Originally I was going to start the Eduard/Hasegawa 1/48 scale F-86F Sabre after I finished the Eduard F6F-3 Hellcat, and I actually did just that. Spent about 2 hrs in the cockpit, but my Mojo was calling me for another WW II prop. I've had the Airfix 1/48 scale Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 on my to do shelf for a while now, so I boxed the Sabre back up for another day, and opened the Hurricane box, and that's what my current build is going to be.



Naturally, the only British paints I had on hand were the late camo colors that I did my Eduard Spitfire Mk IXVc in a few years ago, and those colors were wrong for a BOB Hurricane. I've also started to switch over to Mig Ammo Acrylics rather then continuing to mix most colors with the Tamiya line, so I ordered the Early British set from Sprue Brothers who had it at my front door in 4 days time. Being me, I just assumed that the 4 colors in the pre-pack contained British Interior Green, and guess what/ it didn't My fault, not anyone else's. So I now had to mix my own once again. I started off with googling the British color chip from a few sources, then pulling out my Witches caldron, I slowly mixed what I thought was the correct shade. Especially once it's enclosed in the fuselage and received a dark brown wash, it would do just fine.

As per the instructions I started with the 3 piece pilot seat and bulkhead. Now keep in mind that I'm a complete newbie when it comes to British aircraft. I google everything, checking known sources as much as possible.

The 3 piece seat assembly was really grossly overly thick. Also the stick lever attached to the port side of the seat looked out of scale to me, so I cut it off, then thinned the side panels. Then glued the seat together and thinned some more.

Naturally, in my haste to start, I forgot to take any before pictures.

Here's the glued up and thinned out seat.



From what I understand the Mk 1 used the Sutton harness and seatbelt. for that to fit to the seat a 2nd opening was needed in the lower back of the seat. That was accomplished with a drill, and some files. I also opened up the belt opening in the bulkhead.



Once done, both were primed with Mig Ammo Black Acrylic primer to help with a more convincing shadow effect.



I painted the bulkhead with my mix of British Interior Green, and the seat with Alcad Flat Aluminum #101 as I didn't want it shinny but rather on the dull side.

I decided to try and make my own harness assembly out of layered masking tape. I've painted the belts with Tamiya Buff, but they still look a little to light and need to be weathered. I'm planning on using some misc. Buckles and latches from left over Eduard PE sets, but I haven't gotten to that point as yet.







I did manage to start the cockpit framing. Of course the aluminum plate in the middle of it has a huge ejector mark right in the middle of it. I filled that with a sheet plastic disk, and Bondo. I also drilled out the lightning holes in the pulley wheel.



And that's how far I've gotten to this point.

Joel

I will be following this for sure - I built the Hasegawa Hurricane a few years back in my Battle of Britain phase . Anxious to hear your thoughts on the Airfix kit- I assume it is their fairly recent tooling ?

Richard

Hi Joel

Nice one! It's great to see you tackle a classic RAF subject! I really wasn't expecting that for your next build.

I already love the work you've done on the seat harness. This is going to be a cracker!

All the best

Rowan

Hi Joel,
Good to see you back.

This kit is in my stash along with Airfixs'1/48 Spitfire mk 1 and the Mustang.
So I'm following along I may even pinch a few ideas along the way. We will see.

Chris

P.S.
I did not know that Grumman built a Hurricane but I guess they must've if you're building one -

Ha ha - Richard

Richard,
Glad to have you along as usual. I'll be posting my thoughts about the Airfix kit as I also have the Spitfire Mk 1 and I'm planning on buying a few P-61D and a lot of Eduard AM for them.

So far the part fit is excellent for the little I've accomplished, but as I said, the parts are a little below the standard we've come to expect. Plenty more of the kit to analyze as it's going to be a multi month build.

Joel

Richard,
It's one of the best kept Grumman secrets of WWII. they built them before the Marlets went into production.

Joel

Awesome subject choice Joel, looking foward to watching you work. The tape sutton harness looks good, the sutton is a pretty complex harness to build from scratch and you definitely captured the look

Mike,
Glad to have you along for the build. I was kind of surprised how it's turning out, as I had feared the worst.

Joel

Hi Joel, I'm just finishing one up.
Little lesson learnt for you, protect that little antenna on the tail-plane with something, It snaps off and disappears very easily especially as it's on a very awkward spot.
Better yet would be to replace it with something more sturdy in the build phase.

regards.

As always , will follow along on your build Joel .




Terri

Terri,
You made my day. always glad to have you along for the ride.

Joel

It’s a lovely little kit.
I have one at the painting stage 😊

Nigel,
Thanks for stopping by. Glad that you gave it a thumbs up.

There seems to be a good deal of confusion as to how the cockpit pit and main wing spars were painted. What I've found so far in my limited research is that the cockpit walls, and bulkheads are British Interior Green. All the tubing, seat, wing spars, wheel wells, and gun bays were flat Aluminum. I'm assuming that the Aluminum was clear coated.

Joel

Great to see you back, Joel!

Not only that I have that kit too, it will be much interesting following up your build and the added research notes.
Thanks for taking us with you on your road once again.

Thomas

Thomas,
Glad that you're coming along for the ride once again. Unfortunately none of my roads traveled are always smooth as silk.

Joel

Joel, good to see you working on another iconic british aircraft. It's a lovely kit and won't give you many problems. I've build this last September/October, you might remember. I think I've painted the cockpit also in Aluminium, can't remember. Must have a look at it when I'm home from work again. Didn't do much research on the plane but more on the pilot - as always. My Hurri was flown by the canadian William McKnight.

Enjoy your build!
Torsten

Torsten,
You just made my day. So glad that you stopped by. So far I'm loving the kit. Little issues here and there, but nothing that isn't easy to remedy.

The kit only has decals for two aircraft, neither flown by McKnight. Did you use AM decals? I've never used Airfix decals before, but these do look rather good.

Joel

Joel, you can use these Airfix decals for sure. They are very good. On my Hurri I have used the stencils and national insignias from the kit. But you're right, the special decals to build McKnight's plane are AM. I've taken them (the skull on both sides is very prominent) from Sky Decals "Hawker Hurricane Pt. 1", No. 48051. Not sure, if this sheet is still available. I bought it several years ago at an expo in Switzerland.

Torsten

This one should prove to be less bumpy for this is a great kit!
I made one for the recent ETO campaign and found it to have an overall great fit and was a real pleasure to build.

I knew you were hiding somewhere around here Joel ! Good start, I must say that that armoured plate really looks the part. The slight sheen and your work around the edges really conveys a feeling of steel!

You ought to find a pilot with some kind of US connection for that one, I have no idea whom it should be but I assume there must have been someone flying pre-Eagle squadron in the the BoB!



Magnus

Paul,
So far that's proving to be the case as far as fit goes. Most impressive. The complexity of the cockpit/fuselage interior is amazing, and it all seems to go together without any snags. Being me, I hoped for the best, but was prepared for the worst. This time to date my fears have been unfounded.

Joel

Magnus,

I've yet to really weather any parts of the interior other then the side lip of the rear armor plate. Now that you've brought up the idea of a USA volunteer pilot for the BOB, I'll see what I can find.

Joel