1/72 HP Halifax mk.II.1A and Hawker Hurricane mk.IID by Revell.

[Melonfish]

2 builds at once you say? well yeah i have the attention span of a humming bird with ADHD so whilst one is drying i can be working on the other

So i've recently been to Elvington and was rather inspired by the wonderful Halifax they have, they really are beautiful planes and sadly overshadowed by the rather infamous Lancaster.
the Revell 1/72 kit allows you to build either the mk.I or the Mk.II or even the GRII. i believe i have the newer tooled version of this kit and i've decided to build it as a Mk.II series 1A this version had the front boulton paul turret removed and replaced with the familiar glass coming, the dorsal and rear turrets were upgraded along with the tail which had a much better Dee shape which helped combat rudder stall on the previous version. i am yet undecided whether to fit a H2S radar Dome.

Along with this kit i purchased the Revel RAF pilot and groundcrew set because i hate to see a plane without people in it!
I've also splurged on an after market kit from Freightdog for the series 1A, it improves the bloody awful props and spinners revell have provided and also provides better intakes for the engine nacelles along with better wheels and a better H2S radar (and exausts for the engines)
I'll be doing her in standard camouflage with black undersides (night bombing) i'm still undecided whether to stick with the decals provided by revell or go out and pick up some custom ones?

My Hurricane is the Revell IIC kit, its a nice kit and looks straight forward, however i've always wanted a flying tin opener so i ordered the upgrade kit from 3d-kits, and i now have 2 vickers S guns ready to go on her.
i'll be doing her in Desert colours.

anyhoo enough waffle, i've already primed and started building so i'll post some pics up tonight
Pete

 

[A4K]

Sounds good Pete, looking forward to the pics! (Welcome aboard too!)

 

[Wayne Little]

Yeah bring 'em on...

 

[Melonfish]

Er, ok camera sorted tonight, turns out you need batteries to work the camera heh.

Anyhoo 1/72, so what is with this scale? and why aren't the pilot models also 1/72, i know it says so on the box but i'll be damned if any of them fit in the model kits, what's that all about?
also the detail is tiny on these things, i've been painting the internals for the hurricane (RAF Internal green), it also got a wash and a re-coat on the larger area's or anything raised and flippin eck you need a brush with like 3 hairs on to get the detail right!
it really has been a long time since i did 1/72 work...

The internal parts on the hurricane are now the right colour at least and i'm about ready to put the superstructure together i just have to decal the instrument panel and i'll get em together i've also removed the bulges on the top of the wings which the MKIIC has to accommodate the 20mm guns, bit of sanding and some grey primer and this should be fine.

The halifax's main internals are together, the pilots console, navigator, flight engineer and bombadier positions all have seats but obviously i can't fit the gigantor "1/72" pilot models into the seating arrangement it looks like i'll have to give these guys a miss and just focus on the build instead.
the internal bulkead was a little warped and i found the fit a little tricky for the bomb bay ends and the lower platform for the superstructure, however some hot water was applied and i've got it to a point where i'm happy it won't put undue stress on anything when glued together.
i've also push fit the superstructure with the external shell, some shaving of the holes was required as it barely fit but its now sitting happy in either so i'll be ready to paint up tonight and then look at doing the windows and continue the build.

i'll be dipping the windows later in Klear, i have tonnes of this in my cupboard mostly because we used to have lino but also because i used to make my own washes with it, i recently learned the whole trick of the "future dip" for canopies so i'll be doing that.

Question on Tamiya paints btw, i wonder if anyone can answer this, Why are they so Horrible?
Colour wise they're brilliant just what i need but they're not a patch on Vallejo or cote'd'arms or even citadel, i've been out this morning and bought acrylic thinner and flow improver in an attempt to get them to act less like wet chalk.
any tips for a brush painter using Tamiya's? (other then don't? )
i may progress onto an airbrush if money and whatnot allows but for the moment i'm a brush guy.
anyways promised pics tonight so i'll get some up!

Pete

 

[Wurger]

Tamiya colours aren't for brushing but for airbrushing mostly. Unfortunately applying of them with a brush might be a problem because of their drying time.

 

[Melonfish]

Some quick shots of the build so far, i've managed to get the hurricane fuselage together and also popped the wings together, the cockpit is painted (badly) and decal applied to the control panel.
all the glass parts have been dipped in Klear, its the first time i've ever done that and i'll be honest i wasn't expecting it to work so well but i am very impressed with the results!

the Halifax's main internals are together and have a nice coat plus wash and are awaiting touch up coat and detailing.
i've painted the inside of the halifax in the mix of black and green and i've also washed it, it now need highlight and detail, the fuselage has been dry fit for the halifax and does seem to go together pretty well, also my resin parts have arrived from freightdog so i'll clean them up and start getting them ready for the build. now i have the camera working i'll post more regular pictures.

quick shot of my work area (not tidy lol)

 

[Airframes]

Good start - but do something about that workbench, it's far too tidy! Can't have that, putting us all to shame with a tidy, and clean, workbench !!

