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Sea Hurricane MkIb

Airfix 1/48 Sea Hurricane MkIb by Sacco de Vries

SCALE: 1/48

PRICE: €24.95

NE W-TO O L. This version was first released

in 2017.

M

y first model Hurricane

is still in my modelling

cabinet, a Monogram

Mk II, which I finished about 45

years ago. What a leap in quality

and surface detail since those days

is to be encountered on opening

the newly-tooled Airfix Sea

Hurricane! Based on their earlier

Mk I kit, this box contains the

same four sprues of grey, slightly

grainy plastic, and one clear sprue

for the canopies and lights.

The level of detail is absolutely

great, with crisp recessed panel

lines and subtle fabric detail. The

attention to detail is outstanding;

even the slight offset of the rudder

to port is represented, something

quite rare in Hurricane kits.

You also have a lot of choices:

the undercarriage can be posed

retracted or extended; a choice of

canopies can be opened or closed;

there are movable control surfaces;

and you have a choice of Rotol

or de Havilland propellers. Two

decal options are included, one for

a Sea Hurricane of 880 squadron

on May 6, 1942, when AF955 was

during Operation Ironclad. The

other is for P2731, assigned to 804

sq. aboard HMS Eagle in 1941.

The superb Imperial War

Museum website provides images

of Sea Hurricane AF955, and

even a short movie made during

Operation Pedestal (https://www.

iwm.org.uk/collections/item/

object/1060006304). This has

some interesting footage of how

Hurricanes took off from the small

flight decks under their own power,

without any catapult assistance.

Landing must also have been quite

a nerve-wracking experience.

This kit has been reviewed

in the December 2017 issue of

SAMi, so I will try to focus on a

few extra things rather than the

construction of the basic kit.

The subject of the Airfix kit is a

Sea Hurricane 1B, which type was

fitted with catapult fittings for

use on MAC ships and a tail hook

as standard. The rear catapult

fitting is not included, but since

that was only a short steel tube

sticking out of the fuselage, it

was easily made up from a piece

of sprue (although there is no real

evidence that AF955 carried it).

Testing of all major assemblies

revealed no fit issues, other than

that the construction of the

fuselage insert requires a somewhat

complex 4-way joint between the

wings and nose. Instructions are in

typical current Airfix style, showing

previous steps highlighted in red.

CONSTRUCTION

I was aware that previous reviewers

had fit problems with the kit, so

I deviated from the instructions

by first fixing all of the ribs and

frames to the lower wing. Repeated

dry-fitting with the upper wing

and fuselage halves produced

a perfect fit. The advantage of

doing it this way is that the entire

cockpit, with its beautiful internal

structures, can be mounted to a

solid base with no fit problems.

Airfix suggests Humbrol

H78 Cockpit Green, with the

internal tubular frames in 56

Aluminium, which is correct

Sea Hurricane AF955 is the second plane on the deck of HMS Victorious during one of the convoys

to Malta in 1942. Courtesy of Imperial War Museum, London, UK

The completed Airfix Sea Hurricane at the same angle

Details of the internal structure of the wing and cockpit

58 • SEPTEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

KIT REVIEWS

056-63-Reviews-0918.indd 58 16/08/2018 17:34