The Hurricane needs little introduction as one of the two RAF fighters that bore the brunt of the Battle of Britain in 1940. Less well known is that Finland operated a small number of Hurricanes during the Continuation War, received via Britain in 1940. They carried the Finnish Air Force's traditional blue swastika roundel — a symbol adopted in 1918, long before it acquired its more infamous associations.

The kit has an interesting history of its own: it was my father's, bought but never built, and sat waiting for the right moment. That moment came when I realised I could build a Hurricane and a Messerschmitt Bf 109 from the same air force — a combination that tells its own story about Finland's complicated position during the war. With some aftermarket cockpit detail and paint masks for the Finnish markings, I'm genuinely pleased with the result for a kit that dates back to 1973.