Hawker Hurricane IV R.P.

Here’s a blast from the past! Reading the “Boy’s Book of Airfix” by Arthur Ward I was surprised to read of Airfix in 1957 releasing the Hawker Hurricane Mk.IV RP a version of the Hurricane I’d never actually come across before. I just could not resist the challenge of tracking one down, a model kit moulded before I was even born!

It arrived from my seller with no canopy, no stand and a broken propeller and while he immediately refunded me I did wonder whether it was even worth continuing with it, but as my seller seemed happy to leave me with the bits, I decided to press on.

I extracted a propeller from an old build of a Hurricane model I had boxed away in the loft and cut off, modified and glued in place the front section of a Airfix 'Kate' canopy I had in spares box as the newer Airfix Hurricane canopies are of a totally different shape. On advisement, I did in the end fill the wing to fuselage joins, gaps in which one could have driven a bus through and I dug out an old set of after market decals. I went for white squadron markings as per the originals and painted in a sky coloured band on which to apply individually cut aircraft numbers to match the artwork. I should probably have used sky letters to match the band, however, as I've a few new kits with this combination may be it's an OK combination.

The original aircraft probably had painted yellow leading edges, but being absent from the artwork, but putting myself in the head of a child building this back in the 1950s, I decided to leave these off! I’ve seen later Roy Cross artwork for the kit with a black spinner, so I left this as it was on the doner Hurricane which I think was from one of those limited palette dogfight double gift sets.

I used SMS paints RAF colours and plans I found in another after market set of decals for the final camouflage, neither of which I am totally convinced with, but against the backdrop of this being the recreation of a 1950s era young schoolboy's build and the bits I had to play with, I'm quite happy with the final result