canberraman Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 (edited) My entry for the Hunter STGB will be a T.7 in the markings of 1 TWU/79(Reserve)Sqn at RAF Brawdy in the early 80s. Base kit will be the beautiful 1/72 Revell FGA.9 which will be converted to a twin-tub using the PJ Productions T.7 resin. Photographed below are the raw materials along with my range of reference material. Decals will be from the Xtadecal Hunter T.7 set mixed with those from the Revell kit and my spares box. Really looking forward to this STBG, just a week to go now! Best wishes to all group builders. Mark Edited April 29, 2012 by canberraman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wkennerley Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Nice another Brawdy Hunter, look forward to this, I must do a T.7 someday too Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 This build looks like its going to be epic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Chaps Looking forward to the build immensely and its another opportunity to add to my slowly expanding Brawdy collection. There's a fantastic variety of Hunter types, scales and colour schemes planned for this STGB which looks like being one of the biggest and best yet. 5 days and counting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonR Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Look forward to following this... And nice collection of reference material Mark, looks strangely familiar to my bookshelf Cheers Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Canberraman...now where have I seen that name before? This is going to be good if your previous builds are anything to go by. Deacon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 The subject of my entry for the Hunter build is Hunter T.7 XL595/78 whilst in the service of 1 TWU/79® Sqn at RAF Brawdy circa 1980. Shown beneath are a couple of photos of the real machine parked on the Brawdy flightline. The initial stage of the build required me to carefully remove using a razor saw the Revell FGA.9 nose and cockpit immediately fore of the wing root. I made the cut with about 1mm to spare to ensure there was a good fit. The excess was then sanded back with 400 grit sandpaper to ensure correct alignment. A further cut was required to remove the FGA.9 spine to a point about half way along the fuselage. Trial fit of the PJ resin T.7 spine and cockpit indicated no major fit problems which was reassuring after having removed the plastic. The PR resin cockpit is nicely detailed, the Martin Baker 4H seats being particularly finely moulded. The tub and seats were given an overall brush painting of Revell coal black before dry brushing with lighter greys and aluminium to pick out details and provide a well used look. The parachute, harnesses and ejection seat handles were all carefulll brush painted in the colours indicated in my references. Last stage was to cement the wing upper and lowers together which revealed that as nice as the Revell Hunter is, the company failed to provide any intake trunking or RR Avon front. From reading a T.7 review build in SAMI it looks like a relatively quick and easy fix is to mould some trunking usiing Miliput. That will be the next stage and I will see what I can find in the spares box to use as an engine frontage. Thanks for looking and for those who have already commented, good luck and best wishes to all other Hunter builders. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 great work so far and that is a really sexy subject. Love T-bird Hunters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Lovely work on the cockpit. Saddo question of the day: which blue paint did you use for the seatbelts. It looks just right to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Looking god so far Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 Second instalment of my T7 build. Lovely as the Revell Hunter F6/FGA9 is, one glaring omission in my eyes is the complete lack of trunking inside the air intakes, the absence of an engine front and the gaps that exist between the intakes and the inner wings. Taking my inspiration from a T7 build in SAMI magazine, I indertook a relatively simple fix to this problem. First up I applied Milliput to the gap between intakes and inner wings and shaped it while wet with a cotton bud to give a representation of the intake trunking. Once dry the while intake insides were given a coat of satin white enamel. The next stage of the this process was to cut out a D shaped opening on each side of the fuselage leading to the RR Avon engine front. The engine front was sourced from the spares box and was mounted on a plastic card bracket inserted into the central fuselage.This area was painted matt black and the engine from picked out in a dull natural metal. I fully accept that not much of the engine will be visible once the model is complete but it added to my sense of satisfaction to know that I had improved, without too much effort, this main shortcoming in the Revell kit. I then began assembly of the forward fuselage and placement of the cockpit floor making sure that I added enough weight to prevent my Hunter being a tail sitter. The fit was generally OK but there was a gap on the underside that was built up with green plastic filler. With the rear fuselage complete I then mated this up with the resin forward fuselage. The two parts fitted together pretty well with only a small amount of filler required at the joint. The wings were then also cemented in place and again it was pleasing to note that they were a good tight fit. The vacformed cockpit transparencies were carefully cut out using a scalpel with a brand new blade and were then dipped in Johnsons Klear. The framing was then painted matt black and fixed in place using CA. I then proceeded to mask the cockpit area, wheel wells, intakes and exhaust with Tamiya tape before applyimg a couple of coats of Humbrol grey primer. Between each coat I corrected any blemishes and scratches with Tippex and model filler and then smoothed the finish with successively finer sheets of Micromesh. We're getting towards the last lap of this enjoyable STGB build. Today I have been brush paintiing the under surfaces with Xtracolor light aircraft grey. That will then leave the camouflaged upper surfaces to do along with adding the smaller details, dedcalling and weathering. Thanks for looking! