Old v New tool Hurricanes

[Peter s]

Post 1:

I rather enjoyed comparing the old and new tool Stukas last month so did the same again with two Hurricanes. I actually finished then a few weeks ago so I'm going to jump to the finished models pretty fast but post everything this afternoon.

I've ALMOST finished the Battle of Britain project - just a Beaufighter and a Heinkel left to do. I'm more or less back at work though so progress has slowed while I crawl around on the floor with tape to mark off 2 metre bays..... and get interviewed by Sky news (really  😆 that was weird!) 

Here goes.... hope the mods approve the pics fast.

[Peter s]

Post 2:

The brilliant new tool 1/72 Hurricane has the fabric wing. Pluses and minuses to this. The big plus is that the surface detail allows for some subtle shading and detail work. It was a common export variant so lots of potential for Finnish and Belgian Hurricanes etc. Downside is that is a very early war version more Battle of France than battle of Britain. A new tool version with the metal wings would be a really good addition to the airfix stable. However, the starter kit version comes with Battle of Britain decals so unusually I built it with the Airfix decals rather than go down the xtradecal route. 

To team up with it I found a "50th anniversary of the battle of Britain" Hurricane II on eBay. That dates it to the mid-90s.

/media/tinymce_upload/79bfb124823abed5ef51004af0e4cda2.jpg

Box art shows an 8x .303 version. Whats INSIDE the box however is 4x 20mm cannon version with instructions to cut the cannons off. This kit does NOT come from the Golden age of airfix and has pretty minimal surface detail. That actually turned into a plus as once you cut the cannon barrels off you need to get rid of the cannon bulges too. These sanded straight off. I ended up with horrendous gaps between the upper wings and fuselage sides. Never in the field of human conflict has some much filler been squirted into a hurricane. It just kept eating and eating the stuff. In the end I gave up and used a bit of D-day stripe to make larger than average black none slip details on the inner wings and covered the cracks that way. That apart it actually built up OK and looks like a Hurricane.

Here's the two side by side with the new tool showing its wing detail at the front and the older kit behind.

/media/tinymce_upload/565981212849ff3afaf363bd5e5b08d6.jpg

I'm a big fan of the 1960s movie Battle of Britain and one thing I like about the film is how dirty their planes are. Probably overweathered but its a great look and one I copied on these planes. A tiny amount of black pigment powder on your finger rubbed over the decals really dirties things up. Unsurpisingly the older kit decals were in a bad way but the grey fuselage letters and polish insignia were still useable so I teamed them up with new roundels from the spares bags.

[Peter s]

And post 3:

Normally I'm not bothered whether my props spin or not but with some luck the prop on the new tool is a great spinner. I picked up a tip from Andreas Fey who posts amazing pics on this forum and used an airbrush to spin the prop while I took pics. To add to the final mix of pics I made some Czech masters resin pilots, scratched some chocks from left over styrene and used a mix of black and white, "vintage" and unfiltered photoshop pics. Enjoy! 

/media/tinymce_upload/df91c6adb04e2d23213865117349877e.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/422706e8dee3c276484fc7ffeb2dd912.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/91df72e01d43077955313b4312567d0c.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/631fcaa9786dca87ddeeb58322b988a0.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/b760e6c6fc2e55225565b46bbc959904.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/5b28144060f03089ffa2861683b1dba0.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c99ee5849cee6d474e2727b87166bc74.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/5b8dbfafc4211791877a35f489ea0317.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/1558e1b7bb0b5948bed5405be4db5d6e.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/92afd286d04121ab353e2b77b9bb2d5d.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/109e6c5789fed9d0952e8a930999bee0.jpg

[Padefc]

Enjoyed the stukas so looking forward to this thread  Im just doing a 1/48 early 1980s hurrican plastic is very shiney  greenish colour an a tad brittle but it's gone together as good as any I've done 

[Dominic Thomas]

Post 2:

The brilliant new tool 1/72 Hurricane has the fabric wing. Pluses and minuses to this. The big plus is that the surface detail allows for some subtle shading and detail work. It was a common export variant so lots of potential for Finnish and Belgian Hurricanes etc. Downside is that is a very early war version more Battle of France than battle of Britain. A new tool version with the metal wings would be a really good addition to the airfix stable. However, the starter kit version comes with Battle of Britain decals so unusually I built it with the Airfix decals rather than go down the xtradecal route. 