 

[Crimea_River]

I'll say!

 

[Melonfish]

Ok,
so i've been working on bits slowly last few days.

Hurricane. slower then slow, i've drilled the wings to be able to mount the Vickers S guns. they only needed one drill point. then i've gone about filling sections. the holes for the 20mm cannons needed to be filled, the holes for the shells also needed to be filled (and some rivets removed) and the landing lights were placed in the wings then overfilled as the IID didn't have these being a day hunter.
the reason for the slow is simply the sand filter...
1 word, wonky it was stuck to the right location under the nose and once dried i could see it was way off, proper squiffy, the mould lines and glue points all lined up but damn this was off, so i used a scalpel to remove and re-shape the connecting surfaces and went about getting a better fit. i still had to cut the filter opening a bit more and file the top of it.
i've also added the tail fins and used watered down epoxy filler to fill all the gaps and whatnot on the plane. some sanding will be needed shortly.

Halifax.
Internals were painted up nicely, i decided against using the decals for the control panels seeing as they're just black with a load of white rings on them? so instead opted to drybrush to get some depth on the dials.
all the windows were added, nice and shiny to boot after their klear dip and managed not to trash them all with the plastic glue. in hindsight i should have used pva to place windows rather then solvents, note to future self but then i'm sort of new at this plane building lark (if you don't count my youth)
anyways first of the resin pieces went in nicely and the fuselage has been stuck together, got some filling and sanding to do tonight but happily not much at all.
next, the wings~!
pics up tonight, i did take some whilst working.
and i'll do a pic of my workbench looking messy i promise!
pete

 

[Melonfish]

I did promise some pics:

 

[Wurger]

Looking very good.

 

[Wayne Little]

Not bad at all, and get that bench into some disarray....or you will never get admittance into the modellers Asylum for crazy people..!

 

[Airframes]

Good progress - and I'm with Wayne !

 

[Crimea_River]

 

[Melonfish]

Sunday update, normally i'd get lots done but i went to a whisky festival yesterday...
my vision only returned after lunch.

Hurricane.
Green stuff in the wings has all dried out so its been filed back and shaved with my scalpel didn't waste any time sticking the wings on:

next will be the wheel assemblies etc. i also need to make a mirror out of plasticard as the windscreen lacks this.

Halifax:
Getting there, the extended front has been fitted it'll need a touch of filling and whatnot but it will look good in the end, also forgot to paint the fire extinguisher in the cockpit so that's getting sorted too:

i've started work on the undercarriages/nacelles and lower section on the wing:

as you can see i've filed off the raised carburetor slots and top air intake ready to fit the new resin ones out of the freightdog kit.
i'll glue some plasticard to the inside of these holes and then fill with some more plasticard and green stuff. the Merlin XXII's had very different carburetor intakes.

and, just to prove my desk area is a big mess:

 

[Airframes]

Coming along nicely - but that messy desk is to well organised to be properly messy !

 

[Melonfish]

Not much movement on this one sorry, I've got the wheel assembly to work out on the hurricane as the destructions aren't to clear on the revel kit and all the pics are of it flying...
i'll have another bash tonight tho.

halifax is undergoing nacelle builds, i've painted the interiors for the wheel wells etc and i just need to get the nacelle parts together then add the resin radiators and carburettors.

the reason for the slow movement on this is that i got myself a new (decent) joystick and IL-2 1946. so i've technically been learning how to fly a plane
pete

 

[herman1rg]

That workbench needs much much more mess!

 

[A4K]

Nice work so far Pete! Won't comment on the desk - atleast yours has got some models on it... unlike mine!

 

[Melonfish]

In true monty python style "i'm not dead yet"

Been working on odds and sods, mostly getting bits together for this build, Ordered some masks from eduard for the halifax and the hurricane, cane's are applied just working up the courage to do the halifax ones lol.
i've managed to order proper sized bomber command lettering, the 36" stuff in 1/72 i ordered some and when it showed proved to be absolutely perfect for serial numbers but not squadron lettering...tut.
also been messing with colours, getting the right RAF green for the bomber and the right shade of middle stone for the hurricane which will be done desert style. its been a challenge but i reckon i have it all ready.

then i've been testing finishes, i've tried a standard acrylic gloss and a Klear finish, the gloss is WAY to shiny, the Klear looks great but stopping it from bubbling is an issue and i guess will be time consuming.

anyways, builds.

they're getting there!

Hurricane got its oil filter then some landing gear:

then the halifax got its Nacelles!

She's really starting to take shape now, that classic merlin nacelle shape is there, effin huge (thanks revell) but its there. the resin parts go on next, correct radiator setups and correct carburetors for the late MkII which normally had the XX but some were fitted with the XXII, then i'll look at getting the wings on permanently!
Pete