Airfix Hawker Hurricane Mk.I 1:48 Airfix A05127A

[Julien]

Hawker Hurricane Mk.I

1:48 Airfix A05127A

 

 

If one was to asked to give the name of a British fighter that took part in the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire would undoubtedly be the most common answer. However, the aircraft that provided the backbone of the defence in that infamous battle was the Hawker Hurricane. Designed in 1935, it was quite a step forwards to the existing front line RAF fighters of that era, key features being a fully enclosed cockpit, retractable undercarriage, 8 guns, powerful V12 engine and most notably, a single cantilever wing as opposed to a biplane configuration. Despite its revolutionary look though, the design and manufacturing techniques were old school, a steel frame with fabric skinning so in reality, it was very much a progressive rather than evolutionary design. This however was to provide useful in manufacturing and in the face of battle. The Hurricane was easy to produce, repair and maintain. This is in comparison to the birth of the Spitfire which used completely new manufacturing techniques which whilst offering performance, hindered early production.

Early Hurricane Mk.I’s went through a series of design enhancements. Initial aircraft had fabric wings which limited the dive speed whilst the spin characteristics were a concern for test pilots. This was remedied by the addition of a strake below the rudder that became a key characteristic of the Hurricane. The fabric wings were also changed by 1940 for new metal skinned ones which increased the dive speed by some 80mph. Other notable improvements on the Mk.I were the addition of 70lb of armour plate for the pilot, self sealing fuel tanks and a 3 blade constant speed propeller. The availability of 100 octane fuel early in 1940 gave the Merlin an additional 30% boost power available compared to the power available on 87 Octane which was a significant when one needed to open the taps as wide as they would go!. With aircraft entering service in 1938 with the RAF and a few exports, the first blood was achieved on 21st October 1939 when a squadron of Heinkel He115’s were bounced by 46 Sqn looking for ships in the North Sea. The engagement resulted in 4 aircraft downed with more being claimed by 72 Sqn Spitfires. France was to prove more challenging for the Hurricanes as opposition was encountered by the more lethal BF109E’s. What became the Battle of France was to prove a bloody battle as a result of what the Luftwaffe were able to put up. With the German forces pushing forwards, the RAF and ground forces were forced to retreat to UK soil which paved the way for the Battle of Britain where the Hurricane achieved its legendary status alongside the Spitfire. Of the 2700 victories claimed during this battle by the RAF, nearly 1600 ware at the guns of the hurricane. Whilst the Hurricane soon became outdated a front line day fighter in Europe, it went on to see considerable success in other campaigns throughout the war. With the addition of bombs and cannon, it became an effective ground attack aircraft. It has its history firmly rooted in the battles of the Mediterranean, Russia and the Pacific, not to mention early night fighting over Europe where many aces earned their status.

 

 

The Kit

This is a re-release of Airfix's new tool from 2015. This is a good new tool kit featuring fine panel lines and subtle fabric effects though to this reviewers eyes maybe a little too subtle? The Sprues give a wide variety of parts including the fuselage insert for the Sea Hurricane, normal and tropical air filters; and both de Havilland & Rotol props. Full gunbays are provided for the wings but to make use of these the modeller will have to cut the wing access panels off.  Another potential downside is the moulding of the machine gun ports into the wing rather than using an insert. 

 

 

Construction starts with the cockpit which is of a tubular design like the real thing. First up the seat is assembled and set to one side. The left frame fits onto the parts which will form the inside of the main wheel well. The boards for the rudder controls fit to this .Additional tube parts then fit in along with the main control column. The right side frame then fits in and the seat can be attached. A pilot figure is included if the modeller wishes to use it. On the underside the of cockpit a few parts for the wheel well go in.  Work then continues on this area but now on the main single part lower wing with additional structures for the wheel well going in. The landing light then goes in also.

 

 

 

This whole structure can now fit onto the main single part lower wing. If the modeller does not want to install the internal gun bays then the next nine steps of the instructions can be skipped as these deal with the bays. 4 machine guns, their ammunition boxes, and feed trays are provided for each side along with the internal structure you will see here. Once all of this is in (or not) the left and right upper wings can go on. Inside the fuselage the instrument panel and engine firewall go in.  The fuselage can then be closed up and fitted to the complete wing sub-assembly. The front and rear under fuselage sections can then be added.  On the main wings separate ailerons are provided. Under the main fuselage the prominent central radiator is built up and installed. 

 

 

To the rear the vertical tail, tail planes and rudder all go on. The rudder and elevators being separate parts. The tail wheel is also added at this stage. Airfix as seems to be normal for them now offer separate parts for retracted and lowered undercarriage. If lowering this then two parts legs with separate retraction struts are offered with three part wheels here the hubs are a separate part. We are now in the finishing stages of the model. At the front the exhaust go on, followed by the propeller assembly.  To the instrument panel the gun sight is fitted and then the canopies can go on.  If the modeller wished to open the main canopy then a second bigger part is provided to sit over the fuselage, Last up the landing light covers, nav lights and aerial mast go on. 

 

 

 

Decals

The decal sheet is from Cartograf so should post no issues, it has two options;

 

 

• V6665, RF-J. 303 (Polish) Sqn, RAF Northolt September 1940 - Aircraft flown by Sgt. Tadeusz Andruszkow. 
• LK-1, No.87 Sqn, RAF Exeter, August 1940. Flown by Flt Lt Ian Gleed. Research has indicated this aircraft might have had brighter red areas on the tail and roundels and these are provided. 

 

 

Conclusion

This is a welcome re-release from Airfix. Recommended. 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of