Eduard Sea Hurricane Mk.IIb Upgrades (for Airfix A05134) 1:48

[Mike]

Sea Hurricane Mk.IIb Upgrades (for Airfix A05134)

1:48 Eduard

 

 

Airfix's Sea Hurricane is a minor re-tool of their popular and still fairly recent Hurricane kit, which was well received on launch some while back.  Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in the usual modular manner, and many of the parts will be familiar if you have the sets for the kit it is based upon.  Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point.  As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between.

 

 

Detail Set (49873)

Two frets are included, one nickel plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass.  A complete set of new layered instrument panels and side consoles are the primary parts on the painted set, with new rudder pedals; a brand new metal seat with details; sidewall instrumentation; radiator surface panels and rear vent-flaps; ammo feeder details; gear bay parts; rudder actuator and trim actuator rods, edging and access panels to the gun bays, and canopy handles are also supplied.

 

 

Zoom! Set (FE873)

This set contains a reduced subset of the interior, namely the pre-painted parts that are used to improve on the main aspects of the cockpit, as seen above.  Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements.

 

 

 

Seatbelts STEEL (FE876)

In case you don't already know, these belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting.  Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE.

 

 

 

 

landing flaps (48940)

Eduard landing flaps use an ingenious technique to achieve excellent true-to-scale flaps using few parts, and requiring the modeller to simply remove the retracted flaps from the lower wing, plus scrape the upper wings to accommodate the thickness of the completed bays.  Each half of the two flap sections (bay and flap itself) is constructed, the flap by twisting and folding over the attached ribs to create a 3D shape, with extra parts added along the way.  The bays fold up simply and glue to the inside of the upper wing and the flap attaches to the rear wall of the new bay.  Repeat this for the other side, and you're almost done.  You'll around 120mm of 1mm rod cut into four sections to act as the hinge-point of each of the flap sections, so make sure you have some on-hand.

 

 

 

Masks (EX571)

Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, one for each pane of the canopy and windscreen.  In addition you get a set of hub masks for all the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort.

 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of