1/24 Airfix Hurricane FINISHED

[paddy]

Its seems a very short term business plan.
People like me will buy one item, put it in the Bin and never buy anything from them again. sadly this seems to be the business plan of so many after market companies who then drag the reputation of good companies down with them.

 

[Rhino]

SAC doesn't clean up the gear leg seams they copy before they cast them? Inconceivable!

 

[Sharkmouth]

SAC doesn't clean up the gear leg seams they copy before they cast them? Inconceivable!

 

[Sharkmouth]

As @jknaus offered, I would recommend G-Factor anytime as they are brass and usually much better than the kit parts. I wrote usually even though I never had an issue because someone here (was it you @Heavens Eagle?) had a bad experience with them.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Bit of a conundrum here

View attachment 160555


I was told i would probably need to buy metal undercarrage legs as the model is quite heavy. Well you know my thoughts on after market
The metal legs are a bit shorter but my worry is they are not just soft...you can bend them into any shape you want.
The plastic parts cant really be twisted and there is a good degree of spring in them so the straighten if bent.

View attachment 160556

I dont know ? Detail is better in plastic. My feeling is to build in plastic and have the metal legs as back up should i have problems with the plastic.
It would be interesting to know where the weakness is as i could possibly reinforce that area with a metal insert I would guess the weakest point is the wheel axel and i can remake that quite easily in brass which would be 10x stronger.

My first build for MA was the 1/32 scale Ju-88A1 kit from Revell. I went whole hog with aftermarket and anything I could get. Turned into a lot of worthless aftermarket. One of the worst was the brass landing gear from G-Factor. All they did was use the plastic gear from the kit, make a mold and then do lost wax castings. Problem with that is that the brass shrinks, A LOT! The G-Factor gear were crap! I ended up beefing up the plastic with some brass tubing and heavy wire and I would suspect they are probably better than the AM crap. At this point the only aftermarket landing gear I will buy are the bronze gear from Eduard. Most of the white metal gear are actually soft and will bend easily.

Here is the comparison of the Ju-88 landing gear from my build.

To fix the somewhat weak mounting points I did this.

I did a lot of other detailing on the landing gear and it made a huge difference. This is another build that ended up going to back burner, but not because it was a bad kit. The kit was fairly decent, I just got bored and it needs to see the light of day again and get to the finish line.

 

[paddy]

I think the only real use for after market is when it offers something you dont get in the original box.
So basically extra parts rather than "upgrade?" parts

Paul, you are 100% correct the Hurricane undercarriage legs i have are small across some dimensions which is classic shrinkage in the casting.

 

[paddy]

Anyone ever managed to bend clear plastic parts...............like a hurricane windscreen ?
Just need to get it about 2mm narrower ? hot water maybe ?

 

[paddy]

Also while firing questions
Can you thin Klear ? I have seem water mentioned and also isopropanol I dipped the Hurricane canopy and it is to thick to run off so it sits in globs on the frame work. Luckily i got it off before it set with water and dish washer liquid.

 

[moon puppy]

Thin with windex glass cleaner is what I have done. Pretty sure isopropanol will work. If it turns to gel...

 

[Sharkmouth]

Anyone ever managed to bend clear plastic parts...............like a hurricane windscreen ?
Just need to get it about 2mm narrower ? hot water maybe ?

if the front windscreen is the correct width, then you can heat up the areas where the frames run vertically after scribing inside them. Do NOT try to bend them as old clear plastic is too brittle.

 

[paddy]

I'm not so sure this is really the best build to experiment on but hey ho
I gave this a coat of MRP light alloy, then a coat of hairspray them MRP Sky.
I had read on line that this works but you only have about 3 hours before the last coat of paint get too hard to then chip with water.
I did a test on an old Harrier wing and found after 4 days the paint chipped exactly the same as it did after 4 hours.

On reflection i would have substituted MRP light alloy for a grey but maybe once i apply a mat coat after decals the alloy will be grey anyway

The top surface might be more of a challenge because usually i would spray the whole thing one of the two camo colours then mask off the camo pattern and apply the second colour however this means some of the model has two coats of paint and some one so it might effect the way it chips.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

I would not use alcohol on clear acrylic. It can cloud and affect the clear acrylic. I wouldn't even use it mixed with Klear for the same reason. Using it to thin opaque paint isn't an issue as that paint will cover any affect the alcohol might make. I would try distilled water to mix with the Klear first. It might look weird when first mixed but if it clears up in the liquid, it should be OK.

 

[jeaton01]

I've never discovered the secret of re-forming clear parts, it usually gets stress crazing no matter how I do it. Better to make or get a vacform replacement.

I think Tamiya X-20 thinner works well with Future, but the pooling can usually be fixed by touching the edge of the part to a paper towel.

 

[centaur567]

Ammonia works to remove or thin Future along with Windex. Gary S.

 

[paddy]

Glad to get the base coats on as its not my favourite part of these large builds. I have done some test peices as i was a little worried about the colours but they come good with a proper flat coat

Time to own up...i gave this a silver undercoat, put it to one side for a couple of days then added the top coats and completely forgot the hair spray

 

[jeaton01]

You can always put some silver over the top in the areas you want to chip, do the hairspray, and then recoat the top coats. eh?

 

[moon puppy]

 

[centaur567]

Or you might try, defore the paint curses, pick at it with a toothpick. I tried it this AM on the Ki-84 I'm working on. Gary S.

 

[paddy]

I read at the start thast the engine is too tall to get the covers on but i have found its actually the coolant tanks cap thats the culprit

That said its not a lot and as i want the othe other side open so dont want to remove the cap

Lots of hours spent with little obvious progress but things are moving along well with minor detail /guns/lights/tail band etc

 

[Rhino]

She's a beauty! Brilliant!