1:32 Revell Hurricane IIC - 5 sqn, 1943-44

[Boldman]

Thanks Vaughn and Ian

Big update over this weekend...

First off, I decided to further complicate matters when I realised that the pipes that served the underwing radiator will be partly visible in the open space...

So lets start by cutting a hole in the wing where the radiator would be connected...

of course the inside has had to be painted ahead of attaching it....

The pipes are being represented by some electrical wire that is about the right diameter which will be painted metallic grey and shaped appropriately when the fuselage and wings are joined at some point in the near future

Finally, the time has come to a) paint the cockpit b) assemble the components behind the cockpit. The cockpit got a coat of XF 71, while the fame behind got a metallic grey coat. Then came the very fiddly task of locating and connecting all the components:

Instrument panel:

(larger version)

For this I used some excellent references plus the Airscale WW2 RAF Instrument dial decals plus some from the cockpit placards set. These are fantastic and add so much detail to the cockpit.

So how does this look inside the fuselage? Lets try it out...

Hmmm okay thats not bad

I've now discovered that I appear to have lost the gun sight that came with the Grey Matter Figures resin set and also one of the things that isn't covered in this set is the inside of the emergency door, which has the metal pigeon hole thingy for orders plus another pouch and various handles etc. Looks like I'm going to have to do some more scratch building!

Next up as well will be some rescribing of panel lines, a job I'm really not looking forward to!

 

[mobear]

well well flipping fantastic mate shame about the losses but you will prevail i know this,coz u is da man lol,now i know who to shout for when i get in trouble with mine

mobear

 

[treyzx10r]

Wow Andrew this is looking real sharp ,nice detailing!

 

[flyjoe180]

Really nice work Andrew.

 

[Kressy13]

Hi mate. Some really great scratch building in this one. Great to look at plus all the resin bits will make this a stand out. Keep up the good work.

Cheers

Kresten

 

[Boldman]

Thanks guys This week's update, rescribing and emergency exit door interior...

I finally got around to the job I wasn't really looking forward to - rescribing!

Wing topside:

Underside:

In fact it wasn't as difficult as I expected - I used a LOT of dymo tape, but only made a handful of small mistakes which were fixed with a drop of Mt Dissolved Putty.

The other item I realised was totally missing was the inside surface of the emergency escape door, plus the various map pockets on that side of the cockpit. The panel wsa simply a thin piece of plasticard, with some holes carefully shaped and with a wire behind to represent the locking mechanism, plus a pocket sculpted from some green stuff epoxy putty and a map case made from more thin plastic card, which was a tricky assembly as the plastic card side preferred to stick to the tweezers rather than each other!

It was only after I tried fitting the door to the inside that I realised I had made this first one upside down!! So another piece of plastic card was shaped and the fitting transferred! You can see this version fitted here:

This has now been painted and last night I did some more intricate work on the cockpit, adding some wires and seat belts. I've also managed to find a spare gun sight in the spares box, left over from building my Tamiya IX a year or so ago - I used the newer gun sight in that model so had to older one left over! Phew! its a tiny thing and quite complicated so so I'm glad I didn't have to scratch it totally! I am having to scratch build the mounting to the instrument panel and the angled glass plate got swallowed by the carpet monster so that too had to be scratched. I'll post more photos of these stages later...

 

[mobear]

fantastic and riveting watch build,awesome

mobear

 

[yak face]

absolutely amazing work andrew , keep at it mate and keep the pics coming , cheers tony

 

[colin m]

looking very nice. Re-scribing is always difficult (I've only done it a couple of times) but it pays off in the end.

 

[Boldman]

Took a litte break from the aircraft today and started work on the base and also built the accumulator trolley from IconAir - more on that when I post a proper update with photos later..

​

 

[Boldman]

Got a bit more to update now - cockpit details including the gun sight, base and some ancillary pieces... first though, the cockpit.

Seat belts added

Here you can see the control column and just about make out the control wires that have been added

and here finally is the gun-sight, mounted in the right place

So for a bit of a break from the aircraft itself, I turned to the base. This is a trusty old picture frame sourced from Oxfam, with a layer of claycrete stained with artists acrylics, dusted with various ground scatter, wood logs, small boulders, plants from long green and cream hairs and a scattering of mixed herbs nicked from the kitchen...

This is 11" square which is big enough for this model. So what about what else will be appearing in the diaorama? Well how about this:

its the RAF Accumulator trolley in resin from Iconicair and this iwhat it looks like assembled:

I'm sure there's been discussions about the various inaccuracies of this kit - ie the wheels being post war versions, but lets face it, there isn't much choice so I'm making do with this one. I'm not sure exactly what colour it should be to be in Burma - RAF Blue or Olive Drab or sand? I can't fond any definitive information about it so I'm going to go with what I feel will work - a blue base coat, over-painted with sand with the paint flaking off in places. Well thats what I'd like to achieve

Finally in this update, some tools from the 1:35 Aber PE set

Spanners:

Toolbox compartments with wires added to attache the hinges

and finally with hinges added...

and yes it DOES open and close as it should - although if it still works after painting I'll be very surprised!

