Carrera Revell Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIB (04968) 1:32

[Mike]

Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIB (04968)

1:32 Carrera Revell

 

 

Although somewhat less glamorous than the Supermarine Spitfire in the eyes of some, it was the Hawker Hurricane that proved to be at least half of the backbone of Britain’s air defences during the summer of 1940.  Designed in 1935, the Hurricane was relatively advanced compared to other fighters in service at that time, featuring a fully enclosed cockpit, retractable undercarriage, eight .303 inch machine guns, a powerful liquid-cooled V12 engine and, most importantly, a cantilever monoplane.  Despite its modern appearance however, the design and manufacturing techniques were thoroughly conventional, which meant that it was relatively straight forward to produce in large numbers. This proved useful when it came to manufacture because the aircraft could be churned out quickly, and was easy to repair and maintain. The Hurricane's first kill was achieved on 21st October 1939 when 46 Sqn found and attacked a squadron of Heinkel He.115s over the North Sea.  The Mk.I was initially fitted with fabric-covered wings, which limited its dive speed, which was rectified by the replacement with a more robust metal skin, and adding a stabilising strake beneath the rudder to assist with spin recovery.

 

Armour protection for the pilot and self-sealing fuel tanks were also added in light of combat experience, making the aircraft more survivable for the pilot, and increasing its ruggedness.  The Mk.II was equipped with the Rolls Royce Merlin XX engine, capable of developing almost 1,500hp with the help of a two-speed supercharger and revised glycol/water injection system.  The longer cowling required by the new engine also improved stability further, and by the time the Mk.IIB was in production, it also had hard-points for carrying bombs or additional fuel for longer-range sorties.  Although the Hurricane was a solid performer, it proved to have less scope for improvement when compared to the Spitfire, and as it was slower due to its aerodynamics, the Spitfire became the poster-child of the Battle of Britain and beyond, despite the Hurricane claiming more kills than the graceful Spitfire.  Later variants were fitted with 20mm cannons, and the final production variant, the Mk.IV used the so-called ‘universal wing’ that could carry bombs, weapons, fuel and other options, with a deeper armoured radiator housing under the centre.

 

 

The Kit

This is a brand-new tooling from Revell, and has been anticipated by many larger-scale WWII modellers since its announcement.  The bated breath should now have been released and some mouthwash slooshed, as it’s available now from all the usual places online and in the real world.  It arrives in a deep end-opening box, and inside are eight sprues in light grey styrene in three bags, a separately bagged clear sprue, a decal sheet secreted inside a colour instruction booklet that has markings profiles on the back pages, and a list of paint choices in Revell codes near the front.  Detail throughout is crisp and neat, with finely engraved panel lines and relief for the fabric-covered areas that do a good job of representing the skin of the real thing.  There are a lot of ejector pin marks inside the fuselage halves, and a few of them encroach upon the sidewall details of the cockpit, although whether they’ll be seen is debatable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, which is made from sub-assemblies, starting with the pilot’s seat, which is fabricated from base, back and two side panels, then the bulkhead behind the pilot is layered from four sections after drilling some holes in the tapered top-section.  The foot troughs and framework are joined together, and the sidewall framework is detailed with small parts, predominantly on the port side, and a cross-member with framework and hose is assembled.  There is a lot of detail-painting called out with coloured flags with letters that cross-refer to the paint guide at the front, and this continues throughout the whole build.  The framework of the cockpit can then be joined together by adding the cross-member and a tubular A-frame, with the front slotting into four holes in the forward bulkhead.  The ‘floor’ of the cockpit is inserted into the assembly and rotated into position, after which the control column and linkage is installed along with the rudder pedals between the two troughs.  A compass with decal is dropped onto a mount near the front of the cockpit, and in the rear the armoured bulkhead is slid down into the framework at an angle so that the seat can be fitted, with a scrap diagram showing the correct location from the side.  A long winding hose is inserted down the port side of the cockpit, with the rear end curling round and mating with the cross-member under the seat, and there is another scrap diagram to help you with this.  A lever is inserted into a socket in the starboard side behind the armour, with the handle projecting into the cockpit, which brings us to the instrument panel, which is surfaced with raised and recessed detail, over which you apply three decals for the various sections before gluing in place between the two sides of the cockpit framework.  A choice of oval or rectangular lensed gunsight are added to an angled mount that slips through a hole in the panel in front of the pilot.

