1:48 Hawker Hurricane Mk I

Fabric on a steel framework

The Hurricane looked old-fashioned compared with its rivals, and that was intentional. The fuselage was formed by a welded framework of steel tubes covered with fabric, that is a technology every workshop in the country could handle. It was precisely that which proved an enormous advantage: a damaged machine could be repaired in a single night at a field airfield and take off again the next day, whereas an all-metal structure had to go to the factory. The fabric moreover had the peculiar property that a projectile of rifle-caliber ammunition flew through it without much effect.

The inconspicuous victor of the summer of 1940

The fame fell to its more elegant colleague, but in the defensive fighting over southern England it was precisely this type that was the more numerous and the more widespread. Squadrons made up of airmen who had lost their own country flew it too, and one of them became the most successful unit of the whole campaign. Its career then continued where things were worst: over Malta, in North Africa and in the north of Russia. The most remarkable chapter was written by the examples launched by catapult from merchant ships, because once the task was done they had nowhere to land and the pilot had to bail out into the cold sea.

What the set offers

According to the manufacturer there are two cockpit masks and two insignia masks inside. The canopy has pronounced frames and a fixed rear cover, on which masking by hand breaks up into a quantity of small strips.

A small tip

Remove any adhesive residue after peeling with a soft cloth and dry; solvents could fog the clear part.