Jump to content

Sea Hawk 1/72 in a plastic bag!


Recommended Posts

Hi,

After years of looking at the Airfix Sea Hawk 1/72 kit, and slowly buying some after market goodies for it, I decided to jump into the deep end. 

I got that kit in the 1970s as a "free gift" with a subscription for a French modelling magazine (mPm if I recall correctly... time does fly!).

This is a very rough kit, with many sink marks, ejection pin marks, a lot of flash, etc... And no cockpit to speak of. But I have wanted to build it since I was a brat, so here is my chance.

 

          

Sea Hawk a

 

The few thingies that I will try and use.

Sea Hawk e

 

Decals from Model Art.

 

                                                                          

Sea Hawk f

 

 

And the kit, in all its glory!

 

Sea Hawk b

 

Some of the doc I have on that gorgeous plane. Many more photos spread around hundreds of magazines and book... Such fun!

 

Sea Hawk g

 

Hopefully I will get somewhere with this antiquity of a kit!

 

JR

  • Like 23
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You look all set for take off AND you have a stand - but judging by the after market wheels I'm guessing you are going 'wheels down'.  Nice reference works too - should be fun.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice to see you tackle this monster jean. It is certainly from a by-gone era however all your extra bits and reference material should help you achieve a great result. 

We'll be watching to see what can be done with this plastic classic. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi there,

 

today has been a slow start, mostly spent realizing that this is going to be a lot of fun!

Just filled in all the sink marks and made a list of the jobs to do... a long list.

The main problem (OK, one of the main problems) is the fact that there are NO gun troughs... Not sure how to tackle that yet.

31 minutes ago, Ventora3300 said:

It was the first Airfix jet I built - love it!

Hi Ventora, I suspect they sent all the kits that failed the QC at the factory to France! Never seen those lumps of plastic sticking out on any old Airfix kit!

Sea Hawk h

 

I have decided on a Sea Hawk F.1. The pylons are wrong in shape and position. So off they come! I will have as well to fill in all the ailerons and rudder trenches, that make Matchbox kits look Japanese!

 

Sea Hawk i

 

But I am actually looking forward to all that.

Cheers

 

JR

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello there,

 

Despite a busy Sunday (not much difference here between a Sunday and a week day...) I managed to do a bit of work on the Sea Hawk.

First goal: achieve a baby skin smooth finish for all the main components (work in progress as you can see), after removing the offensive pylons and filled all the moving surfaces' limits).

When I am finally happy with my peachy skinned Sea Hawk, then it will be time for re-scribing and butchering!

Sea Hawk j

The wing root is erroneous as the air intake is supposed to come flush with the fuselage... And of course the glaringly still missing guns!

Why do I get so excited in front of such a monument to prehistoric modelling?

 

Cheers

JR

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jean said:

Hello there,

 

Despite a busy Sunday (not much difference here between a Sunday and a week day...) I managed to do a bit of work on the Sea Hawk.

First goal: achieve a baby skin smooth finish for all the main components (work in progress as you can see), after removing the offensive pylons and filled all the moving surfaces' limits).

When I am finally happy with my peachy skinned Sea Hawk, then it will be time for re-scribing and butchering!

Sea Hawk j

The wing root is erroneous as the air intake is supposed to come flush with the fuselage... And of course the glaringly still missing guns!

Why do I get so excited in front of such a monument to prehistoric modelling?

 

Cheers

JR

Ah, because it Airfix of course 😂 as it was in the beginning and as it always be for folk of a certain "vintage" 

 

Enjoy the build Jean,

 

Cheers Greg

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/4/2018 at 9:35 PM, Ozzy said:

Looks like she's going to fight you all the way Jean.

Hi Ozzy,

yes, you are probably right. To be honest, I am not yet too sure how I am going to tackle the worst of the worst... But I am sure there will be a Damascene illumination somewhere along this wild ride!

I am busy with an Airfix A-4B at the moment as well, and the difference between both kits is slightly noticeable in places.... 

Not much modelling this week, as I am in South Africa for some shopping and if the gods are kind I shall find the Falcon FAA vac form canopies set in the post tomorrow, which my LMS finally sourced for me. Even the canopy looks dodgy in the kit... 

To be truthful I feel bad debunking this Sea Hawk as this type of kits made my joy as a kid, and I loved the tight fit of my glue smeared canopies...

Damn... I should re-read Proust!

 

JR

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
GONA1

 

I haven't stopped being away since my last post, so progress on the Sea Hawk has slowed down to a crawl. The last trip was nonetheless worth it, and I am just attaching a couple of photos (bad ones from my phone, and I do apologize for the poor quality).

