Hawker Hurricane Mk IIb by realworkingsailor - Arma Hobby - 1/72 - PLASTIC

[realworkingsailor]

Greetings everybody!

 

I have to admit the start of the year has proven a bit challenging hobby-wise. I have had more than ample time for building, and have made use of that time. I have however, had to take a mental pause on my Chevy C15a build. I will get back to it, but after the holidays, I needed a bit of a refresh. I decided that my first build of the year would be one just for me. I felt I needed to clear my head and just build, without worrying about taking and posting pictures, status updates, follows and all the rest. In one regard I think that succeeded, however my choice of kit was one that led me down a path of almost-but-not-entirely-quite-unlike... um... tea.... 

 

My kit of choice was a Revell 1/72 F4u-1b Corsair - the Fleet Air Arm version (the -1b designation was never officially used but seems to have propagated for the purposes of differentiation).  

 

 

 

From the get go, this kit seemed to have it in for me (to say nothing of the issues I had with the aftermarket decals)! If I had to use one word to describe the kit of this kit I would have to say... sloppy. For a relatively recent-ish tooling (2015), I would have expected better fitting parts. I ended up using a lot more filler than I had originally anticipated when I examined the kit in the box, and the occasional bouts of ambiguity that Revell seems to put in their instructions is only compounded by the random incorrectly labelled part (the instructions would have you install the landing gear doors backwards, for instance, something that you wouldn't pick up on until after you'd installed them on the model). The clear canopy parts also proved a challenge, they are nice and thin, so there is very little optical distortion, however they suffered from some stress marks in places, amplified by some fractures that I accidentally added while I was applying the masking (I ended up accidentally flexing the windshield and hood a bit too much. The hood crack is invisible after painting, but there is a small vertical crack in the centre of the windscreen). Oh, yeah, and the Revell kit has completely the wrong drop tank(s), so lacking a suitable replacement, I left them off and added some bombs instead.

 

 

 

When I picked up the kit, I also purchased some aftermarket Xtradecal sets, British Pacific Fleet roundels as well as RAF/FAA white serial numbers. Strangely for Xtradecal, the BPF roundels were all out of register. I worked the phone and emails and managed to secure a replacement set from Hannants, which also proved to be out of register, but not as bad as the first set. At that point I just wanted to finish this project so I made do with what I had and did my best to minimize the error in the roundels.

 

Anyway, the model is painted up to represent Corsair Mk IV KD658, 115/X, flown by Lt. Robert Hampton Gray in 1945. Grey was flying in 1841 Squadron as part of the BPF, on board HMS Formidable. The morning of the 9th of August the Squadron was despatched to Onagawa Bay, Japan, to attack some shipping reported in the bay. They were originally sent against a Japanese airfield, however this was found to have been previously damaged and was out of commission so they were diverted to Onagawa bay. Gray led the attack and sighted several merchant ships as well as a Japanese destroyer at anchor. Despite heavy flack and severe damage to his plane, Gray pressed home his attack run and landed a direct hit to the ship's magazine, destroying it. Gray's burning plane was seen to cartwheel into the bay taking him along with it. As a result of this action Gray was awarded the Victoria Cross. He was the second fighter pilot, and the second pilot of the FAA to receive the VC, he also is the last Canadian to be awarded. His remains were never found. in 1989 a memorial was erected at Onagawa bay, the only foreign soldier so honoured on Japanese soil.  He was also the second last Canadian to die in WW2 (the last being Gerald Anderson, also a Corsair pilot, who perished in the afternoon of August 9th).

