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1/48th Hawker Hunter from Italeri


rod mcq

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Italeri must have seen a market need to release this Hunter or perhaps they know something we don't so are trying to get in first. Even if Airfix was to release an Hunter it would not be on the shelves till 2013 going by their recent releases.

If it's worth anything I would not be surprised to see a 1/48 version coming from Germany.

Robert

They must have seen the Heritage Aviation T.7 (and soon to come T8.M) and realised that everyone would need the donor kit!!!

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Italeri must have seen a market need to release this Hunter or perhaps they know something we don't

Or just maybe they've been doing some customer market research and have been reading internet modelling forums.

The hope/wish of a (Re) Released 48th Hunter has been talked about on this board quite frequently.

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The hobbycompany website shows a Mk 6/9

http://www.hobbyco.net/scripts/cgiip.exe/W...0000000005b29c1

so probably Academys 2 kits in 1

would explain why academy withdrew it about 18mths ago, maybe Italeri have been fixing it

http://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/i...-raf-model-kit/

cheers

Rich

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Adding to my original posting here, my sources have confirmed that it is a "borrowed moulding" hence it probably is the Academy kit.

Well, it had certainly better not be the Lindberg kit!!! :lol:

If so , its a shame Aeroclub's detail set doesn't seem to be available any more.

Hopefully, John will resurrect his set in light of this. It really does make all the difference in the world to what is a very poor kit, accuracy-wise.

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If it's a simple rebox, it's quite unlikely that Italeri will add anything new apart from the decals. These of course will be welcome and I bet they'll add a swiss option ! Switzerland has always been a very good market and Italeri has almost always included these markings if possible.

Still, even if not updated it's a 1/48 Hunter, something that many here wanted to see available again. Might buy one myself even if I'm mainly a 1/72 modeller

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Looks like they may have been reading this forum.

On another thread we kept asking Airfix to bring a Hunter out. Looks like Italeri have got there first.

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Wicked news but not for the wallet :whistle:

If this is the Academy kit, is there an idiot guide as to whats wrong with it? Would a better sized seat suffice in the cockpit or is it worse than that?

If its just a seat, I'll probably buy a couple B)

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Wicked news but not for the wallet :whistle:

If this is the Academy kit, is there an idiot guide as to whats wrong with it? Would a better sized seat suffice in the cockpit or is it worse than that?

If its just a seat, I'll probably buy a couple B)

Hi Chris, there are some issues, mainly the cockpit (seat too small etc) which can be easily put right with the superb Neomega resin cockpit, wheels are a bit on the small side and I think there are some issues with the tail cone, other than that its fine!! :D

Somebody did a build thread on here and put all the faults right, very useful reading, i'l did out the link if I can find it quickly.

Edited to add: Here's Karls fantastic build thread, over and above the call of duty I think!

Cheers

Simon

Edited by SimonR
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That's good news. I picked up the Academy kit last year, pretty cheap, which was good as I imagine ebay inflation would kick off if no-one else released one/reboxed it. Hopefully get a few more into the group build next year if it is available in time.

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The hobbycompany website shows a Mk 6/9

http://www.hobbyco.net/scripts/cgiip.exe/W...0000000005b29c1

so probably Academys 2 kits in 1

would explain why academy withdrew it about 18mths ago, maybe Italeri have been fixing it

http://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/i...-raf-model-kit/

cheers

Rich

I agree with anything a fellow Magnum fan says!

Richard

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The hobbycompany website shows a Mk 6/9

http://www.hobbyco.net/scripts/cgiip.exe/W...0000000005b29c1

so probably Academys 2 kits in 1

would explain why academy withdrew it about 18mths ago, maybe Italeri have been fixing it

http://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/i...-raf-model-kit/

cheers

Rich

Its actually listed earlier as an FGA6(!) and FGA9. I assume thats meant to read F6A and FGA9 - as both were virtually externally identical I suspect we'll only be treated to one kit!!

Hopefully get a few more into the group build next year if it is available in time.

Yep! I expect to see plenty of 1/48th entries in that GB!!

