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Avro Arrow - a corrected version of the original Hobbycraft 1/72 kit


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This was an all-weather fighter produced first flown in 1958 and was turning out to be a very fine a/c when it was cancelled in 1959 for budgetary reasons. However the cold war never did turn hot so maybe Mr Diefenbaker ( the Canadian PM) was right!

After building a 1/72 scale Hobbycraft CF 105 Arrow and discovering at the end that the decals were not too good I posted a question on Britmodeller asking if anybody made a decent set. This opened a ‘can of worms’ as the discussion shifted to the kit itself and the lack of accuracy thereof. I had corrected what I believed to be the only major error, the actuators being on the topside of the wing instead of the underside, but it turned out that almost nothing about the kit was correct.

This is my attempt at producing a reasonably accurate version.

The decals are by Arrow Graphics. whilst these were far superior to the kit version they did have a few problems of their own, being rather thin and the less said about my efforts to get the walkway lines straight and stuck down the better!

At the moment it still requires a few tweaks, especially the nose u/c leg, but as Telford is in a few days time and I have to ‘get a life’ after it is over I don’t know when it will be complete so here it is. The WIP thread tells the story and this has links back to the original thread.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234940353-avro-arrow-a-correct-version-of-the-hobbycraft-172-kit-i-hope/

Below are some pictures of it alongside the original version. They don't, to my mind, look much different so if you have the original and are not stickler for accuracy then use it. My advice would be to swap the ailerons to get the jacks underneath and to very carefully sand the top of the canopy to round it off to stop it looking like an F106. The exhaust behind the canopy should also be modified. Those were the only modifications I made to my original version.

Many thanks to Chris Tyler, who donated the kit, Scott Hemsley, who donated the decals and Navy Bird for a set of drawings

36556024041_5771199369_b.jpgArrow left side rear by johnrieley, on Flickr

36556023811_71d0a69324_b.jpgArrow left side by johnrieley, on Flickr

36693916665_561424119d_b.jpgArrow lfront by johnrieley, on Flickr

Some comparisons with the original version.

36694006155_044e753114_b.jpgTwo Arrows rear right by johnrieley, on Flickr

36694005965_2bb72fa639_b.jpgTwo Arrows side by johnrieley, on Flickr

What the Canadians wanted and what they ended up with

36694006335_467dc383c7_b.jpgArrow and Voodoo by johnrieley, on Flickr

Three of a kind

La 250 - mid fifties Arrow late fifties Tu 128 'Fiddler' early sixties

36524954332_239d698a22_b.jpgThree of a kind by johnrieley, on Flickr

John

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John, absolutely well done. Hobbycraft should have been ashamed for releasing such a POS of a kit. Still working on mine. I took a different approach because as you have shown there's just too many things to do to correct this hideous kit.

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I shot an Arrow into the air.  It fell to earth, I know not where.  Alas.

 

Tours to visit Saskatoon and urinate on Diefenbaker's grave are in the planning stage.  🤔

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