The Sound and the Fury - The Ultimate Hawker prop fighter

[PR19_Kit]

That's some brill restoration work you've done there Lee, almost back to the original. 

[The Wooksta!]

"I thought we did."

Thanks, although it's not quite there underneath the starboard wing, but I'm not too worried about underneath. No one looks underneath models unless they're judging and this is unlikely to go into a competition. 

There's a lot more to do, because other than the gun hatches and possibly the flaps, all the panel lines look to change, looking more like a bigger Fury wing rather than a slightly modified Tempest.  So I'll have to fill everything and then describe.  That's one of the reasons I'm using superglue as it's less likely to chip than yer actual Revell or Humbrol filler.

The mould for the engine is still a bit tacky externally, so I'll leave it for another day or two and then try casting on Wednesday.  I also moulded the Sea Fury resin cockpit tub - I already have an instrument panel mould - just in case.  One of the SH Sea Fury kit I have had lost it's cockpit tub.


Oh wow!  Yeah!  Wow!  Just had an idea for a quick shortcut for another P1030, although I'd be using a Matchbox Tempest wing and a PM fuselage.  I know that the two marry quite easily, having cross kitted them before.  I mean, you'd still have to do the plug on the fuselage, there's some work underneath the wing, the mods to the leading edge of the wing, plus the rads, but there's not as much work as there is with what I've been doing.  Hmmm.  I've been thinking about a two seater...

[The Wooksta!]

I am planning on using the PM fuselage for my P.1030. I have a Smer Tempest for the wings already allocated to be part of a P.1030

It's your choice, and I can understand the wish to use the cheaper kit for the fuselage - especially if you don't want to waste half an SH Sea Fury -  but having played with both recently for P.1030 and P.1032, the SH is the better one to use, as the plastic is thicker at the firewall and will withstand heavy sanding.  I'm fortunate in that I'm using bits spare from kits I bought well over a decade ago.

The wings.  Again, I understand the choice of Heller/Smer/Misterkit Tempest as they are cheap and still decent (think the Heller tool is 50 years old), but the only downside is that the Heller u/c is almost scale thickness and does have a worrying tendency to break under the weight of a normal Tempest, let alone additional resin.  I'm amazed some of the Eagle ones I have with Aeroclub Wyvern props are still on their gears when normal Tempests have had collapsing u/c.  If you do go with the Heller, it may be worth thinking of a storage method whereby it doesn't sit on it's u/c and only does so when it comes out for display? 

For mine, I've the Airfix u/c and I'm not sure how well that will stand the test of time, but it doesn't look as fragile as the Heller - or the Academy, come to that - so may withstand the weight.  We shall see.

If you have a Matchbox Tempest unmolested, have a think about using that for the wing.  It fits the PM Fury almost perfectly, albeit with some filling.  It does come with a much stronger u/c too.

[Gondor]

I am planning on using the PM fuselage for my P.1030. I have a Smer Tempest for the wings already allocated to be part of a P.1030

It's your choice, and I can understand the wish to use the cheaper kit for the fuselage - especially if you don't want to waste half an SH Sea Fury -  but having played with both recently for P.1030 and P.1032, the SH is the better one to use, as the plastic is thicker at the firewall and will withstand heavy sanding.  I'm fortunate in that I'm using bits spare from kits I bought well over a decade ago.

The wings.  Again, I understand the choice of Heller/Smer/Misterkit Tempest as they are cheap and still decent (think the Heller tool is 50 years old), but the only downside is that the Heller u/c is almost scale thickness and does have a worrying tendency to break under the weight of a normal Tempest, let alone additional resin.  I'm amazed some of the Eagle ones I have with Aeroclub Wyvern props are still on their gears when normal Tempests have had collapsing u/c.  If you do go with the Heller, it may be worth thinking of a storage method whereby it doesn't sit on it's u/c and only does so when it comes out for display? 

For mine, I've the Airfix u/c and I'm not sure how well that will stand the test of time, but it doesn't look as fragile as the Heller - or the Academy, come to that - so may withstand the weight.  We shall see.

If you have a Matchbox Tempest unmolested, have a think about using that for the wing.  It fits the PM Fury almost perfectly, albeit with some filling.  It does come with a much stronger u/c too.

Yeah, I read your earlier post about the Matchbox/PM bash, and I do have a Matchbox kit available. I did think about using the SH Sea Fury because the two-seater has the spare fuselage, as you said. The only thing there is avalability of a two-seat kit I would want to build as a two -seat aircraft, and I could only find the Bagdad version available rather than the T.20, which I would prefer. Saying that, I have two single seat aircrft on their way to me so I could rob a fuselage from one while I wait for a T.20 to become available. I also have some white metal u/c legs available.

[The Wooksta!]

Get the Baghdad one as it's the same base additional sprue as the T-20 proper.  The only differences between the two kits are that the former has the twin canopy and the curved plastic between cockpits and the latter has the UK  style canopy with the tunnel and a flat piece of plastic.  Buy the Baghdad one for the spare fuselage, wait for a T-20 and use the spare canopy from that and just make a flat piece to go between the cockpits. Or build the Baghdad one as the T-bird prototype - the RAF rejected the twin canopy after it collapsed mid air.  I think there's a photo of it somewhere

Or spare the pennies, rob a Sea Fury and wait for a T-20 to pop up.

[The Wooksta!]

"It looks well on him, though, doesn't he?"

