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Greetings!

'A gaping silken dragon,/Puffed by the wind, suffices us for God./We, not the City, are the Empire's soul:/A rotten tree lives only in its rind.'

Thursday 10 May 2012

Finished!

At last, panting and wheezing behind the Kiwis, my Hawker Weather Build is complete. A few, rather poorly lit, shots of the Hurricane IIc Trop as it now looks after chipping, a bit of wear and tear, and running wash into some of the main panel lines, all topped off with some acrylic matt varnish:




As I've said before, the harsh, critical light thrown on a build by the camera just adds to my admiration for the skill and patience of the modellers that grace the pages of the hobby press.

I'm rather a fan of the Hurricane, so the 94 Squadron IIc Trop will go onto the shelf with others from the same stable; for example a Portuguese Hurricane IIc: 


I can't remember what kit the Portuguese IIc is, but it wasn't an Academy kit, and the decals were aftermarket. The Hurricane MkI below is an Airfix, with a few additions: 



The main issue that needs to be addressed with this Airfix kit is that there is no cockpit floor, or wing insert, so having the undercarriage down necessitates the addition of wheel wells, some piping and other bits and pieces. The Romanian markings were taken from the old Matchbox Me Bf109E kit, with the addition of the tail number, and the two shades of yellow theatre markings. There should be a mascot of a St. George Mickey Mouse - but I decided that it represented Yellow 5 before the squadron cartoonist got to work.

Finally, all three together:


Many thanks indeed to PLASTIC WARRIORS for initiating the Hawker Weather Build - what a cracking idea, and a great way to make e-contact with like-minded kit bashers across the globe.

Model on!

13 comments:

  1. Lovely finish on this Stephen. The weathering looks just right.

    Very impressed with the decal application something I need to work on.

    Dodgy light will be the death of us all my friend.

    The idea of the build was more of a Nick from http://20mmgamer.blogspot.co.nz/ idea. I just butted in and helped it along a tad.

    Superb outcome.

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    1. My thanks, Sir! The light problem is also related to my only having time for kit bashing in the late evening - the Hurricane looked much better in the morning light today.
      The decal key (though not 100% guaranteed) is to gloss varnish (or Klear) the model before applying the decals, then, when thoroughly dry, matt varnish over. Works a treat. Usually. The Sky decals are good too, with very little carrier film, but remarkable sticking power - I had to be extra careful putting them in place.
      My apologies to Nick!

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  2. How do you do your camo patterns? They look far neater than I am expecting mine to end up being.

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    1. I draw in the outline with a soft pencil before I start splodging on the darker colour - otherwise adding the disruptive pattern always seems to get out of hand, growing across the lighter colour like some kind of bacterial infection.

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    2. I'll give this a go and pray then. Thanks.

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    3. Worked like a charm. Much obliged.

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  3. Really well done Stephen. Me, I'm still battling the wing roots!

    (And not to put too fine a point on it, but John's an Ausi!)

    Nick

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    1. Aah, wing roots! How far to sand them ?? And do we need to rescribe lost panels, or will paint and scuffing cover the damage!

      Aieee! I haven't been paying attention! Don't worry, I'm not one of those bloody Englishmen who can't tell the difference between the Australian and NZ flags! I'm old enough for that sort of thing to matter.

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    2. Honorary Kiwi perhaps?

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  4. Lovely aircraft Stephen, well done.
    Sorry that those Kiwis are misleading you- should be "Aussie" not "Ausi" ;) Not sure how many Australians are on this build apart from myself and Dan Dunbar- those Kiwis started it (Nick & Paul)- I dunno, they were first up Everest too! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, kind sir! Yes, 'Ausi' sounds a bit odd. Strikes me that the next group build project should have an ANZAC type theme - say a Brewster Buffalo, or a Boomerang, or, on the ground, Matilda II in the Pacific.

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  5. I love them mate and they look very wonderful.

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    1. Why, thank you, kind sir! And the props go around ... if you blow on them. Not that I do, of course!

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