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 from the Air Ministry, Hawker refined their monoplane proposal, incorporating several innovations which became critical to wartime fighter aircraft, including retractable landing gear and the more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine.
It went into production for the Air Ministry In June 1936 and entered squadron service in December 1937.
Its manufacture and maintenance was eased by using conventional construction methods so that squadrons could perform many major repairs without external support.
The Hurricane was rapidly procured prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, when the RAF had 18 Hurricane-equipped squadrons in service.
The aircraft was relied on to defend against German aircraft operated by the Luftwaffe, including dog fighting with Messerschmitt Bf 109s in multiple theaters of action.
Overshadowed in the public consciousness by the Supermarine Spitfire's role during the Battle of Britain in 1940, the Hurricane nevertheless inflicted 60 percent of the losses sustained by the Luftwaffe in the engagement, and fought in all the major theaters of the Second World War.
The Hurricane, apart from a fighter, was developed through several versions: bomber-interceptors, fighter-bombers, and ground support aircraft.
Versions designed for the Royal Navy known as the Sea Hurricane had modifications enabling operation from ships. Some were converted as catapult-launched convoy escorts. By the end of production in July 1944, 14,487 Hurricanes had been completed in Britain and Canada, with others built in Belgium and Yugoslavia.
A Hurricane Mk I undertook tropical trials in Sudan in mid-1939, with a number of them hastily tropicalized following Italy's entry into the war in June 1940.
These aircraft were initially ferried through France and Malta by air to 80 Squadron in Egypt, replacing Gladiator biplanes.
Hurricanes served with several British Commonwealth squadrons in the Desert Air Force. They suffered heavy losses over North Africa after the arrival of Bf 109E and F-variants and were progressively replaced in the air superiority role from June 1941 by Curtiss Tomahawks/Kittyhawks.
However, fighter-bomber variants ("Hurribombers") retained an edge in the ground attack role, due to their impressive armament of four 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon and a 500 lb (230 kg) bomb load.
This is essentially the original 1969 Revell MkI kit, (kind of) "retooled" in 1986, in order to (somehow) represent the canon armed MkIIC.
Apart from the not too pointy (for an IIC) prop hub, one of the kit areas that has been criticized for not being accurate is the wing panels around the cannons' area: whereas the cannon bases, the distinctive bulges and the shell dispensing holes are represented, Revell, upon retooling the kit, did not remove the triangular-shape paneling which was only correct for the MK I.
The kit leans towards the crude/simplistic side, but, nevertheless, with an amount of effort, a passable representation of the Hurricane might occur.
The build was an entry to our friend's Colin Gomez
@coling very nice "
Desert Air War" GB.
Should you wish to read the full build review, you might do so by visiting my beloved site Modelingmadness:
https://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/gb/hurricane/penh2.htm
Happy modelling!
It certainly looks like a Hurricane, Spiros, it must have taken a fair amount of paint to finish it to such a great standard, and, it’s much better looking than a Spitfire.
Thanks my friend @chinesegeorge!
@fiveten
This is a blast from the past, and in my case my teen years where I got this Kit plus a Tamiya King George battleship in one occasion.
I feel you did a great job here Spiros, especially the camo paint work. Bravo!
I’m currently struggling to paint a USAF pilot for a Pony, so seeing your RAF Pilot makes me think I need to step up my brush paint skills 😉
Thanks my friend @holzhamer!
Looking forward to your Pony! And pilot!
I agree the paint job on this Hurricane is very well done, as well as the seamless bodywork. How many 1/32 airplane builds have you done, Spiros?
Thanks my friend @robgenev665! I believe I have done somewhere around 15-20 1/32 builds, have to visit my showcase for the exact number!
Amazing Hurricane, Spiros @fiveten.
Also your article is a pleasure to read.
The additional details, like the brake lines, are really adding realism.
You did really well on this oldie.
Thanks my friend @johnb!
All these 1/32 revell kits from a bygone age! What a lovely job. IIC is my favourite Hurricane and you've sure done it justice.
Thanks so much my friend @ross4!
Nice work on a golden oldie, Spiros!
Thanks my friend @j-healy!
Fantastic build of two old legends - the Hurricane itself and the early Revell 1/32 version. Very enjoyable read, and thanks for posting, Spiros! @fiveten
Thanks my friend @bobd56az!
Super work on this old beast! Great job on the camo scheme. @fiveten
Thanks my friend @dtravis!
Very nice oldie Spiros@fiveten. I really like that pilot. Quite the contribution to the Desert War build.
Thanks my friend @eb801!
This is one of those times when I can say ‘Check out the size of those cannons’ and not get slapped in the face.
Great looking build Spiros, and nice to see your write up the the ‘MM’ website once again.
Thank you so much, my friend @georgeswork!
Looks amazing, Spiros!
Thanks my friend @gwskat!
Someone said the word "El Cheapo" a while back. I disagreed at the time. Spiros your elbow grease and modeling skill have brought this kit up to snuff. If you take the age of the kit and put into the proper context using old school logic the kit stands on its own two feet. Or gear.
Enjoyed the article and your ability to consistently come up with the goods.
Two thumbs up.
Thanks for your kind and supportive words, my friend @stephen-w-towle!
Great work with this old kit 🙂 Nice painted camo!
Thanks my friend @lis!
You really brought this classic era kit to life, Spiros@fiveten ! I don't think I have seen any other builds of this posted before. Careful assembly and painting shows it can look really quite good, shape-wise and worth the effort to build. Thanks for your contribution to the Desert Air War GB. It was fun to see this come together.
Thanks my friend @coling! It was really great to participate in your wonderful GB!
Great Hurricane! I just ordered some decals for a bunch of foreign operators of the Hurricane - I hadn't known they were used as widely as they were. Such an icon of WWII!
Thanks my friend @gkittinger!
Spiros @fiveten, great job! You still made a great looking desert Hurricane from this old kit.
Thanks my friend @v1pro!
Great job on a very old and challenging kit!
Thanks my friend @rbungay! Indeed, an old, idiosyncratic kit!