To team up with it I found a "50th anniversary of the battle of Britain" Hurricane II on eBay. That dates it to the mid-90s.

 

Box art shows an 8x .303 version. Whats INSIDE the box however is 4x 20mm cannon version with instructions to cut the cannons off. This kit does NOT come from the Golden age of airfix and has pretty minimal surface detail. That actually turned into a plus as once you cut the cannon barrels off you need to get rid of the cannon bulges too. These sanded straight off. I ended up with horrendous gaps between the upper wings and fuselage sides. Never in the field of human conflict has some much filler been squirted into a hurricane. It just kept eating and eating the stuff. In the end I gave up and used a bit of D-day stripe to make larger than average black none slip details on the inner wings and covered the cracks that way. That apart it actually built up OK and looks like a Hurricane.

Here's the two side by side with the new tool showing its wing detail at the front and the older kit behind.

 

I'm a big fan of the 1960s movie Battle of Britain and one thing I like about the film is how dirty their planes are. Probably overweathered but its a great look and one I copied on these planes. A tiny amount of black pigment powder on your finger rubbed over the decals really dirties things up. Unsurpisingly the older kit decals were in a bad way but the grey fuselage letters and polish insignia were still useable so I teamed them up with new roundels from the spares bags.

That’s a really impressive post. I like the subject and the way you have created the period atmosphere, with appropriate posing, background, and the use of monochrome pictures.

As this was a build to compare the old & the new, it was interesting for me to see how the ’original’ Hurricane compared to the latest one. I cannot say I am impressed by the nose profile. A few years ago I might have been happy with it, but not now. That’s progress..!

Well done again, and thank you for posting.

Dominic

[Peter s]

Post 2:

The brilliant new tool 1/72 Hurricane has the fabric wing. Pluses and minuses to this. The big plus is that the surface detail allows for some subtle shading and detail work. It was a common export variant so lots of potential for Finnish and Belgian Hurricanes etc. Downside is that is a very early war version more Battle of France than battle of Britain. A new tool version with the metal wings would be a really good addition to the airfix stable. However, the starter kit version comes with Battle of Britain decals so unusually I built it with the Airfix decals rather than go down the xtradecal route. 

To team up with it I found a "50th anniversary of the battle of Britain" Hurricane II on eBay. That dates it to the mid-90s.

 

Box art shows an 8x .303 version. Whats INSIDE the box however is 4x 20mm cannon version with instructions to cut the cannons off. This kit does NOT come from the Golden age of airfix and has pretty minimal surface detail. That actually turned into a plus as once you cut the cannon barrels off you need to get rid of the cannon bulges too. These sanded straight off. I ended up with horrendous gaps between the upper wings and fuselage sides. Never in the field of human conflict has some much filler been squirted into a hurricane. It just kept eating and eating the stuff. In the end I gave up and used a bit of D-day stripe to make larger than average black none slip details on the inner wings and covered the cracks that way. That apart it actually built up OK and looks like a Hurricane.

Here's the two side by side with the new tool showing its wing detail at the front and the older kit behind.

 

I'm a big fan of the 1960s movie Battle of Britain and one thing I like about the film is how dirty their planes are. Probably overweathered but its a great look and one I copied on these planes. A tiny amount of black pigment powder on your finger rubbed over the decals really dirties things up. Unsurpisingly the older kit decals were in a bad way but the grey fuselage letters and polish insignia were still useable so I teamed them up with new roundels from the spares bags.

That’s a really impressive post. I like the subject and the way you have created the period atmosphere, with appropriate posing, background, and the use of monochrome pictures.

As this was a build to compare the old & the new, it was interesting for me to see how the ’original’ Hurricane compared to the latest one. I cannot say I am impressed by the nose profile. A few years ago I might have been happy with it, but not now. That’s progress..!

Well done again, and thank you for posting.

Dominic

Thanks. Yes..... side by side the older Hurricane looks as if it has a different engine in it. 

 

So far so good. I've a few more completed to photograph but I'm onto the final two and saved the most complex for last. He 111 and Beaufighter back-conversion. The 111 went together wonderfully yesterday so almost mission complete. 

