Hurricane Mk I, H-22, Squadron 2/1/2 Aé (Le Chardon or “The Thistle”), Belgian Air Force, Schaffen, Diest, May 1940

This is another one of my Hurricane season builds from this Summer.

The Subject

Belgium, along with a few other countries, purchased some Hurricanes either just before war started or shortly thereafter. Belgium, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Finland, Poland, Turkey, South Africa, Ireland, Egypt and even Iran. Some didn’t arrive before the countries were overrun by Germany but in the case of Belgium, they were actually the first Hurricanes to see combat, albeit not much.

Unfortunately most of the 20 Hawker supplied aircraft were destroyed on the ground, only 3 lost in aerial combat. Another 80 were to be license built by Avions Fairey with 4x 12.65mm guns in place of the 8x .303s, but only 2 were completed.

This model represents one of the 20 Hawker built aircraft that were destroyed on 10 May after the initial attack. They were part of 2/1/2 Aé or No. 2 Squadron of No. 1 Group of No. 2 Air Regiment.

The Model

This is Airfix’s new tooling Hurricane Mk I with the early fabric wing. I cannot say much more about the kit than I said in my last build, I gushed about the ease of construction. That hasn’t changed! With this and subsequent kits I’ve added the Freightdog Models 5 spoke wheels (FDR72066) as well as using Peewit’s masks (M72001) for the canopy. Both are very highly recommended as they make a huge difference on an already great kit.

For the Belgian Hurricanes, some sources indicate they were simply taken off the Hawker production lines ad hoc. I’m sure there was an order to it, like every 10th airframe, but I can’t find it. Given the delivery timescale, 20 aircraft over about 7 months, they would represent whatever configuration the RAF were getting at the time. Since H-22 is one of the first 3 airframes delivered in the Fall of 1939, I’d expect it to represent the early configuration but with the Merlin III engine. The photo above clearly shows it to have the two blade Watts prop, so no armor.

Details were painted the same as my previous build, since they were done as a batch.

For painting I used my current standards: Vallejo 70.921 for Dark Earth, Tamiya XF81 for Dark Green, Tamiya XF16 for the Aluminium undersides. I put a coat of Future over it all and let it cure for a few days before decals.

The kit decals went down just fine using Revell’s Decal Soft. I then put another coat of Future to seal it all in, followed by a misting of Microscale’s Clear Satin. I had some from years ago and it still seemed okay. I did thin it 50/50 with Airfix’s acrylic thinner. It toned down the glossiness just a tad.

Summary

This was another nice, easy, comfortable, quick and very enjoyable modeling experience.

Thanks for looking…