The Hurricane originated from discussions between RAF officials and aircraft designer Sir Sydney Camm about a proposed monoplane derivative of the Hawker Fury biplane in the early 1930s. Despite an institutional preference for biplanes and lack of interest by the Air Ministry, Hawker refined its monoplane proposal, incorporating several innovations which became critical to wartime fighter aircraft, including retractable landing gear and the more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The Air Ministry ordered Hawker's Interceptor Monoplane in late 1934, and the prototype Hurricane K5083 performed its maiden flight on 6 November 1935.

The Hurricane went into production for the Air Ministry In June 1936 and entered squadron service in December 1937. Its manufacture and maintenance were eased by using conventional construction methods so that squadrons could perform many major repairs without external support. The plane was rapidly procured prior to the outbreak of the Second World War; in September 1939, the RAF had 18 Hurricane-equipped squadrons in service. It was relied upon to defend against German aircraft operated by the Luftwaffe, including dogfighting with Messerschmitt Bf 109s in multiple theatres of action.

Arma Hobby has earned a reputation for building some quality kits, and while they have been producing subjects that are 'done to death', it certainly hasn't deterred folks for plunking down the required funds to purchase them. Such is the case with this Hurricane offering. A quick search shows at least 8 different boxings of all variants. Arma provides an 'expert' boxing that includes p.e. and probably masks as well, but from the looks of the instructions, the p.e. is just dressing and not really needed. No masks are provided, but there is a template if you want to make your own.

Two grey plastic, one clear and one resin sprue is provided. The resin is for five spoke wheels as used on early Hurricanes. Two clear canopies are provided with one being a bit larger in order to be able to properly pose it open. That is it for optional items. Yes, there are several sets of prop blades and spinners on the sprues, but keep in mind that the sprues are used for a multiplicity of variants so there are bits you won't use on this build.

Instructions have you start by building up a fairly detailed wheel well that is then attached to the lower wing, followed by a single piece upper wing. Note that the main gear is attached during this process and it appears that it cannot really be assembled later. Next comes the interior with nice detail including interior framework that helps to make up a cage. Decals are provided for instruments and for the seat harness. Once most of the interior bits are trapped in the fuselage halves, the tailplane and rudder along with the wings are glued on.

The final construction steps are the wheels and gear doors, lower radiator, carb intake, exhaust and the clear bits. You have to make a radio mast. There is also the option of cutting away the wing formation lights and adding clear lenses. Last bit is assembling and attaching the prop.

The instructions are well done and provide both FS 595 and Hataka paint references. Four markings options are provided. A pair are for Finland and a pair are for Romania. Three of the four have standard RAF camouflage with one wing underside in white and the other in black. The fourth is a repainted Finnish airplane in the war scheme of dark green/black over light blue. Decals look very nice and should also be quite thin.

CONCLUSIONS

I bought this after seeing a kit that my friend Kevin brought over to show me. It looks very nice and while probably not as easy to build as the Airfix offering, provides a greater level of detail which is always nice.

REFERENCE

KIT #:	70025
PRICE:	$
DECALS:	Four options
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:	Eastern Front release