1/48 Sea Hurricane Ib

Post by **Willem** » Wed May 06, 2015 5:02 pm

Yeah yeah yeah...... but I will finish this, well probably, I promise to do my best ok?

This idea was born about a month ago when I visited the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire. Amongst some beautiful exhibits I saw the Sea Hurricane they have there (sole surviving example) and I fell in love.

Then last weekend I saw her fly!

So I knew I had to build her. An idea was forming in my head as I had this kit in the stash.

However, I'd bought the other Hurricane from Italeri at the same time and, after hours of work trying to get the thing to line up, it took a nose dive into the bin. It's probably a fine kit but beyond my skill and patience levels. Then I remembered the new tool Airfix kit having picked one up a few weeks ago and watching Paul's build here.

I'm happy to say that it looks like Airfix will be bringing a Naval variant out as a tail hook is included in this kit. So I plan to build the Airfix kit as it looks decent and swap the markings over.

Box shot. I opened the bag to make sure the tail hook was there.

Sprues.

Looks like a desert version is on the cards as I can see a tropical air intake. Will have to be a tank buster version, uber-cool.

Here you see the tail hook fitting.

Looks like a decent amount of detail typical of recent offerings from Airfix, in my humble opinion.

Clear parts.

Airfix decals that can go in the spares box.

And the Italeri ones that I'll use.

Some extras that were stashed in the Italeri box that may or may not get used. I'd imagine the mask won't fit.

And the Italeri parts. Look fairly decent but.....

I'm not as rapid as Mr Bretland but 3 hours of messing about got me to here.

The cockpit builds up nicely and is attached to the wing spars.

No big problems. I've glued the front of the cockpit and spar assembly to the lower wing and when the glue has dried I'll straighten out and glue the rear section down too.

I'm a big fan of the Spitfire but the Hurricane also appeals to me in a kind of unsung hero or workhorse kind of way especially a Sea Hurricane. Seeing one up close and actually flying has certainly given me an impetus to build one.

Post by **Joesdad** » Wed May 06, 2015 5:37 pm

Looking great Will, it's a shame the Italeri kit was trouble for you...

Post by **Nige201980** » Wed May 06, 2015 5:45 pm

Great choice mate and now we have a decent looking hurricane with this new Airfix one I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Post by **Goose** » Wed May 06, 2015 8:37 pm

Hey Will

Sounds good so far. Will follow u on this one

enjoy

Goose

Post by **Willem** » Thu May 07, 2015 10:47 am

Thanks for looking in lads.

Just a bit more progress to report.

The instructions tell you to install the engine firewall and instrument panel into the port fuselage half. I've decided to use the Eduard instrument panel from the self adhesive set to save some time. Although the set is for the Italeri kit, I did a quick measure up and it should fit ok (famous last words) so I went ahead and ground the raised detail off the kit part then glued both pieces in, making sure everything lined up by dry-fitting the fuselage halves.

After some drying time it was out with the primer. I used Alclad black primer to create some natural shadow tones.

I nearly forgot to prime the upper wing halves as they will form the top of the wheel wells.

I'll let this dry then I'll spray some cockpit green.

Post by **heel** » Thu May 07, 2015 12:47 pm

Excellent choice Will. I've always preferred the rougher looking birds myself. Thunderbolt over a mustang, hellcat over a corsair, hurricane over a spit. All beautiful aircraft but just something appealing about the less refined lines and shapes.

Post by **m0gb0y74** » Thu May 07, 2015 1:13 pm

Lovely looking kit - way better than the old tool. I may be tempted to buy one...

Post by **Nige201980** » Thu May 07, 2015 7:44 pm

Great start mate.

Post by **Willem** » Fri May 08, 2015 4:37 pm

heel wrote:Excellent choice Will. I've always preferred the rougher looking birds myself. Thunderbolt over a mustang, hellcat over a corsair, hurricane over a spit. All beautiful aircraft but just something appealing about the less refined lines and shapes.

