Hawker Hurricane/Sea Hurricane Mk.IIc

[Mike]

Hawker Hurricane/Sea Hurricane Mk.IIc

1:72 Scale - Airfix

The Hurricane was the unsung hero of the battle of Britain, being in more plentiful supply that the more glamorous Spitfire, and shooting down proportionally more of the incoming bomber streams. It went on to perform well in many theatres of war, despite being somewhat outclassed towards the end of its service life.

Fans of the aircraft in this scale have been waiting for a new tool of this aircraft for a while, and it's fitting that Airfix should come up with this, their latest release. The kit has been out for a few weeks now, and as such the pros & cons of it have been discussed at great length.

While there are some errors in the kit's research, they aren't (in my opinion) "deal breakers", and the majority can be fixed with the application of just a little modelling skill. Afterall, what kit is perfect?

The kit is presented in Airfix's now standard red box, and comprises of 3 grey sprues and one small sprue of clear parts. There is no noticeable flash evident, and the moulding is hard edged, with the major panel lines being perhaps a little deep for some, but that should reduce markedly with the application of primer and then subsequent layers of paint.

The optional parts allow you to build a Sea Hurricane, which requires a small chunk removing from the rear underside of the fuselage to accommodate the arrestor hook assembly. I understand that the catapult spools are not portrayed in the kit, so these would have to be scratch-built using your references, if you feel the need.

The cockpit is nicely detailed, having a single-piece cockpit floor, unlike the real thing. This has doubtless been simplified for injection moulding, but beats an empty cavity hands down. You also get a pilot, separate seat and control column, plus a flat instrument panel with decal. A 3D instrument panel would have been nice, but at this scale, it should hardly notice - especially if you install the pilot figure.

The wheel bays are also boxed in, and while building the wings, you can install paired cannons, which is a nice touch, saving the modeller from having to line them up by eye. A test fit would pay dividends here in case the location points are a little undersize. Easier to do before the assembly is slick with glue!

The fabric portions of the fuselage are nicely done, however there is some discussion over where this should start, and the angle it meets the tail. If you are concerned over this, there is plenty of discussion on the matter here on Britmodeller and other forums. I understand that the horns on the rear horizontal tails are incorrectly scribed at an angle, and should follow the hinge line. It's a simple fix with some filler and a scriber, or razor saw, and not of undue concern.

The spinner looks a little conical to my eye, lacking the shallow bulge of the real thing, but as always, a little sanding will resolve this nicely. The rest of the parts are well moulded, the decals look well, and you are provided sufficient to decal one of the following schemes:

• EG*N, 34 Squadron SEAC, India November 1943/April 1944
  
• FT*A 43 Squadron RAF Tangmere, August 1943
  
• Sea Hurricane "Nicki" 835 NAS, HMS Nairana 1944
  

The Sea Hurricane is resplendent in white over sky, with a grey/green camo pattern left over the nose as an anti-glare panel. It also sports a set of invasion stripes, which look to be of good density on the sheet, although some of you might want to paint these on for ease.

Conclusion

A nicely moulded update of a classic British fighter that will find its way onto many a display shelf in short order. It has a few issues, but these are now well documented and the modeller can choose to fix them if they feel the urge. The addition of the Sea Hurricane insert, and the unsual color scheme should increase the appeal further.

[Tabio]

I'm making one at the mo and it's a great little kit, the fit of the parts is superb.

[Barrovian]

All we need now is to scale up to 1/48 to take on Hasegawa, in cost if nothing else

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Nice balanced review, Mike. Your thoughts seem to echo mine, although I've not actually got the kit yet. I'm planning to pick one up at Hornchurch, unless I spend all my money on something else first!

Obi-Jiff

[Troy Smith]

Do Airfix not actually look at old kits they have done...like the 1/24th or 1/48th Hurricanes????

note the access panels under the cockpit are reminiscent of the prototype, and nothing else.....

fixable, but stupid, considering they got it right on old kits, but that didn't stop similar faults with new Spitfires.

A small amount of retooling of their old 1/48th Hurri would be good, if they did a new fuselage, upperwing and prop, infact, just the spinner as the rotal balde are in already, and tailwheel, they would have a IIC, with a little more thought you could include bits for the IID or MKIV, take the lead from the monogram and have bomb rack, drop tanks 400mm guns and rockets...oh, hang on, the did that in 1973 with theold 1/72nd one(which at least had the correct panels..and the MK1, also correct) .

If, include the 8 gun upperwings and arrestor hook they'd sell a load for £10.99 as you could build pretty much any MK II...pretty much what they did with ther VB reissue as a Seafire III...

What they should do is simple but accurate Sea Fury in 1/48, (all the aftermarket exist for the Trumpeter/hobbycraft already) with a bit of planning you could eaily do a mega decals sheet (a decent useable one I mean...) with FAA, Australian and Canadian (blu/white and 2 different centres) stick in a set of Dutch roundles, and white Navy, so you can do the dark blue Aussie one, and a target winch, and include the all red German target tow. There was one single seat.

Bingo, a kit with markings for 5 countries.

A bit more planning and you could a limited edition 2 seater. Or a special "sold to dodgy regimes" issue with Pakistani, Iraqi, Burmese and Cuban markings...perhaps not.

T