1/48 Hasegawa Hurricane MK I (Work in Progress)

Nice work. This kit is a beauty right outa the box. I built the Mk IID awhile back. Yes, the wing plugs and landing lights kinda suck, as well as the lower wing to fuselage joint. But isn't a deal breaker. Looking forward to more.

Joe, looks like you're off to another great start - man that cockpit detail pops!

I built this one many moons ago, and I don't recall fit problems with the gun port blocks - just test fit and some sanding.  The Italeri version though seems really bad in that respect, and Quickboost has made a replacement set.

Most fans of the Hurricane are quite satisfied with the Hasegawa version.  Main gripe was the overly done fabric  on the fuselage and of course the fuselage joint on the bottom end runs right across fabric detail instead of at a panel line.

There has been mention of a slight inaccuracy in nose shape, and hubs on the tires are too small making them look like donuts.  The last bit is incorrect fabric detail for the access panel which should run continuously.  (compliments to Troy Smith for pointing this out).

regards,

Jack

Thanks for the compliments and the areas to look out for.  I got her together and primed.  Maybe I'm spoiled by Tamiya kits, but this turkey has been fighting me pretty good so far, albeit some has been operator error.  First, the outboard wing plugs did not match the wing chord.  I had to do a lot of twisting and spot gluing with Tenax to make them look halfway decent.  Surprisingly, the 8 Browning 303 inserts fit good. 

Thanks for the warning on the lower wing to fuselage joint that went right through the nice ribbing detail, however, it did no good.  This area was a bear and I struggled .  All I could do was super glue the joint and sand obsessively, all while shaking my head as I wondered why Hasegawa would do this, especially when there was a nice panel line just north of the area?  I was having alot of trouble getting this area presentable, so I ultimately said to myself "Self....if you can't beat 'em...join 'em".  I decided to sand the whole panel, to include the ribbing, which did blend the joint and once done, it left a faint impression of the ribbing detail.  Since I've heard this kit has overemphasised ribbing in the first place, I suppose I sort of came up with a solution. I suppose we need this type of thing to pop up once in a while to keep us honest. 

I tried to cut apart the canopy with the intent of using the front windscreen and a vacuform for the sliding part.  I unfortunately slipped with the razor saw and gouged the front part.  I then decided to use the damaged part as a makeshift canopy mask.  Now I suppose I have to use the whole Squadron canopy...oh well....hope it fits well (I hate cutting these out).  She's primed and almost ready for paint.  Stay tuned....

Joe   

looks good Lawdog, just beware, the nav lights on the wing tips fit like sss.....they need to be superglued, sanded, then painted the appropriate clears, might wanna check this before the main color goes one. Or maybe that was just my model...

Joe, great looking build so far and the office detail is awesome.

Nice work. I've got the Tamiya reboxing of the Italeri version in the decal stages now. It fought me every step of the way during construction. Have you decided on markings yet?

In for an update.  Thanks for the tips folks.  That's the beautiful thing about this forum.  Jester, I almost went with the Tamiya version, but I found this one fairly cheap on E-bay.  I still would like to give that one a whirl eventually.  How about a Work in Progress on that Tami-talieri 'Cane?  Anyways, I added the "headlights" (landing lights?) and then the wing tip lights.  On Nathan's advice, I dryfitted them and they seemed to fit ok with some minor gaps as reported  I painted them, taped off the frame (bezel?) then super glued them in.  I then filled any resulting gaps with white glue.  It looks good enough.  It was pre-shaded the usual XF-1 Flat Black to await the Sky color underneath.

I suspect my airbrush needle is in need of replacement since my lines keep getting fatter and fatter (and Leo is getting larrrrrrrrger!).  "Airplane!" reference aside, I made the same mixture I did for my Spitfire MK I with Tamiya XF-21 Sky and a dash of XF-3 Flat Yellow.  This seems to match the Sky Type S perfectly (I rarely paint straight from the bottle).  At about 15 psi (I prefer lower pressures), the paint was sprayed to where the flat black was just slightly visible. The paint was then lightened with XF-2 Flat White.  I then streaked the lower surface with the airflow.  Once done, I used a diluted mixture of XF-69 NATO black and XF-64 Red Brown (I keep a glass bottle pre-mixed for convenience) on areas subject to grime, mostly around the engine, intakes, flaps and wheel wells.  To my eye, it adds an extra dimension to the overall look.  If anyone should try it, be careful because its easy to overdo.  I think this here (below)is about right. 