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 This is my third and final instalment of this enjoyable STGB. The largely constructed Hunter was brush painted in Xtracolor enamels; light aircraft grey for the undersides and the upper surface camouflage done with dark green applied over the top of dark sea grey. I left a few days between coats to allow thorough drying (why do Xtracolor enamels take so long to cure?) In between applications of paint I also used successively finer grades of Micromesh to smooth the finish. With painting mostly complete, I gave the model a couple of coats of Johnsons Klear to seal the finish ahead of decaling and weathering. Decals were mostly sourced from the Revell kit with stencilling from the Xtradecal T7 set and the PJ resins conversion itself. The 1 TWU code was made from 16” white Modeldecal numbers. With decaling compete I then proceeded to ‘muck the finish up’ a bit with Promodeller dark wash to highlight panel lines and to show some oil and hydraulic fluid leaks, mostly on the undersides. Next stage was to add some of the fine details. Earlier in the build I had crafted some wingtip navigation lights from clear sprue. These were then painted red and green with Humbrol clear coats. The aerials were crafted from toothbrush bristles for the small whips near the upper wing roundels. Small pieces of fuse wire, cut and placed in holes drilled under the fuselage, were used for the two pole antennae. PJ provide a pair of resin windscreen wipers which were carefully removed, cleaned up, painted black, and then positioned in place with Klear. The pitot tube was made from a household pin with both ends clipped off to the correct size using wire snippers. The Hunter was then treated to a couple of coats of Vallejo spray can matt varnish applied. I love this stuff and it really does provide a pleasingly smooth and matt finish, with just a slight sheen as seen on most military aircraft. Using Tamiya weathering sets, I applied a few exhaust and soot stains to the fuselage vents and near the jet pipe outlet, trying to curb my enthusiasm not to overdo it! Now was the time to add the finishing touches. The canopy was painted and fixed in an open position using CA. The canopy restraining bar was made from a rod found in the spares box, cut to size and then painted dark green. A pair of crew ladders were fashioned from some HP Victor ones I found lurking in the spares box. These were shortened and adapted with the fixing brackets made from plastic card and rod. After painting them dark green with zinc chromate undercoat, as seen in some photos of the 1 TWU birds, these were glued in place using UHU. The air intake guards were made from pieces of cigarette foil cut to shape, weathered and then stuck in place using Klear. On a number of photos of parked RAF Hunters there can be seen a rudder guard which is placed over the top of the fin to prevent the free flowing rudder being damaged by the winds I presume. I crafted my own from a piece of thick plastic card cut and sanded to shape, and then painted in a dull matt rusty red. The Hunter was then given a final treatment of weathering from some artists pastels. Using various shades of grey pastel, sanded down to make a fine powder, these were then applied to the camouflaged upper surfaces using a cotton bud. This helped to lighten the colours slightly and to break the uniformity of the brush painted finish. To seal these in I applied a thin mist of hair spray. The remove before flight banners, fire extinguisher, wheel chocks and wire bin were all built from photo etch in the Flightpath RAF diorama set. They are so small and fiddly in 1/72 I reckon they took nearly as long to build as the Hunter itself! Hopefully however, they add a bit of interest to the finished display. So that’s it, she is now ready for inspection. I hope she bears some resemblance to the 1 TWU/79 Sqn T.7 shown in photos earlier in this thread. Here's a few pictures I took today during brief interludes from the rain. I'll put some better shots up in the completed builds gallery later. It is sad to report that the real aircraft, XL595/78 came to a tragic end after her RAF service and when she had subsequently become a privately owned warbird on the UK civil register as G-BTYL (XL595). On the 11th June 1993 this aircraft, flown by its experienced commercial pilot Mr Wallace Cubitt, crashed into the moor near Brunsten Croft Ridge in the Peak District, whilst en-route from RAF Coltishall where the aircraft was maintained, to Warton where it was scheduled to display at the Blackpool airshow the following day. The pilot, Mr Cubitt, was killed instantly having seemingly made no effort to abandon the aircraft. The crash must have been at high speed for the aircraft impacted so hard as to bury itself deep into the peaty soil. It is reported that his body was never recovered from the crash scene due to the depth of the crash and the high water table making salvage of the aircraft near impossible. For these reasons it is also not known why the crash occurred although there is speculation that it could have occurred due to pilot incapacitation due to oxygen starvation. I offer this model partly as a tribute to Mr Cubitt who tragically lost his life while flying XL595/G-G-BTYL, and to everyone else past and present, who have been involved with Sir Sidney Camm’s finest jet, the Hawker Hunter. Thanks for looking, c&c always welcome. Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smeds Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 RAF Brawdy was my first posting after training in the early 1980's, and you have nailed the Hunter there mate. Loved my time there and your model reminds me of my times there. Oh and I also remember 'Winston' The Meteor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie C Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Mark, you've done a fantastic job with that T.7 conversion! It looks really fine now you've weathered her and put some decals on. The pics aren't bad either. Those last three shots look like they could be the real thing. Nice also to see Winston getting another airing! It was good to get some historical background too on this particular machine, its untimely loss and tragic death of its pilot. RIP Wallace Cubitt. Good luck with the VC10 STGBs. Best wishes AC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smark Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Hi Mark, I like it......Great build and attention to detail! Nice touches to the Dio as well. Sometimes I wish I hadn't strayed from the use of 'the hairy stick', I know I'd get alot more done. Cheers Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave134 Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Smashing build, well done. Now for the VC-10! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Smeds, Arch, Mark and Dave. Many thanks fellas for the support and encouragement. It's much appreciated! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the STGB entries start rolling in. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonR Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Looks great Mark, you've captured the look of a late service Hunter perfectly. Love the ground equipment, really sets it off great. cheers simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Nice job, Mark! A fitting memorial to Mr Cubitt. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Simon, Bill, Many thanks for the kind comments. Good luck with your builds. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 That's really great work Mark, the finish is spot on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Top job there, looks very nice indeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I noticed that this isn't in the completed builds thread yet Mark, c'mon your masterpiece deserves a place in the final line-up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 Gents Many thanks for the comments - you're all too kind Paul,I'm just waiting for a day with half an hour of sunshine and no rain - rumour has it I could be waiting until June! I do like to photo my models in natural light but the way things are going I may have to persevere with my home made light box. Cheers again Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 Pictures now uploaded to the gallery. I managed to find 5 minutes sun today from about 15 hours of overcast and rain to take a few snaps!. Cheers all Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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