PCM Hurricane (late) 56 Squadron….finished!

[mozart]

More progress today:

 

 

Tidying up to do on the dog kennel and one or two other small areas but I'm pleased with the over all "tone" of the finish so far, pretty much what I was aiming for.  The exhausts are still WiP, I'm trying to get a "tempered" look to them:

 

 

 

[Shoggz]

That’s looking great Max.

 

For me, getting that ‘tempered metal’ look for exhausts is one of modelling’s holy grails!

[R Palimaka]

This is an excellent result so far Max! The tempered metal of the exhausts looks convincing to me! My problem with that sort of thing is knowing when to stop!

 

Richard

[dennismcc]

The exhausts are looking good Max, you are certainly motoring along now, I must get my finger out or you will overtake me.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Alain Gadbois]

Excellent results when reproducing  the finish on the exhausts. They look just like the prototype.

 

Alain

[mozart]

12 hours ago, Alain Gadbois said:

Excellent results when reproducing  the finish on the exhausts. They look just like the prototype.

 

Alain

And I've done a little more work on them, probably about enough:

 

 

Edited January 16 by mozart

[mozart]

I was browsing the pages of the Wingleader Archive yesterday and found this profile of P3153:

 

 

What interested me was the presence of underwing roundels because prior to 1 August 1940, none were carried:

 

 

 

So I needed to find out a little more about the "life" of P3153.  She was taken on by 56 Squadron on 25 June 1940 and very soon became the regular Hurricane of F/O Brooker, for example:

 

 

But she was struck off charge on 21 August.....so what happened on the day?  F/O Brooker's Combat Report tells the story:

 

 

A bit difficult to read, but this is what it says:

 

21/8/40

 

F/O Brooker

 

I was practice flying in the vicinity of Ipswich in formation with F/O Weaver.  We were carrying out an R/T test with the forward tender at Martlesham when the Controller warned us that there was a hostile aircraft in the vicinity.

 

F/O Weaver sighted an aircraft about 6 miles away north of Ipswich flying west.  We went to investigate and saw the AA fire from Wattisham.  F/O Weaver lost sight of the aircraft in the clouds but I saw it  come out again and was able to get on its tail as it headed for the next cloud.

 

I closed to about 50 yards concentrating on the starboard engine until I lost it in the cloud.  I experienced return fire from the top centre gun, some of which must have entered my radiator.  I was blinded for some time by fumes and my engine commenced cutting out and then stopped.  My windscreen was covered with oil, probably from the Do. 17, and I endeavoured to put the aircraft down in a field with the wheels up.  I undershot and had to crash into a hedge.

 

The engine was burning but this was put out after about 10 minutes by fire extinguishers produced by the local LDV. My nose was cut slightly on the reflector sight during the incident.

I saw a man descending by parachute as I was gliding down but did not see the enemy aircraft again.  I would not have claimed this as a definite casualty if the people on the ground had not witnessed it coming down after my attack.

 

The Squadron ORB:

 

 

and the Adjutant's daily summary:

 

 

So, the sad end of P3153.  I have the option of modelling her during July, sans roundels, but I think it would be better as her last flight with them, watch this space!

 

 

 

Edited January 16 by mozart

[mozart]

What’s this…..the Black Death?

 

 

No, just masking for OneManArmy stencils! To say that I’m impressed would be an understatement:

 

 

 

 

I was also keen to find out if they are re-usable, and they are! The limiting factor isn’t that the lettering gets clogged up, but that the mask will lose its stickiness. 

Edited January 17 by mozart

[R Palimaka]

Wow!!! They are impressive!!

 

Richard

[mozart]

8 minutes ago, R Palimaka said:

Wow!!! They are impressive!!

 

Richard

And the impressive thing about them Richard is that by spraying at a lighter pressure and making the stencils less “dense”, you automatically end up with a weathered look! 

[Out2gtcha]

Great! Would love to try those myself at some point.

[R Palimaka]

15 minutes ago, mozart said:

And the impressive thing about them Richard is that by spraying at a lighter pressure and making the stencils less “dense”, you automatically end up with a weathered look! 

It's true! After taking another look they don't look as stark as decals might, and they complement your weathering very well. They look kind of "organic" if you know what I mean. 

 

They don't do Mustang stencils sadly, I wonder if it's a copyright issue with "Boeing"...although they have some for the B-25.

 

Your Hurricane is looking amazing!

Richard

[mozart]

Thanks Richard, I’m quietly fairly pleased with the Hurricane, augurs well for the next one, the Hurribomber. 
 

The only downside with the OneManArmy masks as far as I’m concerned is that they are expensive when (as in my case) I don’t need the roundels etc.  He would do well to produce some sets just comprising stencils, warning signs etc etc.

[dennismcc]

Most impressive, real stencils, no chance of silvering, a great idea, as a huge fan of paint masks I will have to investigate them further

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[DugyB]

2 hours ago, mozart said:

Thanks Richard, I’m quietly fairly pleased with the Hurricane, augurs well for the next one, the Hurribomber. 
 

The only downside with the OneManArmy masks as far as I’m concerned is that they are expensive when (as in my case) I don’t need the roundels etc.  He would do well to produce some sets just comprising stencils, warning signs etc etc.

Agree, with this, they are awesome, should maybe consider making generic stencils for the various airforces aircraft sans national markings. I used them on my Lancaster and they were impressive.