 

 

 

In order to close up the fuselage, the spacer that fills the area where the Merlin should fit is joined together, and this has exhaust ports moulded-in with good detail, and the two halves trap the axle in place, along with the front detail insert that depicts part of the motor.  This and the cockpit assembly are added to the starboard fuselage half after it has been painted internally, the afore mentioned ejector-pin marks dealt with if you feel the need, and the addition of a small detail skin to the aft of the sidewall.  The port fuselage half is painted and has a detail part fixed into a socket, then the two halves are brought together, and here the instructions advise not to glue the cockpit framework into either fuselage half, but leave it floating in the sockets, presumably to achieve a better fit.  The top of the engine cowling is glued over the empty space, and the closed canopy is temporarily taped into position over the cockpit opening for reasons that aren’t expounded upon.

 

 

 

The main gear bays are actually a single space beneath the two bay openings, and are made up in stages, starting with the leading edge, which has two ribs attached to the main shape, then has a clear roof insert added, which is clear to replicate the two observation windows there, and they have a hose snaking across front to back.  Some small detail parts are inserted, followed by the rear bulkhead, which has a two-part cylinder attached to the middle, and two retraction jacks glued to the sides.  The wing’s centre section is separate on this model, and has a spar fitted inside, locating on pins that are moulded onto the inside, then the bay assembly is pushed into position, feeding the hose through a hole in the spar until it locates on more pins.  Both lower wing halves have a cut-out in the leading edge that receives a landing light bay that has a separate lens slotted in before it put in position, painting the inside interior green.  They are both glued onto the centre section using pins and tabs, and are closed over by adding the upper wing sections, drilling a hole in the starboard part if the aircraft had a gun camera mounted.  Flipping the wing over, the leading edge of the centre section is added, then the remaining inserts that include the gun ports, clear landing light cover and other small parts such as the gun camera shroud are inserted along with the clear wingtip light covers.  The fuselage is dropped into position between the wings, and underneath the chin insert and lower fuselage insert are fitted, followed my a recognition light and the fairing around the tail wheel.  The trailing edge of the strake in front of the tail wheel is then sanded to a new angle by removing 2mm from the bottom and nothing from the top.  The chin intake is put together from top and bottom halves, and the radiator core is made up from front and rear sections, and dropped into the cowling, which is built from an oval intake and the streamlined fairing, and once installed under the wing it has the flap at the rear added in the open or closed positions, using the diagrams to the side as guidance. 

 

All the flying surfaces are separate, so can be depicted at any reasonable angle, starting with the rudder panel, which is made from two halves and has a clear lens fitted above the trim-tab.  The elevators fins and panels are all similarly two parts each, and fit to the fuselage under the fin via the usual slot and tab system.  The ailerons are dealt with later, and are again two halves each, slotting into the spaces in the trailing edges, then you can choose whether to depict the flaps in the open or closed positions by swapping out the parts as per the instructions.  There are ribs moulded into the open flaps, but the flap bays are devoid of any detail.

 

The front of the fuselage has a fairing added to the front, with a choice of styles, one of which is open at the front, the other partially closed by a cover.  There is a choice of two styles of exhaust, one with round pipes, the other with fish-tail outlets, and are each made from two halves, although they don’t have open ends.  This could be remedied by opening the tips before joining the halves, taking care to cut them to the same profile as the exhausts.  When finished your chosen style assembly is slotted into the outlets in the side of the cowling and painted a suitably hot and grimy colour.  The crew stirrup can be depicted dropped for access or retracted by inserting a stub into the opening, and an L-shaped pitot is pushed into a hole under the port wing near the aileron hinge.  The landing gear is next, beginning with the tail wheel, which is two parts as is the strut, which is closed around the wheel to create the yoke, and is then inserted into a hole in the tail.  The main wheels are two parts with an additional hub insert, and these are slotted onto the axles at the end of the main struts and have the three-part captive doors made up concurrently and fitted once the legs have been inserted into the bays and supported by their retraction jacks.

