ok.  Next thrilling installment.  The scratch built rear wing spar, as mentioned above, was duly detached from the cockpit floor by the simple expedient of a few drops of Tamiya liquid thin glue to the joint and gently prising apart.  The tubing to the rear fuselage was cut and the spar re-positioned a couple of milimetres back and the two fuselage braces shortened and glued back.  This was then repainted to cover up my bungle.

 

While previously airbrushing interior green/grey on the fuselage halves, I also sprayed the lower wing after having glued the gun compartments into each half of the wing.  So my next step was to dawb some paint onto the wing tanks and set them in place. 

 

 

Next, I finished off the undercarriage bay.  A length of 0.5mm wire was used to replace the cast in pipe, holes cut for the windows that showed the pilot the U/C was up, and the hydraulic tank glued in place.

 

 

Then the guns were assembled and painted, and set in place on the left side only.  I've been searching the net for images of the Hurricane's cannon installation, and only found two rather unhelpful pics.  Lots of shots of the 303 machine gun installation, but sweet nothing for cannons.  Same result when looking through all my Hurricane books.  The 20mm Hispano seems to have two connections to fire the guns, so holes were drilled to take wire for the hoses.  No idea where they go other than somewhere into the airframe and likely connect to the firing button and a compressed air source.  Since the pics were black and white, they were not a lot of help with colour other than to see that the bay was likely interior green/grey and the drum and feed a colour that was tonally similar.  So I went with steel paint, painted my wire hoses white and added the guns to the model, then closed up the left wing.  I'm sure I'm totally wrong in what I've done, but it's a best guess.

 

 

 

My next step, once this was glued and said glue dry, was to glue in the wheel well and the right hand guns.

 

 

This was also allowed to dry and was then set onto the fuselage.  The rear wing spar had to be longer than the width of the fuselage as it and the inside edge of the fuel tanks can be seen if you look carefully into the cockpit, and that length meant this was the only method to put the wings into place.

 

 

Having carefully set the wing assembly into place, the right side wing top was added immediately and also set carefully in place, checking fit and dihedral as I went.  Again, this was all taped into place and left.  You'll notice that the drums have not been glued onto the cannons yet.  These have locating pins into the guns, but also the drums have a locating tab underneath to connect to the feed mechanism that is set into the top wing half.  It's possible that the feed will dislodge the drums, so once I take off the tape, these will be added.

 

 

I'd previously built up the tail planes, so this morning these were added.  Trumpeter provide interlocking tabs that go all the way through the rear fuselage, but these are just a little too long and were filed down first to allow best possible fit of the tail planes.  This was also checked to ensure proper alignment against the main planes, but not tape was needed to hold in place.  However, there is a small gap which will need filler.

 

 

Now it looks like a recognisable Hurricane.  My next job will be to finish up the cannons with the exception of the protruding gun barrels, clean up the seams, then start adding all the other bits needed before I can start painting.

 

 

Cheers for now,

Michael

[dennismcc]

Nice to see a Hurricane being built and it is certainly looking every inch the Hurricane.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Dpgsbody55]

Thanks Dennis.  I always had a liking for this old work horse.  It's a plane that doesn't get enough recognition for it's achievements, and deserves a really good LSP kit too.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

I've been working on the guns, right side escape panel, control surfaces  and a couple of other bits over the last few days.  As well as filling and filing.

 

In this next picture, you can see ailerons and elevators fitted after filling.  The rudder will go on after paint.  I've also fitted the lower engine cowling.  The side cowlings are taped into place to help with the positioning of the lower cowling as it's fitment is very vague but also won't go on until after paint.  Flaps are in place, closed.  You can also see the cannon stubs in place.  These are fitted with metal parts by Master.  Fitting the metal ends required 2mm to be removed from the front of each stub, then the holed drilled out to 3.5mm.  The tape on the right wing root shows where some filling was needed, and some more filler was needed around the tail planes on both upper and lower sides.

 

 

the nose was the worst area to fill, as there's a small step between left and right halves here.  This took a couple of applications of putty followed by Mr Surfacer followed by filing and sanding to get it right.  After that, I got busy with the scriber and rivet wheel to try to restore the surface detail to some passable standard.

 

 

Next, the right side cockpit escape hatch needed to be finished and fitted.  I'd previously painted this, and now realised that some etch details needed to go on before painting.  .   Also attached was the etch map holder and an etch release lever.  I also picked out the releasing links.

 

 

In place.

 

 

I'm going to make the canopy slide properly rather than just sit in place, so each side of the fuselage behind the cockpit were filed out to take 1.5mm stock channel.  Trumpeters kit is lacking here as the canopy rails are quite clear in photographs and no attempt has been made to mold them in.

 

 

I've also started work on the radiator, although this is not fitted yet.  I used the kit parts rather than the Trumpy etch bits as I thought I could get a better result.  So the front and back faces were painted flat black then dry brushed aluminium.

 

 

 

This needs a little work to sit in place properly as the wing surface is not flat where the rad attaches, but the radiator is flat left to right, so some work is needed here.  I shall paint the wing surface before attaching the radiator.

 

I'm presently working on the gunsight.  Once this is finished and in place, I shall fit the windscreen and canopy.  Then I can fit lights and a few other details and begin the painting process.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

 

[Dpgsbody55]

In my haste to get to the next step, I've forgotten to take pictures of some of the parts added in this update. I'm not normally forgetful, of course... 

 

The gun sight was my next step, so here it is installed.