Anyway here is a very small sample of what the Gona Re Zhou National Park has to offer. Very close to home, and the best Nat Park in Zimbabwe, IMHO!

Now serious modeling will resume!

 

GONA2

 

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Look's like my back Garden Jean!

Can’t be Steve - unless my monitors playing up, that sky looks blue to me!! 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

  • Haha 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Look's like my back Garden Jean!

Hi Steve,

 

if that is the case, I'd better move to Durham... I am sure the garden gnomes are cheaper and don't come only in grey, and it is much closer to Hannants!!!

Win, win!

JR.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi guys,

I spent most of the week end working on my generators... Greasy fingers are not very conducive to modelling, but I managed to have a little bit of fun nonetheless with the Sea Hawk.

All the main components are now free of raised details and blemishes, so I finally started the dirty work.

Just to see how it feels, I began by cutting the wing root area on the fuselage in order to rectify the air duct. A rough, preliminary work... and while I was busy drilling, hacking and filing, I realized that the main wheel wells will require their share of chopping, as they should extend much closer to the fuselage centerline... It never rains!

 

Just for fun I overlaid the main pieces over a plan, and Airfix have actually done a very good job: the wings are a weeny bit too long and the shape of the wing tips need some re-shaping,  the  horizontal stabilizer are pretty bad (too thick, too long, wrong shape, etc...). All in all very little to correct for a kit that old. One good thing is that the plastic is so thick, no real worry of going straight through by mistake.

 

Unfortunately, back to Harare tomorrow for a few days... Damn.

JR

 

Sea Hawk k

 

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a great start Jean. I have made several false starts on the Airfix Seahawk over the past few years and have finished up putting it back in the box each time. I look forward to watching your progress with this one.

 

Have a safe journey to Harare.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, nimrod54 said:

That's a great start Jean. I have made several false starts on the Airfix Seahawk over the past few years and have finished up putting it back in the box each time. I look forward to watching your progress with this one.

 

Have a safe journey to Harare.

Hi John,

I can understand why you put this kit away. There should be a red label saying something like: 'For masochistic modelers who have not been told life is too short...'

I have a much better Sea Hawk in the stash, but with the Airfix kit it has to be close and personal.

Driving to Harare on a Sunday is not the recommended thing to do, with all the creative driving performed by drunk drivers... No choice in the  matter, so we'll be careful.

 

JR

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Progress still too slow: visitors due to arrive soon and there is still so much to do. Damn!

Anyway, I have cut the bottom part of the wheel well, as Airfix's representation is incorrect: there should be a closed landing gear door and not a solid blob of plastic. So I have cut the offending bit! Thereafter I will have to rebuild the front wheel well, by far too shallow, and for the guns I am thinking along the lines of using ear buds... Nice and hollow!

This is fast getting ridiculous!!!!

Here is what I am doing to sort the main wheel wells... Any comments?

 

Sea Hawk l

 

Cheers.

JR

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi guys,

 

this Sea Hawk is full of surprises. Just when I thought that I had pinpointed all the problems in store, I stupidly noticed that Airfix has assumed that the underside junction between the wing and the fuselage was flat... Damn! The wing dihedral should in fact carry on all the way to the fuselage.

So I am trying to rectify this tragedy by gluing a strip of plastic at the wing-fuselage junction and sand it in line with the wing surface...

The right fuselage is the guinea pig. If the fixes work, I will repeat them on the left one. If they don't... 

 

Sea Hawk n

 

 

Sea Hawk m

 

The other bad surprise was when I pulled out of its box the Special Hobby/MPM Sea Hawk 101, in order to shamelessly copy their take of the gun mouths on the fuselage.

Well, this "state of the art" Sea Hawk has only thin lines to show where the guns are... hardly better than the ante diluvian Airfix ancestor!

Scandalous!

 

JR

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stick to it Jean - all the hard work will be very rewarding in the end. 

It still won't stop you from thinking that you're half mad to attempt such a project, but then again it's a fine club we all belong too isn't it?

 

Cheers.. Dave 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Dave,

good to know that my mental health is questionable, even better that it is so obvious that half the world can pick it up! But what really makes me ecstatic is to know that I am not alone... 

Anyway, our visitors are leaving tomorrow and at long last some more progress will be  made on this surprise-laden kit. And I really thought this Sea Hawk was going to be be a walk in the park... Ergo, it is official: my mental health is indeed questionable.

May we all have a lot of fun.

 

JR

 

  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...