Easy Model 1/72 Hawker Hurricane Mk.II/Trop First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

We recently had the opportunity to look over some examples from the Easy Model line of products distributed by MRC and seen on quite a few hobby store shelves. In this example, we have a Hawker Hurricane Mk.II with the tropical air filter and desert camouflage paint scheme.

The aircraft comes mounted to a clear tray and held securely in place by one wire around the rear fuselage and retaining tape near the wingtips. The aircraft was not going anywhere during shipment! Extracting the model from the tray took just a few seconds.

What comes in the box is the aircraft, a two-piece display stand, and a placard identifying the product. The aircraft comes gear-down, so you can use the stand or display the Hurricane on its gear.

As you can see from the box, the shape and details of the model look right, as does the camouflage scheme. The aircraft is finished as a Mk.IID BP188/JV-Z of 6 Sqn RAF in North Africa, 1942.

It amazes me just how nice many of these pre-fabricated display models look in terms of detail and finish, especially for the price! The only thing that detracted from this particular example was a gap in the wing-fuselage joint that I was unable to correct. I had hoped that a little pressure on the center of the wing and fuselage might snap the assembly into place but it is evidently glued at the factory. It should be easy enough for you to eyeball the joint on one you're considering for your shelf through the packaging as I've seen a few others online that appear to have the same gap.

Aside from the gap, the shape and finish of this aircraft is nicely done and would look good on the shelf of an aviation enthusiast who is either not a modeler or a modeler who doesn't have the time to model.

My sincere thanks to MRC for this review sample!