Scale aviation modeller international

time leaving the shadow coat to

do its job at the panel edges.

Having allowed the camouflage

colours to dry thoroughly for

a couple of days, I gave the

entire airframe several coats of

gloss enamel varnish. The Sky

identification band was latterly

applied once the varnish had

dried – not because I had intended

to leave it so late in the painting

process, but simply because I had

forgotten to apply it earlier.

MONSOON: WET AND DRY

AND DECALS

To achieve the perfect surface

for decals, I will usually

spend a considerable

amount of time flatting

and polishing a model’s

vanished surface to

remove any imperfections

that may have accumulated

during the painting process. This

can prove to be a taxing job on a

smooth-surfaced aircraft – taking

back the gloss varnish gingerly

and constantly checking for rub-

throughs – and it was never going

to be an easy task on the Hurricane,

with its undulating, fabric-covered

fuselage and control surfaces,.

For the flat areas I employed

sanding blocks made from sections

of spongy packing foam. For the

undulations, I wrapped pieces of

3200 grit sanding cloth around the

rounded end of a paintbrush handle,

and around a toothpick to get into

the tighter curves. Even so, there

remained areas on which the varnish

proved impossible to flatten entirely

• areas which could cause silvering
  beneath the transparent carrier film
  of the decals – and I actually did
  rub through to the shadow coat in
  a couple of places on the fuselage.
  Luckily though, the rub-
  throughs would be hidden by the
  large fuselage roundels, but I would
  not know until after the decals had
  settled whether or not I was going
  to get silvering beneath them. I
  now worked over the airframe
  with wet 3200 grit sanding cloths
  until the gloss varnish appeared
  matt overall. I then used 12000
  grit cloths to further polish those
  surfaces, in order to receive decals.
  The Cartograph decals performed
  faultlessly, sinking effortlessly

into recessed details and moulding

themselves around raised details

with a single application of Micro set

solution. The colour and registration

of the decals were perfect, though

the squadron badge appears to

me to be somewhat oversized.

Silvering did indeed mar the

appearance of some of the decals,

namely the squadron codes along

that awkward, undulating fuselage.

To resolve the problem, I scored

the edges of the offending sections

of carrier film with a new scalpel

blade, and removed them by

sticking cut lengths of masking

tape to them and ripping them off.

The rough edges of the cut decals

were then smoothed out with an

application of Micro-Sol setting

solution applied with a soft brush.

With the decals dry, I attached

the front canopy to the fuselage

using liquid cement. It required a

smear of Milliput to blend it in with

the nose, and a touch of dark green

paint to hide the joint. A sealing coat

of eggshell varnish, mixed from

Humbrol gloss and matt enamel

varnishes, was then applied overall.

All that remained was to

attach the fragile bits that had

been left off during painting,

namely the undercarriage, pitot

tube, extended step, landing light

lenses, and of course the propeller.

The canopy was a lovely, snug fit,

and to attach it to its runners I

simply glued two short lengths of

stretched sprue along the inner,

lower edges of the transparency,

and when these had dried the

canopy simply clicked into place.

THE STORM HAS PASSED:

CONCLUSIONS

Italeri’s Mk1. Hurricane is a nice

little kit, but it does present

some challenges. The fit of parts

is a bit haphazard in places –

namely the separately moulded

engine bay panels, the wings and

tailplanes, engine bulkhead, and

the spinner – but these problems

can be easily overcome with a

little care and a little filler.

On the positive side, the

Cartograph decal sheet is a winner,

which is beautifully printed with a

good selection of colour scheme

options. With aftermarket additions

readily available for this kit, the

Italeri Hurricane Mk.1 can be enjoyed

by less experienced modellers

who simply want a satisfying build

straight from the box, as well as the

experienced modeller who wants to

improve upon the box contents,.

The finished model certainly

looks like a Hurricane and builds

into a fitting miniature memorial

to the brave young pilots who

flew the aircraft in anger.

“THE ITALERI HURRICANE MK.1

CAN BE ENJOYED BY LESS

EXPERIENCED MODELLERS”

24 • APRIL 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

018-25-FEAT-Hurricane-0418.indd 24 09/03/2018 15:59