Hawker Hurricane repair

[DonW]

This 1/72 scale model was made from wood during WW2 by a friend of the family (named Eric Bates for what it's worth) who was an Air Raid Precautions Warden in the second world war (too young to join the RAF proper).

He gave it to me when I was a teenager and somewhere along the way it's lost its propellor blades and one of the elevators.

So I finally had a bit of time to at least do something about the elevator - I'm still thinking about the prop...

So I found a suitable piece of workable and close-grained wood and got carving (with my Swiss Army knife), filing and sanding.

Now to get on with priming and final sanding then finding some matching paint. Hopefully I can get this Under Glass once done - with or without the prop!

I love this model for it's brush-painted craft work and it's fantastic accuracy in terms of the shape and the hand fettled details. And it is around eighty years old.

The black and white coulor scheme on the underside was in use from 1936 to 1940 as an aid to aircraft recognition (friend or foe) from the ground.

Here's the result so far:

Edited May 4, 2020 by DonW
correct spelling

[peteski]

That is one cool piece of history. I'm glad you're restoring it to its original  condition.

[stitchdup]

Cool, well worth saving. A museum near me has a collection of these war time crafts, including some by italian pow's. There's also a chapel still in use the same italian pows built

[DonW]

Thanks.

I'll have a shot at the prop blades, I have to use wood of course, to match the rest of the model. How hard can it be?

Very, I suspect.

[stitchdup]

1 hour ago, DonW said:

Thanks.

I'll have a shot at the prop blades, I have to use wood of course, to match the rest of the model. How hard can it be?

Very, I suspect.

I suspect you could save yourself a little work if you use coffee stirrers for the props, they are easy to work with and may be close to the shape. The centre cone would be the hardest parts then

[DonW]

Thanks Leslie, it's a good idea but I haven't got any!

I do have lots of bits of wood, so something will turn up.

The centre cone is still there, it's just the blades I need.

Cheers,

-Don.

 

[stitchdup]

I can easy send you a few hundred, I messed up my last order and ended up with 10 thousand of them

[Snake45]

VERY cool piece of history! Good luck with your resto! 

[DonW]

Well I got a new elevator made from wood and attached it, painted it, sanded it and so on. Still not perfect but the rest of the model, completely untouched since 1940/41 isn't either.

I don't have the tools or skill to mend the prop, the whole lot would need redoing including the spinner and I'll leave the original as it is. Half close your eyes and imagine it spinning...

 

[stavanzer]

Just Cleaning up the Spinner the way you did, made a huge difference for the better.  This is a great save.

[DonW]

Thank Alan

It's a joy to hold this model and feel the history, the irony is that I'm a Spitfire man and never had much time for Hurricanes!