Completed Airfix Sea Hurricane 1/48 scale

My interest in the Sea Hurricane stems from my interest in Operation Torch – the Allied Invasion of North Africa.  When the invasion began, there was some question as to whether the Vichy French would resist the landing.  Floating on a troop ship offshore that morning was a young infantryman, Kenneth “Red” McBride, who was destined to survive the war and become my father-in-law.  He was probably wondering if he would manage to survive the coming battle.  Little did he know, not only would he survive the coming battle, but he would also survive fighting across North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, the invasion of Italy at Salerno, and finally the Anzio landings.  He was a great father and grandfather, and we miss him each and every day.

I wonder if he saw this particular Sea Hurricane fly over that morning before it crashed on the beach. (See photo below)

Of great assistance in finishing this model was a masking set from AML in the Czech Republic.  These masks are made of vinyl, and they worked perfectly.  Highly recommended.

The camouflage paints are from Vallejo Air, and the decals came from my decal collection.

An invaluable aid in building this model was The Hawker Hurricane, Airframe and Miniature No. 16, by Richard A. Franks and published by Valiant Wings Publishing Ltd. (https://www.valiant-wings.co.uk/) in the U.K. in 2020. (If you have a strong interest in one of the subjects for Mr. Franks’ books, your library is incomplete without it. These books also contain extensive model construction information on many kits of the subject.)

There is something about the new Airfix kits.  They are always fun to build, and Airfix is bringing us modern kits of many subjects no other company is going to produce.  I always enjoy them.

Operating from HMS Biter crash landed on the beach at St Leu, in Algeria, during the Torch landings. 8th November 1942 (Believed to be in the public domain)

2 thoughts on “Completed Airfix Sea Hurricane 1/48 scale

  1. great job as usual Matt, and what an interesting personal connection with ‘Torch’.

    Keep up the good work and the wonderful narrative.

    Like

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