Cheers mate. I know what you mean but I'm still a bit of a Spitfire tart.

m0gb0y74 wrote:Lovely looking kit - way better than the old tool. I may be tempted to buy one...

Yup. Tried building that old kit a while back and gave up in disgust. This is a really decent Hurricane kit.

Nige201980 wrote:Great start mate.

Many thanks Nige.

Time for this.

Added a few drops of white for a second pass.

I fancied some therapeutic brush painting so I knocked up an aluminium type colour from two bottles of Vallejo model air and painted the cockpit tubing.

Erm, some fairly rough detail painting. Must be time to get my mince-pies seen to again.

Some rough dry-brushing.

Followed by a light, dirty oil wash and left to dry overnight.

Managed to sneak out of work a bit early today and this is the chaos on the bench.

Good old photo-etch, possibly my least favourite job along with canopy masking. The self-adhesive etch was less than adhesive (it's been lurking in a box for a while) but klear is your friend here as it will tack the PE in place eventually and, because it takes a while to dry, will allow you to move and manipulate pieces.

Part of the harness pinged out of the tweezers straight away so there is a bit of improvising going on here.

General busy dressing up of cockpit sides. Absolutely no rhyme or reason here, just want to make it look a bit more busy in there.

Although I'm happy to report that the instrument panel intended for the Italeri kit fits nicely.

And finally managed to get the fuselage halves together so not long before the airframe starts to take shape.

Nice little chunk carved out of the nose when trimming the part but nothing a bit of filler won't fix.

Post by **Nige201980** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:10 pm

Cracking work on the cockpit mate.

Post by **Nev** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:47 pm

Looks like a great little kit fella! Doing a bang up job too

Post by **Willem** » Mon May 11, 2015 11:37 am

Thanks for the kind comments lads.

Doing some work on the wings. Landing lights installed in both sides, hence the above picture of the real thing.

A couple of hours spent this morning on getting the upper wing surfaces fitted. Dry-fitting revealed a few issues as the starboard wing in particular seemed a bit reluctant to settle down. There is a lot of under carriage structure between the two wing pieces so worth making sure all is plumb before gluing. Didn't seem to work out for me so out with a file to rectify the problem.

The port upper surface fitted ok. Lined up at the rear and with the lugs at the front but a slight overhang at the leading edge.

And the starboard side done. Same slight overhang issue and clamped a bit more securely.

I'm going to have to sort the leading edges before I attach the fuselage assembly but should be ok. Took the opportunity to show you the fuselage dry-fitted. Not a snap fit but, with a bit of working, the wing roots should turn out pretty nice.

Thoughts on the kit up to now: Decent amount of detail, not without a foible or two fit-wise but a quick, enjoyable build so far.

Post by **gaz45** » Mon May 11, 2015 12:46 pm

very nice work so far mate

Post by **peppie** » Mon May 11, 2015 12:59 pm

Great progress so far

Looks like a nicely detailed kit from Airfix.

Post by **Nige201980** » Mon May 11, 2015 2:17 pm

Great work so far mate.

Post by **Willem** » Tue May 12, 2015 10:27 pm

Cheers lads. Trying to crack on with this so I can start a build for the Mossie bite SIG. Only had a couple of hours today so I tackled some seam lines on the wing and added the wings to the fuselage.

Things looking a bit better here but still needs a bit of smoothing and polishing.

The lower wing sits a bit proud of the cowling, should have spotted this during test fitting.

I'll sort the fuselage seams out later, I just wanted to get most of the airframe together this evening.

This is the tail fillet that will turn this from a Hurricane Mk I into a Sea Hurricane.

The wing roots were pretty good. I've used a bit of perfect plastic putty applied with a cotton bud.

Then using a wet cotton bud, I've wiped away the excess filler.

Blending in the lower cowling and filler applied to the rear wing root/fuselage join, always a tricky area.

Hope to get most of the external airframe together in the next day or so and begin prepping for paint.

