Search the Community

Well, here goes my second RFI since rediscovering the joys of building kits after many years away! This one is very much an out of the box project for me, destined for my grandsons bedroom shelf. Enjoyable nevertheless! So here's a few photos of the final stages leading up to my declaring it complete. 1. First lesson learnt - The large white arrow on the underside. I foolishly attached the vortilons before applying the transfers. This caused major problems, although I recovered the situation - a mistake I won't make again. 2. The red is complete and decals added (after much deliberating I settled on airbrushing Humbrol 238 which gave a good even finish). Canopy is being taped over to allow a final coat of W&N gloss varnish. 3. Having thought I'd made a good job of the varnishing, I discovered that some had leached under the tape - another disaster! Again lots of searching on BM for a solution - I settled on Novus 1 and 2 which did the trick and brought out the MDC lines! 4. FInal part to add - the nose landing light, very fiddly! Looks a bit like a Spaceshuttle being prepared for launch but I found it gave me a steady position to make the join. 5. Complete! But... another lesson learned - its tail heavy! I hadn't thought about that in the earlier stages - might be able to squeeze a small weight into the front wheel bay. Think I'll try a small block of silver, which is heavier than brass or copper. Lead would be best but not from a child safety perspective. 6. Presentation. I decided to create a sort of 'diorama', based on the aircraft taking off/landing at its home base. So I got out the watercolours to create a skyscape and some oblique angle Google Earth screen shots of the main runway at Scampton. Heavy gauge wire suitably clamped would be used to put the hawk in a flying position. Easier said than done... perspective and scale are tricky to get right plus making sure that the wire didn't show so a lot of experimenting took place. Here's my set up before the final shots were taken. 7. End result - Take off on a misty Lincolnshire morning. 8. Aborted landing, late afternoon. Far too high on the approach - going round again... All in all, a great kit - perfect for a beginner/someone who's a bit rusty. I'm moving on to the SMER Swordfish Floatplane next. Fresh challenges! Phil