Hawker Hurricane (oz9863)

 

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Hi - I think the attribution of this plan may be incorrect. It is shown on your listing data as being by 'Tower', but it says at the bottom that it was designed for F.P. Sweeten Ltd of Blackpool, England, which I take to be the company that originally marketed it. Whether they used Tower Models or something like that as a brand name I don't know, but it seems unlikely as nothing like that appears on the plan. I think the Tower name is just an assumption based on the fact that a picture of Blackpool Tower is drawn on it. Incidentally, you have another plan which was also originally marketed by F.P. Sweeten Ltd.: Gloster Gauntlet plan oz5836. Interestingly, this plan carries the Comet logo and is dated 1936, although the plan also carries the accreditation: "designed for F. P. Sweeten Ltd, Blackpool, England" and the original designer, one Robert Reder, has signed and dated it '21st November 1935'. As this is such a very British subject I think it was most likely a British kit or plan marketed briefly by F. P. Sweeten Ltd. before being bought up by Comet and reissued under their own name - something they are known to have done with other companies.
SB - 09/03/2018
Robert Reder was an American designer for Carl Goldberg and Comet. He was a co-founder of Monogram Co. F.P. Sweeten was a dealer and distributor for Comet kits in UK. As Comet was an American company that mainly produced American planes, probably Sweeten asked for British planes, more interesting for their customers. A Tower catalog page for this Hurricane model was sent to OZ [more pics 003].
Pit - 09/03/2018
Here is a brief note on F.P. Sweteen Ltd, from www.gracesguide.co.uk: "Sweeten (F. P.) Ltd., 38, Bank Hay Street, Blackpool, make kits of parts to build exact scale flying models of a number of the popular R.A.F. machines. The models include Supermarine Spitfire, Westland Lvsander, Hawker Hurricane and Gloster Gladiator. Others are in preparation. Foreign models will be included and the Messerschmitt Me. 109 will be ready before Christmas. The kit of parts includes full size plan carefully drawn as a working blue print; all parts are numbered and building sequence is easy to follow. The framework of the model is in balsa wood and is covered with special lightweight Japanese tissue. Kits include all parts and quick drying cement; the only tools needed are a razor blade, some pins, and a drawing board. The finished models are all good flyers with an excellent appearance. A fully illustrated catalogue of 28 pages will be sent on receipt of 3d."
Pit - 09/03/2018
Wow - the power of the internet! I thought it would take a long time to clear that one up... Thanks to Pit for clarifying the issue regarding F.P. Sweeten, Comet, Tower and Mr Reder. So it seems Tower was indeed a brand name used by F.P. Sweeten Ltd and that they commissioned other companies to design kits for their range, amongst them being Comet (the Gloster Gauntlet) and Lancashire Model Aircraft Supplies of Bolton (the Hawker Hurricane). So one could make the case that both of these plans should be cross- referenced under Tower/F. P. Sweeten, as that firm commissioned both, but the situation is complicated by the fact that Comet obviously retained the US rights to their designs and applied their logo to the Gauntlet plan for sale (I assume) as part of a US kit. Both look pretty accurate for their day IMHO, so it would be nice to gather together the entire Tower range. Which begs the question: who designed the others? Perhaps we'll find out one day.
SB - 11/03/2018
Alwyn Greenhalgh told me, many years ago, that he designed some of Tower's scale designs. At the time I gave him an unstarted Hurricane kit with the kit manufacturer given as Grenwyn (or something similar). The Hurricane plan shown looks very similar to the plan of the kit that I passed on. Some of Alwyn's history is in a series of articles in SAM 35 magazines from way-back.
Ralph Sparrow - 02/02/2020
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