discussion 90th anniversary, Hawker Hurricane's first flight 6th Nov 1935 Airfix Mk1 Hurricane

[colin m]

Apologies for the big title, but it gets the message across. Actually, I had to shorten it as you can only have 85 characters in a title, so the missing bit of information, is the scale, it's 1:48.

On the 6th November 1935, K5083 flew for the first time. Let's be honest, it was an aircraft, we really needed in the UK as war wasn't far away.
With this in mind, I'm going to mark the occasion with a build of a Hurricane.
Rather than going for a typical Mk 1, I've gone for the tropical version, I do like a bit of desert camouflage. Although, a silver Hurricane is a new one on me. I might have to have a closer look at that variant.
The kit,

The bits are quite nice. As many of us know, Airfix are really producing some nicely detailed kits these days.


Even the pilot looks good.


What's the chances of me getting this done for the 6th November ? a bit slim I would say, but lets see.

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Following along Colin. Iconic aircraft worthy of recognition.

 

[Geoffers]

Nice one Colin

Good luck with your build, I’ve got a Hurricane in the stash standing by ready to mark this historic milestone.

I’ll try and get it posted up later, let the Hurrifest begin

Geoff.

 

[Richard48]

Nice one Colin.Count me in chair pulled up.

 

[colin m]

A small update. Like many builds, we start with the cockpit. Well, the seat, then 'pit.

Which fits into he cockpit, but still isn't part of the aircraft yet.


The instrument panel does have a decal to use, but I just thought, highlighting the raise detail might look a bit better.


The fuselage went together well, but then I saw these. Oh well, just a bit of filler.


Tonight's mission, might be to get the fuselage and wings to marry up. I'm not expecting any drama doing this, but you never know.

 

[flyjoe180]

Those are some pretty deep sink marks on the horizontal stab fillets! I'm sure you'll sort them out easily Colin.

 

[papa 695]

Nice start Colin.

 

[Geoffers]

Good start Colin

Strangely I’ve got the same sink marks on the tail of my 1/72 version.

Geoff.

 

[Jim R]

90 years ago, certainly needs recognition. Nice start. Those sink marks will be fairly straightforward to fix but black mark for Airfix.

 

[colin m]

Cheers chaps for stopping by.

Well I wasn't expecting problems, but it turned out to be a real tight fit.



Now, that looks like a Hurricane. The stbd wing root was perfect, the port had a small gap, easily dealt with by a small 'spreader' in the fuselage.


Time for primer. Oh wait, masking first. Doh.

 

[yak face]

Quick work colin , a few little snags to sort but no problems , cheers tony

 

[flyjoe180]

Rather tight tolerances than loose with canyons to fill. Looking good Colin

 

[Geoffers]

Coming together nicely Colin

Geoff.

 

[colin m]

Paint, we have paint.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the correct MRP in stock so had to resort to some very old acrylic paints, which proved a bit of a pain to spray. Or maybe life is just so much easier with MRP, I've suffered acrylic skill fade.
Anyway, when I could actually get the paint down (AK) it worked very well, but with a slower dying time, it has slowed me down a bit.


The model has now been gloss coated and the decals are drying as I type.

 

[Jim R]

Looking all nice and neat. I moved to MRP laquer a year or so ago and now find acrylic airbrushing rather fraught.

 

[Geoffers]

Despite your issues with the paint it’s looking mighty fine

Geoff.

 

[flyjoe180]

That's looking good Colin, love the leading edge squiggles

 

[colin m]

Looking all nice and neat. I moved to MRP laquer a year or so ago and now find acrylic airbrushing rather fraught.

Not just me then Jim. As I said, it settles well, it's just that there's no drama using MRP.

 

[colin m]

That's looking good Colin, love the leading edge squiggles

The squiggles, is believed to be a way of confusing Italian aircraft, head on. That's a theory I've read, but it sort of makes sense, why else do it.

 

[Geoffers]

Either that or they were thinking ahead = interesting schemes for future modellers