1:24 Hurricane I (Finland)

A Hurricane in Finnish colors

At the turn of the winter of 1940 Finland received twelve Hurricane Mk I aircraft to strengthen the defense against Soviet raids. The machines served in later years as well, even though other types soon overshadowed them, and their appearance is unusual for a modeler twice over: they carried Central European green and black blotches over a snow-covered landscape, and with them the Finnish national insignia, which has a completely different shape and coloring from the British roundels under which the aircraft left the factory.

The Hurricane itself was older in design than the Spitfire. Its fuselage had a tubular framework covered with fabric, so you will not find a single rivet at the rear, and the cockpit sits high above the spine. The canopy is made up of a fixed windscreen, a sliding section with three longitudinal strips and fairly extensive rear glazing that rises into the spine. The frames are wide and straight, which makes masking easier but at the same time leaves no room to hide inaccuracy.

Markings without decals

Five stencils for the national insignia is an above-average number and matches the fact that the marking appears on both sides of the fuselage as well as on the wings of this aircraft. A sprayed marking has no glossy edge and no step, and on fabric covering, where the surface is slightly uneven, it holds considerably better than a decal. The shapes for the canopy are on the sheet in two versions, so that the frames can be painted from the outside and the inside.

During the build it pays to paint the fabric parts of the fuselage separately and in a slightly different shade from the metal panels, because the two surfaces reflect light differently and on a model of this size that difference shows. Masking the markings comes only once both coats have dried. Neither paints nor a kit are part of the delivery.