The Hawker Hurricane is deservedly very much back in the modelling limelight thanks to Arma Hobby with their state of the art new-tool kits - firstly in 1:72 and now in 1:48 - so the timing's just right for Ray Horwell at Fantasy Printshop to bring out his Euro Decals Mk.IIB collection in 1:48 too.

The selection of subjects is unchanged from the smaller scale set (reviewed here: https://aeroscale.net/news/1-72-hurricane-mk-iib-decals), with markings for 8 aircraft that offer a very interesting variety of colour schemes and markings:

1: Hurricane Mk.IIB, s/n BD761, "SW-F", 253 Sqn., RAF, 1942

2: Hurricane Mk.IIB, s/n BH125, "U", 3 PRU, RAF, 1942

3: Hurricane Mk.IIB, s/n BG737, Malta Night Fighting Unit, RAF, 1941

4: Hurricane Mk.IIB, s/n BE171, "YB-B", 17 Sqn., RAF, 1942

5: Hurricane Mk.IIB, s/n BE421, "XP-G", 174 Sqn., RAF, 1942

6: Hurricane Mk.IIB, s/n Z3971, "SW-S" "Samastans II", 253 Sqn., RAF, 1941

7: Hurricane Mk.IIB, s/n BG971, "AX-V", 1 Sqn. SAAF, 1942

8: Hurricane Mk.IIB, s/n BD939, "FG-Ʃ, 335 Sqn., RAF,1942

The packed sheet has individual markings for all the featured aircraft, and Ray has also squeezed in sufficient national insignia for three complete schemes without the need to use kit decals. 

The sample decals are top quality, printed with pin-sharp registration and essentially no excess carrier film except where it's used to group elements. The colours look excellent, with dull RAF red contrasting nicely with the brighter SAAF roundels and a convincing Sky used for squadron codes. The overall finish is high gloss, and previous experience with Fantasy Printshop decals has shown they respond beautifully to standard solvent and setting solutions. 

The decals are accompanied by high quality artwork printed in A4 format with colour matches for Humbrol, Xtracolour, Xtracrylix, Mr. Color Aqueous, MRP and Vallejo Model Air model paints where possible. The  difficult colour to match confidently with model paints is the non-standard "Bosun Blue" for scheme #2, and this has been the subject of some conjecture. Its nautical name implies a true "navy blue", which can be so dark it's almost black in some cases, and one theory is that it may have been the very dark blue commercially available paint called "Boatswain Blue" which Dupont produced at that time (bosun being short for boatswain). (https://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcodedisplay.cgi?color=Boatswain%20Blue)

Conclusion

It's great to see Euro Decals' Hurricane decals available in 1:48 because they'll be a perfect accompaniment for the superb Arma Hobby series of Mk.II variants (note, there's a reconnaissance version coming soon) and, of course, earlier kits by other manufacturers. A full line-up of the featured aircraft will look fantastic, so this would be a great basis for an individual or group build, and the set is excellent value at less than a couple of quid per scheme.

Item #ED48140 is available now from Fantasy Printshop - Price: £15.95

Many thanks to Fantasy Printshop for the review sample.

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