Post by **Nige201980** » Wed May 13, 2015 6:28 pm

Looking good mate.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Wed May 13, 2015 8:38 pm

Good to see you back modelling, haven seen the trombone for a bit
Great looking build far, you are very fortunate to have the real model to work from!!!
Cheers

Post by **Willem** » Wed May 13, 2015 9:02 pm

Thanks Scott. Turns out that a visit to an airshow is a good way to rekindle the interest.

**Felis Barcinonensis YouTube Channel** · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Wed May 13, 2015 9:37 pm

It's looking great Willem. The Hurricane is a beautiful plane! KUWTGW

Post by **Joesdad** » Wed May 13, 2015 10:14 pm

Coming on nicely Will, you've got some great detail there mate

Post by **wally** » Thu May 21, 2015 9:30 am

Nice work on the Hurricane. The cockpit looks good and it seams that this new Airfix Hurricane goes together rather nicely. I have the same kit in my stash so I'm looking forward to see how your build progress. Keep up good work.

Post by **Willem** » Wed May 27, 2015 11:58 pm

Cheers Fellas. Thanks for looking in.

Been a bit busy with work just lately but managed to find a bit of time over the last couple of days. Here's where the Sea Hurricane is at.

Perfect Plastic Putty applied over the fuselage seams (doesn't look very pretty).

Sanded and polished smooth and masking removed.

The dark line is paint from the interior that got into the glue so I've got my fingers crossed that the join is good.

Added the elevators.

Radiator being made up. Apparently ditching in the Sea Hurricane was a very risky business as the prominent radiator would scoop in sea water and either flip the aircraft onto it's back or send it straight under.

The front of the radiator added. The join is a bit too obvious.

Front scoop added (oil cooler intake?)

And the rudder and ailerons. Airframe very nearly complete.

The radiator got some putty and sanding to blend it in.

More soon.

Post by **Willem** » Fri May 29, 2015 12:35 am

SOME MODELLING MINUTIAE.

Today has been devoted to various elements that turn a Hurricane into a Sea Hurricane Ib.

Catapult spools were needed and the Airfix kit supplied them. These were fitted using photos I had taken at the Shuttleworth collection as a rough reference.

I should have looked through the Italeri sprues as their's seem to be a little bit more detailed. Never mind. Every day is a school day.

Another piece I needed to add was the oil collector ring, which is very prominent on the Shuttleworth example but not included in the Airfix kit. Luckily, I was able to fit the part from the Italeri kit.

A bit of messing about and it fits ok. (Still to add the prop so could be anybody's guess).

Meanwhile, the radiator flap and struts were added.

A pilot headrest was fabricated from sprue (the Italeri part pinged off the tweezers).

Undercarriage bays masked by the kit's wheels up option.

Masking of landing lights and cockpit in progress.

That's where she is at the moment. Will add some history in the next update.

Post by **newpapajack** » Fri May 29, 2015 11:12 am

Looking great dude

Post by **Nige201980** » Fri May 29, 2015 12:32 pm

looking good mate loving this build so far.

Post by **mick** » Fri May 29, 2015 1:14 pm

great work

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Fri May 29, 2015 3:59 pm

Such a great build. Glad you have your mojo back

I have never been fortunate enough to see a real Hurricane or a Spitfire ...yet anyways
How would you compare the two real planes in size, appearance,stance, presence that kind of thing
Any insight ???

Post by **Willem** » Fri May 29, 2015 5:58 pm

newpapajack wrote:Looking great dude

Thanks Jack.

Nige201980 wrote:looking good mate loving this build so far.

Cheers Nige. Enjoying this kit.

mick wrote: great work

Many thanks Mick.

Twokidsnosleep wrote:Such a great build. Glad you have your mojo back

I have never been fortunate enough to see a real Hurricane or a Spitfire ...yet anyways
How would you compare the two real planes in size, appearance,stance, presence that kind of thing
Any insight ???

Many thanks for your kind comment Scott. I've not seen either as often as I'd like. I've seen examples of both at Hendon and elsewhere but the first impression of the Sea Hurricane was her sheer bulk. I first saw her in a crowded hanger at Old Warden but she seemed to dominate the space with the hump back shape and tall wide stance. There was a tray underneath to catch oil drips and this all evoked the impression of a living machine (if that makes sense)? Seeing her display at an airshow really inspired me to build one. Plain and business-like but a mainstay nonetheless.