 

 

I've painted it flat black except for the gloss black crash pad and silver light beam.  Then I added a couple of etch brass mounting brackets which were painted silver as well as the power lead made from black wire.  Lastly, the T shaped mounting bar was attached.  This was a bit fiddly to mount as the silver mount bar goes onto a recess in the instrument panel, then the ends of the mount go between each half of the fuselage and these need to gently prized apart as it is mounted in place.  Three hands needed for this.   The reflector was painted clear green around the edges then glued in place after mounting the rest of the gun sight.

 

The windscreen was next, mostly to protect the gun sight.

 

 

This is made up of four parts, namely the screen itself, the bullet proof screen, the pilot's mirror body and a clear piece to set into the mirror body.  My first task was to mask the windscreen and bullet proof glass.  The frame around the bullet proof glass was painted and the mirror body attached to the windscreen.  Then the area in the windscreen under the mirror body was painted to hide the join and the back of the mirror body painted silver.    The clear mirror was masked and set in place.  Next, I removed the masking on the bullet proof screen and mounted it in the windscreen.  Unfortunately, there's no mounting tabs or location for this.  It just fits in place against the windscreen and falls out when you pick it up.  So I glued it carefully around the outsides using Micro Klear and let it set.  I'm hoping that when I take the masking off the windscreen, no glue will show.  Digits crossed for that.  Here it is in place.

 

 

I've also masked off the holed in the engine cowlings and temporarily fitted these in place.  After the plane is painted, these will come off and the masking removed before being permanently attached.  Lights were next, but I forgot to take pics of these.  The nav lights were painted clear red and green as appropriate and set in place against a silver painted wing, then the covers were masked and glued in place.  The landing lights were painted silver also and glued in place, after adding some etch painted black, then the covers were masked and fitted.

 

Being a night intruder aircraft, the plane was equipped with blinkers between the exhaust and the pilots line of sight.  I made these, as the kit does not supply them, from 0.4mm card.  The dimensions were "eyeballed" from pictures in my books on the Hurricane.  Length is easy to guess, and width looks proportionate to length.  Placement was an issue as these seem to have been placed in different positions from one plane to another.  I've gone with various pictures I've found, as well as colour scheme drawings of this particular plane.  I don't guarantee it's correct, just best guess.  You know; like financial forecasting, the weather forecast and your horoscope for today.   To mount them, I bevelled the inside edge to match the cowling, then added two pins drilled into the cowling made from 0.5mm stock plastic wire, then glued the lot together.

 

 

the next job was to add the radiator and carburettor air intake.  The radiator was added first, followed by the cooling flap and actuating rods.  Since my plane will be black underneath, I daubed some flat black around this area before attaching.

 

 

The carbie air intake was next, but the mounting for this is poor and not shaped to the intake itself.  Rather, it is a simple oval and needs filling.  Points off, Mr Trumpeter. 

 

 

The last job was the canopy, pitot and aerial.  I added a lip to the bottom edges of the canopy made from 0.5mm rod to fit into the canopy rails added previously.  The kit does provide the three  opening handles, two of which go inside and one on the outside.  These need careful placing to avoid glue on the clear bits, and masking tape was helpful here.

 

 

So here's where the model is now  There are a couple of small jobs to be done first, then it's masking and paint.  The gun covers have also been added, though the outer covers needed a little "assistance" before they'd sit down properly.

 

 

Now I just need to finish off that area behind the carbie intake and a couple of details on the rudder then I can start painting.  The rudder will go on after paint as it's a different colour to the topsides.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

My Hurricane is now in colour, and starting to look like the finished product.  It's taken a little longer than expected, but that was mostly due to troubles with the camo pattern masks.  I make my own on RAF planes, and for some weird reason, I had a lot of trouble cutting the masks for the last colour.  Just one of those things, I guess, as I've made plenty before without problems.  I'm going to put it down to this being a bigger scale than my usual 1/32, and I'm sticking with that story. 

 

The first colour to go on was the Sky fuselage band, followed by yellow wing leading edges.  Then mask them off an  paint the underside colour.  I normally use rattle can black, but this time I decided to air brush some Mr Color flat black.  It took longer but the result was perhaps better.  Certainly, I had much more control and less over spray than with a rattle can.  The only downside is the amount of time I spent cleaning out my airbrush after.

 

 

While I was at it, I also painted the rudder;

 

 

, and prop blades.  The yellow tips were painted on at the same time as the yellow wing leading edges.

 

 

Next up is the dark sea gray topside colour.  Again, Mr Color was used, and the pattern just roughed out.  But the undersides were masked off first.

 

 

This is where I had to cut some masks to cover the gray and for some reason, making the mask to go over the left wing and fuselage behind the cockpit gave me quite a bit of grief.  I was never happy with the shape, and then kept making the same mistake on the second try.  And third try...     You'll note I've also dabbed some liquid mask here and there for some weathering.

 

But we got there.  Here it is with all the cursed masking removed.  There's a couple of touch ups needed, and I need to paint over the sky fuselage band as this plane had that part of the band over painted at this point in the plane's career.

 

 

I believe this plane started off in normal day fighter colours, then had the undersides painted flat black for night intruder ops, and was later painted completely black as these type of ops continued.

 

I'm taking a short break for the next few days as I'm off to Melbourne tomorrow for Motorclassica, so that I can check out all the cars I can't afford.    Next time you see it, I'll have all the decals and rudder on.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael