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A pair of Airfix Hawks in 1/72. Finished.


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15 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

It occurs to me that with those big head boxes and wearing a bone dome it must have been pretty difficult to look over your shoulder.

 

 

With that big canopy there was plenty of room to turn your shoulders and twist around - or that's how I remember it John.  Anyway - everything seemed blooming difficult as a student at TWU on the Hawk - so I don't suppose one more thing made would have made much difference :)

 

Anyways - wot makes you think I needed to look behind?  As the steely eyed wannabe Lightning Pilot that I was, all the targets (i.e. everyone else) was always framed in the gunsight out front...obviously.........Not.

 

15 hours ago, TheBaron said:

what can sometimes seem tedious to the person doing the job can yet be thoroughly engrossing to those watching? :D

 

I'd always rather watch someone else work.........

 

Well I've done all four of the wretched things now :)

 

Giorgio mentioning combining PE buckles with lead foil got me thinking a bit.  And in the end I took the shoulder straps off the front seat that I'd done and annealed them to make the PE softer and easier to pose - especially at the top where the strap has to twist through 90 degrees so the lug can go into the head box.  It meant sacrificing the painted finish but I think it was a worth it as the annealed PE was soooo much easier to handle.  I then did the same from the outset for the second front seat.

 

Here they all are.  The front and rear seat to the right have just had the straps done and they still need a quick oil wash on the straps and a squirt of clear matt to deaden the shine.  Those two a bit shiny at the mo cos I used Johnson Klear to help stick down the lead foil/PE.

 

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Next job.....

 

Steve

Edited by Fritag
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They look as if, if by magic, you could shrink down and be surrounded by that smell of real aeroplane, seat strappings and fuel residues

 

maybe even hear the groundcrew clanking away shifting ladders and cussing...

 

They look real

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6 minutes ago, perdu said:

They look real

 

Maybe - maybe not.....but either way they don't work - unlike a certain modeller's Wopsie tie downs. which can be seen on a thread not a million miles away.............

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Work they may not but they're things to be proud of Steve... very realistic, little works of modelling art.

You could try pulling the handle :wicked: 

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Thought I'd better see if they fitted after all of that.

 

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e09427705cc88aeb3725e2cfacda4be8_zpszpwt 

 

The instrument panels I made earlier are stored in a safe place at the mo'; and the seats will join them for a bit now.

 

Must remember the control columns.......:whistle:

 

And then there's the leg restraint chords; which I seem to remember wrapping around the control column after a flight (as modelled on my JP build) but which some photo's show clipped to the instrument panel.  Think I'll wrap around the control column as it looks more casual and fighter pilot ish.......

 

I've also already vac-formed the front and rear coamings - which need a few more refinements before fitting.  Maybe that could be there next job.  Or maybe I'll do an inventory of the surface detail that still needs doing.  Or maybe I'll vac form the windscreen and canopy; or maybe I'll do the undercarriage.  Oh heck - still lots to do.....:D

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25 minutes ago, Fritag said:

And then there's the leg restraint chords;

 

Chords? You have time to play the guitar whilst flying those things? Blimey. "Break right and D minor 7. Roger"

 

The cockpit is pretty special though Steve, so you are excused. (If anyone doubts this, grab a bog standard Airfix Hawk off the shelf and take a look at the parts. Zero resemblance to Wing Commander Friiag's masterpiece).

 

Kirk

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9 hours ago, Fritag said:

Oh heck - still lots to do.....:D

There's also another minor point you have to do, sooner or later: painting.

 

 

:D :D:D

 

Stunning cockpit, Steve :worthy:  :clap: 

 

Ciao

 

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Do not; I repeat not, store those seats in the proverbial "safe place"! We all know, or at least should do by now, what happens when you do this.

 

Martian, still trying to find the parts for the SH-34 that he put in a so called "safe place".

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Splendid stuff Steve. Our ambassador from the Red Planet is right tho, better let me look after them and I'll store them in a safe place along with my money making and perpetual motion machines...oh erm...mm.. perhaps that's not a good idea afterall ..

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On 2015-3-15 at 8:18 AM, SimonR said:

And we're off!!

