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DB Hurricane paint and finish.


Jon H
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Posted by Chris Walby on 03/02/2020 07:50:59:

Looking really good there Jon, just a few more rainy weekends and you'll be on to painting stage. smiley

Probably, but it would be nice to fly something before i forget how. Its been over 3 months grounded now

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  • 2 weeks later...

only a small update this week as i had to do stuff round the house this weekend

Anyway my fearless pilot has been enclosed in his canopy and i added some more details to the fuselage panels. On my mick reeves hurricane i built years ago i used small brass screws to simulate the dzus fasteners used on the various panels. It worked well so i did the same here.

nearly 60 screws later, i was done and i am quite happy with the result. I will probably use the same style screw to hold the cowl on but its likely i will use counter sunk machine screws instead of self tappers.

hurri28.jpg

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A cowl/spinner can ruin a model. I often see models where it looks like the cowl has been fitted and then the engine installed afterwards through a cavernous hole. It makes me shudder just to think about it.

Anyway, i always try and get them as neat as i can. The super secret trick is to deliberately mount the engine 5mm short and then shim it forward to the perfect position once everything is in its final places

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Another pants weekend means more time in the shed with rain hammering the window.

only small progress this week with the wing painted grey saturday afternoon and then i got started on the green. Sadly, my tin of green spray paint attacked the grey paint below it so i had to scrape it off once it was dry enough. Then it was out with the airbrush again to tidy up using green enamel paint from a tin this time.

Note to self, even spray paints claiming to be enamel can attack enamel paints. I think the propellants are a bit savage.

Anyway with that sorted i started marking out the roundels as i have decided to paint them. This required me to extend my compass with some wood but i got there in the end.

As it turns out, painting circles is hard and i also was not satisfied with the colour of my red paint...soo i mixed up another colour but am on the fence as to its suitability. I also brush painted the first of the rough painted areas from the photo. I am happy with the appearance, its just the difference between the sprayed edges and painted edges are a little too stark so i need to do something to even them out.

No photos of all this yet as i am still faffing with it.

My other mission was to prep the fuselage for painting and that means i have to get the engine out. Before all that i need to finish the cowl with its various holes and, most importantly, its cooling baffles.

The next 3 photos show the process for getting the baffles neat and tidy without spending all day on it. Its pretty simple. Glue in some small sticks in the right place so that you can work without having to take the cowl on and off 100 times

hurri 31.jpg

Then fill in the gap.

hurri 29.jpg

aaand its done.

hurri 30.jpg

I then made a simple triangle which i fitted to the bottom half of the cowl between the cylinders. This needed a small tweak to conform to the shape of the fin barrels but it worked out well. No photo though, i was getting hungry!

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So your baffling here is just a plate to prevent flow bypassing the fins. Obviously effective as there is only one way the air can go - right past where it is needed.

I've seen some really tight internal shaping on cowls, does that make any odds or is it just gold plating the job?

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Posted by Nigel R on 17/02/2020 12:21:47:

So your baffling here is just a plate to prevent flow bypassing the fins. Obviously effective as there is only one way the air can go - right past where it is needed.

I've seen some really tight internal shaping on cowls, does that make any odds or is it just gold plating the job?

I just use flat plates. In essence, i turn the front of the cowl into a cold air/high pressure area and the back half into a hot air/low pressure area. The high pressure is caused by the ram air effect and the low pressure is helped by rear facing air outlets. As long as the pressure in the front of the cowl is higher than the pressure anywhere in the air exit ducting the air will flow out.

As for the often mentioned 1 in 3 out rule, its a non issue if you have a pressure gradient on your side. Also, if you have something like a sea fury with a cowl opening of 150mm you might think that is your air inlet dimension. In reality, the only air inlet is the 2mm clearance between the baffle and the engine and not the hole in the front of the cowl. This is why tightly baffled engines run cooler with smaller holes than those hanging out in the breeze.

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Thanks guys

Masking really is a chore but i didnt have a choice. The full size i am trying to copy was mostly brush painted and this left a very hard edge to the camo. Normally i leave a soft edge with my airbrush but that was not an option this time.

While the photos do not show it very well the green on the outer ends of the wings is badly brush painted to emulate the full size. I then sprayed the inner section to get the darker colour that is clear in the photos. The green on the tail will be badly brush painted but i will see if i can make it a little lighter as i went too dark on the wings. Not that it will really matter.

The only good thing about masking is the great reveal when you tear it all off.

For the roundels i originally painted them freehand but they were too wobbly. In the end i stuck some masking tape down and used my compass with a blade in it to give a better edge between the red and the blue. The outer edge of the blue is still free hand and wobbly but again, this is to mirror the awful finish on the full size i am trying to copy.

Once its all done i will then have at it with some wetndry paper and see if i can make it look as filthy as i can but i still have to paint, mask, paint, mask....etc for the fuselage codes, roundels and fin flash. Tonight i might try and slap the green paint on the tail but as its cold at the moment i cant leave it in the shed to dry so have to bring it in. The smell is lovely, but its probably not very healthy.

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Hi John you can get a soft sprayed edge by using some foam edge masking strip . Its primary use is for sticking inside car door jams to get a soft edge . I used it on a yellow aircraft spitfire to great effect. Downside is its expensive if you have by a whole box . A car repair shop may be able to help with a smaller quantity .

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  • 2 months later...

With engine rebuilds and other projects taking up the work bench the Hurricane has taken a bit of back seat. Part of the problem was that i also got fed up with paint creep under all my efforts to mask the roundels and other markings.

In the end though i finally have something that looks acceptable given the war weary look i am going for so im pretty happy.

hurri 34.jpg

Now on the port side the A is painted freehand in white as it is clearly brighter than the other letters in the photos of the full size and is clearly more of a mess. I also took my colour sample tool in paintshop and the RGB code was almost identical to the white of the fin flash and fuselage roundel. As i had no conclusive evidence either way, i went for white. It stands out more in my photo than in real life. Once weathered in and grubbied up a bit it will tone down a touch more.

Again, i am not looking for factory fresh or an exact duplicate of the original. All i am after is a plausible representation of this aircraft and its unusual appearance is likely to provoke interest, and that is what its all about.

hurri 35.jpg

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Cheers guys

Generally i am pleased with how its coming together. Im not trying to win a scale champs with it so some corners are being cut.

Rather alarmingly all i really need to do now is detail and fuel proof it. Theres a few other hatches and bits of paint that need to be tidied up, the engine and servos need to go in the fuselage and the wheels need to be sorted.

Then its the dreaded c/g check!

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  • 1 month later...

Its been a while since i did a Hurricane update as i stopped working it for a while to do other things and also many of the jobs were really boring.

But, we are nearly there now and the model is ready for weathering detail before fuel proofing and balancing. These show a few of the jobs i have been doing in the background.

Engine baffle painted/sealed and dummy exhausts installed

hurri 36.jpg

Wheels made all pretty

hurri 37.jpg

Engine exhaust cut outs made in the cowling

hurri 38.jpg

Undercarriage cover plates painted/installed

hurri 39.jpg

Spinner painted and model assembled to get a feel for how it looks

hurri 40.jpg

Not long now i hope. Just the scary job of c/g and small stuff like the final radio fit and plumbing the fuel tanks. Weather and fuel proofer then should have it finished off.

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