Hurricane Mk1, 1/32nd Scale.

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.

Looking forward to this Terry. As I was staring at the box top I noticed in the lower right corner that it said "Limited edition of 7500 pieces" and I briefly though. "that's going to require a lot of glue"

Looking forward to it Terry. Yes, the wing rivets on the real aircraft are round headed and protrude quite a bit. It seems the kit moulded them as small raised concentric circles.

Fortunately Geo, there are only around 50 kit parts, plus about the same again in scratch-built and resin items.
Yes Andy, they are small concentric circles, but look surprisingly effective under paint, having just recently looked at the one I built 30 years ago.
For the time, this kit was quite something. Revell were the first to introduce 1/32nd scale kits a couple of years before the Hurricane kit, which seemed huge at the time, and acceptable enough, accuracy and detail wise, considering the fairly basic 1/72nd, and the few 1/48th scale kits around back then.

Anyway, the first surgery session has been a success, and the 'patient' is recovering, following removal of the wheel bays, and the start of clean up.

Pics 1 and 2. I'd anticipated that removing the moulded-in wheel bays would be rather awkward, and decidedly tricky, but after making a few cuts with a razor saw, and then using these as a guide, it didn't take long to cut away the main 'tubs', and then trim off the roof of the leg bays, using a circular saw blade in a rotary tool, one of the very few times such a tool has been useful when used on thick plastic, which can easily melt due to the friction heat, and then set into a solid, immovable lump around the cut edges..
Pics 3 and 4. Cleaning up and thinning the edges of the bay openings. The mountings for the gear legs, and the support strut channels, have been retained, as a concession to the way the kit parts need to be attached.
Pic 5. The usual Revell Monogram moulded Copyright markings of the period have also now been removed.

Next step, after some further clean-up and sanding, is to build and detail the new wheel bay box, using plastic card and other materials. This won't be 100% accurate, due to the aforementioned 'concession', but it should be close enough, and way, way better than the kit representation.
Oh, and don't you just love that dark green plastic - pass the bucket, I think I'm going to .............. !!!!

Thanks for the interest chaps.

Now that the wheel bays have been removed, and most, but not all, of the clean-up work done, some thought and planning is required, in order to be able to scratch-build a reasonable representation of the actual wheel bays as seen on the real aircraft.
Unlike the round 'tubs' portrayed on the kit wing, the real wheel bays were a 'box' structure, with a straight wall at the front, forward of the pointed panel where the outline of the openings meet, with similar structures at the rear, more or less following the shape of the rear cut outs, but with a rectangular box section aft.
( I've included some pics of the bays as depicted by the parts from a 1/48th scale kit, to give a better idea of what they should look like. )
Before commencing work however, it is necessary to establish how much clearance there is, inside the wing, and identify any obstructions which could prevent the scratch-built box structure from fitting neatly inside. To this end, the wing halves were taped together, and the interior space assessed, and then one fuselage half was attached to see if this added any more obstructions.
It will also be necessary to check if the new nose sections will interfere with the wheel bay construction, and the pics below explain what is required.

Pics 1 - 3. The 1/48th scale parts show what the wheel bays should look like, just roughly placed together for the pics.
Pics 4 - 6. With the wing halves joined, it is evident that the fuselage attachment brackets, and part of the upper wing flange (yellow arrows) will, in fact, protrude into the area of the wheel bay walls. These will need to be trimmed back sufficiently to allow enough clearance for the plastic card structure to locate and be glued in position, but they will also aid in supporting the 'walls'.
Pics 7 and 8. Attaching one fuselage half revealed that some trimming will also be needed here, as the lower wing root flange (red arrow) will protrude into the wheel bay area.
Pics 9 and 10. The replacement nose, on the same datum as the wing root, shows the difference in shape, with the second pic also showing the difference in length - approximately 6.25 scale inches. ( Although the length of the kit nose is more appropriate for the Mk.II Hurricane, it is still not accurate in profile.)
Having made some initial measurements, it's unlikely that the new nose will interfere with the construction of the wheel bays, but to be certain, the kit nose will be sawn off, and the new nose parts fitted, before commencing work on measuring, ready for construction of the new wheel bays.

