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Hawker Hunter, 54 Sq., RAF, West Raynham, June 1968...


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I must redeem myself.  

 

Actually, there is more going on.  After many years I have decided I have had enough of smoking.  So I have gone on the patch.  This is a good thing and I am doing it at the right time because my health is still excellent and I get a lot of cardio on a daily basis.  I eat right, etc...122/78, rhr 64...so, I seem to have more time and energy on my hands.  

 

I am going to attempt a 'Double Group Build'.  I will build the lovely and well-engineered Revell Hawker Hunter 1918-2018 Commemoration kit of the 54 Sq. out of West Raynham and...also go over to the 'Brits Abroad' and build some Spitfires.  

 

Here's the Hunter..

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..and the other one...you'll have to go over there to see it...😁

 

--John

 

 

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A bit of cockpit work.  Oh, I am so happy.  The pieces fit together, the detail is nice.  I have even decided to forego any aftermarket goodies and stick with what Revell has offered.  So this will be all OOB.  A happy boy am I!

 

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I'll close up the fuselage this afternoon.  

--John

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First off, sorry about the Newton rings in the photo.  I shrank it down too much...

 

The fuselage went together without a hitch and there is about 7gms of weight in he nose.  The wing halves went together easily and tightly.  A test fit of these showed very little to fill, from my perspective.  

 

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--John

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Fair amount of work done last night and this morning.  Wings on, stabilizers on, exhaust system attached.  Also, some filler in the seams around the nose cone and forward landing gear bay.

 

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I have found that the best way for me to smooth the Milliput into the spaces and also remove it from where I do not want it to be is with spit.  That way I don't have to sand down any panel detail.  I did this on the wing roots of the Spitfire as well.  

 

--John

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I have some questions...the instructions show that these parts are to be all aluminum.  I am assuming this is correct minus any weathering I might add.  Weathering that would be on the light side--not too grimy or dirty if my recollection of commercial aircraft flaps is correct.  More like dark highlights.  Is this right?

 

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Tires and wheels.  They have been masked and sprayed and finished by hand.  Spitfire wheels too!

 

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I took care of a few other odds and ends last night too, mostly the painting of little aluminum bits while on the sprue.  I ask mask the canopy today and close up the cockpit.

--John

 

 

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Canopy masked and primed.  I'll be having an open canopy on this build.  I have already test fitted both sections and they fit like a glove.  So nice...

 

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Hard points on the underside...

 

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And the doo-dads that I will attach towards the end.  Those are the 100 gallon tanks and 2 naughty little French Matra SNEB rocket pods...

 

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It's looking like priming time again with this one too.  I'll attach the forward section of the canopy, mask the open cockpit and do it.  

I think I'll have to get another one of these Hunters providing I can get a Mk. 6.  I have a the Xtradecal sheet with the Belgian, Dutch and Jordanian Mk. 6 Hunters...A Jordanian Hawker sounds good for the Middle East shelf.  I think one of you is building a Mk. 6., right?

-John

 

Note:  Just checked the interweb and they say the FGA.9 was modified Mk. 6-- and mostly internal modifications.  Both had the dog-tooth leading edge on the wing.  So would it be allowed to build a 9 and call it a 6 with right decals?

 

Edited by John D.C. Masters
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1 hour ago, John D.C. Masters said:

Note:  Just checked the interweb and they say the FGA.9 was modified Mk. 6-- and mostly internal modifications.  Both had the dog-tooth leading edge on the wing.  So would it be allowed to build a 9 and call it a 6 with right decals?

Calling it a Mk.6a will be more correct and avoid the wrath of pedants ;) 

Remember to attach the airbrake before you commit to paint!

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I'll be showing the airbrake employed as well as flaps down, etc...it may not be completely accurate but it will add some dynamism.

The tough part will be cutting the decals on the underside of the wing so they match up with the undercarriage flaps.  Thankfully, Revell has 

supplied a well-drawn image.

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8 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said:

So would it be allowed to build a 9 and call it a 6 with right decals

Externally, the most obvious difference between a F.Mk 6 & the FGA.9 as in the kit is the bulged housing for the landing braking parachute above the tail pipe. A few minutes work with some different grade sanding sticks should sort that fairly easily. I'll be needing to do that with a couple of mine. Its worth it to spend a few minutes looking at the sprue shots for the F.Mk6 kit, Scalemates has links to several reviews with these sprue shots & this shows the shape you're looking for, apart from a small tab at the rear of the fin, it is much the same contour as the underside.

Steve.

Edited by stevehnz
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Thanks Steve.  Good information.  

 

I found an Airfix FGA.9 kit or two for cheap on a big auction website.  The kits look alright.  They will serve as excellent foundations  for exotic decals.

 

 

 

 

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Thanks Steve.  Well, I can only speak for myself when I think of all the decals I don't use!  I hope to use them up!  I may have to have another give-away...😉

 

So...re-priming time for the Hunter as well.

 

Cockpit...

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...and beneath...

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...and re-primed.  I added a bit more tape around the cockpit and the forward gear bay...

 

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The chosen chroma...

 

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The Intermediate Blue is pretty close to the blue/grey and the NATO Green is, well, NATO Green.  The Light Grey has a nice stone-like appearance as well and I feel will work fine for the lower half.

 

--John

 

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23 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said:

I think one of you is building a Mk. 6., right?

Hi John

I'm building an F6, but the Academy 1/48th scale one though 

Need to get some pics posted :) 

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52 minutes ago, John D.C. Masters said:

Yes please.  I would love to see what you're doing.

Your wish is my command, not much progess as yet but you will find it here "Hunter F6 56 Squadron 1960" 

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I used the blue-tac method of masking, with the help of a lot of tape too.  I think it looks pretty good!

 

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..and the underside.  Note the leading edges.

 

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Lots still to do here.  At this point it is all the little whiskers that need to be attached as well as the landing gear.  Now, I will have cut the decals very carefully so that I can apply the appropriate pieces to the underside of the aircraft.  I did it with the other Hunter, so I know I can do it with this one.  The rest of the decals are the roundels, squadron markings and  a lot of stencils.  I may leave this one until I return from Athens Saturday.

-John

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