Stokesy's FLY 1/32 Hurricane IIc (Trop)

[Stokesy44]

After finishing the T72 for the 80s SIG I thought I needed to get back into aircraft. Its been exclusively iron brutes for too long so I've jumped right in with FLY's limited run 1/32 Hurricane IIc (Trop). I've had it a couple of years but now seems the right time.

As a limited run kit it lacks some finesse so I reckon it will be a challenge. Here goes...….

There's quite a few schemes, I'm not sure on which one I'll go for yet, mostly because I have 2 more RAF birds I'm doing in desert camo at some point. They will be traditional dark brown / light brown / blue so I'm not sure if I want this one to be the same as well.



The kit was about £40 when I bought it and you get a lot for the money. Extensive PE, resin parts and masks for the canopy and windscreen.



Although the kit comes with a PE instrument panel it looks an absolute faff and a half so I bought a beautiful Yahu coloured PE replacement.



The resin looks good, the tyres especially.



Surface detail is great, the fabric in the fuselage is restrained while the rivet detail on the wings is stunning.





Detail parts. A small amount of flash and seams that will need some work. I expected that given the type of kit. The tubular construction for the cockpit has it the most so that will need some clean up but its not that big a deal.



Starting with the office. The lack of location points makes things a bit tricky, for example the only way to mount the control column in the right place is to assemble the section the control rod attached to and work backwards! Thankfully I've done a fair bit of research on the Hurricane over the years so I kind of know where stuff is supposed to go anyway - at least to a point.



Some nice PE for the footrests and the rudder pedal straps.



Not a bad start then. Couldn't be more different than the crash bang wallop of a tank build but its good just the same.

[Hawkmoon]

All looking good and nice start

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ok, cool I am on-board and watching...from a proper socially distancing position

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking forward to this one mate

[AirCadet424]

Nice start Stokesy, looks like a very nice kit and not bad for the price even if it was a couple of years ago. Will be watching this one with great interest!

Kev.

[mick]

good start

[digger303]

Very interested in how this goes together. The only Fly model I have done had some issues with fit and alignment.

[Stokesy44]

Another good session today. I've kind of settled in with the pace of the build now. Its nice to spend time on detail and refining stuff. Looking at the kit overall, the interior is where the plastic suffers, the exterior parts are much crisper.

These are the two tubular sides to the cockpit. The one on top has been trimmed, the connection points drilled out and the seams removed. The bottom one is fresh off the sprue.



All assembled and PE attached. Took an age and several broken tubes. Large sprue attachments and brittle plastic - what a combination









The compass holder was an absolute mare to attach. I nearly cried when I knocked it off and had to re-attach it.



This is now ready for painting. I've started on the resin seat but will paint the cockpit before attaching it. I'll also do the sidewall details on the fuselage halves then apply the interior green to everything in one go.

Like I said, very different from armour building but I'm really enjoying it now.

[RicRodrigues]

Following this build!!! Looks amazing so far!
Hurricanes were always kind of the underdog during Battle of Britain, compared to the Spitfires... However, these were the bulk of RAF on the very beginning! So Hurricanes deserve some recognition as well!

[bfrd]

I have this kit (or a close version from Fly). I was thinking about building it as well. Can't wait to see how you get on with it.

[ElCapitan]

Looking great! Nice to see a large scale hurri. Can't wait to see this take shape

[RangerNeil]

Looks like its going to be an interesting build to follow - are the engine and gun bays as detailed as the cockpit?

As RicRodriguez says, Hurricanes were very much overshadowed by the Spitfire yet they claimed the bulk of the kills in the BoB - especially among the Luftwaffe's bombers. We had 303 (Polish) Sqdn based just down the road from us at RAF Hornchurch flying the Hurricanes. As a kid quite a few of my neighbours and mates had unpronounceable Polish surnames from the pilots who married during the war.

[bfrd]

Looks like its going to be an interesting build to follow - are the engine and gun bays as detailed as the cockpit?

As RicRodriguez says, Hurricanes were very much overshadowed by the Spitfire yet they claimed the bulk of the kills in the BoB - especially among the Luftwaffe's bombers. We had 303 (Polish) Sqdn based just down the road from us at RAF Hornchurch flying the Hurricanes. As a kid quite a few of my neighbours and mates had unpronounceable Polish surnames from the pilots who married during the war.

You should read Stokesy's book. You can find it here.

