Frankincane: Done!

[comrade harps]

I think the colours might change and become more Sea Hurricane like. There will be red stars and Unkrainian or Belarusian markings, signifying that this iis flown by an escradrille whose personnel are from an overrun Moscow Pact member force that has been absorbed into the Socialist Union Red Army Air Force for the duration.

It shall have 23mm cannons, too. Unfortunately, it's currently way too hot at my place to paint.

[zenrat]

Looking good.

What paint are you trying to use?
I find that on hot days I can use Vallejo but not Gunze or Tamiya (acrylics).

[comrade harps]

Looking good.

What paint are you trying to use?
I find that on hot days I can use Vallejo but not Gunze or Tamiya (acrylics).

Brush painted Humbrol, Revell and Tamiya enamels. Hopeless in heat. Something like 36C today.

[zenrat]

Bit cooler up here.  Was only 32 in my shed.

[Old Wombat]

40^o here in the Adelaide Hills ... I did a bit of work on the 1:1 fernery I've been planning to build for the last 10 years (started yesterday ).


Like the colour scheme you've got & looking forward to seeing it finished.

[nighthunter]

Acrylics are so much easier. They dry in the heat, not clammy and poo-poo (with an english accent) like enamels are.

[comrade harps]

I found a way to beat today's heat. I set up my evaporative cooler next to the modelling desk.. and totally changed the camo on the Frankincane, having remembered overnight that it is a Sea Hurricane and that the rear ventral fuselage is different. That complicates the backstory to explain why the Reds are using Sea Hurricanes, but does make the camo more coherent.

No photos at the mo, but it is looking good.

[comrade harps]

Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIC-23
White 32, 423 Belarus Escadrille, 420 International Regiment,  Socialist Union Red Army Air Force
unknown airstrip, Battle of Kursk, July, 1943



By September, 1941, the Belarus Army Air Force had ceased to exist as an effective fighting force. On the 16th of that month it was officially absorbed into the Socialist Union Red Army Air Force, its front line personnel being concentrated into several International units, including the 420  International Fighter Regiment, alongside Ukrainians (whose air force had also collapsed).




The 420th was initially equipped with SUAC I-153s and I-16s during the Autumn of '41 and subsequent winter. During the spring of '42 they were equipped with SUAC MiG-3Ts, which were replaced by various models of the Hawker Hurricane. By the time of Kursk the 421st Ukrainian Escadrille was flying the IL-2 and both the 422nd Ukrainian and 423rd Belarus Escadrille were armed with Hurricanes.




The Hurricanes flown by the 420th were initially second-hand Hurricane Mk.Is, but by late 1942 new Mk.IIs were entering service. By then most Red Hurricanes assigned to combat units were of the locally modified -20 version, having been re-armed with 12.7mm UB machine guns and 20mm ShVAK cannon before delivery to the front line. However, the Belarus White 32 photographed during the Battle of Kursk is armed differently. First flown in June 1942, the -23 conversion of the Hurricane featured two 23 mm Volkov-Yartsev Vya-23 cannon, supplemented two 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns. A few Hurricane Mk.IIBs were fitted with this combination for combat trails, but about half of the all-cannon-armed Mk.IIC Hurricanes were were converted to -23 standard, the remainder receiving the lighter -20 conversion. The -23 is easy to identify, owing to its long cannon barrels protruding from a prominent fairing and larger blisters on the upper wings. As seen here, both the -20 and -23 were also commonly armed with six RS.82 rockets for ground attack missions (and the heavy -23 was used exclusively for ground attack).



White 23 displays another wrinkle in the story of Hurricane deliveries to the Socialist Union. Look closely at the fairing ahead of the tail wheel and you'll notice that it's forward portion is truncated. An even closer inspection will reveal that there is a V-shaped notch in the fuselage just ahead of this fairing. Also, the Vokes filter is painted blue, not Sky like the rest of the lower surfaces. That's because this IIC-23 was converted from one of 60 Sea Hurricanes delivered to the Socialist Union in April and May, 1943. Themselves converted for the Royal Navy from Hurricane Mk.IICs built under RAF contract, these planes had been declared as surplus to RN requirements soon after delivery. With few flight hours logged they were dismantled, crated and shipped to the Socialist Union via Iran. Apparently most of the batch showed signs of having been built for use against Japan, as a RAF Far East-standard Dark Earth and Dark Green camouflage showed through under the RN's Slate Green and Sea Grey paint. Once rebuilt, partially repainted with their British markings hidden under standard USRAAF paint, prepared with Red radios, spare Vokes filters and re-armed, 30 of these nearly-new Sea Hurricanes replaced all of the 420th existing Hurricanes just days before the Germans launched their Kursk offensive.



The Belarusian and Ukrainian flown Sea Hurricanes IIC-20s and -23s performed well during Kursk. Together with the crews of the Ukrainian-flown Il-2s, several battle honours were received by both the units and personnel of the 420th International Regiment. Crews flew several sorties a day, performing close air support, battlefield area interdiction and armed reconnaissance missions.



The regiment was relieved from combat in August, 1943, to rest and re-equip, returning to combat during the winter armed completely with new Il-2s.

[Dizzyfugu]

Pretty - I lile the colors a lot. Reminds me of a Macross Spartan I painted as a personal variant in similar tones.

[zenrat]

I can't decide which camo I prefer.  They both look pretty good.

[Librarian]

I can't decide which camo I prefer.  They both look pretty good.

Almost agree, but the dark side of the force wins over ...Any chance I can pinch that scheme for my Hornet? As usual, an attractive and well executed model .

[Old Wombat]

I can't decide which camo I prefer.  They both look pretty good.

Agreed!

The build & back-story are both excellent!

[Glenn Gilbertson]

That looks good - and I also like the story.

[TheChronicOne]

Awesome!! Great job, it looks killer!

[comrade harps]

I can't decide which camo I prefer.  They both look pretty good.

Almost agree, but the dark side of the force wins over ...Any chance I can pinch that scheme for my Hornet? As usual, an attractive and well executed model .

Pinch away!