matto21

Thank you all for the comments, much appreciated! Definitely a nostalgic project for me, many a happy hour spent watching these land and take off at RAF Valley. Matt

Cool, they look great. Looking forward to getting my hands on some!

Hello everyone, just a few photos of my completed Hawk to share. The model is a borderline tail sitter (interestingly an old boxing of this kit mentions nose weight but the new version I built doesn't and I forgot!) so the base serves a purpose as I can glue it down. Thanks Matt

Now finished for anyone that's interested: Looks like the Hawk's that I remember from my childhood and that's good enough for me! Matt

Hello all, As usual, my good progress has stalled. I've dragged this back onto the bench this afternoon to try and make some progress. Matt

Latest building completed.

Yep - my mother ordered it for me as an Xmas present 2 (?) years ago. Each time she's contacted Doolittle by phone to chase up, she's been told there are delays related to Covid. I reckon they might try to incorporate the newly announced P-38J kit too (which would make sense) hence the delay.

Hello all, Bit more randomness to share: Parkside Tube wagon - originally built about 15 years ago. Stripped, repaired and repainted. I've also been scratchbuilding some structures for the layout.

Hello all, I've decided I'm not doing any of Tamiya's schemes...they're all a little uninspiring. Instead, I'm going to do "Yellow 13" from JG 53 which has a yellow cowling and white wingtips. Painting has therefore started on the undersides. Matt

Nice choice! I'm also doing a Valley Hawk albeit in 1/72 scale. Can't beat the old red/white (and red/white/blue) schemes.

I was genuinely excited by this announcement...but not at that price.

Hi all, I'm edging ever closer to paint and decided to tackle the prop. I used various potions but the result is only semi-successful. This is actually attempt number 2. After much consideration, I also decided to just glue the cowling parts because I just could not get a good fit. I must have done something wrong somewhere because most of the builds of this kit I've seen seem to celebrate how well these parts fit. I'll undoubtedly break the gun barrels but wanted to glue them before I paint the wings for a good fit. Matt

Hi @tctele, thanks for the comment - you should definitely crack on, it's a great kit! Hello @k5054nz, I'm just not a fan of decal belts, they look too flat to me. The belt decals had already been applied to the seat when I took over, but I painted over them and made new ones. The decals in this kit that I have applied so far have been great quality and easy to apply though. Hi @antonio argudo, great photos - very interesting. I think I used Mr Hobby H416 RLM66 for the cockpit parts. It's way lighter than your photos though. Matt

Great start! This kit has resided in my stash for many years - it's good to see an example being built. Matt

Hi Mark, thanks for commenting - no need to be intimidated though, this is all average stuff. I bought the Eduard LooK panel but thought I'd paint the kit one anyway - I can't match Eduard's printing with my painting, but it still looks decent once the decals are applied. I've actually used the kit one in the end, could have saved myself some £! Oh well...

Not sure if anyone is interested in this build, but here's some progress. I'm ticking off the steps and getting ever closer to the painting stage. First task was to assemble the fuselage sections immediately in front of the windscreen. I'd been putting off doing this because it'd also involve masking the glazing, which I never enjoy, but in the end it wasn't too bad. I'm going to be a bit controversial now and say that as impressive as Tamiya's engineering is (because it is), I think the removable sections are a step too far. They fit well-ish, but not well enough for me that they could remain removable. I'll be gluing them I think. Finally, I finished off the undercarriage parts. Wheel hubs sprayed X-18 Semi Gloss Black... And the rest with XF-85 Rubber Black. A few washes gets the weathering started and they already look reasonably convincing to me at least. Thanks Matt

Construction has now moved to the front parts and engine covers. The lower section is attached using a previously inserted magnet, and is an excellent fit with the surrounding panels. The fit of the upper machine gun cover is less impressive in my opinion, with a noticeable join - unless I've made a mistake (but I don't think I have!).

Back from visiting family and an hour or so tonight has resulted in brake lines using micro tube and wire. This isn't accurate, just a representation of course. The flaps etc have all been assembled and fitted too - all fit perfectly! Matt

Happy Christmas to me!

Thanks @Tokyo Raider! Last bit of progress before an enforced break over Christmas and it's not a very exciting update! I've assembled the underwing cannons and this is one area where Eduard are ahead of Tamiya as they manage to mould their gun barrels open. A few mins with a drill sorted that. It's a small but worthwhile task in my opinion. I've also made the drop tank and mount. In case you're wondering, the panel fits the recess in the bottom wing perfectly! I was looking through the instructions and I'm not too far from being able to start the painting now. Happy Christmas everyone! Matt

Bit more progress to share tonight... Here's the kit instrument panel, minus decals of course. I also treated myself to the Eduard LooK panel. Not decided if I'll actually use it yet, but it looks really nice in the packet! I've also managed to fit the fuselage to the wings - the remarkable dry fit gets even better once glued! Matt

That's interesting! Tamiya instructions call out RLM02...I'll need to do some research!

@HOUSTON, thank you for your kind comment. Some minor progress to share: The gear bays have been assembled, undercoated and then painted in RLM02. The sidewall parts fit incredibly well. I like using acrylic paint for subtle washes. You can't really see it here but I've started the weathering off using a wash of these paints. I'll be adding to this with some oil washes another time. Talking of fit of parts, the wing to fuselage join is ridiculously good. This is just a dry fit... Matt

Hello again, My friend had applied the kit seatbelt decals - I'm really not a fan of these at all. As I was repainting and weathering the cockpit anyway, I decided to add my own, simply because they look better to my eye. I've also completed the basic assembly, painting and weathering of the engine. I've not decided yet if I'll use the open cowling parts or not. Either way, it was fun to do! Matt

Hi all, Like many of us I suspect, I'm a serial starter of builds. I've got a couple on the go, but what's another between friends eh? I was offered this kit by a friend for a very reasonable price. He'd completed the first few construction steps, including painting the cockpit parts. I couldn't refuse - I've heard great things about this kit, and it's been a while since I've built a Tamiya aircraft kit. So here's the current state of play: unusually for a Tamiya kit, the rear cockpit part required a bit of fettling to get a good fit. I've repainted and weathered the cockpit, mainly to blend in the rear section and to get it closer to where I'd like finish-wise. Will I finish this kit? Who knows! Matt