[SMAddict66]

Looks like its going to be an interesting build to follow - are the engine and gun bays as detailed as the cockpit?

As RicRodriguez says, Hurricanes were very much overshadowed by the Spitfire yet they claimed the bulk of the kills in the BoB - especially among the Luftwaffe's bombers. We had 303 (Polish) Sqdn based just down the road from us at RAF Hornchurch flying the Hurricanes. As a kid quite a few of my neighbours and mates had unpronounceable Polish surnames from the pilots who married during the war.

You should read Stokesy's book. You can find it here.

I endorse Bfrd’s suggestion regarding Stokesy’s book, it’s a darn good read

[RangerNeil]

Thanks guys - just downloaded it to my Kindle

[Stokesy44]

Looks like its going to be an interesting build to follow - are the engine and gun bays as detailed as the cockpit?

As RicRodriguez says, Hurricanes were very much overshadowed by the Spitfire yet they claimed the bulk of the kills in the BoB - especially among the Luftwaffe's bombers. We had 303 (Polish) Sqdn based just down the road from us at RAF Hornchurch flying the Hurricanes. As a kid quite a few of my neighbours and mates had unpronounceable Polish surnames from the pilots who married during the war.

Thanks Neil. I'm afraid not, no engine or gun bays with this bird. As a short run kit I'm kind of glad - they seem to have put their effort into the quality of the exterior parts. I will do my best with the cockpit but I'm really looking forward to getting the fuselage halves together because that is where the build really takes off for me.

[Stokesy44]

Looks like its going to be an interesting build to follow - are the engine and gun bays as detailed as the cockpit?

As RicRodriguez says, Hurricanes were very much overshadowed by the Spitfire yet they claimed the bulk of the kills in the BoB - especially among the Luftwaffe's bombers. We had 303 (Polish) Sqdn based just down the road from us at RAF Hornchurch flying the Hurricanes. As a kid quite a few of my neighbours and mates had unpronounceable Polish surnames from the pilots who married during the war.

You should read Stokesy's book. You can find it here.

Thanks guys - just downloaded it to my Kindle

I endorse Bfrd’s suggestion regarding Stokesy’s book, it’s a darn good read

Thanks Guys, you're very kind to recommend it / buy it. Nothing like a bit of free advertising from your mates! , I hope you enjoy it Neil.

I'll keep an eye out for my royalty payment at the end of the month from Amazon!

Thanks for the info on the Hurricane during the Battle of Britain, she was very much the work horse of Fighter Command in 1939-40. I'll add some info about the aircraft going forward when I post so we can all toast the country girl. She was described as such by Stephen Bungay in his book, 'The Most dangerous Enemy', the chapter detailed the merits of the 3 main fighter aircraft that served in the battle and was headed, 'The Country Girl, The Lady and The Vamp'. I'm sure you can work out which was which.

I didn't post any info previously about the aircraft because I wanted to get into the build of the kit. I doubted I would have the patience for the slower pace of aircraft building but thankfully I've found my groove and the build is progressing. Should be painting all the interior tomorrow provided I don't cock up the seat and harness.

[Kevthemodeller]

Off to a good start mate

[Stokesy44]

Off to a good start mate

Thanks Kev,

I didn't get started until the evening yesterday so it was an abbreviated session. Managed to saw the resin seat off its casting block. First use of my beautiful razor saw (as recommended by Scott about 2 years ago!) then it was on to the PE harness. Having gone through the instructions for the harness previously I had already decided to disregard them. Various reasons, tightening straps too long, no connection through the hole in the centre of the seat back, no connection of the main harness behind the rear armour plate. Instead the instructions would have had me make the harness way too short and connected behind the seat to the seat back itself.

Once I shortened the tightening straps, the harness went together as advertised, I then attached it properly through the hole in the seat back with the main part of the harness left free at the top of the seat so it could be fed through the hole in the panel behind the seat (once I have made it ).





Here's the rear part that will be attached to the fuselage behind the seat. I've drawn on where the hole needs to go and checked it matches the indent in the PE armour plate piece



I finished one of the cockpit side walls, just the details left to go on the removable panel on the starboard side then its painting time.

[digger303]

Cockpit cage looks smick.

[Kevthemodeller]

Great looking PE mate

[ElCapitan]

Awesome work so far. Good call not going with the instructions for the harness.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Excellent seats and belts

[Hawkmoon]

All looking good and great work

[TommyKillander]

Ohhh.. I will follow this build for sure!

