Airfix 1/48 Hawker Hurricane Mk I

[jeaton01]

Here's the box art and the sprues, I'm looking forward to this one. I will be making separate posts for the ground equipment so this GB doesn't get too unfocused. I really like the quality of the clear parts.

[BlackSheep214]

Very nice!!

[speedgraflex]

Following!

[Medicman71]

Nice! Can't wait to see the build.

[Stikpusher]

Man that’s a kit that I wanted and can no longer be found. Gonna live vicariously here watching you build it.

[jeaton01]

I've made a pretty good start on the Hurricane and I'm enjoying the build. I read a few build reviews and decided to build the model in an order different from the instructions. They call for building the internal structure sort of in the air, and when people did that they had trouble later on with the spars not fitting where they should in the wings, and that caused fit problems at the wing roots. This kit is made very accurately and there is not much tolerance for misalignment. I decided to use the wing for a jig, and assemble the spars to it first, then add the internal fuselage framing. Even so, there were two areas that had to be shaved down on the front spar in order to get the upper and lower wings to come together right. Where and how much material to remove was not difficult to figure out.

Here just the front spar is glued to the lower wing. You can see where material has been removed in the area of the gun bay and outer gear bays on the left wing.


Fit of the upper wing is good now.





Both sides of the main spar have been modified in the same manner as the left side was, and the rear spar and gun bay ribs are installed. The addition of the rear spar and the gun bay ribs did not cause any fit issues. The left longeron framework is just sitting in place and will not be glued to the spars until the cockpit parts are all installed.




The gun bay cover area of both wings was cut out, there are replacement covers in the kit so there is no need to try to preserve the original wing material. I used a dremel tool with a burr to rough out the cut and finished up with files and a sharp #11 blade. There are very fine lines to work up to and the new wing cover is a press fit.


More cockpit assembly. In using this order of build you will have to install a pressure tank and some piping from the wheel bay opening but it's not too hard. I really like the cockpit detail. The longerons are still not glued to the spars.


Eduard Sutton harness was used.


Fit looks like it is going to be pretty good. The wing fits under the fuselage for the first half of the chord, and between the fuselage halves on the back half.

[LyleW]

Lov.ely work!

[jeaton01]

Thanks, Lyle. Here's the instrument panel, I used the kit decal for it and think it looks pretty good.

[jeaton01]

Man that’s a kit that I wanted and can no longer be found. Gonna live vicariously here watching you build it.

Yeah, it doesn't seem to be available anymore, Carlos. You can buy all the pieces separately, but that costs twice as much. I bought it as soon as it was available.

[Floki]

Very nice work! Looks like it's not giving you much trouble.