Hi!
This
time I share with you the venerable Hurricane "dressed" in
"Portuguese garments".
Who
am I to "babble" about this great machine so well described by much
better qualified people to do so along our modeling community?
About
its service in my country wonderful books have been written, so I'll just try to
give you the big picture.
Click on
images below to see larger images
HISTORY
Late
thirties: In spite its undemocratic political status at the time, Portugal was
considered of geopolitical importance by the allies in a global conflict
situation. The country was an open door to the Atlantic, still had an important
presence throughout Africa, and the Lages Air Base was pivotal on a logistical
point of view for massive air operations in case of an all scale war.
At
the same time, although politically closer to Franco's nationalistic Spain,
since this country had been supported by Hitler's Germany during the Spanish
Civil War, the Portuguese government was afraid of plans by those two countries
to invade national territory, especially the African colonies.
So
what became known as a "Cooperative" neutrality was negotiated with
allied forces, namely its old friend the UK.
Among
some very complicated diplomatic/intelligence issues, was the refurbishment of
the country's Air Arm by then confined to the obsolete Gloster Gladiator II for
Fighter/homeland-defense role.
The
deal included supplying of the more modern British fighters Hurricane and
Spitfire, but as war on Europe escalated, finally the Battle of Britain ravished
British resources. Naturally, every airframe available was absorbed by the RAF
delaying deliveries to Portugal.
The
first Hurricanes (IIb's and IIc's) arrived only in 1943 serving well into the
fifties.
Standing
corrected if needed but I think they were the last operated in the world by the
time the type was retired.
THE
KIT
This
kit has good detail, from my sources I believe it to be satisfyingly correct and
construction was easy enough except for the wing to fuselage joint that left a
pronounced step. In order to correct the problem I inserted some plasticard tabs
in the wings at its roots thus leveling it a little bit. The rest was made by
the usual filler/sanding mode resulting on a good and smooth fuselage.
The
cockpit was painted Interior green and Black with a Tamiya smoke wash and silver
dry-brushing for detail. I used wine-bottle metallic foil to create the seat
belts. Unfortunately little can be seen with a closed cockpit but the canopy
could not be used open without seriously risking breaking it.
The
camouflage is the standard RAF day fighter scheme with yellow identification
bands on the wing leading edges. The only differences are the green fuselage
band and spinner that identified the aircraft squadron.
I
used masking tape over Blu-tack to create the soft demarcation lines.
The
usual wash and pastels were used to dirty it up a little and it was done!
Just
one more note concerning the engine exhausts. They were painted with (393)
Revell "car metallic", followed by a Tamiya smoke wash.
Afterwards
for a more "burnt effect" I dry-brushed them with "clear
blue" and "clear red".
Looks quite good although not very much perceptible in the photos.
And that's all
for now.
Thanks again for
reading it,
Best regards,
Jaime
"JGV" Vinha
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