Hurricane Mk.IIa/b/c
Eastern Front
Deluxe Set with TWO separate kits

Arma Hobby, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Graham Carter

I first reviewed this splendid kit back in 2020 - how time flies! 

The Hawker Hurricane needs no introduction but suffice to say that the kit represents the different variants that fought over far Northern Europe in convoy and troop attacks.

This kit represents a choice of Hurricanes sent to Russia in 1941-42 to boost the Soviet forces against Germany in the far northern reaches of WWII. As such the kit provides both machine-gun and cannon-armed parts.

This Polish company has won praise for its series of Hurricanes which have been acknowledged as the most accurate ones available. I have no reason to doubt these claims after examining this cracker of a kit. I assume the “Deluxe Set” moniker refers to extra 3D-printed parts, masks and larger choice of markings, but more importantly, two sets of parts so that two aircraft can be built  with different wing layouts.

I previously complained about the frailty of the end-opening box and ARMA has responded with an excellent up-grade with a stronger outer box but, more importantly, a thick inner tray that slides out with the contents firmly protected - modellers everywhere will thank you ARMA!  This boxing has a nice CAD illustration of two aircraft from the decal choices , both Mark IIbs , one in modified RAF colours and tropical intake and another plain one in Soviet marks and on the rear are small colour side views of the seven decal choices. Inside the box is also a bonus set of markings for a Finnish AF aircraft.

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Thumbnail panels:

Inside are two largish plastic bags containing two sprues, a small transparent sprue which is loose inside the bag - tut! tut! - and another bag containing the 3D printed parts, masks (for the canopy, wheels and landing lights). There is a 12-page A5 instruction booklet as well as the 160x120mm decal sheet printed beautifully by Techmod.

The parts are crisply moulded in light grey with restrained (dare I say “scale accurate”?) surface detailing - I do like the depth difference between panel and moveable flying surfaces gaps, as too often these are scribed the same depth in kits. The metal wing panelling is very nice and the fabric covered fuselage stringers are just lovely. The additional wing parts on a new sprue cater for the different wing planform, tail wheels and under-wing weapons.

The cockpit is suitably detailed with relief tooling on the fuselage interiors and separate parts for seating, pedals, control column, backing structure and instrument panel - a decal can be used here. There are also a pair of delightful resin 3D printed seats with belts, along with exhausts, and some tiny exterior fittings, some of which will require great care in separating from the mounting block.  While there are more detailed PE interiors available from the likes of AirWaves, Eduard and Extratech, Arma provides more than enough in this scale. The wheel wells and undercarriage legs are  exquisitely done with roof and side-wall details, retraction jacks and nice door detail as well. Tyres are weighted and even have tiny raised ‘Dunlop’ letters! Carburettor and radiator intakes are multi-part and the cannon are finely moulded, showing how over-scale the FROG and Academy ones were.

A two-part tropical intake is provided for one of the decal choices. The canopy comes in three parts and what fooled me for a moment was that one is slightly wider to fit over the fuselage hump for an open option - clever!  The mask set will allow nice sharp frame delineation. The instruction sheets provide clear details for each variant by identifying key points in red text, including some places where the modeller will need to fill holes or panel lines.

Marking Options

There are colour call-outs in each assembly step and part using a light blue circle which then refers to a paint chart covering paints by Hataka, AK RC, Lifecolor, AMMO, Humbrol ( the only enamels), Vallejo and Tamiya - very comprehensive and much appreciated; well done ARMA!

The decal sheet contains two sets of airframe stencils, plus four eight choices:

1. Mk IIb BM959/60 in Karelia April 1942, in Dark Green/Soviet Light Grey over Medium Sea Grey in red stars with a white dog on the fin,

2. Mk IIa Z2585/42 , February 1942, in Soviet markings in Karelia in Dark Green/ very Dark Soviet Grey over Medium Sea Grey,

3. Mk IIc KX452/64 March 1943, in Soviet markings in the Northern Fleet AF in Dark Green/ OceanGrey over Medium Sea Grey, with a white spinner and cannon armament, 

4. Mk IIb Z5548/48 winter 1941-42, of an unknown unit in white over sky with a huge star on the fin,

5. Mk IIb Z4011/FU-56 , October 1942 in standard RAF markings and  DG/DB/Sky colours with white patches on the leading edges of the wings,

6. Mk IIb ’21’, autumn 1942of unknown serial in Baltic Fleet AF, but in standard RAF markings and  DG/DB/Sky colours, but with red stars applied over painted out RAF roundels,

7. Mk IIb Z5236 /GO-31, October 1941 in standard RAF markings and  DG/DB/Sky colours of 134 Sqn RAF in Operation Benedict. with a pale blue spinner, and

8. a bonus sheet for a Mk IIc ex-Z2585 , HC-465 of the 34 Fighter Squadron Finnish AF in Spring 1944 in Dark Green over Pale Blue with yellow wing tips and fuselage band .Only the serial is provided and the modeller will have to find his own blue Finnish AF swastika markings.

Decals are beautifully printed in  glossy finish with minimal carrier film and on a mid-blue background so that white items are easily identified!

Having two kits in the box and a great range of markings this boxing will appeal to any modeller interested in the aircraft or the northern campaigns. It is an economical way of getting kits to use up spare decals from other kits if you are so inclined!

Highly recommended.

Review Text Copyright © 2024 by Graham Carter
Images Copyright © 2024 by Brett Green
Page Created 29 August, 2024
Last updated 29 August, 2024

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