When Hasegawa released their Hurricane line in the late ninties, I was quite exited. Here was a model of one of my favorite fighters, one with a strong Canadian connection to boot.

I recently purchased the Battle of Britain Mark I kit, to begin using some of my aftermarket AeroMaster decals. It should be explained that I really only wanted to construct "Willy" McKnight's Hurricane, since he was a RAF ace born and raised right here in Calgary. AeroMaster includes McKnight's markings in their large Battle of Britain set (along with another 3 Hurricanes, 4 Spitfires, 8 Bf109s and more). However, I chose to do another aircraft, and use this kit as a learning tool. Being Hasegawa, one doesn't really need to build a test kit, however I wasn't going to waste $30 in decals if I made a mistake (a rather common problem with me).

Overal Hasegawa has done a beautiful job in detailing the Hurricane kit, both internally and externally. I'll break these sections apart to help describe them.

The interior of the Hurricane is absolutely stunning. The base for the cockpit is quite simple; tubular sidewall framework, floor, instrument panel and rear frame. Also included are several small levers for the seat's adjustment as well as a set of very fine (and delicate) rudder pedals. The cockpit wasn't installed into the fuselage because of my method of assembly. For now, just truct me when I say, "the cockpit will fit after assembly." For those modeller's who just have to have photo-etched or resin details - the cockpit doesn't need any extra parts. If anything is required, it would be some seatbelts.

The fuselage fits together nice and tight, and features beautifully engraved panel lines. Some may argue that the fabric pattern has been over done on the aft fuselage but it doesn't bother me. Hasegawa features a seperate forward fuselage, which allows them to create several different marks without completely retooling the molds. As a result, Hasegawa instructs the builder to assmble both the forward and aft fuselages, then join them together. Since Hasegawa's method doesn't provide much surface area for gluing, I chose a different method. I carefully glued the forward and aft fuselage halves together to create a single whole fuselage half from the previous two peices. This was done on a flat board to keep the assembly from warping. Internally I reinforced the joints with superglue, and repeated the process for the second side. As a result of this change, I only had two pieces to mate rather than four, making alignment much easier. Once the two fuselage halves were glued together I returned to the cockpit. I painted the sidewalls and small details (this could have been done before assembly). Finally I fit the cockpit into location. See, I said trust me!

The wing fits together quite well. Be careful however, when fitting the leading edge plugs in place. Like the forward fuselage, these were done for different variants. When assembling the landing gear wells, especially when building the landing gear legs and their support structure - follow the instructions. If you don't , you'll risk breaking the delicate pieces when you force them together.

The fit between the fuselage, wings and tails is almost perfect. Only a hint of liquid putty might be required. There is a slight gap between the lower aft fuselage and the trailing edge of the wing, where the fabric patterns don't match exactly. Glue the window into place to seal the cockpit. The landing gear doors, antennas and other small probes should now be attached. Again, be careful because they are scale, and as a result, very delicate.

To mask the window panels, I used Tamiya's 18mm masking tape, carefully cut to shape using a sharp razor blade. Once the windows were masked, I painted the frames interior green. Then I started painting the three basic colours of the RAF camoflage. I used Polly Scale's line of acrylic paints, I enjoy their ease of application and simple clean up.

First came the Sky underside. Once dry I masked the hard edges with my Tamiya tape. Next the entire upper surface was painted British Dark Green and allowed to dry. Normally, I use paper masks to paint my camoflage patterns. However, this time I tried a product called "Blue Tack." This is a product generally used to poisters on walls. Having the consistancy of "Play-Doh" it was easy to roll into small cylinders. I used thes cylinders to run around my Hurricane to produce the edges of my camoflage pattern. Now came the Dark Earth colour. Soon after the paint set up, I removed the "Blue-Tack" masks and made an amazing discovery - it worked! It worked so well in fact, that the fabric pattern was done without any difficulty. One thing I learned was the "Blue-Tack" sticks to flat paints, so I'd recommend a gloss coat in between colours before masking. Some small touch ups to correct this problem, and my Hurricane was painted. I sprayed a coat of Future floorwax on my model and allowed it to dry while I prepared the AeroMaster decals.

I chose aircraft DX*L as my test plane. The decals were then applied, and went on quite well responding to Gunze's Mr. Marksofter. Again, another coat of Future and then a Polly Scale Flat Coat. Slight weathering behind the exhaust and gun ports, and a gentle wash in the panel lines and I had a completed Hawker Hurricane.

Hasegawa has done a beautiful job recreating Hawker's mighty Hurricane. I chose to deviate from the instructions while building the fuselage, however I don't recommend deviating from them when it comes to the landing gear. Sometimes it does pay to follow the instructions. Does this kit require aftermarket goodies? Not really. Photo-etched seatbelts and resin wheels are nice touches. I'd use a vacu-formed canopy to show off any extra work done to the interior in the future.

If you're a fan of British, or World War Two aircraft then by all eans build Hasagawa's Hurricane kits. I think you'll be surprised at the quality of this model.