 

You are advised to remove the canopy at this stage, and still no explanation is forthcoming, as if you intend to leave the canopy closed, you reuse the same part two steps later, adding a choice of rear-view mirror styles on the top of the windscreen.  The same choice of mirrors is available if you are planning on leaving the canopy open, but separate parts are used, the canopy portion sliding over the spine of the fuselage on runners.  It’s worth noting that the canopy parts look slightly “smooth” on the sprues, as we’re used to raised frames on our models, but these have been engraved as tramlines on a smooth canopy, which looks strange.  Checking quickly on Google, the canopy has very shallow raised frames, which would disappear to almost nothing when factoring in the scale, so a few coats of paint should result in a reasonable facsimile.  The windscreen however has thicker frames on the front, and a flared frame at the rear to deflect wind away from the pilot with an opened canopy.  These aspects aren’t rendered at all on either the open or closed canopies, but if this bothers you it could be remedied by adding a few layers of primer strategically to build up thickness.  A light and aerial mast is inserted behind the canopy at the end of the build, and you’ll need some thread or wire to depict the antenna itself.  The three-bladed prop is moulded as a single part, which is enclosed in the spinner and rear plate before it is slipped over the axle to complete the model.

 

 

Markings

There are two decal options on the sheet, and they’re like day and night.  Literally.  The first option is a day fighter in traditional brown/green camouflage over sky of the time, while the second is an all-black night fighter.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• No.79 Sqn., RAF Fairwood Common, South Wales, July 1941
• No.253 Sqn., RAF Hibaldstow, England, late 1941

 

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.  The decals for the instrument panel and compass are printed with black backgrounds, and have the dials line-drawn in white and yellow, plus a little red.

 

 

Conclusion

A new-tool Hurricane in 1:32 will please a great many of my fellow modellers, and there’s enough detail to please most of them.  The canopy is a strange choice, but on balance the kit should build up into a well-detailed model out of the box.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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[Julien]

Overall this looks like a nice kit, nice to see a decent 12 gun wing kit & at £45 a good price point I think. Agree the canopy looks a little strange with those engraved lines but the frames can always be built up.  A pity there are no racks & bombs in the kit but I suspect aftermarket will fill that gap.

 

If anyone needs some ref pics then I took a few of 5403 wearing the markings of BE505 when it was being restored.

 

 

 

 

[rs2man]

Is it just me , or is anyone else a little disappointed in the choice of variant ?  I'd far rather have had a Battle of Britain era Mk I or the cannon-armed IIC , both of which appeal to me far more than the IIB 

[Mike]

19 minutes ago, rs2man said:

Is it just me , or is anyone else a little disappointed in the choice of variant ? 

You'll probably just have to wait a while for a "more interesting" (to you) variant to come along.  Either from Revell themselves, or an inventive after market producer.  It'll be fine

[John_W]

31 minutes ago, rs2man said:

Is it just me , or is anyone else a little disappointed in the choice of variant ?  I'd far rather have had a Battle of Britain era Mk I or the cannon-armed IIC , both of which appeal to me far more than the IIB 

Looking at the sprues, there appear to be cannon barrels and a vokes filter. The Sea Hurricane parts are obvious, and the wing is a separate sprue, so lots more variants due in the future

[Troy Smith]

23 minutes ago, rs2man said:

Is it just me , or is anyone else a little disappointed in the choice of variant ? 

 

No, a IIB is a good choice, massive range of potential schemes,  easy to backdate to a IIA,  remove outer wing guns. 

My main complaint, dropped flaps are a gimmick, and the tooling/plastic used would have been better used supplying bomb carriers and drop tanks.

23 minutes ago, rs2man said:

I'd far rather have had a Battle of Britain era Mk I or the cannon-armed IIC , both of which appeal to me far more than the IIB 

Revell policy, do the least popular first.

 

The kit is set up to do multiple variants by the tree breakdown,   up next I expect will be a Hurricane IIC/Sea Hurricane IIC, as it already has the cannons and hook and alternate belly in this boxing, just need new C wings,  and a Mk.I to follow, as has alternate nose rings with and without the oil spill ring, and the oil spill ring is from September 1940, so that says Mk.I coming, but requires a new fuselage and A wings.

So just wait.

 

And there were a few IIA's  in service in September 1940 with 111 Sq as well if you want a BoB option now.

 

HTH

 

 

[Troy Smith]

57 minutes ago, Julien said:

If anyone needs some ref pics then I took a few of 5403 wearing the markings of BE505 when it was being restored.

I would also add these links,  in particular  

The Hurricane Mk.I  (note there is no Mk.Ia) preserved in Finland, as it was in 1943, and even then the only changes made from as supplied in 1940 by Britain are a small first aid hatch, Finnish seat armour and being repainted in Finnish warpaint colours, though the original British paint is visible in many place under this, and the rudder has not been repainted. 

It is the most authentic Hurricane survivor in the world, an incredible resource, and these are the  best series of images I have seen. 

