Editor in Chief Bill offered me the opportunity to assemble, paint, and finish some of Game Figures, Inc. (GFI) N-scale Hawker Hurricanes. Tom, at GFI, provided the models. As it turned out I got to paint three Mk Is and three Mk IICs. In this article, I'll be assembling and painting the minis. Applying decals will be covered in a future article.
I've decided that I'll finish the Mk Is in Finnish colors, and the Mk IICs in British livery.
References:
Squadron/Signal Publications, Hurricane Walk Around
Marek Rys, Mushroom Model Magazine Special: Hawker Hurricane
Arco-Aircam Aviation Series, No 14, Finnish Air Force 1918-1968
Tools:
#1, #2, and #3 paintbrushes
Hobby knife
Small files
Sanding sticks
Small drill and drill bits
Glue applicator (homemade)
Flat-surface pliers
Supplies:
Zap and Zap-a-Gap glue
Greenstuff two-part putty
Vallejo paints: German Grey, Olive Green, Pale Blue, Olive Grey, London Grey, Light Gray, Pastel Green, and Yellow
Andrea Colors: Beige
Rust-Oleum gray automotive primer
Paper clips (pins)
Toothpicks
Here are a couple of pictures of the models just out of their bags. The models have a nice amount of detail, and don't look like they'll be too hard to clean up and assemble. I noticed that the kits include landing gears. I'll initially make one of each type of Hurricane, with the landing gear in the down position… just to see how they look. Later, I'll remove the gears and fill the holes so that the minis look like the gears are retracted.
The fuselage and wings have alignment pins and holes. I did a test fit, and found that the pins and holes lined the wings up nicely. I also noticed a small gap at the wing root; I can take care of that later with some gap-filling glue.