Airfix Model World – September 2019

BASIC BUILD
HURRICANE Mk.I

BASIC BUILD

HURRICANE Mk.I

http://www.airfi xmodelworld.com 43

nation, however,

it was available

in much greater

numbers.

Family of

storms

Polish firm Arma Hobby

started as an aftermarket

accessories company,

producing high-quality

resin items before

switching

recently to

styrene kits.

It offers three

boxings of the Hurricane: the

‘Junior’, with just the basic styrene

parts; ‘Expert’, with an additional

photo-etched (PE) brass fret and

canopy masks; and a Mk.I Trop,

which has similar contents to the

former iteration. Refreshingly,

there are different markings

options in each product (see

panel). The company also released

an ‘overtrees’ set (these just

have the styrene parts, without

any decals) as a limited-edition

product, available direct from its

website (www.armahobby.pl).

The internal detail was perhaps

slightly clunky in places but was

more than adequate under a

closed canopy, so those wishing

to display this open may wish to

purchase a more refined resin

control column, for example.

External features are superb,

with restrained, crisp recessed

panel lines, accurate scale

representations of Dzus fasteners

and stretched fabric sections on

the rear fuselage and control

surfaces. The decals were printed

expertly by fellow Polish company

Techmod, which guaranteed high-

quality results.

Mainplane cleverness

This article concentrates on

the ‘Junior’ boxing, with panels

describing the extras in the

‘Expert’ kit by way of comparison.

Construction began with the

main undercarriage bay, which

is a well-detailed item, and was

airbrushed with Alclad’s ALC-

102 Duralumin (www.alclad2.

com). Arma Hobby suggested

attaching the landing gear at

this stage, but these can be

added easily after final painting,

which made handling far simpler

and avoided any unnecessary

damage. Unusually the wings

came in just two pieces, and

this is an example of the novel

way the firm approached the

kit design. In a slight deviation

from the instructions, the clear

landing lights were added at this

stage before being faired into the

leading edge and polished with

increasingly finer grades of Flory

Models’ sanding sticks.

Wartime ‘office’

With the wings completed,

attention then turned to the

cockpit. The interior detail was

well rendered in this scale with the

highlight being the refined sidewall

tubing, provided as separate parts.

Arma Hobby supplied the seat

harness in decal form and this was

the sole enhancement to the basic

kit. The belts were applied to thin

lead foil strips for a far superior

appearance, even though this may

not be fully apparent under the

closed canopy.

BASIC BUILD

HURRICANE Mk.I

nation, however,

it was available

in much greater

numbers.

Family of Family of

storms

Polish firm Arma Hobby

started as an aftermarket

accessories company,

producing high-quality

resin items before

switching

recently to

styrene kits.

It offers three

boxings of the Hurricane: the

‘Junior’, with just the basic styrene

parts; ‘Expert’, with an additional

photo-etched (PE) brass fret and

canopy masks; and a Mk.I Trop,

which has similar contents to the

former iteration. Refreshingly,

there are different markings

options in each product (see

panel). The company also released

an ‘overtrees’ set (these just

have the styrene parts, without

any decals) as a limited-edition

product, available direct from its

website (www.armahobby.pl).

The internal detail was perhaps

slightly clunky in places but was

more than adequate under a

closed canopy, so those wishing

to display this open may wish to

purchase a more refined resin

control column, for example.

External features are superb,

with restrained, crisp recessed

panel lines, accurate scale

representations of Dzus fasteners

is a well-detailed item, and was

airbrushed with Alclad’s ALC-

102 Duralumin (www.alclad2.

com). Arma Hobby suggested

attaching the landing gear at

this stage, but these can be Wartime ‘office’

 To ease painting, the control column and rudder pedals were added to the floor, so this

sub-assembly could be painted in place, although after a few breakages they were removed!

 The moulded fuselage locating holes were widened with the aid of a pin drill to help with

fitting the sidewall and framework components.

“TWO KITS WERE

BUILT DURING THIS

PROJECT, THESE

BEING THE ‘JUNIOR’

AND ‘EXPERT’

BOXINGS”

MODELSPEC

Hurricane Mk.I

By: Arma Hobby

Stock Code: 70020

Scale: 1/72

Price: £11.99

Available from:

http://www.armahobby.pl