I think that there are so many Spit variants that it's harder to pin down. The Merlin-engine marks look almost dainty like a temperamental thoroughbred whilst the Griffin-engine marks lose a bit of the beauty but still retain a certain purposeful grace. I love them all but my favourites are probably the mark V for exploits over Malta and the mark IX just because it looks right.

Keep this quiet though......I saw a Mustang from Duxford display at the same show and the howling noise (some say supercharger, some say airstream blowing across the radiator scoop like a demonic giant flute) well, there's a thoroughbred fighter. I'm going to have to build one soon.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Fri May 29, 2015 6:50 pm

Ahh very cool.
You describe things vividly, painting the images just as I might imagine.
I think I need to do some museum visits around the world and see some of my favorite things before they disappear.
Thoroughbred vs tank is how I imagine the spit vs hurricane....similar to P51 Mustang vs p40 Thunderbolt.
I haven't seen those in real life either. Damn I suck at life

Cheers mate, will keep following along on your excellent build adventure

Post by **Willem** » Fri May 29, 2015 7:53 pm

At the outbreak of war the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm found itself seriously under-equipped. The FFA had only very recently reverted to Admiralty control and it's aircraft were either obsolete or slow and under-powered due to the extra weight imposed by the Admiralty's perceived view that a naval fighter would often be called upon to report fall of shot and thus required a second crewman. Aircraft such as the Fairey Fulmar were woefully under-powered and out-classed by Axis fighters.

Fighters from the US were on the way but, due to demands in the Pacific region, supplies of the Grumman Wildcat (named the Martlet in RN service) were short. The Royal Navy had to fill the gap somehow.

The Hurricane had already gone to sea in the guise of the Hurri-cat. In an effort to combat patrolling German Condor aircraft, several merchant ships had been fitted with a catapult in the bow with a lone Hurricane on readiness for launch should a reconnaissance aircraft be sighted. Several successful interceptions were made but the aircraft could not recover and a pilot would have to ditch or bail out close to a friendly vessel.

During March 1941 several Hurricanes were delivered to Farnborough and equipped for carrier operations by strengthening the airframe and the addition of an arrestor hook and became the Sea Hurricane mk Ib. The sturdy construction of the Hurricane and a wide track undercarriage meant that the aircraft was fairly well behaved in deck-landing trials and several squadrons were quickly equipped and joined the carrier fleet. The aircraft was not equipped with folding wings and thereby limited the number of aircraft a carrier could operate as well as causing maintenance problems due to exposure to sea water parked out on deck.

The Sea Hurricane's climb rate, speed and manoeuvrability, whilst not a match for the ME109, was greatly valued although short endurance made commanders reluctant to include them in air patrols due to the frequency that a carrier would have to turn into wind to recover and launch. During Operation Pedestal in August 1942 HMS Indomitable had to turn into the wind 37 times in one day in order to launch and recover 78 sorties.

Operation Pedestal was a convoy operation of 14 fast merchant ships to supply the island of Malta. It involved four carriers; HMS Indomitable carrying 11 Martlet IIs of806 sqn, 24 Sea Hurricanes of 800 and 880 sqns, and 16 Albacores of 827 and 831 sqns. HMS Victorious carrying 6 Sea Hurricanes of 885 sqn, 20 Fulmar IIs of 809 and 884 sqns and 14 Albacores of 832 and 817 sqns. HMS Eagle carrying carrying 16 Sea Hurricanes of 801 sqn and 813 flight. HMS Furious carried 40 Spitfires to reinforce the RAF on Malta and retired to Gibraltar after flying these off. Eagle was lost early in the operation after being torpedoed by U-79. All but her CAP of 4 Sea Hurricanes were lost.

