Revell 1/72 Sea Hurricane IIc
Mar 1, 2018 20:34:37 GMT 1
woody66, northbynorthwest, and 5 more like this
Post by acklington on Mar 1, 2018 20:34:37 GMT 1
Finished this one two days ago, and here are the photos, followed by an interesting 'back story';
Sea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (1) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Sea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (6) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Sea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (9) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Sea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (10) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Sea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (22) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Sea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (24) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
Sea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (27) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr
The kit was built 'out of the box', without modification, but the markings became one of my head banging exercises. I wanted a Sea Hurricane to join my RAF Ouston, Northumberland, collection, because 804 Squadron FAA were based there for a month in January 1943. This was the only time that the Navy ever used Ouston, and possibly they were doing trials or exercises with new built warships off the Tyne. I thought it would be easy to find 804's markings, given that it is well known FAA squadron, and I had a definite date to work with. Wrong!
Sea Hurricane NF700 had an interesting history, and was originally built as a Hurricane Mk.IIc for the RAF with the serial number KW921. However it was retained in the factory and together with others was converted to become a Sea Hurricane IIc. Together with its six (later nine) companions NF700 was delivered to 804 Squadron and embarked on the aircraft carrier HMS Dasher. In October 1942 they sailed for the Mediterranean to join the American led invasion of French occupied North Africa. This was "Operation Torch", and to try and disguise the British participation, all aircraft taking part were painted with American 'stars' in place of the British markings. The theory was that the Vichy French defenders were more likely to capitulate to their 'friends' the Americans.
HMS Dasher returned to Britain late in 1942 and 804 Squadron disembarked and spent brief periods at two FAA airfields before arriving at RAF Ouston. By then it is assumed that the "Operation Torch" markings would have been removed and replaced with 804's normal codes, as shown on the model above. After spending the month of January 1943 at Ouston, 804 Squadron moved to Northern Ireland at the beginning of February, and handed all their aircraft over to 835 Squadron, including NF700. The story does not end there, because 835 Squadron had the aircraft overpainted in 'Arctic white' and embarked on the aircraft carrier HMS Nairana to join the Arctic convoys to Russia. It was on this voyage in 1943, that NF700 was landing back on the carrier in rough seas, when the pitching ship made it strike the stern, and it ended up crashed on the flight deck with a broken back. It was classed as a write off, and would have been stripped of useable spare parts, and dumped over the side into the sea. Cold and deep Arctic waters have low oxygen levels, so even salt water corrosion is held at bay, and it is quite likely that the remains of NF700 still exist to this day in its watery grave off Norway.
The 'white' Sea Hurricanes of 835 Squadron have been much modelled, and therefore serial numbers for NF700 were readily available. So this was the serial I chose for the model. However the individual code letter it wore with 804 Squadron is unknown, so I guessed at 'S7-A' on the thin assumption that 804's Commander would have chosen the new aircraft with the 'best' serial number for himself.
Thanks for looking.
Sea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (1) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (6) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (9) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (10) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (22) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (24) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrSea Hurricane IIc, NF700, 804 Sqdn, Ouston, January 1943 (27) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrThe kit was built 'out of the box', without modification, but the markings became one of my head banging exercises. I wanted a Sea Hurricane to join my RAF Ouston, Northumberland, collection, because 804 Squadron FAA were based there for a month in January 1943. This was the only time that the Navy ever used Ouston, and possibly they were doing trials or exercises with new built warships off the Tyne. I thought it would be easy to find 804's markings, given that it is well known FAA squadron, and I had a definite date to work with. Wrong!
Sea Hurricane NF700 had an interesting history, and was originally built as a Hurricane Mk.IIc for the RAF with the serial number KW921. However it was retained in the factory and together with others was converted to become a Sea Hurricane IIc. Together with its six (later nine) companions NF700 was delivered to 804 Squadron and embarked on the aircraft carrier HMS Dasher. In October 1942 they sailed for the Mediterranean to join the American led invasion of French occupied North Africa. This was "Operation Torch", and to try and disguise the British participation, all aircraft taking part were painted with American 'stars' in place of the British markings. The theory was that the Vichy French defenders were more likely to capitulate to their 'friends' the Americans.
HMS Dasher returned to Britain late in 1942 and 804 Squadron disembarked and spent brief periods at two FAA airfields before arriving at RAF Ouston. By then it is assumed that the "Operation Torch" markings would have been removed and replaced with 804's normal codes, as shown on the model above. After spending the month of January 1943 at Ouston, 804 Squadron moved to Northern Ireland at the beginning of February, and handed all their aircraft over to 835 Squadron, including NF700. The story does not end there, because 835 Squadron had the aircraft overpainted in 'Arctic white' and embarked on the aircraft carrier HMS Nairana to join the Arctic convoys to Russia. It was on this voyage in 1943, that NF700 was landing back on the carrier in rough seas, when the pitching ship made it strike the stern, and it ended up crashed on the flight deck with a broken back. It was classed as a write off, and would have been stripped of useable spare parts, and dumped over the side into the sea. Cold and deep Arctic waters have low oxygen levels, so even salt water corrosion is held at bay, and it is quite likely that the remains of NF700 still exist to this day in its watery grave off Norway.
The 'white' Sea Hurricanes of 835 Squadron have been much modelled, and therefore serial numbers for NF700 were readily available. So this was the serial I chose for the model. However the individual code letter it wore with 804 Squadron is unknown, so I guessed at 'S7-A' on the thin assumption that 804's Commander would have chosen the new aircraft with the 'best' serial number for himself.
Thanks for looking.
