AIMS 1/32 PR/Tac R conversion for Revell Mk II kit

[Tolga ULGUR]

Fantastic riveting John.

[Pastor John]

AIMS 1/32 PR/Tac R Hawker Hurricane build update

The rivets catch the light well under a coat of dark glossy blue. i am happy with the look but not looking forward to the problem of bedding down the wing roundels without creases everywhere. I will need to shepherd the decals all the way to drying time I think. If you are doing these rivets on your own build paint masks for the roundels would be better!

 

A few hours latter..........

 

Decals are on - not many of them - just the insignia and I put just the oil tank Revell stencil on - you can hardly see the black against the dark blue just like in the photos. I am not an authority on the real 'Bonson Blue' and please take what I have done with a pinch of salt but I simply opted to use the darkest blue I had available which happened to be an unopened tin of Xtracolor X121 FS15042 'Gloss sea Blue' with a few drops of a crimson colour - in this case - again just what I had - Humbrol Gloss 20. Mixed with 30% white spirit in an empty glass jar I got one of the shiniest finishes of my life but it has been so long that i used Xtracolor enamel for a whole model that it was strange leaving it for day before turning over to do the other side and then days after that hardening. As for the decals well the rivets are a real problem here - not as i feared due to creases as if you press own with a soft cloth immediately and get them bedded down the decal solution does not start to crease them - you can then spray a little more solution on later! Anyway the big problem is that it is just impossible to slide the upper and lower wing roundels into position and I had to remove everyone once more and more accurately apply following the photo of the machine. It was a hairy experience but I managed it. Paint masks would be less stressful. As for the upper roundel overlapping the aileron - this was against regulations as it then required the aileron to be re-balanced so I carefully removed the overlapping decal segment. It might well have been applied against reg's but we will never know. Hope you like so far

[scvrobeson]

Now that is a unique color scheme on your Hurricane. Looks like you did a great job with it.

 

 

 

Matt 

[MikeMaben]

17 hours ago, Pastor John said:

           Anyway the big problem is that it is just impossible to slide the upper and lower wing roundels into position

 

 

Hey John, I like to add some dish soap to the decal water , helps them slide better.

[Pastor John]

Mike - not over 0.2mm high chris crossed resin rivets - no matter how much dish soap you use

[Pastor John]

AIMS 1/32 PR/Tac R Hawker Hurricane build update

Hi everyone I have finished the weathering I will do with the airbrush. These poor birds operated in red dust and constant retreat under fire and were a mess which I hope to reflect on my build. Thanks to Robert for the wonderful Rescue Models weathering templates - a real treat to use. Now I must spray everything matt and then can do the oil and pastel weathering plus the final assembly and details. Hope you like.

[Pastor John]

AIMS 1/32 PR/Tac R Hawker Hurricane build update

The end is nigh! Pastels, oil streaks, oil splatters and silver pencil scratches and highlighting of the rivets. Ready for final construction and some some small additional details like the handles on the rear canopy and the trim tap mass balance on the rudder etc. Really glad I did those rivets as they kind of make the model what it is.

[mc65]

Terrific work, John!

a reference point for the next Revell Hurrycanes we will see, no doubts.

 
regarding the rivets I have a couple of questions: how is it best way to prepare the base on which to apply them? I mean, do you think it's better to give a primer, or just clean the surfaces?
the other (bigger) concern I have, thinking of copying (badly, for sure) your work is about the insignia. having encountered difficulties in positioning them, you wrote that it would have been better to paint themon. don't you think it is dangerous for the rivets to stick - and detach! - multiple masks on the painted surfaces?

 

TIA, Paolo

[Pastor John]

Hi Paolo,

Applying the rivets to a polished bare plastic surface would have been fine I think - I put mine on a glossed primer as I had so much filler everywhere that I just wanted the black resin rivets to stand out as much as possible as wanted a nice photo reference for others. The problem with the painting was it meant I already had two layers of paint over soft Revell detail. Some parts of my model would have looked a lot crisper under the final matt coat if I had had less paint layers.

 

To date I have lost two rivets from handling (that I know of) -(wing tip and cowling) as they have came detached from their glue. I did mask over the rivets to spray on the black anti slip mat and I was worried about the rivets coming off but none of them did. The decals printed in Ukraine are fantastic - they are thin but strong enough for a few moments handling and one or two correction and I can see no backing film. I love them but it would have been best I think to have marked off somehow the borders so that you had a reference point for where to lay directly without any corrections. This I think is perhaps the best way forward unless you are a wiz at making masks and prefer them. The other problem with the masks is that the rivets are high and you will for sure get spray creep in places. Hope that helps

[Pastor John]

AIMS 1/32 PR/Tac R Hawker Hurricane build update 

The HGW shoulder straps and back of seat strap were attached - it was then that I realised that HGW gave the instructions and the parts for the Sutton harness on a Spitfire in the Hurricane set - the shoulder straps are joined at the top by a oblong plate on the Hurricane so I had to fabricate that and slice up the harness accordingly. Remember that if the stirrup is down then the hand hold is open! Some breather tubes at the bottom of the engine as well as the fuel indicator at the top of the cowling will make the front end look better. You might also spot the three handles added to the sliding hood as well as the windscreen cleaner pipe at the bottom of the windscreen. The tail area had my AIMS early tail wheel fork attached and the trim tab mass balance fabricated with its cables - as well as the rudder cables. Before the main gear doors were located the flexible brake line at the top was made read and the line at the front of the door added and fed backwards once the door was added. Back to the windscreen and you can see that I used sticky backed mirror material from a hobby shop for the rear view mirror. The only other thing to mention - back at the front end is that I had used one of my two Rotol prop and spinner sets. And that is that. I hope you enjoyed following this. Thanks for looking, John

Edited September 29, 2023 by Pastor John

[Pastor John]

Just spotted that I forgot to but a bar across the gap in the front coaming! Will do latter. 

[Tolga ULGUR]

Great work and excellent result John

[Pastor John]

sorry deleted photos that I meant to add to the finished page

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by Pastor John

[LSP_Kevin]

Excellent result, John!

 

Kev

[thierry laurent]

Just one word:... Wow!