A few notes for anyone building this kit.
1. The wing construction:
Revell provide the wings in five parts. Two lower halves, two upper halves and a centre section that mates to the fuselage (see sprue shots). It turns out the best way to fit these is to disregard the instructions. Fit the centre section first, then glue the
upper halves to the fuselage and centre section. Then fit the lower halves. This will remove the ugly step that I found myself facing. I will definitely do things differently on the second kit of this model I have.
2. Catapult spools: The Sea Hurricane IIC variant was a navalised version of the land based Hurricane IIC. They were intended for use of aircraft carriers and as a result have a hook system but lack any catapult spools, despite what other builds you may discover online may tell you. This is from the Fleet Air Arm website:
Mk I One Hurricane Mk I conversion; Catapult spools and arrester hooks
Mk IA 50 Hurricane conversion; catapult spools only; specially produced for CAM fighter scheme - launched from CAM ships
Mk IB 300 Mk I (merlin III) and 25 Mk IIA series 2 conversions; Catapult spools and arrester hook (MAC-ship service)
Mk IC Hurricane Mk I conversion with four-cannon wings; catapult spools and arrester hook
Mk IIC Arrester hook and naval radio equipment
Mk XIIA Canadian built navalised Mk XII, with Packard Merlin XXIX engine
3. Fuselage: Lacks the area forward of the fuselage that fits under the rear of the canopy section. I haven't bothered to correct it but if you wanted accuracy then you will need to scratch build this area.
4. Canopy:
Revell, in their infinite wisdom, have moulded the framing of the main canopy
inside the part. This will make for interesting painting. Masking may be out of the question unless you want to buy a mask set. I think I may either experiment with painted decal paper or hand paint using tape strips, one painful frame at a time.
5. Filling: The fuselage fits nicely and only a small amount of filler is required. However the wings require much filling and sanding due to me following
Revell's instructions (see above). The radiator and oil cooler will require some filling. The fit of the main radiator to the fuselage underside is poor; I have cut the tab off and got more of a flush fit from it but some filling is required. The rear lower fuselage which contains the hook mechanism fits okay but requires some touch ups. Other builds note that the fit of this part is poor, but I don't think it's that bad. Ironic considering the mess I made of the wing fit.
I have a basic airframe assembled. Once filling and sanding is complete I will post some pictures. Hopefully these brief notes might help someone who intends to build one of
Revell's Mk II Hurricanes.