This latest edition in the Mushroom Models Magazine Specials is on the Hawker Hurricane. As with all other books in this series, it is superbly done and as much a treat for the aviation enthusiast as it is for the modeler.

It begins with a background to the Hurricane and the development of the Fury monoplane fighter. It then goes into the building of the Hurricane itself. Like the Spitfire, there was little that actually needed to be changed from the prototype to the first production aircraft. There were some differences to be sure, but they were minor, such as the removal of the horizontal stabilizer external brace, a change in gear doors and the 'flattening' out of the upper fuselage behind the canopy.

The initial batch of aircraft were built with fabric covered wings, though many of those were replaced with metal covered versions later in their career. Same with the two-bladed Watts prop, as a deHavilland built Hamiliton Standard three bladed version and later a wooden Rotol prop took over. Interestingly, the Rotol prop gave about a 25 mph speed increase over the previous versions.

The book then goes on to describe the differences between the variants of the Hurricane, followed by information on other countries that used the aircraft. Some, such as Belgium and Yugoslavia, undertook license production. The different versions of the Sea Hurricane, including those assigned to CAM ships are also covered.

Thanks to the number of extant aircraft, there is a huge, full color section covering all the different bits and pieces of the plane. This large close-up section is a real boon to modelers as no part goes un-photographed. There are also images of the aircraft under restoration so we can see the detail of what is under the skin.

This is concluded with 30 pages of color profiles and three views, one of my favorite parts of the book. Throughout the book there are quality period photos and drawings to help illustrate the different variants.

All in all it makes an unrivaled reference to air fans and modelers alike and is a book that I can recommend to you without hesitation.

January 2007

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Many thanks to Mushroom Model Publications for providing the review copy.

January 2007

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