Arma hobby 1/72 Hurricane mk1 trop - inbox review

[yak face]

Heres the Arma hobby 1/72 Hurricane mk1 trop. The kit is in an end opening box with a lovely picture on the top of the desert camo hurricane . Inside is a poly bag containing two grey sprues and one clear . The instructions are A5 booklet style , have colour images for the three decal schemes and colour call outs for Hataka paints .A nice touch is the inclusion of a QR code on the third page which when activated takes you to the Arma hobby website , where there are reviews, builds and more info on the kit .
The kit is on two grey sprues plus a clear sprue . Detail is recessed and beautifully done ,with delicately rendered fabric effects. Interior detail consists of a very comprehensive cockpit with correct floor ( there isnt one , just the foot boards), tubular framework , nicely done instrument panel and some relief on the cockpit sides .There are several options on the sprues which need to be taken into consideration , ie. Three different spinners and two different styles of prop blade. Obviously the sprues are common to different boxings so careful attention to the instructions needs to be paid . There are two sliding section canopies , one for closed and a slightly wider one for the open option , also on the clear sprue are landing lights and wingtip nav lights .The nav lights are moulded solid on the wings so if you want to use the clear parts youll have to cut them out , simple enough.
There are three decal options , one for an aircraft based out of Malta in the tropical desert scheme , and two for the only Hurricane to appear in Australian markings . This aircraft was sent to the RAAF for trials and appeared in the earth brown, foliage green , sky blue scheme and later in overall silver . Decals are by Techmod and look excellent and should cause no issues. Of note is the seat belts and instrument panel included on the decal sheet , better than nothing but if you want PE then Arma do an ‘expert‘ boxing with masks , coloured photo etch and more, different, decal choices.
In summary an excellent kit , beautifully moulded , finely detailed and with thoughtful engineering .The only thing I can find fault is the canopies are packed in with the rest of the sprues , a seperate bag would ensure they dont get scratched . A tiny niggle I know. Availability - fairly common and for sale on several websites including Arma hobbys own and normally Scale- models shop but it seems to be out of stock ( although all the other hurricanes are in ) Price- round about £10-12 plus postage . A superb bit of modern tooling , with modern levels of detail and very good value for money , get one !

[boatman]

HI Tony a question please can you tell me why they were painted half white an half black as i never did know why
chris b

[yak face]

HI Tony a question please can you tell me why they were painted half white an half black as i never did know why
chris b

I think it was purely for recognition from the ground chris , to avoid friendly fire when viewing the aircraft from a distance.It didnt last long , mainly the very early war years . Or perhaps some forward thinking boffin at the MOD thought it would be funny to make things difficult for modellers years later :smiling5:.

[Ian M]

Nice review Tony. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

Although I know why they had the black and white undersides I cant help but wonder. Surely it also makes them easier for the enemy to identify as well, which might be a part of the reason they stopped it? Hej stona If anyone knows the ins and outs of RAF paint it is you.

[Tim Marlow]

I think the B and W undersides were to assist the pre-radar ground observer corps as well. Not only could they identify friend from foe, they could tell at a glance which bearing the high flying aircraft were travelling on.

[stona]

That's partly correct.

They were an IFF marking and were supposed to allow both Anti Aircraft Command and the Observer Corps to identify friendly aircraft for what, I would have thought, were rather obvious reasons. Anti Aircraft was part of Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) and later Fighter Command.

Regarding radar, the Chain Home System floodlit an area out to sea from the coast. All the stations were on or very close to the coast for quite complicated technical reasons, quite apart from the obvious point that any hostile aircraft would arrive across the sea, be it the Channel or North Sea. This meant that once aircraft detected by the RDF system had crossed the coast the ONLY way they could be tracked and identified was by the Observer Corps. It was far more important and vital to the UK's air defence system than is commonly acknowledged. It's also why the Observer Corps reported directly to Fighter Command Headquarters' filter room at Bentley Priory and not at Group or Sector level.

The Night/White scheme originated with Dowding and he wrote various letters about the identification of friendly fighters suggesting variations of the White/Night or Aluminium/Night undersides from May 1937 onwards.
The first service trial involved a batch of 50 Hurricanes. The decision to apply the two colour underside was taken in January 1938. On March 3rd 1938 the Air Ministry informed Fighter Command that Hurricanes with the serial numbers L1596-L1625 were ear marked for the scheme and would be delivered by the end of the month. They started to enter service at the beginning of April 1938. Because this trial was deemed a success, the scheme was eventually adopted across Fighter Command, though the application of it was inconsistent and various variations can be seen.*

Here is a very brief description of the sequence of camouflage as applied to aircraft of Fighter Command.

i) The decision to go for Black/White undersides with the Temperate Land Scheme (the green and brown scheme made familiar during the Battle of Britain period) across Fighter Command was taken on 17 January 1939. This meant that all new aircraft would carry this scheme. We know that this was communicated to Supermarine on 27 January and presumably other manufacturers were informed at around the same time.

ii) On 4 June 1940 an order was issued to paint yellow surround to the roundel under the port (Black) wing. However, three days later, on 6 June, an order was issued to dispense with the Black/White underside altogether and replace it with a new colour Sky. This colour was identical to an experimental colour called 'Camotint' which had been developed by Sidney Cotton's civilian photo-reconnaissance unit based at Heston. The changeover to Sky undersides was protracted due to an acute shortage of the new paint. The name of the paint and the colour is Sky. The 'Type S' often appended is a reference to the new smooth finish. Sky was not the only paint produced to this smooth standard but for some inexplicable reason it is the only one which seems to routinely be given the 'Type S' suffix.

iii) On 28 November 1940 the port wing only reverted (or should have) to black, but implementation was delayed until 12 December. At the same time underside roundels returned (with yellow round the port roundel.) This scheme should not be confused with the earlier Black/White scheme

iv) On 8 April 1941 the order given to dispense with this black marking and to revert to Sky. Due to yet another shortage of paint, implementation was delayed until 22 April.

v) On 12 August 1941 the Day Fighter Scheme was introduced. Undersides would now be Medium Sea Grey. The Dark Earth on the upper surfaces was replaced with a mix 7:1 of Medium Sea Grey and Black. It was never officially named Mixed Grey, but the name Ocean Grey was not given to it until just over a week later on 21 August.

There's more to it than that, but that is the bare bones of the matter!

* Here is a variation on a Spitfire I built a few years ago. Only the wings were Black and White, split down the centreline. The rest of the underside remained in what would have been the original aluminium finish. This was an aluminium paint, not bare metal.

[Tim Marlow]

I knew you’d know the answer to this one Steve :thumb2:

[yak face]

Thanks steve , I thought maybe it was because the pilots license was cheaper than a colour one