Hawker Hurricane 1/72 Scale Models

British Mk.I - This is a model of a fighter that participated in the 1940 Battle of Britain. The Mk.I Hurricane was the RAF's first modern fighter and entered service in late 1937. It was developed from the plane it replaced, the Hawker Fury biplane fighter, and early models had fabric-covered wings and two-bladed propellers. An improved version of the Mk.I Hurricane entered production in 1939. It featured metal-covered wings, a three-bladed propeller, a Rolls Royce Merlin III engine, and was armed with eight machine guns - four in each wing. While the Spitfire received most of the glory from the British victory in the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane was the real workhorse, accounting for almost 60% of the German planes shot down. By the beginning of 1941, however, the Spitfire had replaced the Hurricane as the RAF's primary fighter. The British supplied Hurricanes to their Commonwealth allies, and to several other nations.

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British Mk.IIB - This is a model of a fighter bomber that flew against Axis forces in North Africa in 1942. The Mk.IIB was derived from the Mk.IIA, which was an attempt to make the Hurricane more competitive against the German Bf 109 by fitting it with a more powerful Merlin XX engine. The Mk.IIA entered service over Britain in September, 1940, and like its predecessor, the Mk.I, it was armed with eight machine guns in its wings. But the British also needed a fighter bomber, so some Mk.IIs were modified to carry bombs under their wings. This new variant, designated the Mk.IIB, was called the Hurri-Bomber. It also had two additional machine guns in each wing, for a total of twelve. Mk.IIBs first saw action in 1941, but by 1943 the Hawker Typhoon had replaced it in the ground support role in Western Europe. The biggest user of the Mk.IIB was the Soviet Union. Churchill provided Hurricanes to the Soviets starting in late 1941, and by the time Hurricane production ceased in 1944, the Soviets had received about 3,000 Hurricanes of several variants, accounting for about 20% of the approximately 14,000 total Hurricanes built.

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British Mk.IIC - This is a model of a fighter that flew from Britain against the Luftwaffe in 1941. The Mk.IIC, like the Mk.IIB, had the more powerful Merlin XX engine, but it had four 20mm cannons in its wings instead of twelve machine guns, and it did not carry bombs. The extra firepower proved quite useful and the Mk.IIC was the best fighter version of the Hurricane. Mk.IIC production exceeded 4,700 planes, more than any other Hurricane variant. The Mk.IIC first saw action in early 1941, but the attack on Dieppe in August, 1942, was the last major action for Mk.IICs in Western Europe in the fighter role, because more modern fighters had become availabe.

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British Sea Hurricane Mk.XII - This is a model of a Canadian built carrier fighter that participated in the November, 1942, Allied invasion of French North Africa, called Operation TORCH. They were painted with American markings to discourage the defending Vichy French from shooting at them. Sea Hurricanes were navalized Hurricanes, fitted with tail hooks for carrier service, but lacking fold up wings. The first Sea Hurricanes, however, were Mk.I Hurricanes fitted with hardware so they could be launched from catapults attached to the decks of merchant ships for convoy protection at sea. These planes, nicknamed Hurricats, first saw action in the fall of 1941. Hurricat pilots had to ditch in the sea when their fuel ran out and hope that their convoy could pick them up. Many Hurricane variants were converted into Sea Hurricanes, totaling about 1,200 planes in all, but by 1943 they were being replaced by Seafires.

(About 1,400 Hurricanes, in several variations, were built in Canada, with the mark X being given to those fitted with a Merlin engine built under license in the USA by Packard.)

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