Having now had a closer look at the resin 'dog kennel', I've decided that this will be used, as it is distinctly different in profile and frontal cross section (and includes the head armour), so more surgery will be required behind the cockpit. The correction kit also includes a replacement lower panel for the area where the forward wing root joins the fuselage, but this is designed for use with the PCM kit, and doesn't look much different from the Revell kit's area, so probably won't be needed, although this can be checked once the new nose is fitted. I'll show pics of these parts in a future post.

Not sure Terry.. but judging by the slot for the ehaust pipes , shouldn't be that resin nose moved slightly forward like in the pic below? In the case it wouldn't interfere with the wheel bay. Just an idea.

I think I know what you mean, but the curve for the leading edge of the wing root, on the new part, has to fit around the curve on the kit fuselage.
Also, bear in mind that the kit fuselage is really a Mk.II, with the longer nose, and the exhausts therefore slightly further forward.
I've just done some measuring and checking, before cutting the fuselage, and the new nose should fit in the correct position, and shouldn't interfere with the wheel bay area.
I'll soon find out, as it's now "The Moment of Truth" - I'm about o cut off the kit nose. Get this wrong, and I'm stuffed !!

Grasped that and keep my finger crossed for you.

Happy to report I got it right, but as expected, there's some adjustments needed for a proper fit around the wing, particularly the underside.
The correction kit is designed for use with the Pacific Coast Models kit, and on checking the original manufacturer's web-site, it's suggested that it should work with the old Revell kit, although extra work will be needed.
Some work will be required around the joint of the leading edge curve of the upper wing root fillet, and a modification will be required on the underside of the 'new' nose, as explained in the pic captions below, with some work having to be done once the nose, wing, and fuselage are assembled.

Pics 1 and 2. The port side nose section removed, and the first alignment check of the replacement part. It's clear here that the profile now looks a lot better, capturing the curves of the Mk.1 nose.
Note that none of the cut areas have yet been filed or sanded, so all joints shown are still 'raw'.
Pics 3 and 4. The wing root fillet needs to have a little more plastic removed in these pics. This has now been done, but I think I may have removed a little too much - can't really confirm until the parts are joined properly, but it shouldn't take much to correct, if needed.
Pic 4. A trial fit with the wing in place, showed that the forward, curved fillet did not align with the rear edge of the nose section, overlapping by the amount shown forward of the dotted yellow line.
Pics 6 to 8. The underside panel from the correction kit is too long for the Revell kit, being designed for use with the PCM kit, and would be overlapping even more. It's important to retain the lower surface curves from the wing leading edge to the cowling, as, on the real aircraft, this is a fairing covering a reinforcement tube, running from the wing to the fuselage frame at approximately 45 degrees, and very noticeable. Therefore, the kit part, integral to the lower wing, will be retained as it is, and the new nose parts modified to fit.
Pic 9. The area shown in red on the new nose will be removed, allowing the new nose to join to the kit's lower wing section, and the curves and joints blended-in as required. Until the parts are joined, I'm not sure if this will be 100% accurate, but it should at least be acceptable and, more importantly, it will retain the curves.

There's still a lot to do, with more test fitting, and then repeating the procedure on the starboard side, before the work on the wheel wells can be done and, although time consuming, and at times slightly challenging, I'm fairly confident that things will work out as planned.
Thanks again for your interest, and I'll post another up-date in due course.

Good work so far Terry!

Some challenges ahead.

"The Department of Idiot Modellers (DIM)" has the following announcement to make :-

"It would seem that one of our Department members, sometimes known as Airframes, but more correctly referred to as Dickwit, has made a serious error.
Whilst obviously suffering from the effects of a major brain fart, said member, having measured and marked out the area of a Hurricane nose section which needed to be cut off, proceeded with this task, whilst apparently ignoring the aforementioned marked reference points, and made the cut in the wrong place, thereby eventually resulting in some very strong language, which not only scared a neighbourhood cat, but also put into question the birth origins of this member, and also of various manufacturers of modelling tools and equipment, the latter for no apparent or valid reason.
DIM would like to take this opportunity to assure other modellers that the frightened cat has now fully recovered, and that no other animals, or humans, were affected or offended by the actions if this member, and apologise for any inconvenience, or spilled coffee, this announcement may have caused."

End of official DIM announcement.