 

[Vaughan]

Wow Andrew this is looking awesome the detail and work you are putting in is outstanding. I'm looking forward to finished result, the diaorama is really going to finish things off.

Vaughan

 

[colin m]

That tool box is brill........

 

[mossiepilot]

just caught up on your build Andrew, and what a build.

Cracking mate, just cracking, 'nuff said.

Tony.

 

[1275GT]

I've also just found this, and all I can say is WOW ! The diorama and extras are just the icing on whats going to be a rather nice cake !! Well played sir !

Cheers, Neil

 

[Boldman]

Hi Guys, not been online much this week so only now catching up with lots of unread posts!

Thanks Vaughan, Colin and Neil

So for progress this weeks its been a bit all over the place. I started work on the figure that will represent my father. Beginning with the Airfix Multipose 8th Army figure set as shown here:

the prone figure immediately stands out for the position of the legs...

so with a bit of manipulation this can be turned into this:

which is a very good approximation to the pose I've got in mind as inspired by this photo

except of course my Dad would be in tropical gear and not wellies!

In place this looks pretty convincing...

So what about the torso? This went on okay along with arms that make the right pose. The torso-waist join required a lot of filling with some epoxy green stuff, but came out okay with a bit of careful carving and sanding. After trying a number of arms, I found a handy one for the left arm which would be resting on the fuselage as a support, and a right arm reaching into the body. Here it is all primed up and ready for paint:

and from behind (the most common view)

So for the head, I salvaged a bush had from one of the Aussie infantry set. This led to the discovery that the plastic used in this is a very stiff form of vinyl and not polystyrene as I expected. This caused issues with sanding - ie you can't sand vinyl! However I did get around that problem by sticking it in the freezer overnight which acts to make the plastic more solid and allows a certain amount of sanding if done quickly before it warms up. That led to this:

So to fit, the head needed a bit of trimming, which is difficult to see in this photo as the white plastic has got overexposed...

Now what about the base and the trolley? Well the trolley has been completed, painted and weathered. In addition I've knocked up some wooden trestles out of balsa to support the panels that have been removed from the fuselage as I doubt they'd have made a habit of dropping them in the dust/mud of the airfield. Then I also made up some wheel chocks so all together on the base it looks like this:

Close up of the accumulator trolley:

I painted this RAF blue, then did the hairspray trick and painted it stone colour then chipped some of the stone paint off to make it look worn and knocked about. I've left the cable off for now as that will be connected to the Hurricane in the finished diorama.

Here are the wheel chocks

Finally for this update, I plucked up courage and fixed the cockpit into the fuselage. I then spent a very annoying hour or more trying to get the bloody front canopy glass to stay glued. I had previously masked this up and painted inside and out, but when attached, there is contact with the gunsight and the small amount of pressure from this is enough to push the transparency forward. I first tried to glue it with Krystal Klear ie PVA glue, but that took so long to dry it all came apart. I then thought I'd be clever and use a 5 min epoxy to glue it as this would be quite strong. Sadly it took a LOT longer than 5 min to set (I think I got the mixture wrong) and it made a complete mess which took even longer to clean up. That was this morning and I carefully put it all to one side and took a break before it ended up thrown across the room in frustration - something I know I would have regretted HUGELY!!! Eventually this evening, I returned to the tried and trusted polystyrene cement and that did the job very efficiently and quickly! Jeeze!

So the cockpit now looks like this:

I've sanded down the joint between the cockpit rear bulkhead where it meets the upper planel behidn the pilots head and painted this cockpit green. You can also see the masking tape I've stuck on the inside of the open fuselage panels. This should be easy to remove one painting outside is complete. I've also pre-sprayed my mix of faded RAF green (XF81 with a couple of drops of XF 57 Buff, which I'll be using more of later) around the cockpit area so I can mask it easier when it comes to spraying the whole thing later.

One other thing that I've done that hasn't been photographed is the main wheels got painted using Tamiya xf85 Rubber black. This will get toned down and muddied up when it comes to weathering later. I've also done a few more details on the undercarriage legs, making sure then fit well into the resin wheel wells. I've left them off for now so its easier to handle, but when they get attached, I'll then be adding wires and break lines as required.

So thats it for now. I think this week will see the wings and fuselage finally joined together - a pretty big job as the fit is pretty bad, so I expect to do a lot of filling and sanding - another reason for masking the panel openings!

 

[Vajled]

:flattered:

 

[Vaughan]

Wow it's all coming together.

 

[mobear]

stunning workman ship,the manipulation of the man to get him in position is great and as for the WOW

mobear

 

[Dave W]

Absolutely superb Andrew.Wish I had your skills.I know what you mean about feeling like throwing it across the room!.Ive had a few moments like that with my Anson.