Hurricane Mk.IIb/c
Expert Series

Arma Hobby, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

The Hurricane Mk.II was powered by the improved Merlin XX engine with a two-speed supercharger. The new engine was longer than the earlier Merlin and so the Hurricane gained a 4.5 in "plug" in front of the cockpit, which made the aircraft slightly more stable due to the slight forward shift in centre of gravity.

Initially called the Hurricane IIa Series 2, the Hurricane Mk.IIb was essentially a Mk.II fitted with racks allowing it to carry two 250 lb or two 500 lb bombs. This lowered the top speed of the Hurricane to 301 mph (484 km/h), but by this point mixed sweeps of Hurricanes carrying bombs, protected by a screen of fighter Hurricanes were not uncommon.

The same racks allowed the Hurricane to carry two 45 gallon (205 litre) drop tanks instead of the bombs, nearly doubling the Hurricane's fuel load.

The Hurricane Mk IIa Series 2 was fitted with a new and slightly longer propeller spinner, and four additional wing-mounted .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns; for a total of 12 guns. The first aircraft were built in February 1941 and were renamed Mk. IIb in April 1941.

A total of 3,050 IIb built to November 1942, 1,883 by Hawker, 867 by Gloster Aircraft Company and 300 by Austin Aero Company.

The Hurricane Mk.IIc was equipped with a new and slightly longer propeller spinner, and fully replaced the machine-gun armament with four 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk II cannons, two per side.

A newly designed wing included a hardpoint for a 500 or 250 lb (230 or 110 kg) bomb and, later in 1941, fuel tanks.

By then, performance was inferior to the latest German fighters, and the Hurricane changed to the ground-attack role, sometimes referred to as the Hurribomber.

The mark also served as a night fighter and intruder with about three quarters converted to fighter bombers.

There were 4,711 Hurricane Mk.IIcs built by Hawker between February 1941 and July 1944.

Arma Hobby has already released six 1/72 scale Hurricane Mk.I and Mk.IIc kits.

However, this is the first time that Arma has offered a Mk.IIb. The best news though, is that all the parts for a Mk.IIb or IIc, tropical or standard are included.

Now your only question is, "IIb or not IIb?"

This release is in the Expert series, so it includes little luxuries such as photo-etched parts and canopy masks.

Arma Hobby's 1/72 scale Hurricane Mk.IIb/c kit comprises 72 parts in grey plastic, eight parts in clear plastic and markings for two aircraft.

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The flimsy end-opening box is topped by beautiful artwork.

The grey plastic parts are delivered on one large and one smaller sprue.

The second sprue is all new, containing the B Wing, alternative exhausts, two 250lb bombs and wing mounts, two new styles of tail wheel and two cylindrical drop tanks.

Moulding quality is excellent, with no flash, flaws or visible moulding imperfections on my sample.

The larger parts are moulded with a satin finish. Surface textures are just gorgeous. Panel lines, raised fastener heads and other structural details are very fine.

The fabric texture on the rear fuselage and tail surfaces are particularly subtle and impressive.

The fuselage is supplied as left and right halveswith the fin supplied as a separate part.

Some details are moulded directly to the inside of the fuselage and onto the wing.

These are supplemented by a plastic framework, the "bottomless" floor with foot rests, rudder pedals, control column and more.

The photo-etched fret supplies the Sutton Harness and instrument panel for the cockpit as well as other small details including landing lights, handles and more.

The upper and lower wings for both the IIb and IIc are moulded as full span.

Wheel wells are nicely detailed. Main wheels are one piece each in injection moulded plastic.

A Rotol propeller assembly and spinner are included.

Two different styles of cannon barrels are included, as is an optional Vokes tropical filter.

Arma has supplied a new clear sprue this time in response to comments that the original canopy parts were overly thick. These do look to be an improvement.

The new clear sprue may also be purchased separately for €2.50 for the earlier issues of the Arma Hurricane.

The canopy is quite clear and offers separate parts for the windscreen and the sliding section. Two sliding sections are included - one for the closed position and a wider one to display the canopy open and show off all that lovely detail.

Clear landing lights for the wing leading edges are included too.

Optional wing tip navigation lights are also supplied, but you'll have to cut out the solid plastic on the wing tips before fitting these.

Die-cut, self-adhesive masks are included. These cover (literally) the canopies and the landing lights.

Instructions are supplied in a 12 page stapled A5-sized booklet. Assembly is described over 19 steps using clear diagrams.

The kit is packed into a side-opening cardboard box. I am not a fan of side-opening boxes - access to the parts is more difficult, loose parts can easily be lost while retrieving instructions or a larger sprue, and the format is less structurally rigid, inviting the contents to be crushed when the box is inevitably at the bottom of a pile of kits. I know it is a nit-pick but I would prefer to see future Arma Hobby releases in a lid-style of box.

Marking Options

Six marking options are included. Each of the marking options gets a dedicated page with both side views plus upper and lower plan views.

• Hurricane Mk.IIb "Hurribomber", XP-R, in standard Ocean Grey and Dark Green over Medium Sea Grey camouflage.

• Hurricane Mk.IIc night fighter, JX-E, in overall Night (flat black).

• Hurricane Mk.IIb Trop "Hurribomber", V, in tropical camouflage of Middle Stone and Dark Earth over Azure Blue.

• Hurricane Mk.IIc Trop "Hurribomber", C, in SEAC camouflage of Dark Green and Dark Earth over Medium Sea Grey.

• Hurricane Mk.IIc , DR-B, in the late Day Fighter Scheme with invasion stripes.

• Hurricane Mk.IIb, R-WX, in Temperate Land Scheme.

Three bonus markings are included with variations on some of the standard marking options.

Colour callouts are provided for FS numbers and a good selection of model paint numbers including Hakata, AK, Lifecolor, AMMO, Humbrol, Vallejo and Tamiya.

Decals are printed by Techmod. They are glossy, colours are well saturated and everything is in perfect register.

Arma Hobby's 1/72 scale Hurricane Mk.IIb/c Trop is a delightful kit - excellent surface texture, moulding quality, detail and inclusions.

With all the parts required for a Mk.IIb or Mk.IIc, plus the re-tooled canopy, photo-etch, masks and markings for six aircraft, if you haven't bought an Arma Hurricane yet, this is the one to get!

Thanks to Arma Hobby for the sample

Review and Images Text Copyright © 2020 by Brett Green
Page Created 2 December, 2020
Last updated 2 December, 2020

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