AIRCRAFT - Battle of Britain Group Build (Jan 1st 2005 - May 31st 2005)

Daniel - sounds a lot like here... a normal day is 50% humidity or more... if it rains it is automatically upgraded to 100%... you have a bit more tropical climate in parts of AU than here... but I am subtropical where I live and the moisture is horrible!!!

on a side note... why is "sub tropical" actually above the tropics? meaning it is more tropical in the tropics than in the sub tropics? seems like the subs should be deeper in the tropics... kinda like sub zero... sub marine... sub sandwich...

maybe the sub tropics are so far under the tropics, they end up back above it!!

WOOHOO 100 Pages of yacking and some of it has even been on modeling

Darren

Well here she be. Hurricane Mk I of No.42 Squadron, flown by Flg Off W. L. McKnight. Willie McKnight was a Canadian flying with the RAF and had ace status with 17 confirmed victories & 2 shared. The aircraft is depicted as it appeared in December 1940. Technically this is later than the "official" end of the BOB in October 1940, but hostilities continued until the end of the year & many historians consider December, 1940 as the actual end of the BOB. McKnight was KIA flying this aircraft on January 12, 1941.






The kit was the 1/48 Hasegawa. Aftermarket goodies were resin replacement seat, armorplate, exhausts & wheel bay from Ultracast, Vac Form canopy from True details, & decals from Aeromaster. Hope you like the build .

This ends my builds for this GB, but I'll keep checking in to see how some of you slow pokes are moving along.

Regards, Rick

Awesome build Rick , she's a real eye catcher. Thanks very much for all your contributions and I've updated the front page and marked you as complete.

Darren

---edit---
Oops, forgot to ask, how did you cut the canopy on your Hurricane?

NIcely done as always Rick! Can't wait to see what you are going to build for the Canadian GB?

That's a beautiful build Rick. The camo looks great. Thanks for sharing the build with us.

Tom You've got me confused now. I think the answer is that the tropical is fully tropical, but the sub tropical is less-tropical. Like submarine means under water. Same with subway or sub zero (I think the sub means less than or under). But back on topic....

Nice build Rick!!!!

Great job Rick. Fine looking Hurricane.

QUOTE: Originally posted by tho9900 Daniel - sounds a lot like here... a normal day is 50% humidity or more... if it rains it is automatically upgraded to 100%... you have a bit more tropical climate in parts of AU than here... but I am subtropical where I live and the moisture is horrible!!! on a side note... why is "sub tropical" actually above the tropics? meaning it is more tropical in the tropics than in the sub tropics? seems like the subs should be deeper in the tropics... kinda like sub zero... sub marine... sub sandwich...

Sub zero... sub marine... sub sandwich eh TomMan that is some quantum thinking buddy

Rick, Stunning seems to sum up your hurricane mate, Fantastic build i'm looking forward to seeing some more of your work in some other GB's

Rick

Absolute stunner! When (or as my wife says IF) I grow up I want to be just like you. How did you do those panel lines? Sweet, smooth and clean build...Thanks for the look !

looks great Rick! Well worth the wait for us to see!!! Definitely some fine work there....

Darren, Razordws, Daniel, Bob, Jules, Joe, Tom, Thanks everyone for the comments. Much appreciated & glad you liked the build.

Darren, the canopy is a Vac Form from True details. I cut it out of the blister with scissors.

Razordws, I 'm not sure yet about the Canadian GB, but if I join in, I'll come up with something. I've got a Hobbycraft 1/48 Sea Fury kit with the Cutting Edge resin detail set in my stash, so maybe that will be my build.

Joe, after Future, the panel lines were enhanced with a wash of water based acrylic. I used Burnt Umber on the Dark Earth areas, Black Green on the Dark Green areas & pure Black on the control surface separations. The wash was applied with a 20/0 lining brush into the recesses. I'm not a fan of sludge washes.

Regards, Rick

Rick, I must say that is stunningly beautiful, I can only hope my hurricane even come half way to yours.

I asked about the decals as I know several other modelers here in Calgary (Which by the way was Willies home town!) that have tried three different manufacturers' decals for Willie McKnight and I think the aeromaster decals were "inaccurate", they commented that the lettering is too light and it was a slightly different font (thicker) than what can be seen on actual pictures of his aircraft. Also the skeleton figure supposedly had his mouth closed (from real pictures), not open. Now these observations came from some pretty serious builders and I myself really take everything with a grain of salt.
Like you, I build for my own personal enjoyment and satifaction of having a good looking, representative model. So with that being said, You did an excellent job and if anybody comments on the supposed "inaccuracies" of the aeromaster set then tell them to stick it and just not look at it.
I love the hurricane and I rank it up there on my favourites next to the P-51D!