I then sprayed the RAF Dark Earth with a the Tamiya recommended mixture of XF-64 Red Brown and XF-52 Flat Earth.  The last time I mixed this shade for the Spitfire MK I, I thought it seemed too red, so I decided to mix some XF-49 Khaki into it until it turned more brown.  Once satisfied, it was sprayed in the same manner as the Sky.  I made sure some of the distinctive tail plane and rudder ribbing showed through.  This was then lightened with XF-57 Buff.  The wings were then streaked rather heavily.  .

I ordered the Xtradecal sheet 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain (#48-086) off E-bay (my go to for decals).  It has several Spits and Canes to choose from.  When it does arrive, I'll decide on which Hurricane to build.  Since I don't know whether it will be an A or B pattern, I decided to hold off on the RAF Dark Green until it gets here. 

Stay tuned...

Joe     

Joe, looks great and have to say your technical skills at laying down paint  appears flawless.

I'm curious to know what reference source(s) you are using to base your underside  colours on, as I may need to update my library on this.   To me the lighter shade you applied on the control surfaces seems very close to the proper Sky Type S while the remainder of the undersides would be more of a match to Duck egg green.

Anyways, here is a comparison breakdown of the closest FS matches  from researcher Paul Lucas (published about a dozen years ago).

regards,

Jack

Thanks for the compliment Jack.  Reference the Sky color, I actually have an old bottle of Model Master Sky Type "something" that I used as a reference for the mixture I used on my Spitfire (I no longer use Model Master enamels..I now prefer Tamiya Acrylics).  I just took a dab from the MM bottle and put it on a mixing palete, then commenced to mixing Tamiya paints till it matched, at least to my eye.  I messed around with it until I came up with this formula, XF-21 Sky with a touch of XF-3 Flat Yellow.  The control surfaces are the above formula lightened with XF-2 white.  Truth be told, I've seen built models on the net and in books done up in the above hue and thought they look better than the bluish-green duck egg blue sometimes used.  Of course this is just my personal preference and may be completely wrong....oh well.  

Thats a sweet FS color chart.  Interestingly, neither my mixture or Model Master's version looked anything like the picture above.  The above Sky S looks more like neutral grey to my untrained eye.  At least my Dark Earth mixture is close to the above version.  

Joe

Absolutely love your preshading and how you put your paints down. Looks great!

Awesome preshading Joe!

Wow, Joe, glad you posted outside the "Forces..." GB thread as I hadn't seen your Hurricane until now. Some great work going on here.

Looks great!  I really love how you do the shading.  Will have to give that a try myself.

Hello folks, I'm in for a little update here.  I decided on Carl Davis' 601 Tangmere mount from the Fall of 1940.  Davis was one of the few pilots of American decent to participate in the Battle of Britain and was unfortunately KIA in Septemberof 1940.  I was inspired and decided to homage to this hero.  The markings were from the Aeromaster sheet 48-577 "Yanks in the RAF".  It calls for a bare metal panel on the nose and no underwing roundels.  I decided I would exercise artistic licensing and just build it as a standard Hurricane, by omitting this panel and I may even add the roundels.  Reference the latter, the Aeromaster sheet seems to unclear whether these were present or not.  Heck, I may even go back and throw in the NMF nose panel.   

I used Blue Tac rolled out in the pattern for application of the XF-81 RAF Dark Green.  It was sprayed down then Xf-57 Buff was added for streaking to weather it.  The clear coat has been added and I'm almost ready for the decals. 

Joe

Great job on the cammo Joe!

Looking great!!

I'm gonna have to play with that blue tack mask method. I usually just freehand. The method really looks good! Nice work on the preshading!!

Looking very good so far!

I look forward to see the next steps!

Joe - I love your painting techniques!  Your Spit was awesome and now your Hurri looks great too!  

Steve

Joe - looking good.  I was going to say adding the underside roundels would be fine as an order dated August 11th 1940 brought them back into use.  

Aeromaster likely used this photo as a basis for their decal info:

<a href="www.iwm.org.uk/.../205194292" target="_blank"><img alt="ROYAL AIR FORCE FIGHTER COMMAND, 1939-1945." class="" src="media.iwm.org.uk/.../standard.jpg /></a>

<span>ROYAL AIR FORCE FIGHTER COMMAND, 1939-1945.<a href="www.iwm.org.uk/.../privacy-copyright" target="_blank">© IWM (CH 1638)</a></span>

Caption has it being taken in November 1940 - strange though one would think it would have the underside roundels by then.  The underside do look clean, so it's possibly a repaint with markings yet to be applied.   Note too that the Hurricane Davis ultimately met his fate in was of a different serial code.

regards,

Jack

Sweet job Joe. Those colors look perfect.