During the operation the three fighter types were usually used in a 'stacked' CAP; six high, six medium and six low with the Sea Hurricane at high level with it's good dive rate and fighter radio operation, Martlet at medium altitude with it's good rate of climb and the Fulmars at lower level due to a poor climb rate. A further 18 fighters would be ranged on readiness with 12 as an emergency reserve. It was found that the speed of the Junkers Ju88 made fleet defense a very difficult task for the fighters. Indeed, Operation Pedestal was the last major fleet action for the Fairey Fulmar, it represented the pinnacle of the Sea Hurricane's combat career (although several would take part in Operations Torch and Huskey, the landings in Tunisia and Sicily respectively) and announced a future where the Royal Navy's most effective wartime fighters would be manufactured in the United States.

Back to the build.

Primed using Alclad grey primer.

My attempts at pre-shading. I really am pretty dreadful at this. I hope I get it right one day.

Looks like I'm going to be busy post shading.

And a couple of coats of Vallejo sky lightened by white.

That's all for now.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Fri May 29, 2015 9:07 pm

Her belly looks great

Post by **Nige201980** » Sat May 30, 2015 1:02 pm

Great paint work mate.

Post by **gaz45** » Sun May 31, 2015 12:10 pm

Looking great so far mate

Post by **Willem** » Wed Jun 10, 2015 10:47 pm

Thanks fellas.

Not had as much time to get to the bench lately, very busy time at work, but.....progress is being made.

My favourite job.

I did some digging around in my paint collection looking for the top colours and came out with Vallejo model air 71.053 for the extra dark slate grey.

Here I've laid down a layer using the Italeri instructions as a guide. I'm also trying out a new camera.

I mixed in a few drops of Vallejo model air duck egg green 71009 to do a bit of post-shading, not sure that it really shows up here.

Going to let this cure then the other colour will go on. I'm going to mask up between colours as the demarcation on the Shuttleworth example looks pretty hard edged. I'm also going to attempt to fade the paintwork back as these aircraft didn't have folding wings and had to be parked on deck.

More soon.

Post by **shortCummins** » Wed Jun 10, 2015 11:25 pm

looking good so far Will

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Post by **Nige201980** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 2:36 pm

looks great so far mate.

Post by **Willem** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 2:28 pm

Thanks Fellas.

There follows a tale of woe. A story of creative short-cuts and ham-fisted attempts. A crisis of colour confidence. A sorry episode of completely busking it. All of it fairly picture heavy so you may want to scroll rather faster than normal.

Well, deep breath, here goes.

Take 1.

Look away now.

Hmmm. The evening was rolling in and the photos were fairly dark and although I was fairly happy with the pattern, I thought the whole thing was too dark.

Here's where my crisis hit. A rather negative comment was made elsewhere.....will brush over that....and I kind of agreed. so......

Take 2.

Ignore the old spare canopy, I soon saw the error of my ways. Rubbed down and re-sprayed in Vallejo Sky (going off-piste here).

Operation Pedestal I.D. markings applied before the camouflage.

At least I'm happy with how I did this.

Did a better job of pre-shading too.

Although not without some moments of ham-fistedness.

Mixed a lighter shade of Extra Dk Sea Grey and applied. Note the ugly over-spray on the nose.

I managed to lose the Airfix open canopy and because I stubbornly want the canopy back I've substituted the Italeri part although this is going to work out ok as I have the masking set for the Italeri kit. The part was dipped in clear, wicked off on a bit of paper towel and stashed in a tin to dry (hopefully) dust-free.

The tin says it all really.

Then applied the Extra Dark Slate Grey (again, a lightened mix).

Lovely thumb mark.

No idea what happened here. The roundel won't quite cover that so a re-touch is in order.

And, of course, a bit fell off.

My thoughts: I think I was happier with the first attempt if I'm honest. The photos don't really show the demarcation as clearly as I'd like although the paint is lighter. On the other hand, looking at pictures I took of the real aircraft in similar markings, I can see that the demarcation is hard to spot (and I suspect that my eyes struggle with greys and greens). Maybe I can pull it back with some fading and filters. As I'm not totally happy with this I can use it for some new (to me) techniques such as oil dot filters etc. Anyway, valuable lesson learned; you don't always have to take advice. In the end it's all my own work and it's my model.

