I was hoping someone with more knowledge of Hurricanes than I could help me out. I am wondering if there are much in the way of external differences between a late model Mk.I with a metal wing and the Mk.II? I have very little in the way of references covering Hurricanes other than Wings of Fame's variant briefing. The only thing it seems to mention between them is a different engine.

I was hoping to pass off Airfix's new Mk.I as a Mk.II with appropriate markings for an 8-gun Mk.II.

The nose is longer to accommodate the two stage Merlin, and then the spinner was also longer, skinnier and there was a catch ring around the top of the nose to catch the oil that the propeller sprayed out. Here's a Mk.II nose so you can compare it to your kit

Ah, thank Jessie. So much for that idea I guess.

As has been mentioned, the nose was longer by about 4 inches to allow fo the later Merlin, also different prop/spinner.
The aramament fit could also be different from the Mk.I with its standard 8 x .303mg's,
the Mk.II retained the 8 mg's,
the Mk.IIb wing could be fitted with 12 mg's,
the Mk.IIc wing had 4 20mm cannons(as per photo above),
the Mk.IId had 2 40mm cannons in pods slung under the wings.
In addition the later models could be fitted with bomb racks and LR fuel tanks

HTH