Hurricane IIc | Esquadrilha VX, Aeronáutica Militar Portuguesa
Should look something like this when I'm finished, or it could be a complete disaster 🙂
Found these decals on sale by a fellow scalemater in France. If the project works out well I may build a Portuguese Spitfire and Airacobra.
The project is to build a late war Hawker Hurricane IIc of the Aeronáutica Militar Portuguesa. Missing in the picture is the decals which are due soon.
There is not much to the canopy at this scale. At least it’s 2 pieces so I can pose it open. The wing lights were a surprise.
Sprue frame A has most of the bits which seem well molded and free of defects and flash.
Sprue frame B…wait for it…
…and sprue frame B, again. ?
The landing gear well looks good. Nice detail. May even be accurate.
Good detail on the wings. The notch of the wing lights may need some effort.
Great detail on the cannons!
I’m going to break these getting them off the sprue or getting installed; one or the other ?
I was surprised to see an effort at detailing the cockpit side walls, but they will probably be barely visible.
This is the first kit I have ever done with such a noticeable transition from metal to fabric. We’ll see how I do.
I managed to assemble the cockpit without breaking those little tiny bits ?
An overall spray of green zinc chromate because that’s what I assume the interior is from some of the photos I saw.
I only realize after that it was going to be tricky getting in there to detail and weather. Need to plan things better ?
Weathered.
Weathered.
Too tight to get in there and do much.
The dashboard had a little raised detail that I exploited…
I painted it white a first then a very flat black that was easy to rub away and reveal the the white…
I approached yielded something that looks reasonably like a dashboard…
I finished it off by adding a drop of clear gloss to each dial to contrast it with the flat black and simulate glass.
The propeller was easier than the last kit so there is only about a hours work invested, including a sanding and repaint of the spinner to remove a cat hair that settled on the paint. ?
For a basic Academy kit it does have some nice detail here and three…
…but on a test fit with the cockpit tub in place all of the sidewall details is obscured.
I will never see that sweet instrument panel again ?
Yup the dashboard is buried deep in there. So long my friend ?
Got the wings and fuselage assembled yesterday without the trouble I thought I would have with the cockpit tub fitting into the tight space of the fuselage.
I like it when the cockpit sits on top of the wing; makes fuselage assembly easier, bout complicates the mating of the wing to the fuselage… I hope it’s not an issue.
The wings seemed fairly level and properly aligned but I tensioned them with some tape to try to deal with a large wing route gap.
The wing route gaps are were significant. The gal on the left was about the same as the right but it was also not aligned and created a step, so more putty.
This may be difficult to sand and shape without marring the surface or removing detail on the wing or fuselage.
The the already finished propeller had to be attached when the two fuselage halves were joined, so I had to rig this shield to protect the finish
Having a heck of a time trying to sand and shape that joint.
Primer time. Not having luck with primers. Tried stylenez (spelling?) which left a heavy texture on my last project do I switch to Vallejo and now I’m wondering if it’s the airbrush because there was a texture, not as heavy but still not smooth.
My pre-shading disaster…
The airbrush sputtered and clogged often…
The airbrush sputtered and clogged often…
…don’t know if I had the paint thinned right or if it was air pressure ?
First coat of a nice light neutral grey to the undersides. Looks good but still a little texture coming through from the crappy primer.
First coat of camouflage to the fuselage and upper wing surfaces. May have gone a little heavy.
Looking ok so far. One more coat should suffice.
Final coat…
Looks pretty even…
Yup I think that’s enough paint. Now for details…
All the bits were painted a couple of days ago and assembly started last night. It’s coming together and now I’m getting excited ? better slow down, relax and not botch something. ?
Decals completed after coat of Vallejo gloss varnish.
I found the decals a little think and they had some registration issues.
There was a little silvering I had to work out and even after generous Amoy of decal solvent I still had to apply gentle pressure with a round toothpick to get into the lines.
Fairly satisfied with the result. I think the exhausts look fairly good and vary happy with the camouflage pattern and the feathering between the colours.
That texture in the paint drives me crazy. Even after sanding the crappy primer plagues the finish. Couldn’t sand too much for fear of losing detail.
The decals for the most part look good. However the national colours on the vertical surface is out of register and I’m not skilled and confident enough yet to try to correct it.
The fuselage decals settled a bit across the undulating surface but not enough; there’s still a bit of a gap behind the decals. I used decal softener and a rounded toothpick which worked well to get them to conform better.
Ugh ? that texture bugs me
Time to start weather and add all the other bits like landing gear and stuff.