Excellent work sofar!


Tommy

[Stokesy44]

Thanks Guys, painting may have been too optimistic, I had to sort out the rear armor plate and check the fit with the resin undercarriage bay well before I could fire up the airbrush.

TBH I cant see what the fit for the cockpit is from the instructions. In the end the cockpit framing seems to fit best when it just sits on the resin undercarriage bay. It sounds bonkers but its the closest to an actual fit that I can see!



With the side panel removed there will be a lot of the cockpit visible to see



Also, the cockpit and the central wing section are nice easy fits.



Resin undercarriage bay looks good



You can see the PE armour plate and the hole I cut for the harness attachment



Great fun. Agricultural hacking of the casting block on the undercarriage bay to allow the cockpit to fit properly!



Its a lot of work but I'm loving it so far. Its challenging but its all good as I can see the kit taking shape. Putting the fuselage together and seeing the undercarriage bay really encouraged me. The Hurricane DNA is right there now, Its a shape I love so much, feels like I'm home

PS - apologies for any errors in the above - I'm proper pissed!

[digger303]

Unusual surface contours between the pilot and the tail, is that fabric covered ?

[Stokesy44]

Unusual surface contours between the pilot and the tail, is that fabric covered ?

Yes, the Hurricanes airframe wasn’t stressed metal. The rear fuselage was a tubular box frame that terminated at the tail. Attached to this were wooden formers which provided the external shape over which Irish linen was laid then doped for strength. In some ways the Hurricane was essentially a biplane that had ‘forgotten’ its top wing! You just have to look at the previous aircraft built by Hawkers. You can see the Hurricane DNA in them.

[Hawkmoon]

You got murphy involved at the start when you said you were expecting problems but there have only been small tribulations to deal with but apart from that she is going together very well indeed

[Kevthemodeller]

That's a serious bit of hacking there mate not what I'd expect from kit supplied resin, looks like you've got it all sorted.

[digger303]

Unusual surface contours between the pilot and the tail, is that fabric covered ?

Yes, the Hurricanes airframe wasn’t stressed metal. The rear fuselage was a tubular box frame that terminated at the tail. Attached to this were wooden formers which provided the external shape over which Irish linen was laid then doped for strength. In some ways the Hurricane was essentially a biplane that had ‘forgotten’ its top wing! You just have to look at the previous aircraft built by Hawkers. You can see the Hurricane DNA in them.

Ok now you have me intrigued with the words Irish linen ? Any thing special about that ? Didn't even think the Irish manufactured linen. Was it course and rough and particularly unbendingly strong.

[Stokesy44]

Ok now you have me intrigued with the words Irish linen ? Any thing special about that ? Didn't even think the Irish manufactured linen. Was it course and rough and particularly unbendingly strong.

Hawkers used it on the aircraft preceding the Hurricane and carried on with it as they knew its properties - ie maximum strength versus weight. The method of manufacture and materials involved are what defines the material as being called 'Irish Linen'.

From Wikipedia

The Irish Linen Guild has defined Irish linen as yarn which is spun in Ireland from 100% flax fibres. Irish linen fabric is defined as fabric which is woven in Ireland from 100% linen yarns. It is not required that every stage from the growing of the flax to the weaving must take place in Ireland. To be Irish linen fabric the yarns do not necessarily have to come from an Irish spinner, and to be Irish linen (yarn) the flax fibre does not have to be grown in Ireland. However, the skills, craftsmanship, and technology that go into spinning the yarn must be Irish, as is the case with Irish linen fabric; where the design and weaving skills must be Irish.

[digger303]

Ok now you have me intrigued with the words Irish linen ? Any thing special about that ? Didn't even think the Irish manufactured linen. Was it course and rough and particularly unbendingly strong.

Hawkers used it on the aircraft preceding the Hurricane and carried on with it as they knew its properties - ie maximum strength versus weight. The method of manufacture and materials involved are what defines the material as being called 'Irish Linen'.

From Wikipedia

The Irish Linen Guild has defined Irish linen as yarn which is spun in Ireland from 100% flax fibres. Irish linen fabric is defined as fabric which is woven in Ireland from 100% linen yarns. It is not required that every stage from the growing of the flax to the weaving must take place in Ireland. To be Irish linen fabric the yarns do not necessarily have to come from an Irish spinner, and to be Irish linen (yarn) the flax fibre does not have to be grown in Ireland. However, the skills, craftsmanship, and technology that go into spinning the yarn must be Irish, as is the case with Irish linen fabric; where the design and weaving skills must be Irish.