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Yep, having illustrated where the cut line should be in Post #6, and discussed this with Wojtek in Post #7, I made the cut approximately 5 mm too far aft on the port fuselage half !!
Five millimeters, for ****'s sake !!!
I can only think that I may have been concentrating on the line of the wing root fillet, and the corresponding curve of the lower edge of the new nose part, missing the lightly engraved 'cut line' I'd marked on the fuselage half, or maybe associated with a disrupted and erratic sleep pattern, but whatever the reason, it has resulted in a serious 'cock up' which, although not insurmountable, has now complicated what should have been a relatively simple modification.
Had I made the cut in the correct place, the wing root fillet, and the curved lower panel, would have matched fairly well, possibly needing a little filler to blend-in the joints.
I only noticed this after further study of scale plans, and inspection of the 1/48th scale kit parts, when checking details of the wing root curves and panel lines, and measuring the dimensions to compare to the 1/32nd scale parts. This is when I discovered that the dimensions of the Revell kit, are actually correct, and the fuselage and nose, if perhaps not the right profile for the latter, are actually those of the Mk.I, and not the slightly longer Mk.II., as I originally thought.
So, I now have two options :-
1.) Try to obtain another Revell kit, just for the port fuselage half, or 2.) continue with this kit, ensuring the starboard fuselage half is cut in the correct location this time, and repair the error on the port side.
The first option doesn't seem viable, unless I can find a second-hand kit at a ridiculously low price, but as they appear to be as rare as rocking horse sh*t at the moment, I doubt that will happen.
Option 2 would appear to be the way to go, fitting the starboard side nose section in the correct position, and then matching the port side nose section, making a 'plug' for the gap using plastic card, and then filling this with 'Milliput' and sanding it flush, a method I have used in the past, when extending a fuselage on a couple of models.
It just means a lot more work, and an even more protracted build, but fortunately, I should be able to return to the Spitfire build for the current GB in the next couple of days anyway, and it was always intended that this project would be on-going, as time allowed.

The pic below shows where the cuts should have been made, indicated by the yellow arrows and dotted line.

As it happens, I won't be able to get much more dome now until Tuesday, as tomorrow I have a re-run of that messed up medical assessment I attended last month, which, with travel time and inevitable late-running on the part of the assessor, will take up most of the day, and tonight I think I need a beer or two, to refresh the obviously addled brain cells !!

Ouch

Did you say "Oh B*llocks" or "Oh Dear"?

Straight forward repair Terry. I would cut the piece that you have now removed along the correct line and glue the 5mm section you need to the resin nose piece such that the seam is clean. Then place the nose back onto the rest of the fuselage and fill the incorrect cut with CA and card, rescribing as necessary. No Milliput plug necessary.

With Andy.

Yes, that's more or less what I'll be doing.
I didn't really explain fully in the previous post - when I made the cut, I deliberately left a couple of millimeters of plastic (on the fuselage) forward of the cut line, to allow for test-fitting adjustment, and then roughly trimmed and filed back the fuselage cut to what I thought was the marked cut line, which, in fact, was a panel line further aft than intended.
Once the new nose section has the 'missing' piece attached, cut from the removed nose section, there will still be a gap between this and the main fuselage, of around 2 mm to maybe 3 mm ( I have yet to measure it properly, it may be less), which will need filling with more than just CA.
What I intend to do is attach a 'backing strip' of plastic card, on the inside face of the parts, bridging the gap with a couple of mm overlap on each side, internally. This will then act as a base on which to attach a further strip of suitable gauge plastic, filling the external gap.
If the resulting joints, and / or the level between the 'bridged' sections are not flush and even, then this area will be filled with 'Milliput' and sanded flush and smooth, and any required surface detail re-scribed.
You may remember that I had to do this on the engine nacelles of the Airfix 1/48th scale Mosquito PR.XVI (converted to PR.IX), as the there was quite a large gap when the kit parts were fitted. As that worked out well, I'm confident that the same method can be used here.
Isn't modelling a wonderfully relaxing, stress-free pass time ?!!!!

Beats juggling knives.

That solution sounds good Terry.

Ah, juggling knives !
I do that many times a day, and also forks, spoons, coffee cups, scalpels, tweezers - in fact any ****ing thing my stupid knackered hands get entangled with !!
What do I like about Rheumatoid Arthritis ?
**** all !!!
Aaaand, relax !!!