Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Hawker Hurricane Mk.1, 56 Squadron RAF, August 1940.
As my current GB build of the Spitfire Mk.VIII has temporarily stalled, waiting for a new airbrush to arrive, I thought I'd keep the enthusiasm going by starting another project I've had planned for some years.
The old Revell kit will be used here, along with a number of aftermarket resin parts, and a fair amount of scratch building and, although I'll make a start on some of the preparation work, this will likely be an on-going project, as time allows.
The Revell 1/32nd scale Hurricane kit was first released in 1971, and has seen a number of re-issues since, in various guises, with my example being from 2009.
The kit is fairly typical of the era, with raised surface detail, and is something of a hybrid, being basically the shape of the Mk.I, but with the four cannons and wing bulges of the Mk.IIc, and the later, pointed-spinner Rotol prop, together with some areas that have been simplified, and others that are over scale or inaccurate, due to "movable" or "removable" features, such as a sliding canopy.
Although fairly accurate in overall outline, there are some areas that certainly need improving, with the main ones being the nose profile, the wheel bays and, of course, the removal of the cannon mounting and wing blisters. Other areas, such as the cockpit, prop and wheels will need attention, and fortunately I have the resin parts to vastly improve and / or correct these areas, as well as a new canopy I moulded some years ago.
The required modifications, corrections and improvements will be shown as the build progresses, but for now, the pics below give some idea of what needs to be done before any major construction can commence.
Pic 1. Box art for the 2009 release, as inaccurate as parts of the kit - but the decal sheet is very good !
Pics 2 and 3. How the wheel bays are represented on the kit parts. These will be removed, and although there is an accurate resin set available to correct this area, it's quite expensive, so scratch building is the order of the day !
Pic 4. The upper cowling is designed to be removable, in order to expose the rather basic, and under-scale engine provided in the kit. However, both this and the lower cowling don't really capture the curves of the real aircraft, being rather 'flat' in profile, instead of curving fairly steeply to the front. As I managed to nab a resin nose correction set at a reasonable price, the kit nose area will be removed, and the resin parts used. The engine will not be fitted.
Pic 5. Shown here is the canopy rail, rather 'heavy' to allow the incorrectly shaped kit canopy to slide. This will be removed, and scratch-built rails and canopy sill added. Also, the 'dog kennel', the 'plain' area immediately behind the cockpit, is not quite the right shape. As the resin nose correction kit also includes a replacement 'dog kennel', this will probably be utilised in order to correct the shape. The kit canopy, although fine in profile shape, has a wider, rounded cross-section, in order to allow it to slide, and this will be replaced with the more accurate canopy I moulded.
Pic 6. Another of the main areas needing correction. The wings have the cannon mounting stubs and blisters, along with raised detail for the access panels towards the trailing edge, but the correct panels for the machine gun hatches are also present. The unwanted detail will be removed, and the machine gun ports added, a fairly easy job, as I already did this on a 'simplified' Revell Mk1 conversion some 30 years ago.
There are a number of other areas that can be improved, and some of the surface detail, particularly panel lines, will be sanded off and then engraved, although the raised rivets will only be sanded back slightly, as they are, in fact, quite noticeable on the real aircraft.
All of the required work will be described and illustrated as the build progresses, and I'll be starting by cutting away the wheel bays, ready for scratch-building a more accurate representation, with some slight allowances in order to conveniently fit the undercart legs.
As my current GB build of the Spitfire Mk.VIII has temporarily stalled, waiting for a new airbrush to arrive, I thought I'd keep the enthusiasm going by starting another project I've had planned for some years.
The old Revell kit will be used here, along with a number of aftermarket resin parts, and a fair amount of scratch building and, although I'll make a start on some of the preparation work, this will likely be an on-going project, as time allows.
The Revell 1/32nd scale Hurricane kit was first released in 1971, and has seen a number of re-issues since, in various guises, with my example being from 2009.
The kit is fairly typical of the era, with raised surface detail, and is something of a hybrid, being basically the shape of the Mk.I, but with the four cannons and wing bulges of the Mk.IIc, and the later, pointed-spinner Rotol prop, together with some areas that have been simplified, and others that are over scale or inaccurate, due to "movable" or "removable" features, such as a sliding canopy.
Although fairly accurate in overall outline, there are some areas that certainly need improving, with the main ones being the nose profile, the wheel bays and, of course, the removal of the cannon mounting and wing blisters. Other areas, such as the cockpit, prop and wheels will need attention, and fortunately I have the resin parts to vastly improve and / or correct these areas, as well as a new canopy I moulded some years ago.
The required modifications, corrections and improvements will be shown as the build progresses, but for now, the pics below give some idea of what needs to be done before any major construction can commence.
Pic 1. Box art for the 2009 release, as inaccurate as parts of the kit - but the decal sheet is very good !
Pics 2 and 3. How the wheel bays are represented on the kit parts. These will be removed, and although there is an accurate resin set available to correct this area, it's quite expensive, so scratch building is the order of the day !
Pic 4. The upper cowling is designed to be removable, in order to expose the rather basic, and under-scale engine provided in the kit. However, both this and the lower cowling don't really capture the curves of the real aircraft, being rather 'flat' in profile, instead of curving fairly steeply to the front. As I managed to nab a resin nose correction set at a reasonable price, the kit nose area will be removed, and the resin parts used. The engine will not be fitted.
Pic 5. Shown here is the canopy rail, rather 'heavy' to allow the incorrectly shaped kit canopy to slide. This will be removed, and scratch-built rails and canopy sill added. Also, the 'dog kennel', the 'plain' area immediately behind the cockpit, is not quite the right shape. As the resin nose correction kit also includes a replacement 'dog kennel', this will probably be utilised in order to correct the shape. The kit canopy, although fine in profile shape, has a wider, rounded cross-section, in order to allow it to slide, and this will be replaced with the more accurate canopy I moulded.
Pic 6. Another of the main areas needing correction. The wings have the cannon mounting stubs and blisters, along with raised detail for the access panels towards the trailing edge, but the correct panels for the machine gun hatches are also present. The unwanted detail will be removed, and the machine gun ports added, a fairly easy job, as I already did this on a 'simplified' Revell Mk1 conversion some 30 years ago.
There are a number of other areas that can be improved, and some of the surface detail, particularly panel lines, will be sanded off and then engraved, although the raised rivets will only be sanded back slightly, as they are, in fact, quite noticeable on the real aircraft.
All of the required work will be described and illustrated as the build progresses, and I'll be starting by cutting away the wheel bays, ready for scratch-building a more accurate representation, with some slight allowances in order to conveniently fit the undercart legs.