Ok....a little dry, but I can understand that being a material they were familiar with so why mess with the formula.

[Stokesy44]

Ok now you have me intrigued with the words Irish linen ? Any thing special about that ? Didn't even think the Irish manufactured linen. Was it course and rough and particularly unbendingly strong.

Here's how it looks in reality

Here's the original where only the metal remains - found in India in the 1980s



Restoration (replacement) of the tubular box structure and new wood for the aerodynamic shape



Linen applied and doped

[digger303]

Wow that's amazing found in a backyard in India. Even more impressed with the structure of the aircraft There is a lot more bracing than I would have imagined. Lucky you don't have me as a aircraft designer.

Ps..the corrugated tail section still looks weird.

[AirCadet424]

Loving this build Stokesy, been following since the start but not had time to post a proper comment until now, but very well done so far, looking really good and I like your modifications to the basic kit. I too am a fan of the Hurricane, a much underrated aircraft that downed twice as many enemy aircraft as the Spitfire during the Battle of Britain, but only got half the glory!

Nice one sir, keep it coming, I'll be watching!

Kev

[Stokesy44]

Finally got some paint on to the Hurricane

I needed to add the hydraulics for the undercarriage before the cementing the bay to the lower wing. Once again the instructions were telling fibs. The detail on the parts in the instructions just isn't there on the actual plastic and again it was frankly guess work as to how to attach them. Thankfully they're not load bearing so they are just kind of in there.

Also had some more PE to do. The pin and lock for the harness as well as the brake handle which is attached to the rear of the control column's spade grip.

Had a bit of a school boy error moment. Started spraying the interior green and I thought that looks a bit pale, I know its been a couple of years since I did an aircraft but I don't remember it being so pale. Then I checked the pot. Turned out I was spraying Tamiya Sky, not their Interior Green. They have the same colour lid and were next to each other in my paint box. Not so clever now eh?

Once I changed over I sprayed the whole cockpit, the fuselage side walls and the undercarriage bay.





I then applied yellow filter to add a bit of depth. Over did it, which is annoying, but I'll knock it back somewhat with an oil wash.



I'll let the paint cure for a few hours then I'll do the detail painting and the oil wash. Might even get the fuselage buttoned up tonight but that may be a stretch

[Hawkmoon]

Looking good and you never know the sunlight could have changed the color

[Stokesy44]

Looking good and you never know the sunlight could have changed the color

That's a good way to look at it.

Finished the detail painting in the cockpit. Just the oil wash left now to pick out all the detail. The compass topper is a PE disc that came with the Yahu IP I'm using.









Here's the IP from Yahu. Its a 2 piece affair, the blind flying section is separate so when it goes on it adds depth to the whole panel.



Getting really close to putting this thing together now

[Kevthemodeller]

Great cockpit detailing and weather mate

[TommyKillander]

Excellent work!


Tommy

[Stokesy44]

Finally got her buttoned up. The fuselage halves went together really nicely, despite the lack of any location holes. I simply held it together and applied TET down the seam lines. Did the front end first while the back was taped up then the same from the tail end.



I did a little bit more fettling on the remains of the resin block on top of the undercarriage bay because it was resisting against the cockpit floor when I tried to attach the lower wing central section to the fuselage. I applied an oil wash then superglued it onto the wing section.



Cockpit in and wing section attached.



All buttoned up, now for the wings. Its taken a week to get this far but its been great and a nice change of pace from the iron brutes of the last 2 years. Doesn't mean I haven't got my eye on a few tanks that are new to the market or some older stuff too. There's some very nice stuff from Rye Field Models coming out and well priced too. I may have to dabble....

[AirCadet424]

Making nice steady progress sir and looking good. Love that classic Hurricane shape aft of the cockpit with the skinned stringers … lovely! Thinking about maybe adding one of these to my own collection.

Kev

[Stokesy44]

Making nice steady progress sir and looking good. Love that classic Hurricane shape aft of the cockpit with the skinned stringers … lovely! Thinking about maybe adding one of these to my own collection.

Kev

Thanks Kev. I know what you mean about the shape. Nowhere near as graceful as the Spitfire but there's something of beauty in the aircraft, especially once its all together with that big central radiator.