 

As the vast majority of the Hurricane airframe remained unchanged through all versions,  this is probably THE photo reference, especially for details of the actual construction, in particular all original fabric.   

 

Even P2617 at Hendon, which  was selected for preservation in 1944, and had been in training command, so is not in ' as built' condition, having had a new propeller and spinner, and the later type knuckle tailwheel used,  and has been repainted for museum display,  as 1950's photos show Day fighter Scheme was applied during the war.   

L1592 at the Science Museum was restored by Hawker in the late 1950's if anyone is interested,  I don't know if this involved re fabricing, but again, 1950's images show training command colours,  so has been repainted if nothing else.

 

There is also another superb set of images here

of the Shuttleworth Sea Hurricane, which is the most authentic flying Hurricane,  and these are fantastic for getting a feel of a working airframe, as Shuttleworth try be as authentic as possible within practical flying constraints.

 

HTH 

[John Laidlaw]

2 hours ago, Mike said:

larger-scale WWII modellers

Describes me perfectly these days.

 

Nice review, Mike - thank you. I would struggle with masking the canopy due to the engraved lines, but I'm sure the usual suspects will produce mask sets soon, preferably with both inside and outside masks.

[Mike]

2 minutes ago, John Laidlaw said:

I would struggle with masking the canopy due to the engraved lines

You could probably burnish the lines with the tip of a cocktail stick to show them up, then use a brand new #11 blade to cut then weed out the frames.... or wait for Eduard or Special Hobby to do the hard work

[John Laidlaw]

43 minutes ago, Mike said:

You could probably burnish the lines with the tip of a cocktail stick to show them up, then use a brand new #11 blade to cut then weed out the frames.... or wait for Eduard or Special Hobby to do the hard work

I shall hurry up and wait, then 😁.

[Julien]

3 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

 

My main complaint, dropped flaps are a gimmick, and the tooling/plastic used would have been better used supplying bomb carriers and drop tanks.

Yep

[gtveloce65]

One of my pet hates - separate red dots for the roundels.  Surely Cartograph, masters of digital alignment, could have printed these as complete roundels?  Or do people like the challenge, extra work, double decal thickness, etc?

[treker_ed]

Cartograph only print as per the customers requests, Revell will have asked for them to be printed that way.

[stevej60]

Great to see this reviewed Mike I'm on with it now and a very pleasurable build it is proving to be I'll pop a link in so folks can see the parts in all their glory.

[Phas3e]

They seem to be selling well which is good to see, I'll have to get in before they sell out. The IIb is a fine choice for me, I have wanted to do a Dieppe hurribomber for a long time, just a shame about the lack of racks and bombs.

 

I'll just keep my eye out for reskit or someone to come along with weapons and updates for the cockpit and exhausts and such.

[colin]

At least Revell keep the price sensible so you expect to have a little fettling to get it together. Airfix on the other hand price wise with their 1/48 stuff are knocking on the door of the market leaders now and are still producing kits with short shots and imho soft detail.

I know it sacrilege on here to say anything negative about Airfix so I'll run and hide now 🥺😄

[gtveloce65]

20 hours ago, treker_ed said:

Cartograph only print as per the customers requests, Revell will have asked for them to be printed that way.

Yes I know - there are plenty of Cartograph decals where the roundels are printed as one item - but we're not talking Frog or Matchbox decals from the 1970s.  So what's the point of this approach by Revell??

[treker_ed]

2 hours ago, gtveloce65 said:

Yes I know - there are plenty of Cartograph decals where the roundels are printed as one item - but we're not talking Frog or Matchbox decals from the 1970s.  So what's the point of this approach by Revell??

Your complaint was initially about Cartograph being responsible for the manner in which these have been designed and printed. Whilst they may have printed them, only Revell will be able to tell you why they decide that they think this is the best approach for them. May I suggest that instead of posting on here (and incidentally being your first post....) you redirect your query to Revell directly.

And again, all the other decal sheets where the roundels are complete, their customers will have given them designs to that effect, and will have asked them to print them that way. Cartograph will not simply decide to change a design for the hell of it.

[npb748r]

Sorry to resurrect an old post but I wondered if there has been any news from Revell about releases of different versions of this kit. It's already got the Sea Hurricane section in the box, so hopefully that's coming but I think needs new wings (?) and I was hoping for a IIc by now (as I age, I realise wait for kits to be released is a bit like Russian Roulette - will it get here before I run out of life !!!). 

Thanks

neil