 

Ok, that was a long winded pre-amble to the main event. I picked up this nice looking kit of the Hawker Hurricane made by Arma Hobby:

 

 

I have seen a few of these kits reviewed and built on YouTube and it seems to be a highly recommended kit, so I have decided to give it a shot! I am going to be sticking with the box art example as it represents a Hurricane Mk IIb flown by number 402 Squadron (RCAF) in the winter of '42. The Hurricane Mk II featured a slightly more powerful Merlin XX engine (over the Merlin II in the Mk I). This engine had a better supercharging system and required an addition of 4.5" to the forward fuselage (which, dud to the slight forward shift of the centre of gravity, also improved the Hurricane's handling). Like the Spitfire, the letter after the variant number indicates the type of armament fitted in the wing. The Mk IIa featured the same 8 gun set up found in the Mk I Hurricane. The IIb version had four additional guns, with two on each wing added outboard of the landing lights. At the time, the .303 guns used by the RAF were showing their limitations, som many  Mk IIb Hurricanes were fitted with bomb racks and used in a ground attack role, becoming known as "Hurribombers". The Mk IIc Hurricane was fitted with four Hispano Suiza 20mm cannons, and the Mk IId was developed for an anti-tank role and featured two 40mm canons mounted in pods under the wings, as well as two .303 guns in the wings, loaded only with tracer rounds, to be used for aiming. 

 

 

Of course, a good kit can always do with a little upgrade, so I picked up an Eduard PE set and some masks. I don't plan on using all the PE in the set, there are some that are just too small and fiddly, or for where the kit parts are sufficient for what will be visible.

 

 

Overall, this looks like a nice little kit to get stuck into, and I am looking forward to starting construction. Hopefully this goes better than that Corsair kit!

 

Andy

 

 

[Dave_E]

II’m in. 👏😀

[Canute]

Here's hoping, Andy. I'm in, too.

[Javlin]

My poor eyes in 1/72 PE just will not go that far or maybe it's just my patience?🤨

[realworkingsailor]

To start off, a few photos of the kit contents and other details.

 

This Arma Hobby kit was originally tooled in 2019, as the Mk IIc variant. The Mk IIb version was released a year later, and this particular boxing dates to 2021. The kit parts come packaged in the typical eastern European sticky-flap bag commonly seen in Eduard or Special Hobby kits, with the clear parts in a separate clear "Ziplock" style bag.

 

 

While Arma Hobby have released "deluxe" versions of this kit, which include a small amount of PE as well as a mask set, this is a more simple release, without the extras. The kit includes 2 sprues of a medium grey plastic, as well as one clear sprue for the canopy parts.

 

 

The original Mk IIc came all on one grey sprue, Arma Hobby have simply added a second sprue with the correct wings as well as underwing stores and other details.

 

 

 

The moulded details look excellent. The panel lines are well defined, but not overdone, with nice raised fastener details where appropriate.

 

 

The fine detail carries over onto the small parts. 

 

 

There is a small amount of flash here and there, but nothing that a quick pass of a hobby blade and/or some sandpaper won't cure.

 

 

The clear parts also look excellent, with a minimal amount of optical distortion. Two canopy options are included (open or closed) along with the various lights

 

 

The instructions come in a little stapled booklet. The assembly seems to follow the standard pattern of Hurricane model kit assembly (in 1/72 scale), almost identical to Airfix's Hurricane, so there should be no surprises there! The paint colour callouts are letter coded and given for multiple popular brands. Detail variations are clearly noted depending on which marking version you are building.

 

 

The painting and marking instructions are in full colour, with a QR code that will take you to the Arma Hobby website page that contains more photos for the exact version.

 

 

And a little self promotion on the back page, showing a sample of other kits in the Arma Hobby range.

 

 

The decals are printed by Techmod and look to be of good quality, and in register. There are even decals for the propellor tips if you don't want to paint them. 

 

Since my kit was the "basic" release, I opted to pick up an Eduard PE set to enhance the kit details.

 

 

The PE set includes two small PE frames with an assortment of small parts. As I stated earlier, I don't intend to use all of the small parts, just the ones I feel will add the most impact. Items like the brake lines, or the canopy rear-view mirror are too small and fiddly to bother with.

 

Let the fun begin!

 

Andy