1:48 Hurricane MkI

The fighter that did most of the work

The Hawker Hurricane Mk I had a mixed structure: a truss fuselage covered with fabric and a wooden skin on the rear. It was easier to repair than its all-metal rivals and it took hits after which another machine would not have made it home. A ground crew could patch shot-through fabric in a single afternoon. In the summer of 1940 Hurricanes made up the majority of the British fighter squadrons and were credited with more victories than all the other types together.

Two letters that belonged to the squadron

The British markings were strictly laid down. Ahead of the roundel on the fuselage stood a pair of letters allotted to the squadron, behind the roundel a single letter of the particular aircraft. The roundels themselves changed during 1940: the broad type with a yellow border stayed on the sides, while on the upper wing surfaces a narrowed form appeared with only a red center and a blue ring, so that the machine would stand out less from above. A band under the nose of the fuselage in a light blue-green shade and a colored propeller spinner served the same purpose.

Glazing divided into many panes

The cockpit of the early Hurricanes is divided by metal bars and the windscreen has several planes at once. A strip applied by hand crumples in these places and the paint bleeds under it. A shape cut in advance fits precisely and leaves a crisp edge even on rounded corners. The inner part of the set masks the glass from the other face, which is useful when the cockpit is open and visible. On early machines the canopy is often modeled slid back, because a look inside reveals the wooden structure behind the seat.