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking good

I think the Hurricane was unfairly over shadowed by the Spitfire because it wasn't as graceful. But it shot down the vast majority of aircraft during the Battle of Britain, it was faster and cheaper to manufacture, easier to fly, so get the best out of, I believe it could take a lot more punishment and much faster to repair.

Great in a tank buster role too

[Stokesy44]

After a couple of days down time I got back to it yesterday.

First up were the resin inserts for the main wing lights. Broke both of them when sawing them off the casting blocks then broke them again when trying to clean them up. In the end I cut away the bits that were too damaged and replaced them with plastic.



Then it was on to the wings. Normally the lower wing section on a fighter like this is a 1 piece job. With the FLY kit you get the centre section and 2 pieces for each wing. in the end I decided to attach the upper surfaces to the wing root fillet and centre section with the lower sections to be added after. My reason being the upper joint is the most visible and attaching the lower wing first may mean the wing is not aligned as it should be.

I had to trim more off the casting block for the undercarriage well before I could get wings to sit properly. The first attempt at attaching the wings didn't go so well. I noticed the wings were not horizontal across their upper surfaces. Hurricanes had flat wings on top with the lower surfaces tapering up to meet them. These were showing a definite droop. I took the wings off and tried to figure out what to do. In the end I trimmed the leading edge with an increasing increment towards the fuselage where it attached to the central lower surface, effectively creating an angle which would negate the droop. I used superglue because I knew the wing would fight the adjustment but I got there in the end. I then applied Tamiya extra thin on all the seams.





The join to the fuselage itself is not great but it is level. Filler will take care of that.

I've added some plastic card inserts to the join point on the lower surface, other wise the lower wing surface will be too flexible. The good thing is I will not have to worry too much about the join line. There is a PE strip for the brace which attaches right on top of the join (like the real thing) so provided the join is flat it should be fine.



Here's all that beautiful surface detail







Ejection ports cut out for the 20 mike mike cartridge cases



Lower wing sections on next then the tail. Filling after that then priming.

[digger303]

That was a nasty problem to solve with the droopy wings The rivet lines seem to be nicely done and the wheel wells have some detail too. Just some little fit problems , but looks like it is going to be nice display piece.

[Stokesy44]

That was a nasty problem to solve with the droopy wings The rivet lines seem to be nicely done and the wheel wells have some detail too. Just some little fit problems , but looks like it is going to be nice display piece.

Thanks mate. That's what's spurring me on. If I can cope with the fit issues and not lose patience, once I get to the painting stage it could be a real beauty. Its just a bad bit of road getting there!

[Stokesy44]

Its official, I now have the aircraft modelling bug back after all the armour builds. I had my first post-midnight session this morning which is a true indicator for me that I am well and truly hooked. I was getting set to turn in about 11ish and I thought why not? I haven't got to be up early in the morning and I haven't had a drink. Two and a half hours later I thought I better call it a night. Bliss!

I got a session in earlier in the day too.

First job was to filler the wing roots. The joins are level so it was just a fill that was needed. To protect all that surface detail I masked off the wing (there's no detail on the fillet) I applied model filler and wiped off the excess.



Surface detail all intact



The same will need to be done with the tail



As for the fit in general? The one thing I have learned is don't trust in-box reviews. Find a build review and see just how it all fits together. I would still have bought this kit (I actually bought two) because I love the Hurricane so much (and thankfully I'm loving it) but its good to go into these things with your eyes open. And its not all bad, not by a long chalk. The fuselage went together beautifully, its only really been the wings that have caused the hold up.

Bracing strips added.



Some filling is needed where the strip doesn't butt against the join but that's an easy fix using the masking method I used previously. Nice detail on the PE too. I also had to scribe the engine access panels around the wing fillet at the bottom because the lower wing insert doesn't have the panel line detail and attaches part way through the panel. I'll have to be careful to make the join lines within the panel disappear.



Test fit of the rudder - drooling over that shape (again)



Remaining assemblies. The tropical filter / air scoop and the radiator housing have been sanded and test fitted. They need a little bit of filler but the work is minimal.



Remaining assemblies will be done today and I need to make a plastic blanking plate for inside the radiator housing. The kit only supplies PE grills for inside it and nothing else so you can see right through it, front to back!

[Kevthemodeller]

Nice looking seams and PE there mate