Brian54

Really nice model of the Hurricane. I too made this kit and found it went together without any drama. Only the wheel well required a bit of alignment on construction. I too have found that making the smaller kits can be very satisfying. I've just completed the Boulton Paul Defiant and it is interesting to place it next to the Hurricane to give some idea of the size difference between this and the Hurri. I have also made an attempt on the Airfix Eurofighter as one of my first kits after returning to modelling and found the fit around the front fuselage to be less than perfect. I was also warned about the difference between this and any operational version,as the F2 as stated on some versions. The airbrake is the main visible difference so it ended up faired over. Airfix were very quick to produce their EFA kit in 1990 but have not updated or produced an operational version. As far as current RAF types are concerned it's strange that there have been no updated Hawk T2 or Typhoon FGR4 in 1/72 releases even from other manufacturers. As for the F-35B Lightning looks as if the first RAF version in kit form will be out next year but not from Airfix.

A real shame that the decals on the boom refused to behave. I admire your pragmatism and the ability to see a plus in the need to strip and re-start. Best of luck with the Swedish finish. I photographed a rather scruffy exhibition example from Duxford in May 2007. It is also useful in showing the plywood construction of the fuselage. The second photo which my brother took at the same time shows the faded dayglo on the nose./media/tinymce_upload/f7ad804f29d9c542bc016c9d3202b5b1.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/479c48ee2a035f62843efc10126f522e.JPG The example here has since been very thoroughly restored to pristine condition and was re-exhibited at Duxford IWM in 2012.

I can confirm that the "Dayglo" strips are a challenge. I don't think I mastered them when I made up the kit last year. I did manage to complete the application but I used an awful lot of DecalFix and ended up applying the gloss coat almost immediately after the decals had positioned so as not to risk them tearing or lifting. The tail booms were the worst as they would just not lay down. I have since used Microsol and Microset which seem to give better performance on curved surfaces but I would also say that the decals are more likely to fragment if any attempt is made to move them during application. Best of luck./media/tinymce_upload/a5ce98fe19a7b4fdf1c68f9c4860e445.jpg