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Here's wot I wrote in my book regarding the Academy Hunters:

"Academy released two 1/48 Hunters, an F.6 and an FGA.9, back in the mid-eighties; these are beautiful kits, with very nice engraved detail and overall very good fit, but as Hunter models they are seriously deficient. Here's one I made some years ago, incorporating the Aeroclub correction set. The base kit has some serious accuracy problems and Aeroclub's set is really a necessity if you wish to produce anything like an accurate model. Some of the more egregious errors are as follows:

1. The ejection seat is badly undersized, being closer to 1/60 scale, and is in critical need of replacement. Martin-Baker Mk.2 or Mk.3 seats are available from various manufacturers in resin or white metal - see Chapter 6 for details. I used the white metal one from the Aeroclub correction set - this also helps with nose weight - and added a set of tape seatbelts and overhead pull handles.

2. The cockpit tub is much too shallow and will need to be replaced also; Aeroclub provides a deeper, more detailed replacement, though it might be possible to modify the kit part.

3. The tailcone is incorrect for either mark. The F.6 one is much too small in diameter; the FGA.9's is also too small in diameter and the brake parachute housing is not bulky enough and too pointed at the rear. The Aeroclub set provides three new correct tailcones for the Avon 100-series F.1 to 4, and for the Avon 200-series F.6 and FGA.9, with the natural metal exhaust tip reproduced in white metal - when polished, this looks really nice.

4. The tailplanes should be positioned some 2.5mm further forward and the associated anti-buffet bullet shortened by 3 mm. It's easy to lengthen the slot in the fin, but you should also add the plate that serves to seal the gap between the fin and variable-incidence tailplane. The shape of the plate is already engraved on the fin; it should be slightly raised, so I traced the shapes onto 5 thou plastic card before cutting them out and gluing them to the fin.

While you are at it, the bullet at the rear of the tailplane/fin junction is much too long. I cut it out and cut off 5mm from the rear end. To simulate the rear formation lamp housing, I added a piece of clear sprue then sanded it to a point. I trimmed about 2.5 mm from the front of the hole in the fin created by removing the bullet, in effect moving the bullet forward by that much, and thereby retaining its spatial relationship with the elevators. With the shortened and reshaped bullet firmly glued in place and blended in with filler, I was able to attach the tailplanes in their correct position. Simple really!

5. The one big construction issue is the fit of the intake assembly to the fuselage and wings. Academy's suggested sequence of construction is to attach the intake trunking to the fuselage halves and closing them before adding the wings at a later stage. This causes all sorts of fit issues and has given much grief to many modellers. A far easier method is to construct the wings and firmly attach them to the fuselage halves first. There is minimal gluing surface for this and I used superglue to assure a firm join; other types of glue could be used to literally weld the parts together.

Once completely set, you can dry-fit the intake assembly into the fuselage, adjusting the fit by filing and sanding as necessary. The fit will be tight, but as long as you attached the wings firmly, you shouldn't get any cracking or splitting. Once you are ready to join the fuselage halves, attach the intake assembly to one half; I used tube cement for this to give some time to adjust the fit before it all sets up once the fuselage halves have been joined. A word about the intake assembly - ensure this is also firmly glued together, as the process of dry-fitting may cause the seams to split. It should also be noted that the intake splitter plates included with the kit are much too thick, and sit too far from the intake walls. Given the way they've been moulded, these cannot reasonably be corrected so I replaced mine with a piece of 10 thou plastic card to which I added a slight curve to match the contours of the fuselage side. These are mounted slightly proud of the fuselage - the mounts were made from short pieces of fine rod.

6. The kit's main wheel tyres are about a mm. small in diameter. The white metal ones include with Aeroclub's correction set are about a mm. too large, and it's your choice as to which you'd prefer to correct! I chose to carefully sand back the Aeroclub ones, but the kit ones could be modified with a strip of 10 thou plastic card cemented to the outside of the tread. A related issue is that the kit's undercarriage legs are slightly too long - Aeroclub supply white metal legs to replace these.

