Hawker Fury I, K1938, No. 43 Squadron RAF, Cranwell, 1931

Matchbox 1/72 Fury I

The Subject

Hawker produced biplanes for the RAF and FAA during the 1930’s from a single basic design, the Hawker Hornet.  Variants  in addition to the Fury fighter being the Hart (light bomber), Audax (army co-operation), South African made Hartebeest (SAAF ground support), Demon (2 seat fighter), Hardy (2 seat general purpose), Hind (Hart replacement), Hector (Hind derived army co-operation), and the Osprey (carrier based fighter/reconnaissance for the FAA).  Sixteen countries operated some variant, in addition to the UK, the type operating into the early stages of World War II.

The Model

Although a much older kit, it is still the best boxing of the Fury biplane.  While the detail is raised it is reasonably fine and looks appropriate for this subject, given the real aircraft had some domed rivets and lapped joints.  

Construction was quite simple and the model came together quickly.  I drilled out the holes for the interplane rigging wires and then after cutting 6mil diameter ceramic wire to length, fixed each with a tiny bit of acrylic glue.  Once dried I sprayed the model overall silver from a rattle can (Tamiya AS-12), masked the fin, and sprayed red, then sealed it all up with a clear coat.  

Decals are original from the kit.  They had not yellowed so I simply applied Microscale’s Liquid Decal Film to the decal sheet, let it dry and applied the decals as I normally would.  They went down well.

Once it was all sealed under a coat of satin clear, I put the windscreen on and called this one done.

Summary

This kit is yet another great example of an easy build for newcomer to biplanes in 1/72.  I approached this build as a mojo maker, refreshing my own desire to make more biplanes.  I’ve since found two more of these kits and AMG has released the Demon/Hart, with hopes that they’ll figure out the rest of this lovely family of aircraft.