Your thoughts and comments are welcome of course (always on this great forum). Just be gentle on my bruised ego eh?

Post by **Nige201980** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 6:45 pm

Looks great to me if I'm honest mate.

Post by **Joesdad** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 7:14 pm

Cor Will! You've had a right old game here? Don't beat yourself up too much mate, the camo look's fine to me.
Once you've got some weathering, washes and a bit of filtering on, I reckon you'll be golden.

Post by **Willem** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 7:41 pm

Thanks lads. If I'm honest, things are taking a turn for the better.

Post by **Howard** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:10 am

I totally agree with the others, I think it looks fantastic!

I still maintain that shuttleworths sea Hurricane is one of if not THE best restoration flying today!

Regards

Howard

Post by **Willem** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:58 pm

Thanks Howard. You're too kind mate.

Think I was just having a wobble and spitting my dummy out a few days ago. It's looking better now, I think. We are our own worst critics.

Totally agree with you regarding the Shuttleworth Sea Hurricane. She's a beauty.

Post by **Avgas** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 1:48 pm

Looks good to me; as you say we can be our own worst critics. I have the Airfix one in the stash so watching with interest.

Post by **Howard** » Sat Jun 20, 2015 8:19 am

Glad you're happier with it now! Sometimes just a few days away from the bench can really help!

I'm off to Shuttleworth this afternoon for their Edwardian Picnic airshow so really looking forward to seeing the Sea Hurri again!

regards

Howard

Post by **Paul** » Sat Jun 20, 2015 3:00 pm

Its looking great Will, sorry you took the "advice" from the asshat on Facebook, you should always do what you think best.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Sat Jun 20, 2015 7:21 pm

Willem wrote:Thanks Howard. You're too kind mate.

Think I was just having a wobble and spitting my dummy out a few days ago. It's looking better now, I think. We are our own worst critics.

Totally agree with you regarding the Shuttleworth Sea Hurricane. She's a beauty.

I was just going to write that down.....own worst critic
Being critical of your work will make you better as long as you don't drive yourself to drink trying for perfection and beating yourself up.
Most of the stuff you pointed out I would not have seen even though it screams out at you
Keep up the battle my friend, touch up if you need but don't panic and ruin the good paintwork you have
Chin up my friend, it looks fine

Post by **Willem** » Mon Jun 22, 2015 12:05 pm

Well the deadline approaches so I'm kicking on with this build now. I think the kit is a beauty, it's just operator error and a tendency, with me, of over complicating things.

Many thanks for the comments received during the build. Paul's right; from now on I shall be learning through the good example of other peoples' builds (which is what this forum is about anyway) and not from opinions offered with nothing to back it up. Every day is a school day which is why I enjoy this hobby. My hobby, my way.

Gloss coated the model and got the decals done. Cartograf decals are the business and everything went on fine with a little bit of Micro set sol.

The Italeri canopy (open option) that fitted so well met with an accident:

So to plan B (or C probably). The Airfix closed option. No mask set out for this so made my own using tape, a blunt cocktail stick and a new blade.

These aircraft were parked in the open on deck so they aren't going to leave the canopy open I suppose.

Airframe given a panel wash. Black on the upper surfaces....

...and mud on the lower.

I lost a decal from the side of the radiator. I'm wondering if two coats of alclad aqua gloss was enough to protect the decals but, again, probably operator error.

A few bits to do before the finish. I want to have a go at an oil dot filter but I need to apply the flat coat first so that's up next. Then to add undercarriage, prop and aerials etc. I'm a lot happier with how it looks than I was last week so I'll notch that up as blagging a win. One more update should see me to the finish line.

Thanks for looking.

Post by **Nige201980** » Mon Jun 22, 2015 2:33 pm

she is looking the business mate cracking job buddy

Post by **Joesdad** » Mon Jun 22, 2015 5:08 pm

Nice Will, all coming together lovely, although that canopy is a ball ache.