StephenMG

DFLS aircraft are interesting as they offer a fairly rare chance for an F.1 with a smidge of colour. The DFLS comprised two Flights, ‘A’ (coloured red) and ‘B’ (coloured yellow), the spine and fin leading edge being colour-coded accordingly. This a profile of WT648 I crayoned for the recent(ish) Pen & Sword Flightcraft Hunter book (which I thoroughly recommend - shameless plug!). Heaven knows which flight WT680 was in, but you've got a 50% chance of guessing correctly! As @71chally says, colour scheme is gloss Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey/High Speed Silver with a hard edge to the camo pattern. Also of interest is the early practice of painting the individual identity code on the tailcone. This didn't last long as it was a pain in the ar*e when servicing as the (interchangeable) tailcone had to be kept with the correct aircraft or repainted if moved. Note, if modelling an aircraft without link collectors, the cartridge chutes need to be repositioned to their original, one above the other, position in the radio bay doors. I can also thoroughly recommend the Aerocraft spine correction. Mark

Many of the OCU F.1s were retrofitted and flown with them too.

I really like Humbrol acrylics (to brush) but I've had exactly the same problem airbrushing them. I normally spray Tamiya acrylics with my Neo CN (0.35mm) without any problem at all. However, that brush will absolutely not spray Humbrol acrylics. I also have a simple, single-action Aztec airbrush - with a 0.4mm nozzle fitted it sprays Humbrols perfectly well. So, as you suggest, I think they need a bigger nozzle.

Sadly there were actually 3 Mosquitos destroyed in the filming - HJ662, TA642 and TA724 scrapped in crash scenes. I believe another aircraft has the front of its nose sawn off for the cockpit interior shots.

Yes, it's a standard device I think - hence the need for the adaptor plates to fit it to the Hunter's bracket.

I think what you've drawn there is just about right. The only additional equipment that is added to the Hunter for the target towing role is the fairing, tow bracket, 2 x release units, cockpit control panel and 2 x air launch containers. The cable routing is therefore as you have indicated as there is nothing else (such as cable guides) involved. A couple of minor corrections if I may, The total length of the towline is 850 feet - 800 feet of "treated nylon rope" plus a 50 foot "safety link". I believe the safety link is a length of the towline that is designed to break at a particular strain/aircraft speed. This is so that if the jettison system should fail, the aircraft can be accelerated to over 400 knots to break the towline (normal towing speed is a maximum of 250 knots). The target is a 6 x 30 feet radar responsive banner. The Pilot's Notes indicate that the port target should be launched first - exactly as you have illustrated.

Officially they are "9A/2286 Container, air launch Mk.4" or "RFD Banner Target Container". It's an oval container with an upper compartment, containing the towline, and a lower compartment containing the banner target itself. An electrical release slip allows a spring to eject the banner when activated. Here's a photo of one fitted to a Hunter F.6,

Glad to be of service!

This is a diagram of the GA.11/PR.11 cockpit from the AP which may help to figure what should and shouldn't be fitted. The AP includes updates up to 1972.

Hunter target towing information is a bit tricky to come by, but this is what I know. When target towing is required, the fairing in your photos is bolted to the engine access door. Just aft of that is bolted the release unit mounting bracket - this is the 'plate' in your photos with two large holes in it. This is literally just a mounting bracket - two electrically-operated release slips are mounted (using adapter plates) onto this bracket (one either side, sandwiching the bracket between them) and the targets are attached and streamed from them via shackles on 800 feet nylon lines with 50 feet safety links. The Hunter is therefore able to carry two separate banners - port and starboard. For air-launching, these banners are carried in target containers which are mounted on the inboard pylons (ground snatch launch is also an option). In the cockpit, a removeable panel is attached to the top of the gyro gunsight. The panel contains two illuminated buttons, one each for the streaming of the port and starboard targets. When pressed, the relevant target is ejected from its container, the towline payed out and the light on the control panel illuminates. Ordinarily the streamed target is jettisoned using the bomb/RP release button on the control column, however a separate standby release button is fitted to the towing panel on the GGS if required. This is a drawing from the AP showing how the release units are mounted. You can see the fairing and the large T-section mounting bracket from your photos in the drawing. If it's any use this is a drawing of the bolt positions of the release units. It might help to show the shape of it better than the above. This is the control panel mounted on the gunsight, I hope that helps. Mark

There are two designs of airbrake found on Hunters. Although, overall, they are the same length the moveable part on later airbrakes was lengthened. This was done following the introduction of the more powerful 200-series Avon engine with the F.6 to provide a more powerful brake. See the photos here - https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235066138-airfix-hunter-f4/&tab=comments#comment-3557354 - to see the two designs. For the F.4/GA.11 you need the 'early' style, assuming that's what Airfix have provided (I haven't got the F.4 kit yet). Hope that helps. Mark

GA.11s were converted F.4s so you'll need the narrower tailcone and the shorter airbrake from the F.4 boxing.

Thanks James. Yep, definate GA.11 material there - funny they don't mention it anywhere, but maybe it's intended for a future re-box with GA.11 markings? So nice to see the full Hunter series getting some attention at last. (They do seem to have missed the tail bumper though but, as you say, dead easy to knock one up.)

Is the larger tail bumper in the kit? Haven't got one myself yet.

Hi Melvyn, You've nailed it there I think - add pointy nose cone, shorten hood (although the back edge has an extra 'bit' at the bottom rear corner so isn't just a case of cutting it short), extend and reshape the spine (longer and slightly more bulbous than production Hunter), reshape tail cone/jet pipe, cut out under-fuse intake, remove L/E extensions. There's fair bit of work there but it's not too bad. There's also the extended windscreen if going for the actual record attempt config. The spine/hood thing is often forgotten as it was only present on the first 2 prototypes before it was modified to the more familiar hood length. I believe this was in response to criticism of the rearward view during early testing. I've never seen any drawings but this is the side view I did for the SAM Modeller's Datafile if it's any use. Probably not perfect but was the best I could do 11 years ago! This is a photo of the shorter hood, A photo (very kindly supplied to me by @jaw) of the intake under the rear fuselage, Mark P.S. I've had your wonderful 'Make Your Own Electric Guitar' book on my shelf for decades but still haven't plucked up the courage to give it a go!!! One day...