I removed the master for the engine earlier as the mould was not too tacky to handle, although I'll still leave it for another 48 hours before I do any casting, but having it to hand and with the wing at a good stage, I couldn't resist mocking it up.

You cannot view this attachment.

The fuselage is too far forward in relation to the wing in this mock up,  there's some bits underneath that I need to remove to allow the engine cowling to fit properly, but right now I need them to help align the radiators when I build them up tomorrow. Once the radiators shapes are in place, I can carve them out and take out a chunk of the lower wing to a panel line that meets with the front spar.

You cannot view this attachment.

This is the area I mean and it needs sanding back in line with both sides.

The wing leading edge is a tad crusty - I was filling some gaps and didn't want to sand them back today.  I've done enough hoovering for one day, thank you, even if it is one of Vyvvyan's souped up models.  The resin radiator is just a stunt one to show what goes there.

Nevertheless, to this in less than a week is impressive and I'm quietly pleased.  I could have got further if I'd spotted that wing issue before I did any cutting...

[kitbasher]

Good stuff, Lee 👍

[Gondor]

Good stuff, Lee 👍

Agreed. I now have an idea on how to tackle the fuselage, but I need to print out the drawings first to see if my idea is viable. Something for me to do when I get home from work and find out if the cat wants to stay in or go out. If he stays in then that will delay any model related work.

[The Wooksta!]

"I don't think so, Michael. He was asleep on the radiator."


It's time to tackle the radiators.

I'd decided against using resin inserts, because that would be too easy.  TBH, I wish I had another set of the radiators from the Ventura Tempest I conversion so it's out with the sheet plastic card to see if I can cobble something together.  I have the measurements so it can't be that difficult, surely?  If it doesn't work, then I can resort to the resin inserts.  I like having a back up plan.

You cannot view this attachment.

The wing with the parts that will form the basis of the radiators.  Sides, top and some spacers.  I hadn't decided on radiator faces at this point.  Again, the choice of the Airfix wing works to my benefit, because that projection around the wheel well insert is handy as a base, although I used some strips of thin plastic card to space it out a tad.

You cannot view this attachment.

The first one in and it looks okay. On to part the second.

You cannot view this attachment.

For some reason, this one wasn't as straightforward.  But it's in.

You cannot view this attachment.

And the front view.  This will be painted black anyway, so those holes should vanish, but that's what filler is for anyway.

Yes, it all looks a bit clunky and "Bridge over the River Kwai" but that's because the sanding is yet to come.

[Old Wombat]

 

[The Wooksta!]

"Cleaned it, Michael, cleaned it."

Well, it didn't take too long with my favourite sanding stick to get them looking a bit more shapely.

You cannot view this attachment.

From the top.  Needs some filler around the back, but it's not that bad.

You cannot view this attachment.

And underneath. There's a lot more work to do here, as I'd like to get the flaps in, hence why the end plates haven't been sanded down quite so much - I need them as a guide.   The grey bit in between the radiators in this shot is not long for this world.

You cannot view this attachment.

That was quick.  Two swipes with the saw to the centre, clip the outers off and sand back.  Simples.

So, with the wing now approximating the shape it's going to be, how about a mock up?

You cannot view this attachment.

That is looking a lot more promising.  There's still a great deal of fettling to do with the wing, not least underneath whilst the fuselage is a long way from matching up.  But it's looking like a proper goer now.

[Gondor]

As you say Lee, still lots to do, but you can see where it's going and it looks very nice. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Elegant! 

[The Wooksta!]

"Then what are you looking in the cellar for?"

The radiator flaps are cut out and some plastic card added to the front. 

You cannot view this attachment.

I just need to let the plastic cure before I can do some more sanding there.  Adding the flaps is a detail I wanted to add - when I did it with the RAF P.1032 it was to hide the fact that the resin inserts didn't match the thick PM wing.

You cannot view this attachment.

Whilst I had the card out, I added a strip inside and I'll be flooding the area with superglue and baking soda because I'll be sanding off the slight curve which is fine for Tempest but shouldn't be there on P.1030 and I need something to back the plastic.  That wheel well insert acts as a spar to keep the wings together, because that centre section will have no structural strength otherwise and certainly even less when I sand much of the plastic away.  None of the other decent Tempest kits - Academy, the Heller tooling or the KP - have it and it was this that made me choose the Airfix kit for the wing.

Having come to a stop with the wing,  I've been down to the shed to search through several boxes of moulds to find one in particular.  This being the copy of the white metal spine insert that John Adams did back in 1991 for the PM Sea Fury.  It filled that gap aft of the seat and incorporated the headrest and the canopy rails.  I've never had much success with that mould as some the shape is very fine with a distressing tendency for bits to snap off.  Still, it's better than what was there before.  I'm casting tomorrow as I need the engine cowling so I can progress with the fuselage.

Just realised I should have brought up a mould for the Griffon Spitfire supercharger intake....

[The Wooksta!]

"That's absolutely brilliant! You can't get any cleaner than that!"

So after dumping a load of superglue and then baking soda in the centre of the wing I could make a start in flattening the exterior.

You cannot view this attachment.
You cannot view this attachment.

I then taped it up to protect the detail, which ended up being pointless.

You cannot view this attachment.

And the final result,  Well, until the primer shows the flaws.  As you can see, I've sorted out the radiator too.

Next episode: The Larch.