Revell 1/144 "Micro Wings" Hawker Hurricane Mk.1

[Brasko]

Hey guys this is my first model kit and also my favorite WWII aircraft. I do not know why I picked up this kit...it is impossibly small. There was a perfectly good Pegasus 1/48 Ez Hurricane sitting next to it on the shelf, oh well!

It certainly provides the basic shape of the aircraft which is always nice


As you can see the antenna and rear wheels decided to part ways. Who's idea was it to make a split rear wheel?


More fit issues than I could have imagined.


Getting the main landing gear to fit into the holes was a small nightmare. Lots of cutting, bending, filing was done here. I used a piece of tape inside the wings to give them something to rest on while the copious amounts of glue dried. Also note the poor fitment, the rear section of the wing and fuselage are at 3 different heights.


Before I started this kit I did research, people said Revell was good, but it doesn't show on this kit. That is ok though, good kits for beginners should have serious issues so that the beginner can learn. Id rather learn to fix these issues on a $5 kit than on a $70 kit. Please note the missing plastic in various areas.


The fuselage looks sort of warped doesn't it? Perhaps it is my camera work.


The fuselage halves seemed to be about a milimeter different in size. I did my best to file them to match.



I plan on conforming to the instructions for paint and decals. So far things are going well. I will getting paint tomorrow after work...I will try to find acrylics as more and more I am reading people prefer them over enamels. I am at the whim of the hobby store.

One thing I do wish I had done ( I will certainly do this next time! ) is to scratchbuild a cockpit and seal up the gaping hole where the radiator/air scoop is. Obviously it is small so it does not need to be very detailed but just something other than open space. The canopy...I am in severe denial about masking that canopy...it is smaller than a small peanut.


Thanks for looking.
I expect harsh and severe critical analysis! Ill even get that ball rolling. You use too much glue and now you have glue fingerprints, good job noob.

[Brasko]

Grabbed a few things yesterday. Struck out on the Tamiya extra thin cement but did happen to pick up a few Tamiya acrylics! The colors aren't exactly what I need but they looked close enough and the selection wasn't exactly awesome.



I also picked up this Tamiya liquid surface primer-G...its not acrylic and people say not to airbrush it. From what I have read this is more like a liquid putty so I will use it for that purpose! The search for a good acrylic primer continues.

[Happynostalgia]

This is a tough little kit. Looks like you have the materials to get the job done. Looking forward to this one.

[Brasko]

Thank you for the encouragement. I need it. I am finding myself making mistakes already...what is a good way to stop yourself from using too much. I went a bit overboard with the putty...yes it can be fixed...but I would like to stop this from happening again. I am also finding that the nail emery boards are not a good tool for sanding. Looks like I need to get a good set of sanding tools.

[Brasko]

Masking the canopy is simply beyond my skill. I do not know what to do about it. I have seen some just paint it black so I may do that. I have a feeling it will look terrible.

[Brasko]

Went ahead and primed today. Turned out pretty good, the canopy didnt take the primer too well but hopefully it will be ok. Tried to mask the canopy as well as I could.

I really enjoyed using my airbrush, it was incredibly quick and simple once my hand-eye coordination synced up. It was my first time and it took a year to get over that initial fear. I cant wait to airbrush again and see how silly it was to be afraid.

I used AK primer with Ultimate thinner and cleaner.

[Brasko]

Sprayed a coat of Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black. It did not go well.


I got a few runs and the texture is grainy.


I will have to do something to smooth the finish and get rid of a few problem areas.


I am guessing that I did not thin it enough. Can I take a cotton swab and use thinner to smooth this out? Maybe just water? There are 2 coats of Tamiya Flat Black under there and they went on nicely.

[Homerlovesbeer]

Hehe 8 months later and you got around to painting. You must have had a gut full of the kit and finally are ready for some more. Good stuff!

What airbrush are u using? The runs I'd guess were caused by too high a flow while painting, not how thin it was.

Sanding will fix it and simply paint again.

Fun times eh

[Brasko]

Strangely I actually want to do another. Its challenging and all I can think about is how I could do better.

Thanks for the tip about sanding I will get some 1200~ as soon as I can. I am using a generic chinese gravity fed dual action. It does ok seems suited for mass coverage rather than detail.

[andygif290368]

They are a fun distraction from my usual builds, I've done the spitfire from this series and have the tempest and typhoon in the stash too. As the german planes my model shop didn't have any so I got them from other kit makers like zvezda and sweet. My hurricane is on the bench waiting on me spraying the green part of the camo and doing the finishing touches.

[Brasko]

I put down some Tamiya Gloss Clear today. I am starting to actually see the incredible importance of plastic prep, keeping everything clean, proper airbrush set up. It is not perfect, or even good, but I must press on or I will never finish my first kit.

I will allow 24 hours for this to dry before I apply decals and then I will seal the decals with the gloss clear before I eventually cover it in a matte clear.

I know that the canopy is going to look like hell but I have grown very tired of this kit and my lack of skill. I will finish it as is and use it as an example for all of my future models. I will proudly display it so that I can see my progress as I build more.

[Brasko]

Hey guys a little more progress today.


A few things, the decals are not accurate for the aircraft I tried to portray obviously. The rear numbers are blue so you can't even see them, they are red on the real plane. This is the first time I've ever done this and it is really putting me through the ringer, but my confidence is gaining! This was a tough, rough fitting, inaccurate mess of a kit but for $4.99 I couldn't have asked for more.

Went ahead and put the decals on. It was fun, and though the process is not actually difficult, it did take my 100% concentration. Also I did not expect MicroSol to turn EVERYTHING IT TOUCHED BLUE. This freaked me out until it dried and dissipated. And freaked me out again when I clear coated the plane again and everything was streaky blue.


All finished up. The left side numbers and roundel are a little too far forward as I wasn't paying attention to the fact that the Yellow roundels needed to mirror each other just after the antenna.




Final Clear coat. Unfortunately I had to brush the clear on. Tamiya paints and my airbrush do not get along. I will be putting a coat of Flat clear when I am done painting exhausts, wheels, etc...


Oh and a picture of this damned canopy. My masking failed and pulled up all of the paint. I also lost this in the kitchen sink drain...talk about a heart attack. I have retrieved and washed it and letting it air dry until I figure out what the hell to do.


So far so good. Starting to really take shape, I felt the aircraft come alive when putting the decals on...it felt good. Also thank you to my good friend Grrf, his guidance has made this possible. I would have thrown this in the trash long ago otherwise! Cheers mate!

[Brasko]

One last update before it is finished.

I did some detail painting and touching up a few areas as well as get the canopy situated. My masked worked better this time but still proved to lift paint off After gluing the canopy down I touched up the lines... had a few mishaps as I am very shaky and cannot hold a brush still even using the palm to palm technique. It turned out ok for my first time.



I decided to make my own base as well. I used a 3"x3" piece of balsa covered in a generic craft acrylic mahogany color. I will clearcoat this and do a black wash. Also the propeller turned out ok, had a few spits from my airbrush but it will be fine.



I also put the wire from the antenna to the tail...I had thread(too big), fishing wire(too big), and a failed attempt at melting sprue, before pulling a hair from my head and supergluing it in place, nice and thin! But didnt take paint well at all

Here she sits before the last clearcoat which I will do tomorrow.



I will do the final reveal once the clear is dry. Thank you all for stopping in, and leaving comments. I do not seek praise or any of that malarkey. I just want honest criticism. This was actually very fun, and frustrating. I am very pleased with the result and will be looking foward to my next 1/144 kits which are in the mail already