Advice Needed.

[homechild]

Help, it seems I may have inadvertently bought a grown up model to build!
I ordered some paints and such from the shop connected to this forum and one of the kits that found its way to my house was the Airfix 1:48 Hawker Hurricane Mk.1 Tropical.

All was good until I had a look at it and saw that the tropical colour scheme isn't as basic as I first thought. At the front of the wings and underneath the engine there are little red and green "squiggles" (I hear that's the appropriate technical term).
I immediately went into decal shopping mode but I haven't got any yet as I've still not definitely decided that I'm not doing the tropical colour scheme, I'll make that choice when I come to build it.
Next, looking at the kit itself I found that there are lots of little bits that are just begging to snap when I try to remove them from the sprues. Which brings me to my first question.

What do you use to remove the parts (particularly delicate looking parts) from the sprues?

A look at the instructions gave me further cause for alarm. I need to cut a piece off of the lower wing/fuselage section:


What?? This is only supposed to be a skill level 2 kit!
Second question, when you've come across this, what tools have you used to safely and accurately remove parts that need to be removed?
I know I'll be needing a new blade on my modelling knife but apart from that, any suggestions?

Onto the more specific question of Hurricanes.
When I was in my panic looking at interesting decals for Hurricanes I noticed that most of the Mk.1 Hurricanes don't have the large air filter under the engine. This made me do a little bit of research.
I managed to find out (courtesy of Wikipedia) that this was added to Mk.1's as they were going to sandy areas (such as North Africa) and it was later added to later models.
What I couldn't see were any further differences between the Mk.1 with the air filter and other models with the air filter (with the exception of the variants with the external machine guns rather than those with the internal machine guns - like the Mk.1).
Are there any major external differences between the variants?

I'll start a thread when I come to building this one but wanted to get some info first.

Cheers

[dave]

I am not a Hurricane expert, but my guess is the kit is based on the same sprues as the European version and the removal of the wing section is to fit the larger tropical air filter.

Normally parts are removed from the sprue with sprue cutters for larger bits, for small parts I tend to use a sharp modelling knife onto a flat Surface, with some support underneath if necessary to avoid distorting the part and a bit of tissue over to avoid it pinging off and being devoured by the carpet monster.
For removing the wing section I would use a fine modelling saw.

[Guest]

Drew,
First, stop the panic mode. Then compare the part you will need and the item that needs to be removed, in this case it looks to be inside the undercarriage bay. And if you check through the instructions, is there anything else that needs to go in that spot.
Cutting away the part - do not try to cut away the part in one go, cut it away in slices and yes use a new blade. Reason for this, a new blade even in a Stanley knife with give you a better cut and most importantly take your time. I got too over familiar with a conversion and thoght I would cut away a big slice - I now have a scar from the top of the nail on my index finger to the second knuckle caused by a scalpel - so take your time.
Removing parts. Most of us use a pair of side cutters or again a sharp knife. One tip is to place the sprue back in the bag and then cut the part from the sprue while it is still in the bag - this saves you becoming very familiar with the pattern on your carpet.
Research. Plenty of research to be found on the net and also from the guys on this site, no matter how silly you think the question you will always get an answer - we all had to start where you are now.
Hope this helps
Mike.

[Guest]

Hi Drew.

A quick scan of some literature suggests that yes, the air filter is the only difference between the tropical version and a standard MkI.

Mike's advice on removal of large panels is sound. Check the fit of the replacement part prior to any cutting. If it were me, I'd use a scribing tool first then turn to a sharp scalpel to finish the job.

With regard to taking small or delicate parts off the sprue, think about where to cut the sprue to reduce transferring any unnecessary load or flex in to the part, i.e. consider cutting the sprue first and working in. I might remove this part by cutting along the red lines, for example.

[Jim F]

Hi Drew,
I bought one of these years ago and haven't look back since

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=JLC+saw&_sacat=0

regards Jim

[homechild]

Thanks for the advice guys.
I've ordered myself some new tools (a pair of snip-snips and a saw) so hopefully be able to get cracking with this one sometime in the near future.

I'd never thought about cutting that far away from the piece on the sprues Chris, I'll give that a go.

[Tim Marlow]

Cutting that far away is also handy when you are cleaning up the mould seams on small parts. It gives you something bigger to hold on to while you scrape the seam clean. You then only have the sprue scar to clean up while holding the minuscule part. When it comes down to it though Drew, give it a go. It’s only plastic and you will learn far more by doing it than from any other way.