I went moderate with the wear and tear, and dirt and oil on the lower surfaces. I think it turned out better than expected and the rounders look great now.
I went with a similar level of wear and tear, and dirt and grime on the upper surfaces but I did have a bit of trouble with the chipping.
Landing gear finally attached. Had some trouble with it because of tiny bits and shakey hands ?
Wheel bays may be a little too grimy, but maybe it's just deferred maintenance LOL
As mentioned previously, I found the landing gear to be tricky to assemble, but hey...it's straight LOL
Almost everything is glued on now and I still have not broken the antenna mast…! I’m calling this a success ??
The chipping isn’t too bad after all. Canopy attached and ready to be brush painted; masks cost more than the kit so I opted for doing it by hand.
A bit of slivering on the fuselage roundel…that’s going to drive me crazy. ?
Finished!
I think there is just enough wear on the underside with some minor soot and lubricant staining to say it’s used but not abused ?
I think it’s another successful freehand camouflage spray application.
The decals were a little thick but applied well everywhere except the fuselage sides which resisted the copious amounts of decal solution.
Is was initially worried the green is selected was too dark but after all the weathering and flat coats it still looks bang on in the sunlight.
Yup the paint shades look good in the sunshine wish the decals were consistent.
I just noticed the exhaust manifolds look pretty realistic. Ok now I’m satisfied with the project. This was fun. Time to move on
Comments
43 6 July 2021, 00:22
RuiThanks Gary. I'm well into the project and encountering problems so luck may play a big part in turning out something that looks decent.
7 July 2021, 04:22
RuiUpload the initial work. All cockpit assembly, painting, and weathering. Looks ok but I should have painted part separately and then assembled because it was difficult working in the tight space. ?
9 July 2021, 03:08
RuiFinished the dashboard instrument cluster and I think it look pretty good for straight paint and no pe or decals. ?
10 July 2021, 16:28
RuiAdded this morning work to the photo album. My favourite part of the project so far is the instrument panel which turned out well, but as I suspected, i will never see it again ?
10 July 2021, 22:52
RuiI started the painting lasted night and uploaded a couple of pics. The first coat covered up the terrible presaging job but I may have gone a little thick for a first coat ?
20 July 2021, 21:45
Łukasz GlińskiIt's better than you describe it 😉
I'm having the same problems with preshading and decided to use it only on a single-colour kits (e.g. my Tomcat).
For the multi-colour camo I do the following:
- spray particular colour +20% white
- postshade the panel lines (and other details) using same colour thinned to being almost transparent (sometimes adding 10% of black).
Examples: Wildcat, Swift and Canberra. Maybe that would suit you too, who knows?
21 July 2021, 07:16
Gary KitchenAgree with Mark. The grey and green look great tonally. Good stuff Rui 👍
21 July 2021, 20:46
RuiThanks Lukasz. I've been toying with the idea of trying post shading in that manner.
21 July 2021, 23:40
RuiThank Guys, I think the colour did turn out well. It's a mystery why the green patch on that wing tip has a bit of a sheen on it. Paint may have settle in the airbrush I guess.
21 July 2021, 23:42
RuiYes…freehand airbrushed the camouflage pattern. Did it in two coats. The first was a little rough and uneven but it defined pattern. The second evened it out and allowed me to tweak the edges. I found my super-cheap knock-off airbrush that came with my compressor to be good at freehand airbrushing because it's ridiculously small 0.2 mm needle.
22 July 2021, 17:56
RuiThanks John
Just an FYI for everyone - I have been referencing a mix of historical photos, museum displays, and a few other modellers builds, so my build is not exact to one specific historical example but more of a general representation of history. Also, I claim artistic prerogative and made a significant deviation in the markings by adding the national flag's astrolabe coat of arms to the fuselage sides just forward of the cockpit. There are no indications this was ever done but that area of the model was relatively devoid of markings and I thought it would look great.
23 July 2021, 19:53
JohnRui, You bring up a good point about the hobby. I think that most modelers (at least here on SCM) attempt varying degrees of historical accuracy, as I think that partially draws us into the hobby. I do believe that there is a strong amount of artistry involved in the hobby, and as an artist, we are afforded an artistic license. So if one wants to paint a Mustang black with golden lighting bolts, then why not? It would probably look nice, and be fun for us to watch. Your Hurricane looks nice and would be proud to display on anyone's shelf or cabinet.
23 July 2021, 20:27
Moreno BaruffiniReally a great job, both from a technical point of view and from an artistic point of view!!!
...E poi le insegne portoghesi sono fantastiche!!!
