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1:48 Iraqi Hawker Hunter F.6 Academy + Aeroclub & FM


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Hello chaps

It's been a long time since I did any WIP threads in any of the forums, but I guess this one fits alright @ the britmodeler.

The subject is a Hawker Hunter in quarter scale. The only option we have is the well known (I guess) Academy kit with many flaws. Some bigger some not so. I hope I can correct the most obvious ones like the intakes. Although I hope I can count on your help since I do not know much about Hunters, except some basic stuff...

Years ago I bought the Academy kit with some extras including the now OOP Aeroclub corrections set and I think even before I got the kits I bought this FM Detail Sets resin and etch. I remember I got it real cheap at a local scale modelling show. And since I got that many after market I thought of getting another kit. So I did buy the Italeri which is the same plastic with new decals.

I don't think I'm gonna do both of 'em now, I figured as the build will be quite demanding, one step at a time, what happens later,...yeah...

For the scheme I was thinking of doing an early, 50's Iraqi jet, the F.6. I haven't yet decided if it will be the one in royal AF service or the one after the coup...

But OK, time to put some photos.

The two different packings:

IMG_20150408_125942.jpg

Aeroclub and FM details

IMG_20150408_130138.jpg

IMG_20150408_130246.jpg

IMG_20150408_130242.jpg

the planned scheme:

IMG_20150408_130354.jpg

Now I did a little comparison between some of the stuff from the AM and from the box

The upper is the FM MB mk.2H (somebody correct if I'm wrong) seat and the lower the much more convincing Aeroclub. The kits seat is complete rubbish as it is way to small more like a 1:72 thing. I didn't even bother taking photos.

IMG_20150408_133413.jpg

With the cockpit tubs it's a bit different. The left on is resin FM, the right one the Aeroclub. The latter one is very similar to the kits one but is corrected in a way the normal size seat can fit in..

IMG_20150408_133323.jpg

Next thing is the wheels. The Aeroclub white metal ones and the FM resin ones.

IMG_20150408_133522.jpg

OK I know you're thinking, why is this guy doing a review, this is not a build! It's just it's so many different stuff for the same thing In had to show.

I think I'll go with the resin tub, save the other one for next time. I'll be back soon with photos of the progress.

Cheers

Edited by vesthepes
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A worthy subject! There are an awful lot of Hunter fans on here, and plenty of posts highlighting the numerous flaws in the kit, so I don't need to repeat them here! You have the main correction sets there, particularly the Aeroclub parts though, so you're off to the best possible start, and it's good to see the aftermarket alternatives...so keep the pic's coming....

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If you want another aftermarket cockpit for your second build I can recommend the Neomega set. Loads of detail and the main tub fits well without the often scraping and sanding. In my experience the Aeroclub wheels were hard to clean up so I opted for resin too.

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^yes I believe Neomega is good, I own a couple of their resin cockpits for other kits and agree they're on spot.

OK here's a fresh set of photos, Bill thanks for the encouraging words.

The FM tub seems to fit quite OK

IMG_20150408_151421.jpg

IMG_20150408_151734.jpg

and here's the rest of the interior...

IMG_20150408_152050.jpg

IMG_20150408_152436.jpg

the cockpit sidewalls

IMG_20150408_152546.jpg

IMG_20150408_152635.jpg

No doubt the FM is better in all round details than the Aeroclub's injected tub, so I'll stick with the resin. OK the fun part begins, stay tuned...

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... plenty of posts highlighting the numerous flaws in the kit, so I don't need to repeat them here!

Bill,

Could you link to the best "highlight" post, please? I haven't been around my Hunter kits for a decade, so am really looking forward to this thread's progress!!

Gene K

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Hey Gene, here's a nice thread I found...I'm pretty sure there's more

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/70313-148-academy-hunter-f6/

There is some useful stuff in there.

I worked on the cockpit last night, painted it black like the Stones, painted the dials and instruments, gotta take some photos and post it...

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very nice project!

an early Iraqi hunter!

perfect!

cockpit looks fabulous!

I am planning to do a later Mk59 (FGA9) one from the 1967 war

some maybe interesting input, also on your aftermarket sets here:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234975520-hunter-mk59-mk59a-iraqi-airforce-questions-for-the-hunter-specialists/?hl=hunter

I will definitely follow your build!

Edited by exdraken
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Thank you exdraken, I appreciate it.

Great stuff you collected. Never heard before of this PJ cockpit.. but so I haven't heard about my FM either...

Aaah, I wanted to grab this Master pitot tube a few times, but always slipped out of my basket before clicking buy. I like their stuff very much.

