007wales Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Does anyone know about the Arba Sea Hornet kit and how it compares to the Classic Airframes kit.I have googled it but cannot find anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Does anyone know about the Arba Sea Hornet kit and how it compares to the Classic Airframes kit.I have googled it but cannot find anything. It was all there was, once upon a time, but was blown away by the much superior Dynavector vac-form. Neil Robinson reviewed it once upon a time in Quarter Scale Modeller. If I remember correctly, the gist was that it's not a bad kit, but a bit sub scale - around 1/50th or so. Looked okay built up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therollercoaster Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Does anyone know about the Arba Sea Hornet kit and how it compares to the Classic Airframes kit.I have googled it but cannot find anything. I remember that kit, back in the day I used to know Alan Ranger quite well. Yes, as I recall the Arba Hornet is a bit underscaled but good in outline, wouldn't know where you'd find one nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I remember that kit, back in the day I used to know Alan Ranger quite well.Yes, as I recall the Arba Hornet is a bit underscaled but good in outline, wouldn't know where you'd find one nowadays. I actually wrote that article in Volume 1 Issue 2 of QSM. The Arba kit had the same issues as the 1/72nd scale Frog kit; the fuselage and the wingspan was too short scaling the kit out at about 1/51. It was a nice kit for it's day and I enjoyed building it. I contacted Bill Anderson of Arba before I published and they said they had become aware of the error but it was too expensive to alter the moulds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I don't remember if what I've got up there is Arba or not- resin? At any rate, I'm hanging on to it because the canopy looks a whole lot better than the CA one, so I may use it to make a mold or something. I remember the day I walked into Hannants and saw a 48th Hornet sitting there in a display case... bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenshb Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 I bought the kit many moons ago, and when I looked closer at it - in terms of cockpit detail and spinners and detail, I decided it would never be built and swapped it for a pack of Milliput (far more useful to me!). The chap who took it over did build it, and did a fine job of it. At the end of the day, you're not going to mistake it for anything but a Hornet, but to me it was a disappointment. If you want to build a Hornet/Sea Hornet, try finding the Dynavector vacform kits - they're gorgeous. The white metal cockpit detail is a basis to build on, but the shapes are good. Jens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldeagle Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 Does anyone know about the Arba Sea Hornet kit and how it compares to the Classic Airframes kit.I have googled it but cannot find anything. The Arba kit was the first 1/48th offering,but was,regrettably,slightly under scale. I have probably assembled more of them than anybody else,as I was the "BA" of ARBA. The scale problem arose due to a problem with the scale of the drawings used. The Dynavector kit scales out correctly and is probably the best way to go for an accurate "Hornet". I find that a good vacform kit is easier to detail than resin or short -run injection moulded kits. If anybody needs any parts for the Arba kits,please let me know.I still have some sub-standard resin castings,some of the metal and a few canopies. Ask soon,for I have already disposed of most of the parts and will not keep the remainder much longer. I also have bags of the metal and canopies for the Me Bf109s that we used to do in 1/72,which I must sort through.-There may be something useful to some modeller in there! Incidentally, if you don't run a scale rule over our old Arba kit, it is hard to notice that it is under scale, Bill Anderson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Aero Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 (edited) With respect to my good friend Bill (I like the Nom de Guerre) No Hornet kit or drawings up to date are accurate (the exception being the excellent colour drawings by Mark Gauntlet in the Dalrymple book which were based on my drawings). The fuselages are almost without exception at least 1ft.4" too short and have issues in other areas. So you takes your choice. The Dynavector is pretty good and I know the source of the drawings he used but it does have the fuselage length issue because they were based on the drawings with the wrong fuselage dimensions. A Canadian friend David Askett and I began to suspect that there was something wrong with the Hornet dimensions quite some years ago and we eventually traced a number of original factory drawings to work from and we have collaborated with David Collins who has unearthed even more stuff. John The Arba kit was the first 1/48th offering,but was,regrettably,slightly under scale. I have probably assembled more of them than anybody else,as I was the "BA" of ARBA. The scale problem arose due to a problem with the scale of the drawings used. The Dynavector kit scales out correctly and is probably the best way to go for an accurate "Hornet". I find that a good vacform kit is easier to detail than resin or short -run injection moulded kits. If anybody needs any parts for the Arba kits,please let me know.I still have some sub-standard resin castings,some of the metal and a few canopies. Ask soon,for I have already disposed of most of the parts and will not keep the remainder much longer. I also have bags of the metal and canopies for the Me Bf109s that we used to do in 1/72,which I must sort through.