And yes, Steve, if you've got a higher-res scan of your Hawk taking off from Chiv with Heanton in the background i'd love to have a copy!

cheers

Simon

 

Blimey, I remember running up that hill towards Heanton, do I remember correctly that there was a church up there, that was at least 3 1/2 stone ago.

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55 minutes ago, PLC1966 said:

 

Blimey, I remember running up that hill towards Heanton, do I remember correctly that there was a church up there, that was at least 3 1/2 stone ago.

Yep, there is a church up there, both my grandparents and dad all reside there now alojng with quite a few airmen from WW2. And yes used to run up there as well in football training from braunton!

 

cheers

simon

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On 25/05/2017 at 10:28 PM, PLC1966 said:

Blimey, I remember running up that hill towards Heanton, do I remember correctly that there was a church up there, that was at least 3 1/2 stone ago.

 

Now that's a good excuse for me to re-post my favourite photo of young Fritag in a Hawk :blush:

 

263T1A_zps38118d0c-1.jpeg

 

Actually - there's half a real reason for posting this again.  Have a closer look at the retracting nose wheel leg; even tho' it's retracting you can get an idea of the angle of the nose wheel yoke when it's unloaded (cant your head to the right a bit as you look at the photo).

 

The Airfix nose u/c leg is unusable as-is really. This is it laid on a profile photo scaled to 1/72.  See what I mean?  It's way over scale and the yoke angle is wrong for an aircraft with the nose leg under load - perhaps Airfix measured the angles etc from a Hawk that was up on jacks and the noise leg unloaded?

 

IMG_1144_zpsbnbtx4rw.jpg

 

And for good measure laid on some plans (I'm never sure whether to trust plans but these ones hold up well when compared against photo's):

 

IMG_1143_zpss7t5vvyd.jpg

 

Not only is the overall size and yoke angle wrong - but the tube ion the leg itself is actually rather skinny.....hey ho...

 

Anyways.  I've been slowly working out how to deal with it over the last few days of my limited modelling hours....

 

I started by cutting away the bottom casting, drilling it out and carving off the yoke:

 

IMG_1139_zpsuyfclhfk.jpg

 

I then thinned down some 2mm plastic tube by about 0.2mm or so (using my Tamika battery router) and fitted it into the bottom casting.  This beefs up the look of the casting and corrects the skinny look:

 

IMG_1141_zpsoy0xnpt3.jpg

 

Ages ago I made a replacement yoke and cast a few resin copies.  I also cast some resin copies of the new Revell Hawk nose wheel - which is more to scale and has nice hub detail.  So I have a sort of mini kit of parts:

 

IMG_1146_zpszesqpey5.jpg

 

To reinforce the joint between the yoke to the bottom casting I used some 0.5mm brass tube and drilled a locating hole:

 

IMG_1148_zpsc3m0drib.jpg

 

And this is it with the cyano curing, the wheel dry fitted - and a bit of 0.5mm rod acting as a dummy of the oleo to check that it all lines up ok.  Obviously I've got to snip the protruding brass tube off when the cyano is fully cured........but It gives an idea of the plan: 

 

IMG_1149_zpsezeqbwfm.jpg

 

And a quick comparison with the Airfix original:

 

IMG_1150_zpsvbg5fwga.jpg

 

Plenty more to do on the leg yet - but you get the idea.

 

Bit of a pain really.  I could have done without having to rebuild the nose leg x 2.

 

Fingers crossed but I think there main legs and wheels are rather better....but I'll have to be careful about whether it all sits right - given that the new nose wheel will be significantly shorter.....

 

Steve

Edited by Fritag
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Bang seats look good enough to.....er....sit on! I understand completely when you get bored of a task that becomes tedious. Credit is due though for avoiding the 'that'll do' corner cutting gremlins that are always in residence on my bench...

 

Looking forward to those nose legs, off to a great start. 

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Sheer modelling going on here, Steve :worthy:  :clap: 

 

8 hours ago, Fritag said:

I could have done without having to rebuild the nose leg x 2.

I fully understand the feeling, occurs to me quite often during my current double build ... :chair: 

Ciao

 

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