[peebeep]

The old kit compares pretty favourably with the Bentley drawings, but in plan view the nose tapers too much forward of the firewall, so it ends up looking slightly skinny.  

[Peter s]

Thats probably it.... it seems fine in isolation but you put it next to the new one and its a "hmmmmmm" moment. Some of the older kit was good. It sounds daft but I thought the tail wheel looked sharper. Main undercarriage was a little more positive when initially fitted too. The gap at the wing joints is probably more to do with old moulds than bad design.

[peebeep]

I remember when the kit was first released ('78?), everybody was excited because it was the first 1/72 Mk I that was passable in appearance as a Mk I.  

[Peter s]

A lot of them from that era are pretty respectable. I got a Westland Whirlwind (twin engine fighter not the helicopter) dated '77 and its not exactly many bits but its built up to a pretty decent model. The cannon barrels were beyond saving (I just used plastic rod instead) but no filler needed and a very positive undercarriage. I'll get some pics taken and posted ASAP.

I did my first model about 1983 or 84 so your memory goes back further than mine but only by a few years.

[robert bradbury]

Box art shows an 8x .303 version. Whats INSIDE the box however is 4x 20mm cannon version with instructions to cut the cannons off. This kit does NOT come from the Golden age of airfix and has pretty minimal surface detail. That actually turned into a plus as once you cut the cannon barrels off you need to get rid of the cannon bulges too. These sanded straight off. I ended up with horrendous gaps between the upper wings and fuselage sides. Never in the field of human conflict has some much filler been squirted into a hurricane. It just kept eating and eating the stuff. In the end I gave up and used a bit of D-day stripe to make larger than average black none slip details on the inner wings and covered the cracks that way. That apart it actually built up OK and looks like a Hurricane.

 

 

The 50th Anniversary set kit was actually the old Heller Hurricane Mk.IIc that Airfix reboxed in 1990 (91?). I was released as part of the 50th Anniversary set with the Lancaster and Mk.I Spitfire (masquerading as a IIa XT-D). I assume they used the Heller kit as the BBMF Hurricanes are both the Mk.IIc variant. The BBMF remove the 20mm cannon barrels from the wings when painting them to represent MkIs and adds the red doped patch to the leading edge to represent the 0.303s. 

This edition of the kit allows you to build PZ865 as it was displayed by the BBMF in 1990 - painted as a Mk.I RF-U but in reality a Mk.IIc without the cannon.

[peebeep]

Funnily enough my first model was a Whirlwind fighter, but the original tool kit. I would have been five years old which means it was some time in 1961.

[Peter s]

Box art shows an 8x .303 version. Whats INSIDE the box however is 4x 20mm cannon version with instructions to cut the cannons off. This kit does NOT come from the Golden age of airfix and has pretty minimal surface detail. That actually turned into a plus as once you cut the cannon barrels off you need to get rid of the cannon bulges too. These sanded straight off. I ended up with horrendous gaps between the upper wings and fuselage sides. Never in the field of human conflict has some much filler been squirted into a hurricane. It just kept eating and eating the stuff. In the end I gave up and used a bit of D-day stripe to make larger than average black none slip details on the inner wings and covered the cracks that way. That apart it actually built up OK and looks like a Hurricane.

 

 

The 50th Anniversary set kit was actually the old Heller Hurricane Mk.IIc that Airfix reboxed in 1990 (91?). I was released as part of the 50th Anniversary set with the Lancaster and Mk.I Spitfire (masquerading as a IIa XT-D). I assume they used the Heller kit as the BBMF Hurricanes are both the Mk.IIc variant. The BBMF remove the 20mm cannon barrels from the wings when painting them to represent MkIs and adds the red doped patch to the leading edge to represent the 0.303s. 

This edition of the kit allows you to build PZ865 as it was displayed by the BBMF in 1990 - painted as a Mk.I RF-U but in reality a Mk.IIc without the cannon.

That makes a lot of sense & I sort of assumed the same. Mk IIa's served in the Battle of Britain (at least if you use the German time span rather than the RAF) so it suited me to have a Ia and IIa for my "the entire battle of Britain" project. I hadn't realised it was a Heller though.