Quick Boost

1/72 Hawker Hurricane Mk.II Propeller For the Hasegawa kit

Stock Number: 72 132

Reviewed By  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: $6.95 Web Site: www.quickboost.net The Hurricane has always been one of my favorite airplanes, and over the years, many kits of this aircraft have been issued in 1/72 scale. Most readily available kits are Mk. II's, and there are some good choices in the Revell, Hasegawa, and Heller kits. Each has its problems, but there are many different variations that can be modeled. There are slight differences, but all of those make up into acceptable models that look like Hurricanes when completed. I think that is the idea. This conversion kit provides an accurate Rotol prop and spinner for the excellent Hasegawa Hawker Hurricane Mk. II kit. The blades are similar to those in the kit, but the resin replacements taper a bit better towards the inside, and look more realistic. The kit spinner is a little too long and "bulbous", while the replacement resin unit is, as the Brits would say, "Bang On!" By the way, it is nearly identical to that of the Revell-Germany Hurricane II kit, although it could be used for this kit also. The kit comes with a resin cast guide which allows alignment of the prop blade to a consistent pitch setting. Since the prop pitch was adjustable on this aircraft, several settings would be correct, although fine pitch would be the logical setting while the aircraft was sitting on the ground. The procedure when flying an aircraft with this kind of prop is to keep it in fine pitch, check it during runup, and then take off in fine pitch, moving it into a coarser pitch when cruising speed is attained. The whole thing is like the gears on a standard shift car. The basic idea is to trim off the excess resin, paint the spinner and prop blades (painting the yellow tips is easy when the blades are still on the sprue). Then, trim the blade roots, paint them black, and remove them from the sprue. Use super glue to attach the blades to the spinner. There is a slight amount of "wobble" in the fitting, as the roots are a little smaller than the receptacle holes in the spinner, so you have to be careful to make sure that the blades are lined up straight. It's not much easier than the kit method of attaching the individual blades. The alignment tool helps, and it might even be useful for other props, so don't throw it away. Hurricane props are rather confusing to most modelers, as Hurricanes were equipped with at least three different props, the Watts two blader, the Dehavilland three-blader, and the Rotol. The spinners are different for each prop, so be sure to check photographic evidence before deciding on which prop to use. I did a Mk. IID/ Trop of No. 6 Squadron, RAF, based in Egypt in 1942. I used the kit decals from Aeromaster. This resin conversion kit is worth getting for the Hasegawa kit, as it improves the appearance of the model. Thanks to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the review sample. It prompted me to build four Hurricane kits at one setting.

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