++++ Hawker's Last and First -FINISHED++++

[825]

Some paint on the Fury

 

 

A little bit of tidying up but looking OK

[Col.]

Glad to see you've got this one to the painting stage already  

[825]

Sea Hawk now has the upperworks painted. 

 

 

Hobbyboss's painting instructions are a bit off. They suggest silver undersides, when they should be white. I don't think any FAA front line aircraft were ever silver or natural metal since the beginning of WW2. They also show large serials on the upper wings, and provide them too. A detail wrong is a black and white striped arrestor hook, again this period the FAA didn't paint them. Later on the Gannet they were yellow and white. 

 

 

The Sea Fury is now ready for masking

 

 

[825]

Transfers onto the Sea Hawk. Went on fine and settled OK. The white on the Roundels is a bit translucent and that can be seen on close looking on the fuselage, faint and so can be lived with. I didn't add the serials to the upper wings. There's a few stencils to go on around the cockpit mainly and I'll wait until the canopy is on and painted. 

 

 

 

Looking at photographs there may be a thin black border to the playing card to separate it from the white undersides. I do have some black transfers that can be used. 

[825]

More paint on. And the Fury masked up for the upperworks to be painted. 

 

 

With some paint on now. 

 

 

Undercarraige onto the Sea Hawk. Little fiddly but went together ok. Still awaiting wheels. 

 

 

[Col.]

Both look to be going well for you there

[825]

Sea Fury ready for some transfers. 

 

 

And some on. Really thin and fragile, the Royal Navy transfer broke into its constituent letters and therefore took about 20 minutes to get sorted out. 

 

 

Sea Hawk finished. 

 

 

 

Though stupidly in my rush to close up, and the fact the other 3 build some I'm doing in this GB are tail draggers, I forgot to put some weight in the nose. It's probably too late and too destructive to do anything about it. The canopy is open as the rear section is not a great fit, as well as having a slight crack in it. Hopefully, a smear of Kleer should help. 

 

 

[Col.]

Any chance you can feed some weight into the front end of your Sea Hawk through the cockpit?

[825]

14 minutes ago, Col. said:

Any chance you can feed some weight into the front end of your Sea Hawk through the cockpit?

Possibly but the cockpit has a bulkhead at the front so it might not flow far enough tot he front.

[exdraken]

looking very nice!

 

if all fails, you can probably put some weight into the nose wheel bay.... so that at least ist sets correctly! if you do it removable, no harm done to the bay itself...

 

 

Edited March 19, 2019 by exdraken

[Peter Lloyd]

Maybe you can get some small pieces if weight in through the rear of the nose gear bay, but you'd have to break off the nose wheel and refit... if I remember correctly there's space behind there where the weight could settle, well forward.  Or drill the very front of the nose to fit in a nail. Does anyone know, was the tip a 'hole' or glassed over?

 

In any case, both your planes are looking good.  I just read that the arrestor hooks were not painted, as I did on mine.... perhaps a small sin given my underside is 'sky' due to the mid-construction change of markings.  I struggled to find good shots of early FAA jets showing the tail hooks.

[825]

On 3/24/2019 at 1:11 AM, Peter Lloyd said:

Maybe you can get some small pieces if weight in through the rear of the nose gear bay, but you'd have to break off the nose wheel and refit... if I remember correctly there's space behind there where the weight could settle, well forward.  Or drill the very front of the nose to fit in a nail. Does anyone know, was the tip a 'hole' or glassed over?

 

In any case, both your planes are looking good.  I just read that the arrestor hooks were not painted, as I did on mine.... perhaps a small sin given my underside is 'sky' due to the mid-construction change of markings.  I struggled to find good shots of early FAA jets showing the tail hooks.

I'd rather not take the undercart off but I may be able to feed some liquid lead through the nose and seal it with a nail. I agree about the arrestor hook shaft. It was only really late that they were striped. The photos in my '...from the cockpit' books including the Seahawk show clean shafts and hooks. The hooks typically look shiny as if they are left in unpainted steel and the shafts in the underside colour. 

[825]

Sea Fury transfers almost complete. The bands and roundels were not at all bad but the serials and 'Royal Navy' were a nightmare, coming apart, breaking up and generally being very thin and too fragile. The rear fuselage bands need some touching up but not a big deal. 

 

 

 

Took a bit of time as there were transfers that needed layered and had to be done in separate sessions. 

[Col.]

That was time well spent I'd say. The exercise bands add a nice touch of colour to your Sea Fury.

[825]

On 3/30/2019 at 7:45 AM, Col. said:

That was time well spent I'd say. The exercise bands add a nice touch of colour to your Sea Fury.

Thanks Col, the bands also conceal the missing numbers and letters from the serials!

 

Undercarriage on, nicely detailed but for some reason the Trumpeter Plastic takes a while for the glued parts to 'bite' so progress is slow. That being said, once dried the joints are rock solid. 

 

 

And standing on her on her own three wheels. 

 

[825]

Canopy on, masked and a layer of interior paint on. There's a light seam on one side which I'll tidy up with some Krystal Kleer. 

 

[Col.]

Nice work so far and getting close to complete

[825]

Sea Fury almost there

 

[exdraken]

Looking fantastic!

[825]

On 4/15/2019 at 10:54 PM, exdraken said:

Looking fantastic!

Thanks. 

 

On 4/11/2019 at 7:53 AM, Col. said:

Nice work so far and getting close to complete

Not much more to go now. A couple of transfers, the pilot's step and possibly the cannon. They look a bit awkward to get off the sprue and I'm not sure if they can be seen. It may be better if they are visible to use some plastic rod or tube. 

 

[Col.]

On the Sea Fury the steps and canopy were linked so if the latter is shut so are the former  

[825]

19 hours ago, Col. said:

On the Sea Fury the steps and canopy were linked so if the latter is shut so are the former  

Thanks Col. I think I'll leave the steps off then as my canopy is closed.

 

I was going to add the remaining transfers today but one of the undercarria Legs gave way so I had to refix that. Here we are at the end of today. 

 

 

[Col.]

Both are looking good. Also make an interesting comparison of the similarities and differences between the two designs.

[825]

Finished. Need some proper posing for the gallery. 

 

 

U

[825]

On 4/20/2019 at 9:05 AM, Col. said:

Both are looking good. Also make an interesting comparison of the similarities and differences between the two designs.

There does seem to have been a bit of a sea change at Hawkers when they started their jet designs. Unlike Supermarine where the Attacker was effectively a Spiteful with a fattened fuselage to fit the Nene in. Then the Sea Hawk was a couple of years down the line and in the early jet years that was a lengthy time in terms of rapid development. Compare the 40 years between the Tornado and Typhoon, compared to the 10 years between the Attacker and Phantom. Or even the 10-15 years from the Hunter in front line Squadron service to the pre evaluation of the Harrier.