Thanks for the kind words guys.  Jack, nice reference picture!  I agree with your assessment.  From what I can see though, I'm not convinced the forward panel is natural metal and not just the lighting.  Reference the serial numbers, I think at this stage of the war, due to the attrition rate, these guys flew whatever was available or my example was just an earlier mount of his......just speculating but who knows. 

I got her clearcoated and while waiting for it to cure (I use Alclad Clear Gloss, so this is only a matter of a few hours), I turned my attention to the landing gears, wheels and such.  The gears on this kit are nicely detailed and quite impressively intricate.  After paint, I ran the brake lines with fine wire per reference photos to add that extra dimension.  I ended up using a True Details set of wheels since the kit tires seem sort of cartoonish to me (anyone remember that Amazing Stories episode in the '80's with the magical cartoon B-17 wheels.....classic!).   

The decals were Aeromaster and went down beautifully under Micro Sol.  As a matter of fact, I use Aeromaster Decals for all my British roundels since these can be tricky.  I ultimately decided to exercise artistic licensing and add the underwing roundels because I concur with Jack and suspect this plane did have them at one point.   Furthermore, to be quite frank, Battle of Britain planes just don't look right without them.  It just leaves me with that hollow feeling.  Once complete, I gave the panel lines a Flory Wash of Black on top and Dark Dirt on the bottom.  I must admit that at first I didn't like this stuff because it just beaded up on the gloss surface and had a strange gritty texture, however, persistence does pay off as it dries and the stuff does eventually go into the crevices nicely.  The key is to use a large brush and coat everything with it repeatedly.  Once dry, wipe it off with a slightly damp paper towel.  I use paper coffee filters which don't leave behind lint.  I'm in the home stretch....stay tuned. 

Joe

Looking sharp Joe,I've had the same issue with that wash and you're correct persistance pays off. Nice attention to detail and the lighter shade on the fabric covered control surfaces looks spot on! Cheers Trey

Looking REALLY nice!

Did you inscribe the the panel lines further or are those just the kit lines???

I'm gonna call her finished.  To recap, its the 1/48 scale Hasegawa Hurricane MK I in the Battle of Britain era markings of Carl Davis' 601 Squadron out of Tangmere in August of 1940.  Davis was a nine kill ace of American decent.  He was KIA on September 6th 1940 in a dogfight with a BF 109 over the skies of England.

In review of the kit, it scores points for great detail in the cockpit and landing gear, but falls short with the closed canopy and lousy fit in some areas, most notably at the lower wing fuselage joint.  I added Eduard seatbelts, a Squadron Canopy (both pieces) and True Details wheels.    I also used Aeromaster decals 48-577 "Yanks in the RAF" for Davis' Hurricane.  Surprisingly, once the fuselage codes were sealed and dullcoated, I had some trouble with the carrier film showing through and there was some silvering on the starboard side, albeit minor but its there if you look closely.  I normally have little trouble with Aeromaster products, so I must assume the silvering was because I failed to clear coat it enough in this area before application and the decal did not get a good seal in that spot.  The Eduard canopy masks performed flawlessly and I added a scratch built handle to the exterior of the canopy from Evergreen rod.  Here she is and thanks for following the thread.

Joe

Hey...that looks great!

I'm gonna call her finished.  To recap, its the 1/48 scale Hasegawa Hurricane MK I in the Battle of Britain era markings of Carl Davis' 601 Squadron out of Tangmere in August of 1940.  Davis was a nine kill ace of American decent.  He was KIA on September 6th 1940 in a dogfight with a BF 109 over the skies of England.

In review of the kit, it scores points for great detail in the cockpit and landing gear, but falls short with the closed canopy and lousy fit in some areas, most notably at the lower wing fuselage joint.  I added Eduard seatbelts, a Squadron Canopy (both pieces) and True Details wheels.    I also used Aeromaster decals 48-577 "Yanks in the RAF" for Davis' Hurricane.  Surprisingly, once the fuselage codes were sealed and dullcoated, I had some trouble with the carrier film showing through and there was some silvering on the starboard side, albeit minor but its there if you look closely.  I normally have little trouble with Aeromaster products, so I must assume the silvering was because I failed to clear coat it enough in this area before application and the decal did not get a good seal in that spot.  The Eduard canopy masks performed flawlessly and I added a scratch built handle to the exterior of the canopy from Evergreen rod.  Here she is and thanks for following the thread.

Joe

....and my homage to "The Few".....thank you for your service

Joe, that's a beautiful Hurricane!  Man, you've done a great job on it.  This is the kind of craftsmanship that really inspires me.  It's been great fun following your progress, thanks for taking us along.

Gary     

That is awesome work there!  Builds like yours give me something to work towards.  Have you ever had trouble with the Blue Tac sticking to the model?

Mike