7. Some panel lines are in the wrong places. For example, the kit has trim tabs on each aileron, whereas there should only be one on the port wing - see the plans included with this book.

8. I replaced my canopy with the vac-form one by Aeroclub. The kit-s windscreen is OK, if a little thick, but the sliding canopy is not correctly shaped, having the bulge apex too far back, being too short, and having a prominent rear frame, something the real Hunter canopy does not have - there is a thin Perspex strip inside the rear edge of the canopy that aids with a pneumatic pressurization strip."

Here's a couple of photos of the F.6 and GA.11 conversion I did from this kit:

03.jpg

pj-acad-ga11.jpg

HTH. Don't forget, the book is stilll available from SAM Publications..... ;)

Edited by Paul Bradley
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Here's wot I wrote in my book regarding the Academy Hunters:

HTH. Don't forget, the book is stilll available from SAM Publications..... ;)

I as just about to get that book out Paul.....

Aditionally - and I'm not totally certain either way - I think that the nose is too bulbous! If you compare the overall shape to that on the Revell kits it ceratinly looks so - from certain angles anyway. I've been building an Academy FGA9 (another back burner project!) and had planned to hack away at the nose with some serious sanding. I'll dig the kit out soon and have another look.

Now, bearing in mind I've built a few of these models - without any nasal modification - it was only when looking at some photo's of my models that I noticed that there could be something wrong. This could of course be the angle of the camera, but there again....

fga91.jpg

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You could well be right, Bill - when I built the kit, I didn't have Mark's plans, so I was going by eye. And I don't have any Academy kits any more.

I still think we need Airfix to do the job properly, so there's no hassle...... :P

Edited by Paul Bradley
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Here's wot I wrote in my book regarding the Academy Hunters:

"Academy released two 1/48 Hunters, an F.6 and an FGA.9, back in the mid-eighties;

Excellent and very useful information. However, the pedant in me can't help but point out that these kits were released in the mid nineties, not eighties ;-)

Cheers

Jon

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Yes the Hunter bits for the Academy kit are to be re-released. I've just remoulded the metal u/c parts V152U minus the metal seat at £2.50 and the plastic now comes as type specific The codes are V1524, V1526, and V1529 which are the Plastic parts (bathtub and tail cone) at £4.00 each. I have a new resin Hunter seat at £3.50 and the canopy will be £2.00. I am swamped with work at the moment so please don't all order at once. I have started to run plastic but it must wait until my Demon is out and away and my studio stops looking like an Afgan scrapyard.

John

Edited by John Aero
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One item, that's always missed, is the apparent "droop" of the l/e extensions, caused by the top surface continuing the downward sweep of the wing's aerofoil section; underneath, it swept up, again, to meet the lower surface, as it, also, swept up, so you finished with a very low, flattened "W" shape.

scan0004-1.jpg

Edgar

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Yes the Hunter bits for the Academy kit are to be re-released. I've just remoulded the metal u/c parts V152U minus the metal seat at £2.50 and the plastic now comes as type specific The codes are V1524, V1526, and V1529 which are the Plastic parts (bathtub and tail cone) at £4.00 each. I have a new resin Hunter seat at £3.50 and the canopy will be £2.00. I am swamped with work at the moment so please don't all order at once. I have started to run plastic but it must wait until my Demon is out and away and my studio stops looking like an Afgan scrapyard.

John

Thanks John! No Academy Hunter should be started without your correction set!!

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Yes the Hunter bits for the Academy kit are to be re-released. I've just remoulded the metal u/c parts V152U minus the metal seat at £2.50 and the plastic now comes as type specific The codes are V1524, V1526, and V1529 which are the Plastic parts (bathtub and tail cone) at £4.00 each. I have a new resin Hunter seat at £3.50 and the canopy will be £2.00. I am swamped with work at the moment so please don't all order at once. I have started to run plastic but it must wait until my Demon is out and away and my studio stops looking like an Afgan scrapyard.

John

Might there be a re-release of the two seater conversion too??

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