An example of what happens to a Plastic model kit when you paint it with Flat wall acrylic paint, I got this Machbox 1/72 scale "Hawker Hurricane" kit from a cousin already assembled but unpainted, I have an inkling that he was contemplating of throwing it away, maybe he needed more space for his growing collection of music cassettes and vinyl records? ... He gave it to me without hesitation when I ask for it. The "Hurricane" is not a specimen on my most wanted list, I took it for spare parts and it went straight to my "surplus parts" box when I got home from my cousin’s house that day...
After a few months I saw a newspaper ad about a scale model exhibit to be held in a shopping mall, there are only a few mall of my childhood and the exhibit’s venue is in the middle of a financial center a few hours of busy city driving from my town so my father is not too enthusiastic when I ask him if he could take me, but he took me eventually. Got amusely bored when I got there, the exhibit halls are somewhat solemn despite the noise of the mall patrons outside the exhibit areas, never though it would have a museum like atmosphere I was expecting a bazaar like event, instead it was just a showroom of privately owned finished scale models. When we came home that evening I came to realize that plastic kits was supposed to be painted, I remembered the hurricane destined for slauther and decided it to be my trial piece on painting a model instead.
My father's Architectural practice gave me ample supply of left-over Flat wall paint and paintbrush, this is what I used to base paint the piece, ordinary water based green pentel pen was used for shading the camouflage patterns, the result was not encouraging so the last few kits I built remained unpainted up until I myself slowly cross-overed to a more culturally accepted extra curricular activity for most middle class Filipino boy about to enter high school; like conforming with popular fads and looking for mischief with friends. It was only on my first website many years later when I revisited my old kits and painted some of them for posting on the World Wide Web. My Machbox Hurricane’s clear canopy was badly damaged by glue so it was painted over since the interior cockpit is unrecognizable anyway. Luckily both landing wheel was glued to the compartment but most of the gear mechanism was either melted down by adhesive or simply missing. The trail wheel and antennas was scratch built for this recent posting.
The Hurricane is said to be the first frontline monoplane fighter of British air forces. It made the bulk of English fighter asset as Germany started blowing the cloud of war all-over Europe, usually regarded as inferior to newly introduced German single seat fighters like the “ME-BF 109” and second best to latter British fighters, when the British isle was left alone to fight for itself as Germany became master for most country of mainland Europe, the hurricane is in the forefront of the battle to ward-off German Carpet bombing of London as it’s prelude to the final invasion of England.
Admittedly under-speeded and out-maneuvered by German primary fighters, the Hurricane’s durability due to its partly fabric fuselage and sturdy framework enable it to keep on fighting despite sustaining many hits in a dogfight. The Hurricane has a major contribution in delaying the timetable of Germany for the land invasion of Britain right until newer fighters was developed by the British like the "Spitfire" and America started sending material aid and eventually troops to help the embattled island kingdom halt the advance of an aggressive Germany highly intoxicated by the ecstasy of dominion.
The Allied victory in the air wars over Britain was synonymous to the said "thoroughbred" performance of the iconic "Spitfire", but Hurricanes made most of the squadrons that broke the back of Germany's Luftwaffe that day. During its service as an under-rated dog, the Hurricane, when used by an experienced pilot or with tactical conjunction with more favored allied assets proved itself to be more than a force multiplier but an effective defensive or offensive weapon as well, The Hawker Hurricane with its numerous variants is said to be the “workhorse" of the "Royal Air Forces" World War II fighter fleet, and despite of its perceived obsolesces it was kept into service up to the end of the war owing to the aircraft’s suitability with existing British wartime manufacturing capabilities and resources.
"My Machbox Hurricane’s clear canopy was badly damaged by glue so it was painted over since the interior cockpit is unrecognizable anyway. Luckily both landing wheel was glued to the compartment but most of the gear mechanism was either melted down by adhesive or simply missing."
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