Thanks Jay. Aeromaster has released 2 versions of markings for this Aircraft. I think the later version may have made some of the corrections you mention. But all I had was the earlier release & it was "close enough" for me .

Regards, Rick

Rick The Hurricane looks great.

A really good looking build.

I'm hoping to get a coat of future on mine on Sunday, with decals on Monday, so it's slowly getting there.

Karl

Well I got a little done tonight, I washed down the Spit to remove the decal setting solution and then gave the fuselage the final coat of Future before a wash. Nearly there.

Darren

I also got some work done on my Spitfire today. A sprayed on a coat of primer this morning and then patched up a few bits that the primer revealed. Then I gave the underside a coat of light blue tonight. It was a bit of a custom mix paint job, but I think the colour is close enough. I'll let it dry overnight, mask in the morning and then give it some dark earth.

very very nice rick!! how did you mask the camo pattern?

Karl, Darren, Daniel, Sounds like progress is being made. Looking forward to the pics.

Tanky, Thanks for the comments. The model was first sprayed Dark Earth. Masking was done with heavy craft paper, cut to the outline of the disruptive camo pattern & held in place with double sided tape. Then the Dark Green was sprayed. Although many modelers seem to prefer a soft feathered edge, the RAF had hard edge camo. The paper technique gives a hard edge, but not as harsh as masking tape would give.

Regards, Rick

well Kremps showed up at my door tonight drunk as always.. says she just needs a place to stay for a day or two... (rolling eyes) haven't I heard THAT before!!! so I guess no modeling will get done as she is precise on her meal times and demands to be served instead of dishing it herself... that and the fact the old cow eats 5 times a day!!!

Hope to see some more pics soon!!!!

Hey Tom, since our builds are done, lets chat about more important things. How's Ol' Rudy doing ? Haven't seen any updates on his puppy antics in a while.

Regards, Rick

Well I had to strip the masking of the rear glass of the Spit and go to town with some wet n dry to smooth everything together. Thank heavens for Novus polish, three stage nail polishers and what little remains of my patience. A primer coat is next to see what I have yet to fix...

cheers

Mike

Rick,

She is a beauty - wonderful job :)

And ... I have cracked open the Spitfire!! Started work on the engine, which (to my untrained eye) did not look too bad out of the box. But, I have added a few bits of wire, etc to enhance the look - am actually quite proud of my efforts!!

I will post some pics tomorrow.

Rick - Rudy is as bad as ever! (actually he is a lot better, just active like a puppy

He got his first pop with a magazine the other day... he wouldn't come in... then he ran across the sreet where this team was practicing baseball... ok no biggie so far... then one of the players grabbed him and gave him to me... as I turned around he started clawing me as fast and hard as he could trying to get down so he could chase the balls again... problem is on the face and ears isn't a good place to claw!!!

I'll have to take another pic now that he is grown... he looks like a beagle head put on a bassett body with beagle legs underneath... interesting combo.. longish body, tall legs...

How's the Corgi doing? what's his/her name? I need to tell Rudy Tito and Frank about their long lost cousin in Michigan haha

Happy 2000 Everyone

EDIT: Wasn't there supposed to be some computer worm that destroyed a thread when it hit 2K or was that just an evil conspiracy theory?

Mike, keep wrestling the beast into submission .

Paul, Thanks for the praise. Good luck on your build.

Tom, Dogs & balls are age old companions. Glad to hear Rudy is doing well. Hope you didn't get too many scars. I've got a scar on an ankle where my Corgi, Gidget, nipped me when she was a wee little pup with those razor sharp puppy teeth.

Dave, wow 2,000+ posts on this thread. I hadn't noticed, but I guess we can all qualify for the Chatty Cathy Award .

Regards, Rick

Rick - funny thing is he was going over there to socialize... his only interest in balls is hiding them from Frank as Frank has a fetuch for balls... I guess he figured the partyt wasn't over so he wasn't going home!!! I'm ok... it felt like it would have left a scar... but it's ok...

As far as our chattiness in here, I like it!!! of course Kremps showing up early in the build like she did had an effect on things... she always was the socialite type...

well i dont know about this but the miricle has happened. i am now in possession of the hasegawa messerschmitt bf109e-4/7. if allowed i will re enter this build building maj. helmut wick's bird from I/jg2, oct 1940, belgium.

i will await the decision.


joe

good to hear it Joe! Darren should be along shortly and he can tell ya if there is time (Iforgot when this one ended even...)

Glad you found something fitting for the build!!! Haven't seen ya around lately, thought maybe Nurse Kremps had got to ya!! (stick around... you'll find out who she is haha)

nah tom i have been hurting a little and have kept away from everything for the last week or so. but i am trying to get back a bit more.


joe