Hurricane Mk.IIc; 351 (Yu) Sq RAF
While not as famous as Spitfire, Hurricane formed the backbone of Royal Air Force early in the war and was used throughout the conflict in all major theatres in various roles. It was designed in 1930s by Hawker and made its maiden flight in 1935. Pilots praised the fighter as being simple to fly and characteristics were great for the time. Development of the aircraft also went hand in hand with the development of the famous Rolls Royce Merlin engine. The aircraft was also cheaper and simpler to build than the more advanced Spitfire and RAF ordered hundreds of them, with the war looming over the horizon. To increase the speed of production, first Hurricanes were equipped with fabric covered wings but switched to metal wings in 1939. By the outbreak of the WW2, over 500 of the initial 600 ordered were built, with 3500 more on order. Eventually more than 14.000 Hurricanes were built and operated by 25 countries all around the world.
Hurricane Mk.IIc replaced its armament of 8 machine guns with 4 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannons while underwing hardpoints were later addition, that enabled them to carry fuel tanks and bombs. Not matching the period German fighters, it was quickly relegated to ground attack duties, earning it a “Hurribomber” nickname. 4.751 were built between February 1941 and July 1944.
351 (Yu) Sq RAF was established on 1st July 1944 in Benghazi, Libya. It was one of the two Yugoslav Partisan squadrons established by RAF (the other being 352 equipped with Spitfires) that were to become part of RAF 281 Wing as a part of Balkan Air Force, a combined Allied organisation for operations over the Balkan peninsula. Training of the crews started in July 1944, first on Harvards and Hurricane Mk.IIcs and soon converted to Mk.IVs. With training completed by early October, they were transferred to Cannae, Italy, and by mid-October started with combat operations over the Yugoslav territory. In 1945, 351st operated from Cannae as well as Vis island in Adriatic and bases at Zemunik and Prkos. During its existence, the squadron flew 227 combat missions with 23 pilots serving in it. They lost 9 aircraft mainly to enemy anti-aircraft artillery, 4 pilots were killed in action whilst one was captured. The squadron was released by RAF on 16th May 1945 and was integrated into the Yugoslav Air Force. Yugoslavia continued to fly its fleet of Hurricanes until early 1950s. And a little bit of trivia – 351 and 352 squadrons were the only squadrons in RAF that were allowed to carry their national markings on RAF aircraft.
The kit
There's not much to say about this kit except if you wanna build 1:72 (or 1:48 for that matter), grab yourself an Arma Hobby kit!
The good:
– good fit
– good surface details
– nice decal sheet
– nicely detailed cockpit
The bad:
– lack of rivet details
Link to the in-progress article: https://vvsmodelling.com/2024/09/18/arma-hobby-172-hawker-hurricane-build-article/
Model Data
Company: Arma Hobby / 70037
Scale: 1:72
Aftermarket: Master AM72-067 Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIc Hispano Mk.II cannons with round recoil springs
Decals: Lift Here Decals C-72LH 351 & 352 RAF Yugoslav squadrons
Paints used: Mr.Paint
Camouflage: MRP-108 Dark Earth, MRP-119 Azure Blue, MRP-121 Middle Stone,
Metallics: MRP-147 Burnt Iron,
Other: MRP-173 Tyre-Rubber, MRP-111 Interior Grey Green, MRP-118 Sky
Lack of rivet details? On an Arma Hurricane kit? You must have built one of the kits produced on Earth II. 🙂
Very nice work on this, the paint job is very good.
Thank you, Tom!
Not sure what you mean? 1:72 kits have just a few fasteners represented and a few raised rivets in the wheel wells. 1:48 ones on the other hand are fully riveted kits.
The quality of Sebastijan's work has fooled you, Tom. This is the 1/72 scale Arma kit, not their 1/48 scale offering!
Excellent Hurricane, Sebastijan! Fools the scale for sure!
Thank you, Spiros!
Beautiful work, Sebastijan!
Thank you, Jeff!
Well done, Sebastijan (@inflames). Everything looks awesome on this build. I am building a 1/72 Arma FM-2 Wildcat, and can attest to all the high points of these kits.
Thank you, George! They are a treat to build! Have their Jak-1 and TS-11 Iskra waiting in the queue.
That looks outstanding! Thanks for sharing.
Rod
Thank you, Rod!
That is a beautiful Hurricane - love the paint and weathering. I built Arma's Sea Hurricane and also fell in love with Arma 1/72 kits! I have a couple more to open soon...
Thank you, Greg! Once you build one, it's hard no to fall in love with them 🙂
That's a fine looking Hurricane, Sebastijan @inflames
Hard to believe this is a 1/72 scale model.
So much detail and perfect painting.
Thank you, John! It was started as a part of Hawker 100 group build but hey, better late than never, right? 🙂
Arma Hobby kits rock, don’t they, Sebastian? Terrific looking Hurricane.
Thank you, Eric! Indeed they do! 2nd Arma kit for me and 3 more in the stash 😀
Outrageously good Hurricane Sebastian. Wonderful modelling with a bit of history. Great stuff 👍
Thank you, Guy! I always like to include a little bit of history with the model.
Well done, Sebastijan. Great paintwork.
Thank you, John!