Hobbycraft’s Hurricane II kits are older tooling, have a few inaccuracies, however they actually go together pretty well. If you can get the kit at a bargain and just want a no fuss, easy build, then this kit may suit your needs. As it was, I needed a Hurricane for a Youth Shelter Charity build and this was the only one available on short notice. Note: The wing panels are correct for the Mk. IIC only, and the tail wheel is the Mk. I version, so a minor modification had to be done to (sort of) produce the desired IB. (Battle of Britain Theme)
Notable Kit Features:
Simple kit with few parts
Slightly thick one-piece canopy, however the fit is good (if you want to build open canopy look elsewhere or get a vac-form replacement)
Basic cockpit (although with a closed canopy you won't be seeing this detail anyway :)
Decent panel lines, raised detail and ribbing
OK - Good parts fit
Wing panels are correct for the Mk. IIC only
Build Inspiration:
This kit was built to remember another RCAF Ace, John A. "Kentowski" Kent. Kent led 303 “City of Warsaw” Squadron during the Battle of Britain in September 1940. Considered one of the best young squadron leaders of the war, he later wrote of his comrades "I cannot say how proud I am to have been privileged to help form and lead No. 303 squadron and later to lead such a magnificent fighting force as the Polish Wing. There formed within me in those days an admiration, respect and genuine affection for these really remarkable men which I have never lost. I formed friendship that are as firm as they were those twenty-five years ago and this I find most gratifying. We who were privileged to fly and fight with them will never forget and Britain must never forget how much she owes to the loyalty indomitable spirit and sacrifice of those Polish fliers. They were our staunchest Allies in our darkest days; may they always be remembered as such!"
Heads-Up Report:
I suspect gluing the upper wing parts to the fuselage and then adding the lower wing will result in a better fit of the wing
Landing gear doors have sink holes - I missed filing them I know :0
Gear could use some detailing (not that I did any - but again I should have :)
Exhaust would be improved with some drilling out (again, not that I did - but I should have :)
Kit Additions / Modifications:
Added seat belts made from tape
To build the IB version, a wing modification is necessary - removing the IIC canon bulges and adding panel lines for the gun bays (missed some detail here)
Weighted the tires by sanding then down a bit
Drilled out the guns and added the red gun tape over
Third-party decals (Techmod 48025) - Hawker Hurricane Mk. I
End Result:
I built this kit for a charity auction for a local Youth Shelter I volunteer with. That year they were short on items so I volunteered to produce something for them. As it was a special Battle of Britain Anniversary year I decided to build a Hurricane and a Bf110. Not having a lot of time, I managed to still get the two kits done before the deadline. Later, while I was at the event I had second thoughts about letting the kits go, so I started bidding on them as well... but lost out on the Bf110 when a bidder put a last minute bid in on it!
This definitely would have been a better build if I spent a bit more time on it, making some refinements and weathering the paint finish, but there is always next time for that. Paint finish was RAF Dark Earth and Dark Green over Sky (FS 30118/34079/34424).
The Hobbycraft Hurricane is a decent kit and I would still recommend it, if you find it and if it is inexpensive, otherwise there are a number of other more recent options out there to build a better Hurricane which you will probably want to take advantage of.
Feel free to ask any questions or comment on the build - Keep on building what you want, how you want and enjoy the build - Cheers