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Hi again all, Back in August I was asked to build the all-new 1/48th Airfix Hunter F6 to feature in the December issue of Airfix Model World and the Key Publishing Combat Machines special on the Hunter, released in time for the Telford show. It's a very straightforward kit, easy to assemble with no fit problems or issues worth mentioning, (although I did have a problem with the nose cone being slightly too large and needing sanding to shape, however after having a word with the Airfix guys at SMW they assured me that the production kits part fit perfectly, so I'd put this down to the pre-production nature of the kit. On offer are two tail cones, one plain one with parachute fairing, so an F6A can be modelled following references and a couple of Matra rocket packs, along with the smaller 100gal wing tanks used on this variant. I'm sure other versions will follow, including both straight wing and dog-tooth variants, though no trainers are to be expected. As usual, there were no decals included with the test-shot so an after-market sheet was provided instead. The editor decided he liked the look of the yellow marked Day Fighter Combat School aircraft based at West Raynham circa 1962 and so Xtradecals X48189 Hawker Hunter F.6 Pt1 was used in the build as these included them. Interestingly many colour palettes and model companies like Revell have the scheme depicting yellow tailplanes to go with the striking yellow spine and fin but noticed that Xtradecals portrayed them as being camouflaged. This piqued my interest and so I decided to research the scheme further and found very few colour images of XG204 online and these proved inconclusive. Luckily Martin Derry's excellent tome ‘Britain’s Military Aircraft In Colour, 1960-1970’ included two high-definition images and an excellent 4-view profile showing the aircraft taking part in an airshow at Finningley in 1962 and Lo and behold the tailplanes were indeed camouflaged. Although rocket rails and Aden gun muzzle deflectors were fitted by this time the editor wanted the model to be as out of the box as possible so these weren't added, (although I did add the two yellow DME Rebecca 8 aerial rods beneath the fuselage along with upper wing whip aerials, (apparently the aircraft didn't have the two spine-mounted or single under-fuselage whips often seen on F6s). The model was painted using MRP acrylic lacquers and due to the heavy usage by the DFCS at the time, weathering was applied using a mixture of Abteilung oils, MIG Oilbrushers and pastels and AK oil and kerosene stains. Once again thanks for looking, hope you like it and decide to buy a few...for those of you tempted, you won't be disappointed... Cheers Melchie