Shturmovik Hurricane

[McGreig]

A late entry for this GB - the Soviet fixed-U/C Shturmovik Hurricane. 

Originally I'd planned either a MiG-21-based U-2 equivalent with a fixed, spatted undercarriage or a Soviet Lysander based on Maverick's profiles but the same January pressure-of-work problems that affected my Piston Perfection entry prevented me from starting anything until now and I've had to come up with something simpler.

This is the Airfix 1/72 Hurricane IIB and the spats in the photo are from the Italeri Fiat Cr-42. However, I thought that the spats looked a bit too puny and I've now replaced these with spats from an old Frog Stuka.

More progress photos and backstory shortly.

[McGreig]

The revised version with Stuka spats. These are slightly larger than I wanted but they are closer to the shape that I originally had in mind. The model has had its first coat of primer, so I'm hoping to get some serious painting done today.

[Brian da Basher]

I like it McG! I think the Stuka spats compliment the "beefy-ness" of the Hurricane airframe better than the ones from the CR-42.

Looking forward to your next installment,
Brian da Basher

[Maverick]

Sweet looking build Gordon,

I have to agree the Stuka spats look much more the part.

Regards,

Mav

[kitnut617]

Whoa! that looks brilliant like that!

[Ed S]

Great.  And those Stuka spats look like they'd hold up to the rough fields and abuse of the Eastern Front. 

Ed

[John Howling Mouse]

Yep, if the spats fit the plane, wear 'em!

[McGreig]

Thanks everyone. Nice to see consensus on the Stuka spats (unless you're all just being very tactful - - -  )

Painting is now finished and the model has had a coat of Klear, so that just leaves the decals and the final coat of matt varnish. Might beat the deadline after all - - -

[Brian da Basher]

Those Stuka spats totally work as does that killer camo scheme! Hat's off to you McG!!

Brian da Basher

[McGreig]

Finished - another model scrapes in before the deadline! And now the back story for this build:

At the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, only 18 Il-2s had been delivered to the USSR's Western Military Districts and most shturmovik regiments went into action with obsolete Polikarpov fighters. Production problems caused by the evacuation of the Il-2 factories to the East didn't help and for the first years of the war, demand for Il-2s considerably outstripped supply.

As well as increasing Il-2 production (the directors of two of the Il-2 factories had the dubious honour of a telegram directly from Stalin ending with the words "this is my final warning"), various other possibilities were examined for alleviating the shortage of shturmovik aircraft.

These included the production of a specialist ground attack aircraft with the emphasis on simplicity of construction (the Tomasevich Pegas), the use of obsolete and training aircraft as light night bombers, and the adaptation of existing fighters to ground attack roles (the Yak-9T tank buster).

The USSR had been receiving lend-lease Hurricanes from late 1941 and they were among the fighters issued to shturmovik regiments. The Hurricane was obsolescent and slower than the opposing Bf-109s, but it was rugged, capable of carrying a relatively heavy armament, could be flown by almost anyone and had a comfortable cockpit by Soviet standards, with good visibility and armoured glass, so several shturmovik regiments on the Northern Front, including the 17 Guards Shturmovik Regiment, were equipped with Hurricanes.

The Hurricane-T (Tahnkovyy - tank-busting) project arose out of the simplification concept that gave rise to the Pegas and the fact that the Soviets operated a massive battlefield recovery operation during the war, sending damaged Soviet and German equipment back to the factories in the East for repair and re-use (from 1943 about 20% of all bombs dropped on German forces were from their own production!). It was proposed that recovered, damaged Hurricanes should be re-manufactured as simplified shturmoviks with a fixed undercarriage and additional armour under the fuselage where the wheel bays had been located. This proposal coincided with the arrival in the USSR of the first Hurricane IIDs with twin 40mm cannon and these weapons were used on the trial batch of twelve Hurricane-Ts, although Soviet weapons were envisaged for future production. The resulting machine looked not unlike a Ju-87 and, by coincidence, the fixed undercarriage on the Hurricane-T came from salvaged Ju-87 parts.

In late 1943 the initial batch was issued to the 17 Guards ShAP (who already used the Hurricane) for combat trials. Although the Hurricane-T was slower and less manoeuvrable than the standard model this was compensated for by the heavier armament and the greater availability of effective fighter escorts at this point in the war and the trials were deemed a success.

However, by late 1943, Il-2 production was no longer a problem and the Il-2s were now supplemented by Pe-2 and lend-lease A-20 light bombers so there was no longer any real need for the Hurricane-T and no further aircraft were produced.

(For those interested in such things, apart from the direct references to the Hurricane-T, all of the above is true)

The model is airbrushed with Humbrol enamels and varnished with Klear which has had Tamiya X-21 Flat Base added. The colour scheme represents the standard mid-war shturmovik scheme and the decals are mostly from the Aeromaster "Fighting Lavochkins" sheet, except for the Guards badges which come from an old Esci sheet and the "Death to Facists" slogan over the star which came from an old Microscale Armour sheet.

[cthulhu77]

Uberfantastic!  What a great spatted fighter!

[kitnut617]

Oo-er!    I'm nearly speechless 

[ysi_maniac]

Absolutely wonderful

[Arc3371]

Amazing

[Brian da Basher]

You've outdone yourself with this beauty McG!! I'm especially impressed with how you filled in the wheel bays so perfectly! I'd sure hate to be sitting in a Schturmgeschutzx seeing this heavily-armed bird swooping down on me!

Truly a four (red) star build!!!

Brian da Basher