The Aeromaster also provides you with a vacuformed canopy, but to be honest, I don't even want to think about it yet, I dislike vacu-things. I have never successfully installed any of them on any model...

It surprises me how come there is no after market for the air intakes, not a demanding fix for resin chaps, and it would sell obviously.

Here's a photo of the Aeroclub's corrections guide, with some possibly useful info :

IMG_20150404_165031.jpg

and some recent progress, the wheel wells sidewalls primed in grey.

IMG_20150410_155747.jpg

cheers

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Thank you exdraken, I appreciate it.

Great stuff you collected. Never heard before of this PJ cockpit.. but so I haven't heard about my FM either...

Aaah, I wanted to grab this Master pitot tube a few times, but always slipped out of my basket before clicking buy. I like their stuff very much.

The Aeromaster also provides you with a vacuformed canopy, but to be honest, I don't even want to think about it yet, I dislike vacu-things. I have never successfully installed any of them on any model...

It surprises me how come there is no after market for the air intakes, not a demanding fix for resin chaps, and it would sell obviously.

Here's a photo of the Aeroclub's corrections guide, with some possibly useful info :

IMG_20150404_165031.jpg

thanks for posting these!

the FM detail set looks very nice indeed! I think it is the same that is sold now under the SBS label!

http://www.sbsmodel.com/resinsets

netreHunter.jpg?attachauth=ANoY7cqwx69ts

the PJ productions parts where the only ones available with a decent FGA 9 nozzle!

now the Aeroclub set pops up on ebay quite a lot!

the gun fairings with the square muzzle brake is also very nice! (for the F.6 of course!)

nice progress! keep us updated please!

regards, Werner

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thanks mirageiv

Let's continue.

A few pictures of the resin wheel wells, painted and installed. The fit's pretty OK. The metal color appears much much darker on the photos than it actually is. I was trying to achieve this metal look as seen on photos but I admit I might have overdone it.

IMG_20150413_140919.jpg

IMG_20150413_140849.jpg

IMG_20150413_140840.jpg

and some introduction to the wrong-shaped air intakes.

IMG_20150413_141400.jpg

IMG_20150413_141134.jpg

I'll try to trim the outer edge to make it more curved and longer as instructed on Aerobonus sheet.

I am currently constructing the inner part of the intakes with the fan on the end- IMHO opinion the worst part of the kit. Lots of sink marks Very complicated to assemble and almost invisible afterwards when the wings are fitted on the fuselage.

cheers

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Here's how Aeroclub's corrected tail part looks like

The white metal rim is a nice addition to the details. Some work is needed to clean it up but overall it is made very well.

IMG_20150415_133500.jpgIMG_20150415_133224.jpg

with the exhaust with the new insert

IMG_20150415_133633.jpg

I had to photo the making of the air intakes - the inner part, just to portray the complexity of their assembly. Caution is needed from step one to the final installation of the wings to the fusalge - I really recommend dry-fitting before any gluing. Way over-engineered in my opinion. Plus that their shape is wrong...

IMG_20150415_133858.jpg

IMG_20150415_133919.jpgIMG_20150415_134238.jpg

Together with the wings and the outer rim of air intakes. The left one OOB, the right one slightly corrected and shaped rounder. I must be careful not to over do it and end up with a void too big.

IMG_20150415_135121.jpgIMG_20150415_135034.jpgIMG_20150415_135039.jpg

IMG_20150415_135230.jpg

The IP came together OK

IMG_20150415_135715.jpg

cheers

Edited by vesthepes
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Bill,

Could you link to the best "highlight" post, please? I haven't been around my Hunter kits for a decade, so am really looking forward to this thread's progress!!

Gene K

Gene, if it's any use to you here is a thread I started a while back with a list of the main things I considered wrong with the Academy/Italeri kit - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234909441-italeri-academy-hunter/?hl=%20italeri%20%20hunter

Good luck with your Hunter, it's coming along very nicely so far.

Mark

Edited by StephenMG
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Great work on each section so far. The finish on the gear bays looks fine to me and captures the dirty metallic nature of the real thing. It's such a pity that whoever tooled those part chose to follow the outline of the wheel-well opening rather than the line of the wing spars inside - a missed opportunity on their part but thankfully your painting skills more than make up for the discrepancy.

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Mark, many thanks for the link to your post. You have pointed out many things I would have never noticed myself.

I will try to fix as many as I can. Definitely will repair the trailing edges, the dog tooth, possibly the air brake. The nose seems a trickier fix. I printed out the scale plans (SAM publications by R. Caruana) just for a ref., although it is mentioned that these drawings might have inaccuracies.

