Modifying the Airfix rag wing to the 8 gun metal wing
I’ve read on line and in mags where folks have taken the Hasegawa or other metal 8-gun “a” wing kits and grafted it to the Airfix fuselage, but after looking closely at my kit I realized it cannot be too difficult with my modest modeling skills.
Differences
The obvious difference is the fabric effect versus a smooth metal. Additionally, the landing lights have to moved 4.5mm outboard (thanks to Peter at Britmodeler!), and the gun access panels are shaped differently to reflect the underlying structure. There were only 4 ejector holes on the underside, a fifth hole exists for the rag wing. The rest of the wing exterior is the same, so care has to be taken no to remove detail that should be retained.
A typical Mk I with a metal wing had the armor plating behind the cockpit, armor windscreen and 3 bladed prop. But there were exceptions and if the two bladed Watts wooden prop is installed, then the armor was not in the cockpit due to weight and balance limits. Check photos for a particular subject.
Making the changes
Layers of Humbrol filler was applied using a paintbrush. Basically, I mixed it with Humbrol’s Liquid Poly to a smooth paste. I sanded each layer until the skin was smooth and the rib detail knocked down. I took care not to remove any detail that should remain, such as the fabric detail on the ailerons.
I drilled out the ejector holes on the bottom of the wing, and of course filled the 5th hole (I’m not sure what it was for, my references don’t actually describe it).
I ensured the gun access cover panel lines were filled as well, and sanded down until only the outline was visible, attempting not to take any of the actual plastic. Hah! Of course same was removed…
I measured 4.5 mm and using a pencil drew the lines for cutting the new location for the landing lights. I carefully cut the same distance in from the leading edge to ensure the depth was right, then made a 90 degree cut to the leading edge where the outboard edge would be. Essentially I built up the new bit using a few layers of 0.040 inch plast sheet to fill in the area inboard of the lights. After letting the glue cure for 24 hours I sanded the leading edges smooth with the existing contour, then, using the existing light as a template, cut the inbard edge.
Since I had the saw out, I also cut the wingtip lights. I’ll use bits of the clear spue to create the tip lights.
The most difficult part of the conversion was rescribing the gun access panels on the top. This is very prominant and is also very different from the fabric wing. I used plastic embossing tape to ensure the line was straight, and a scriber, cleaning up with a sharp knife. I followed “what looked right” from my references, and hand to refill and rescribe a couple of times before it looked right.
Summary
Building the kit from here is straight forward. In fact this is so easy I am definitely going to replace my other metal winged Mk I subjects with this kit. My next trick will be to convert one of these to a Sea Hurricane I…
Thanks for looking…
Leave a Reply