THE AIRCRAFT:
The Hurricane is one of the most well known aircraft of world war two. While overshadowed by the popularity of the Spitfire, it was the Hurricane that did most of the dirty work during the battle of Britain. It was during the battle of Britain that the need for a faster power plant was raised. In comes the Mk II with it's more powerful Merlin engine. In addition 4 extra guns were added bringing in the total armament to 12 .303 machine guns. By this time the .303 could not punch through the newer, more heavily armoured German aircraft, and thus the MK IIs were relegated to rear duty as light attack aircraft and channel guards/marauders.

INSTRUCTIONS: 
An excellent 5 page booklet with clear and concise instructions. Provided are 3 view paint guides for 2 aircraft, a history and a paint guide using humbrol names and numbers.

THE KIT: 
I was stunned by the quality of this kit. I had taken an immense dislike towards revell kits after seeing many of their toy-like kits in the past. The new tooling however is excellent, quality is equal to many of the Japanese manufacturers and at a fraction of the cost (perhaps the boys at Hasegawa could learn a thing or two). The kit is smartly engineered to provide good close fitting parts, and the crisp plastic is easy to work with. The thing which pleased me most is the fine engraved panel lines. It is excellent, and not at all heavy handed as in some other kits (someone say Academy?)

The unorthodox wing assembly consists of 5 pieces. 2 upper halves, 2 lower halves, and a fifth center piece which is attached to the bottom of the fuselage, to which later are attached the wings. This eliminates the need for any tabs or poor fit in the wing fuselage joint. Again, only minimal filler needed here if done carefully.

After this main assembly there are several intakes, 5 piece landing gear (which looks excellent, as the wheel wells have great detail), clear covers for leading edge wing lights, a 4 piece prop and a choice of bombs or fuel tanks. Before closing up the wings drill out the proper holes if you will attach either bombs or tanks, I decided to leave both off as the bombs look rather half assed compared to the rest of the kit.

A two piece canopy is provided and could be left open if you sand down the area rear of the cockpit so that the main cage can slide over it. There are also two options of exhaust pipes, both look rather clunky, but can be hollowed out with a hand drill in order to look more realistic. Also are two mysterious pieces which are optional for one version. I don't know what they are, and thus decided to not model that version. They look like long rectangles, and are mounted horizontal to the forward upper fuselage, just in front of the canopy.

(Addendum on 'two mysterious pieces' supplied by Scott Hemsley) : Above, the reviewer stated there were two mysterious rectangular parts, mounted horizontally, aft & slightly above the exhaust. He didn't know what they were, so decided not to model that variant.  These plates were mounted on Hurricane nightfighter's in an attempt to obscure the glare of the exhaust, from the pilot.

PAINTING/MARKINGS:
Two aircraft varieties are provided. Both in standard RAF dark green/dark grey top. light gray bottom. However I think the suggested Humbrol bronze green is too strong and too dark. Tamiya's dark green would be much better. Decals provided include plenty of stencilling, wing walks, and even gun tape. Markings are for 402 squadron (RCAF) 1941 and 601 squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force 1941. I can not say how the decals worked as I was in "la-la land" and got mine wet after I bought the kit, so they would not slide off when it came time to use them and so I had to use aftermarket decals.

CONCLUSION:
Revell has outdone themselves, if you're like me and would rather have knives driven through your skull than build a Revell kit, then think again. These new ones are great. I'd recommend the Hurricane to anybody. Even absolute novices could get a nice kit out of this one. For once I didn't go into a fit of rage while modelling, this was a fun kit and with such a great price you've got nothing to loose. I think I'll give their new ME 262 a shot.