Vulcanicity Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Hello folks! Those who have seen my posts before may or may not remember that as a tropical forest ecology student I spend four months or so every year in Borneo. Following on from my successful Vampire built there last year, and motivated by the need to keep reducing my stash when when not in the UK, I shoe-horned the Revell Hunter and Airfix Swift into my rucksack this year - and managed to complete the Hunter and get the Swift 75% done! Not too bad considering the heat, discomfort and the fact I work six day weeks for fthe whole period. Anyway, here's the Hunter: it's actually the FGA9 which I bought for silly money at Telford a few years back - but I've back-converted to an early F6 by hacking an F6 tailpipe off the first Revell Hunter I built a good decade back, when you could actually buy the kit without selling major body parts. It represents XF526 of 63 Squadron, which flew Hunters briefly in the late 1950s before reforming later as a "Shadow" unit as part of the Central Flying School with FGA9s in the 1970s. I added some scratchbuilt sidewall detail, a bit of representative wiring in the undercarriage bays, a resin ejector seat and mainwheels from Quickboost, and the decals are Xtradecal. Hope you like! As well as being a pleasingly unusual squadron, it has a local connection as 63 were based at Waterbeach not a million miles away from Ms.Vulcanicity's folks in Ely. Lastly, here's the view from my modelling desk over the jungle! The sharp-eyed might spot the Hunter in this view. 38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Kudos for continuing to work and knock out great models abroad...nice job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Gruntfuttock Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 That's a very nice looking Hunter - well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngaero Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 I do like a nice Hunter and that fits the bill perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phone Phixer Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Nice Hunter and an amazing place to be building it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt O Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Lovely hunter, and well done for carrying on the hobby abroad. Cheers matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 Thanks folks! The Swift is now up on BM here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Lovely Hunter, it must have been 'interesting getting it back on one piece'. We have recently returned from a holiday in Borneo and really enjoyed the place and the people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Very nice Hunter - well done. Nice view from the modelling desk too ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Really nice Hunter there, looks great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Schilhart Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 Modelling in a jungle hut, that's quite a different approach. I'm tempted to ask how you carry all the kits, paints, tools, glue in your rucksack without damaging them? Surely there won't be any hobby shops nearby to stock up on those items. And is that Malaysian or Indonesian side of Borneo? Just curious, because I have been to the Indonesian side (Balikpapan, Berau, Derawan) recently. And of course, your Hunter turned out pretty nice given the conditions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted June 16, 2017 Author Share Posted June 16, 2017 Thanks for all the compliments folks! 2 hours ago, Roman Schilhart said: Modelling in a jungle hut, that's quite a different approach. I'm tempted to ask how you carry all the kits, paints, tools, glue in your rucksack without damaging them? Surely there won't be any hobby shops nearby to stock up on those items. And is that Malaysian or Indonesian side of Borneo? Just curious, because I have been to the Indonesian side (Balikpapan, Berau, Derawan) recently. And of course, your Hunter turned out pretty nice given the conditions! Tupperware boxes, mostly! I have to carry quite a bit of field kit with me some of which goes in a hard suitcase, so most of the modelling stuff goes in there. Paint, glue and filler are fine as long as you double-bag them with clips to seal the bags - and keep them religiously in the bags to avoid evaporation in the heat. Tools etch just went in a cloth tool roll. Space is quite an issue, I had to be very selective with numbers of paint (hence two aircraft with similar schemes) and e.g. buy one Xacto handle that could take multiple tool heads rather than take a knife, scriber, razor saw, etc etc. Getting the models back is much more of a challenge! The Hunter undercarriage required quite a lot of splicing back together despite having been in a Tupperware full of cotton thread waste - this was mostly due to me putting the Swift in on top and pressing down too hard on the cotton waste as I packed it in on top. As for hobby shops, no indeed. The nearest is probably Singapore which is nearly 1000 miles or two flights and a three-hour drive away! I had to be entirely self-sufficent. The biggest challenge is none of these however: it's humidity. Swann-Morton blades in particular go rusty at almost visible speed, even if you keep them in sealed ziploc bags. The same is true of scriber blades and drill bits! I had to be extremely careful to keep decals dry and sealed as well. I work near Tawau, which is in SE Sabah, so Malaysian side. I'd love to see Kalimantan, very jealous! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 Thanks for sharing, and thank you for the important research you do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djos Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 Great looking Hunter. My attention was caught by ejection seat, looks very nice and detailed. regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 I love the view from your window, the only thing that doesn't come across is what must be phenomenal heat out there! Another super job on the Hunter, those 63 Sqn markings are really classy. The paint job is excellent too, you must be the master of the hairy stick! Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain goat Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Wow, that's nice. Top notch build in tricky circumstances. Wasn't there any danger of plastic warping due to heat? Is it safe to assume the Hunter was brush-painted? Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 Thanks again everyone! It is hot out there, but not enough to warp plastic, and in fact no hotter than it is in London today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niles Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Very nice. I particularly like the view of the underside. Very convincing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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