Thank you Werner and Col. for your comments.

It's a bit late for the gear bays fix. By checking the plans and photos the difference is quite obvious. On the positive side, they're on the bottom side of the plane and not as visible as some other stuff.

I did some more work on the intakes, widened them quite a bit, looks much better. Just a few cockpit placement fixes and the fuselage halves get together. I'll post some photos later.

cheers

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello chaps

After a bit of a break, I'm back with just a little bit of progress

The fuse halves are glued together, cockpit fitted nicely - there was some adjusting of the sidewall consoles but all in all the fitting was fine...

The biggest gaps are the ones in the air ducts on the sides of the fuselage. I had to fill those. I hope after all this mess with putty a can achieve a surface with no visible seams as the on the real deal ...

IMG_20150428_142923.jpg

IMG_20150428_142947.jpg

Quite a few millimeters were cut out of the air intake to make it look longer on the outer edges...

The problem is both wings must be glued prior to any major corrections in order for them to fit properly..

IMG_20150428_143548.jpg

Here's a shot of the tail with the corrected exhaust pipe and the cut off tail bullet. It is made too long on the Academy plastic and the tailplanes are too far back. Aeroclub suggests cutting the slots and moving them forward but I've decided to leave the slots alone and cut the piece of the front strut on the tailpanes in order to move them forward..

IMG_20150428_143102.jpg

I wished for a Hunter armed with 3inch rockets, like on the photo of the Iraqi one in the air but I have trouble finding out how those rockets should look like and even more their rails.

There's been a debate on this forum about the Hunter and its rockets, but it didn't help me in order to find the appropriate ones. Well at least I know what not to use...

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/80225-hawker-hunter-fga93-inch-rockets/page-3

more to come...

cheers

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I wished for a Hunter armed with 3inch rockets, like on the photo of the Iraqi one in the air but I have trouble finding out how those rockets should look like and even more their rails.

There's been a debate on this forum about the Hunter and its rockets, but it didn't help me in order to find the appropriate ones. Well at least I know what not to use...

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/80225-hawker-hunter-fga93-inch-rockets/page-3

more to come...

cheers

images.jpg

I'm puzzled, the Academy Hunter kit has some rockets, on Sprue E.

They look to be like the above.

A look in the Hunter Datafile on page 96, shows Hispano Suiza 'Sura' rockets, which look different to the ones in the kit. ...

a quick google of 'Hawker Hunter Rockets'

http://www.hawkerhunter.com/2234/

42825.jpg

this is the photo in the Datafile BTW, as are the drawings

12567.jpg

The rockets in the kit don't look like this though.

HTH

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I will be following this with interest as I have one of these on the go at the moment.

I bought the Heritage correction set which includes a replacement cockpit, jet pipe and gun muzzle section. However I found that there is no detail for the ejection seat rails in the cockpit so I splashed out on a Neomega pit and seat to use instead.

Have you noticed a lot of awkward to get at ejector pin marks? The flaps and undercarriage doors of mine have them slap bang in the middle of all the detail.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks toms,

yes the ejector pin marks are horribly situated, I had to fill/cut 'em and sand so I lost all the rivet details. Here's a photo of the mentioned

IMG_20150513_152736.jpg

IMG_20150513_152748.jpg

IMG_20150515_135628.jpg

In order to move the air brake, some corrections had to be done

IMG_20150513_165804.jpg

IMG_20150513_171305.jpg

The tailplanes moved forward and the tail bullet shortened. Quite a lot of putty was used to fit the Aeroclub jet pipe. The tailplanes were cut and sanded on the too pointy edges as described by Mark in his great post on Academy Hunter flaws..

IMG_20150531_122559.jpg

The dog tooth was cut and the position lights installed. I'm not sure what were the blisters on top wing surface but I believe the F.6 did not have this feature...so the pin holes were filled and sanded...

IMG_20150531_121447.jpg

IMG_20150531_121524.jpg

thanks for looking in

cheers

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I don't understand why kit manufacturers go to the effort of detailing parts that will end up spoilt by the ejector pins.

I have bought some HGW 1/48 decal rivets for when I get round to cleaning up the ejector marks from the undercarriage doors.

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  • 1 month later...

I have both the Academy F-6 & FGA 9 in my stash. I have the Flightpath set I am going to use on the 9 in ADEN and I have just managed to get P&J MK58 Swiss AirForce conversion for the F-6. So your bulid is a must for me. Mick

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