Less glamorous than the more modern and arguably prettier Spitfire, the Hurricane was the backbone of defense during the Battle of Britain. Numerically superior to the Spitfire, Hawker’s fighter was tough, shot down numerous Luftwaffe bombers, and helped stem the German tide.
A lot of 1/48 scale Hurricanes have come to market over the years, even an old Airfix kit from the 1970s. But the British manufacturer’s new kit easily beats them all.
In addition to the detailed cockpit, landing gear, and gun bays, the kit features oodles of options. They include posable canopy, open or closed gun bays, separate posable control surfaces, raised or lowered landing gear, and optional props and spinners.
The light gray parts show fine engraved panel lines, and the fabric rear fuselage is subtly textured with a terrific rendition of the stringers. Unused parts for the Vokes tropical filter and Sea Hurricane arrestor hook indicate other versions are inbound. This kit represents the early Mk.I, packing eight .303-caliber machine guns. Decals provide markings for two Battle of Britain fighters in 1940 wearing early-war Royal Air Force day-fighter camo of dark earth and dark green over sky.
Clear parts provide landing and wingtip position lights, gunsight, and a canopy with separate windshield. Two sliding sections are provided, one wider so it fits over the spine to model the canopy open.
As usual with aircraft, construction starts with the cockpit. But the order quickly diverts from the norm. The multipart cockpit frame attaches to two long spars that extend deep into the wings. In addition to the floor, pedals, seat, and control stick, the kit includes decals for placards in the cockpit. I found it helped alignment to place the spars in the lower wing while the glue on the cockpit frame was setting.
Cockpit colors varied for early Hurricanes, but I found photos of the style shown in the kit and painted the frame and lower walls aluminum and the upper walls and bulkheads interior green.
After gluing the cockpit and spar assembly to the lower wing, I had to decide whether to display the gun bays open. Settling on one, I carefully cut open the hatches from the port wing. The lines are engraved, so it’s easy to saw along them and gradually sever the doors.
I detailed the bays with the gun butts and ammunition cans; they fit perfectly, but I needed tweezers to refine their position.
The assembled fuselage needed no filler and slid into place over the wing and cockpit. The wing joins follow panel lines, eliminating any need for filler. The chin insert seemed a tad undersized and took a little work to position.
After painting and clear gloss, I applied the markings. Printed by Cartograf, the decals settled perfectly with a little encouragement from Microscale solutions.
Final assembly was trouble-free except for a minor hiccup in the landing gear instructions. Extension struts (parts D57 and D58) pass through frames, but steps 49 and 51 show them going into the wrong hole. Make sure you thread them through the opening closest to the front wall. The inset diagrams show the proper placement.
I was impressed by Airfix’s Hurricane, and it’s accurate in shape and dimension. Good fit and engineering make for a fun build, and there’s enough detail to please most modelers out of the box while giving superdetailers plenty to do.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the January 2016 issue.