24 July 2021, 17:32
Gary KitchenHi Rui. Great finish and excellent markings and scheme. If mine comes out anywhere near this good I'll be a happy chap 👍
25 July 2021, 21:23
RuiThanks guys. I started the weathering last night and hopefully not muck it up too much. I mean I want to muck it up and give it some wear and tear but not like my fist kit which ended up looking like it belonged in an aircraft graveyard ?
25 July 2021, 23:23
RuiYup… almost done. Finished adding all the bits today and painting the canopy frame. She should be ready for some a glamour photo shoot soon ?
29 July 2021, 22:17
RuiThank you everyone for the praise and words of encouragement 😃
After a two month hiatus I am back and the project is completed. That pesky thing called work got in the way of finishing the Hurricane.
I spent the last few days putting finishing touch in my Força Aérea Portuguesa Hawker Hurricane. It was a lot of fun doing the research into the history behind the Portuguese acquisition of the Hurricane and the squadron livery but at times frustrating because of the limited amount of literature and pictures available. I think I got a reasonably good rendition of the Hurricane in Portuguese service but will admit I took some artistic license with the placement of the national flag's crest forward of the canopy.
9 October 2021, 19:48
Gary KitchenGreat Finish Rui 👍. I'm not far behind hoping to get mine done this week.
10 October 2021, 17:19
RuiI'm doing the research for my next build (FAP Thunderbolt or Spitfire) and I came across some FAP Hurricanes builds I had not seen before. They were painted with the familiar RAF leading edge yellow visibility strips on each wing. I built my kit based on a handful of photos from a static display somewhere in Portugal (I assume) and that airframe didn't have the visibility strips...?
I finished the project but it would be easy enough to paint them on, but I'm wondering if the state display of the actual aircraft maybe is representative of a later livery or maybe even not correct...? Maybe the FAP operated them with the standard RAF paint scheme and the visibility markings? Maybe the other model builders had better reference material than I did and their sources had the stripes...?
Lots of speculation and questions I know, but maybe someone on here can clear this up...?
Cheers!
16 October 2021, 06:09
RuiI just realized I'm not finished! I need to da the aerial wire. I've never done one before. Anyone have any advice? Please.
17 October 2021, 02:30
Guy RumpI use
Ammo by Mig - .03mm Fine Rigging # MIG-8018
It's elasticated and I attach it with super glue.
👍
6 November 2021, 20:42
Moreno BaruffiniSorry for the delay...I agree with Guy, I have a similar product and I use it too 👍🏻
7 November 2021, 07:42
Michael KohlThose Portuguese insignia add a nice touch to this well known plane.
7 November 2021, 10:17
RuiThanks for the lead on the rigging; didn't know that type of accessory even existed. I like the idea of it having elastic properties because I'm sure it does make a convincing appearance of a taunt cable. I found it online but I think I'll checkout my LHS first to see if they carry it.
7 November 2021, 16:35
Rui@Michael - my plan was to build all the duplicates in my stash, but when I was inspecting the three A-7 Corsair II kits in my stash, I discovered one came with Portuguese decals. So, I got curious and looked into Portugal's modest yet very interesting aviation history (some of the airframe acquisitions are suspect 😄). That's when I decided to switch plans and try to build examples of Portuguese warbirds from my stash, instead.
Good comprehensive references and decals are the hardest thing to find, but things are falling into place now. In the Hurricane and the current project I may have one or two historical discrepancies but generally it's about having fun producing a reasonable facsimile of the original. Example, the P-47 Thunderbolt I'm working on now, will not have the aerodynamic dorsal strip forward of the rudder. The kit does not have it and I don't have that mastery of the plastic to scratch build, yet. Maybe I will paint that area zinc chromate primer and the story is that the strip was removed for servicing.
Anyway, I hope to build a small Air force representative of about a hundred years of Portugal's aviation history. I'm a proud Canadian having severed in our armed forces, but I'm also Portuguese and very much interested her rich history. So, the Canadian warbirds I have planned will wait a bit.
7 November 2021, 17:12
Michael KohlNice development. As a Canadian this might interest you: Canadian Leopard 2A6M with slat armor and barracuda mats | Album by panorama (1:72)
A canadian Starfighter is on my bucket list too.
Happy modeling!
7 November 2021, 23:27
RuiThanks Michael… I checked out the Leo build. Awesome for a 1:72 scale. Looking forward to the whole diorama 👍
8 November 2021, 04:12
Album info
Need to do a better job of taking pictures as I go along, and looking at the pictures I see I need to do a better job with assembly and painting 🙁