-There may be something useful to some modeller in there! Incidentally, if you don't run a scale rule over our old Arba kit, it is hard to notice that it is under scale, Bill Anderson Edited November 19, 2011 by John Aero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ermeio Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 The Arba kit was the first 1/48th offering,but was,regrettably,slightly under scale. I have probably assembled more of them than anybody else,as I was the "BA" of ARBA. The scale problem arose due to a problem with the scale of the drawings used. The Dynavector kit scales out correctly and is probably the best way to go for an accurate "Hornet". I find that a good vacform kit is easier to detail than resin or short -run injection moulded kits. If anybody needs any parts for the Arba kits,please let me know.I still have some sub-standard resin castings,some of the metal and a few canopies. Ask soon,for I have already disposed of most of the parts and will not keep the remainder much longer. I also have bags of the metal and canopies for the Me Bf109s that we used to do in 1/72,which I must sort through.-There may be something useful to some modeller in there! Incidentally, if you don't run a scale rule over our old Arba kit, it is hard to notice that it is under scale, Bill Anderson Hi, Bill what parts of the ARBA kits do you have? any DH 108 Swallow or Luft 46 parts? erme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
007wales Posted November 19, 2011 Author Share Posted November 19, 2011 Thanks for the replies.I live in the U.S. and someone list one on E-BAY every few weeks and I could not find any reviews on this kit.You would think one of the larger manufacturers would make a new kit of a popular subject like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Thanks for the replies.I live in the U.S. and someone list one on E-BAY every few weeks and I could not find any reviews on this kit.You would think one of the larger manufacturers would make a new kit of a popular subject like this. As much as I love the clean elegant lines of the Hornet (and have a CA one in the stash), I'd hardly call it a popular subject. It was in service for a relatively limited time and was soon obscured by the more modern jet combat aircrafts. Some large manufacturer might do one sometime, but I wouldn't hold my breath: if you see a dynavector vac or other kits, grab one if you want to have a Hornet in your collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldeagle Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Hi, Billwhat parts of the ARBA kits do you have? any DH 108 Swallow or Luft 46 parts? erme I have looked out some of the ARBA parts that remain, but have not yet found the remaining Hornet, DH108 and Hs132 parts. I will see what I can find after making a necessary trip up north. I,m sure that some parts remain,but they are somewhere 'safe'. Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigsty Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Don't know if anyone is still interested in a cobwebby old thread, but an ARBA Sea Hornet has appeared on eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobinsonh Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I hope someone tells HpH so that thy get their 1/32nd model right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Whiteley-Bolton Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 With respect to my good friend Bill (I like the Nom de Guerre) No Hornet kit or drawings up to date are accurate (the exception being the excellent colour drawings by Mark Gauntlet in the Dalrymple book which were based on my drawings). The fuselages are almost without exception at least 1ft.4" too short and have issues in other areas. So you takes your choice. The Dynavector is pretty good and I know the source of the drawings he used but it does have the fuselage length issue because they were based on the drawings with the wrong fuselage dimensions. A Canadian friend David Askett and I began to suspect that there was something wrong with the Hornet dimensions quite some years ago and we eventually traced a number of original factory drawings to work from and we have collaborated with David Collins who has unearthed even more stuff.John So John, Might we hope for an Aeroclub Hornet? Regards. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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