Dan Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 (edited) Hello everyone, this will be my first group build and only the third model aircraft I've built in well over 20 years (it could very well be the first one finished ). I decided to do a Red Arrows Hawk about a month ago without knowing this group build was running and so since I've only done minimal work on the model I am going to have a crack at finishing it for this group build. My initial plan was to display the model at rest on the ground and so I bought some resin seats by Aires, however, on starting the kit I soon discovered a seriously nasty flaw! The lower section for the wings was bent wildly out of shape! That pretty much put pay to my idea of building it at rest with the flaps lowered because it was that badly out of shape I needed to glue the top halves and clamp them securely in order to straighten them out as best I could. I now think I'll display it flying and save the resin seats for another project. Here's a couple snaps of my progress thus far Cheers, Dan. Edited July 24, 2012 by Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttoncup Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Nice start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Looking good, Dan. I will be following with interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricP Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Looking forward to this build too, Dan. If I may suggest, you'd probably still need to get the warp out of the wings even though you're doing it in flight ... it will still look a bit funky or lopsided if not corrected. Do show us how bad the warp is, perhaps some of us here can help with a way to fix it. Without seeing the issue, maybe I can start "blind" ... get a metal rod of suitable diameter and stiffness, and superglue it to the bottom of the wing straighten the warp ... Hawks don't have a dihedral so this probably makes it easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hepster Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Try to obtain a second set of decals - unless you double-decal a Red Arrow model you risk serious 'bleed-through' of the red, resulting in a pinkish tint to the white stripes. And if you do this, make sure that the second set is from the same issue of the kit, because the current issue has been altered to reflect the 'Royal Air Force' wording in the fuselage stripe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 I should have taken a picture of it before I set about mending it... It really was quite bad, that bad I perhaps should have sent the part back to Airfix with a letter of complaint! However, mend it I did, and now it's barely noticeable. I first warmed the part using a heat gun then firmly clamped it to my desk overnight using a steel rule and 4 clamps. That helped it straighten slightly but not all that much and so I did the same again but this time glued the top half and left it well alone in my little jig for a good 4 hours, it did the trick but I need some weaker clamps I think because the ones I used exerted so much force that the melted plastic within really oozed out of the seam leaving quite a bit of cleanup. It's all good though, I got myself a set of wings that are now pretty much straight and I doubt it'll be noticeable at all once the model is finished Now, on with the project. I decided I'd do it in flight and save the resin seats for a future build of a tornado perhaps.... Well that's no longer the case! I pulled out the original kit seats from my box I've been throwing spare parts in and you can guess what I'm about to say right?? Yes, one part was missing! The side part of one seat. So now I'll have to use the resin ones, not really a problem because I'd only set about the extremely fiddly task of gluing the PE belts on one of the seats... The kit pilot though looked massively oversized when sat down in it so I pillaged another from the spares box who I think came from an F-16 and after attacking both the seat and his bottom cheeks with a scalpel I think I got him sat down quite nicely. Here's a quick picture before I go off to lay down some paint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 This is coming on really well Dan - I particularly like that vacant seat Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Cheers for all your comments, tips and words of encouragement I will certainly look into obtaining a second sheet of decals when the time comes, I don't imagine pink stripes would looks good at all!! Well anyway I've slapped a little paint on the cockpit and so thought I'd show, it's not 100% finished yet but as you can see it's getting there. The next area I'll tackle is the wheel flaps. Airfix, for whatever crazy reason, decided not to include the parts required to model the aircraft in-flight so looks as though I'll be cracking out the filler and filling the wells up with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Very nice work! That's not slapping paint pal, that's precision work And it looks like the Red Arrows builds are all to be plagued by kit problems keep up the surgery and i reckon it will look fantastic. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 As Al said, you've done wonders with the 'pit. I'm looking forward to seeing her "buttoned up"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 High praise indeed! Cheers fellas Not all that much progress over the last few days since I got distracted with a couple of 1/144 kits, an F/A-18 and an AH-64! They took me completely by surprise, I was thinking yea, I'll bash these two out in no time but on opening the boxes I was amazed they really are full kits just on a microscopic scale. Great stuff! Here's where I'm at anyway, as you can see almost ready for paint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 She's coming along very nicely, Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted August 11, 2012 Author Share Posted August 11, 2012 I'm on the home straight now My model is primed and just about ready for some red. One problem I have though is the decal sheet... As you can see in the picture below, the roundels and union jack are smudged! I don't know if this through fault of my own doing or whether they were like that to begin with but I don't really fancy using them like they are so if anyone has a sheet going spare I'd very much appreciate it... Hepster, above, did advise to try and get hold of a second decal set anyhow so as the red doesn't show through so the plan is to use my flawed set underneath a new set and all should be good. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 I would still write to Airfix, they'll send you as many as you need and much quicker than any other manufacturer. (& get at least two, not only the opacity of the decals isn't great, but the white is quite uneven with it.) Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warris Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 Nice work Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted August 14, 2012 Author Share Posted August 14, 2012 Getting there now As you can see, the red has been sprayed and after a good micro meshing I sealed it tonight with a coat of klear (First time used and very impressed!) Two very kind members here have sent me new decals too, one set arrived today and so that's tomorrows job... I also asked a friend of mine who works as a bespoke kitchen maker to get me some off cuts of nice wood. He got me two types to start with some walnut and oak as well as a big bag of super dense MDF perfect for painting. So 3 options for a base but I don't know at the minute which I'll go for. Hope you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Absolutely stunning job, Dan. Which red did you use? Looking forward to the next instalment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 Thanks! It's xtracrylix red arrows red, with a wash of citadel baal red on top to try and combat the 'too orange look' I still think it's slightly orange and so I plan on doing something more drastic with the panel lines... a steady hand and a reddy brown paint perhaps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpion Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 brilliant,just brilliant...and the pilot is fantastic,well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Looking good ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 That's a beautiful finish Dan Cheers Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 Done and dusted! Thanks a lot everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 She's beautiful. Dan! Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 The bird in my avatar?! I know! Thanks bud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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