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Why is the 1/48 Airfix Hurricane so hard to find?


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Hi all,

Since I haven’t heard any more about a new Eduard Hurricane, I was thinking about getting the recent (2015?) Airfix Hurricane Mk 1, but it seems like no one has them for sale. Is Airfix not making them any more?  Seems odd since it appeared as if that model was proclaimed by many as the best Hurricane available.  What’s up with that?

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If I understand correctly, the Mk1 Tropical boxing, A05129, apparently has all the plastic that was in the A05127 Mk1 kit. You'd need to source decals for a BoB aircraft, though.

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Thanks again, guys, for the input on the Airfix kit(s).

 

Okay, so now, one more question...  I've been doing some reading on the paint colors for the Hurricane.  The undersides appear to be something other than the gray or blue typically stated for a Battle of Britain Spitfire, but what about the upper camo colors for a Hurricane?  Were the upper camo colors of a BOB Hurricane the same as those for a Spitfire (i.e., the brown and dark green), or were they different in some way? I am beginning to favor MRP (Mr. Paint) colors, so, are there any MRP paint colors that would be appropriate for a Mark I Hurricane that are different that a BOB Spitfire?  \\

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19 hours ago, Curt B said:

Thanks again, guys, for the input on the Airfix kit(s).

 

Okay, so now, one more question...  I've been doing some reading on the paint colors for the Hurricane.  The undersides appear to be something other than the gray or blue typically stated for a Battle of Britain Spitfire, but what about the upper camo colors for a Hurricane?  Were the upper camo colors of a BOB Hurricane the same as those for a Spitfire (i.e., the brown and dark green), or were they different in some way? I am beginning to favor MRP (Mr. Paint) colors, so, are there any MRP paint colors that would be appropriate for a Mark I Hurricane that are different that a BOB Spitfire?  \\

I think you can safely go with MRP Dark Earth (108) and Dark Green (110) for a BoB Hurricane, same as for a Spitfire. FWIW, I just finished a Spitfire Mk. II using those paints. Besides really liking how they behaved, I think they're very good renditions of the two colors based on my references, especially the Dark Earth.

 

As for the lower color(s), I'm not sure to what you're referring when you mention gray or blue. Medium Sea Grey didn't come into use until 1942. By the end of the BoB, Sky (which was really more green than blue) was the standard lower color, and it would have been the same shade for Spits and Hurris. However, it is documented that some planes in early/mid-1940 were painted in various shades of light blue before stocks of Sky became available. In addition, I think some Hurricanes retained the various under-surface schemes of black, white and sometimes aluminum lacquer longer than did Spitfires. You'd have to track such anomalies on a plane-by-plane basis.

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Update: There's a thread over at Britmodeller discussing the presence, or lack thereof, of black/white unders on BoB planes:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235063365-any-definitive-bob-sptifires-or-hurricane-with-black-and-white-undersides/

The opinion seems to be just about unanimous that there is no photographic evidence of any planes, Hurricanes or Spitfires, so painted by the time the BoB officially began in July 1940. Therefore, I'd say you can go with Dark Earth/Dark Green over Sky and be close to 100% sure it's correct.

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28 minutes ago, seawinder said:

Update: There's a thread over at Britmodeller discussing the presence, or lack thereof, of black/white unders on BoB planes:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235063365-any-definitive-bob-sptifires-or-hurricane-with-black-and-white-undersides/

The opinion seems to be just about unanimous that there is no photographic evidence of any planes, Hurricanes or Spitfires, so painted by the time the BoB officially began in July 1940. Therefore, I'd say you can go with Dark Earth/Dark Green over Sky and be close to 100% sure it's correct.

 

LOL  Agreed!  That is my thread over there, too 🙂

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And, to along with my 2 Airfix Tropical Hurricane Mk I airplanes, I got the Xtradecal X48146 Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary Pt. 2 Hawker Hurricanes decal set.   I may end up using my brand new Silhouette Cameo 4 machine to make masks so I can paint many of the markings.  I would use the decal sheet as the guide to create the masks.  Ambitious, I know, but we'll see.

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