The Polish manufacturer has added new parts to its original 1/72 Hurricane to offer a Sea Hurricane Mk.Ib.
Any modeller who favours 1/72 World War Two fighters and hasn’t already tried an Arma Hobby kit is missing out. Such products as the P-51B, Wildcat and more recent P-39 offer superlative detail and often mixed-media extras at reasonable prices. A case in point is the firm’s Hawker Hurricane, first released in 2018, which has now been re-boxed with new decals and 3D-printed resin parts so modellers can portray the Sea Hurricane Mk.Ib.
Kit 70061 also offers self-adhesive paint masks, while the new resin cache provides beautifully detailed items such as a rear fuselage under-panel with separate A-frame arrester hook, catapult spools, both ejector and fishtail exhausts. Also present in resin are exhaust glare shields, a canopy mirror, an engine oil deflector ring and pilot’s head cushion.
Above: 3D-printed components include an A-frame arrester hook, exhausts and catapult spools.
Read about Eduard’s ProfiPACK re-boxing of Arma’s 1/72 Hurricane Mk.I
Classy product
The base kit styrene is sublime, with finely engraved panel lines, a super-smooth surface finish, detailed undercarriage bays and a busy cockpit. Alternative canopies for posing open/closed are also present, as is an instrument panel with moulded detail (dial decals are provided too) and a de Havilland propeller. Another useful decal item is that of seatbelts, which can always be applied first to aluminium foil, then cut out, to ensure more depth (or placed directly on the seat).
Above: The panel line engraving on Arma's Hurricanes is neat indeed.
Decals for five different Mk.Ib airframes are supplied being well printed on gloss carrier film. All in Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey over Sky Type S, they are:
• Z7153/F, 801 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Eagle, Operation Pedestal, August 1942
• V6695/K, 801 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Eagle, Operation Pedestal, August 1942
• AF953/A, 802 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Avenger, summer 1942
• V7506, 885 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Victorious, Operation Pedestal, August 1942
• Z4849/7-G, Sub Lt Hugh Popham, 880 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Indomitable, Operation Pedestal, August 1942
This is a welcome reworking of Arma’s Hurricane and especially pleasing for Fleet Air Arm fans. It costs £27.25 direct from Arma Hobby, but it’s also available via Hannants in the UK.
