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Hawker Hunter FGA9, Airfix 1:72


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A change of subject for me, but I really do like the Hunter's classic sweeping lines and curves.

 

I found this old kit online, and the plastic is dated 1983.

 

The box doesn't have a date on it, but it was fairly battered and yellowed.

 

The kit actually went together well, but it's from the era of raised panel lines.  This meant that a lot of the panel line detail has now gone, from sessions of filling and sanding.

 

It also has blanked engine intakes and exhaust.  I don't know if the Revell kit is more detailed in this area.

 

I was more concerned about the decals, although the sheet looked new and had no yellowing.

 

However, they were very brittle and I lost a couple of the stencil markings as they folded over themselves or disintegrated when I tried to move them in position.

 

Some of the roundels are out of register, which is evident on the white sliver on the wings.  It's not a result of my misplacement.

 

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Edited by neilg
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Very nice - just the right amount of gloss too.
 

I've built the same kit, same boxing and it was a bit of a battle, not helped by blue-tack masking pulling off the Xtracrylic paint. The tooling is ancient, 1960. Maybe they tweaked it in 1983. My decals had better register but were just as bad. Still, its a Hunter. The Revell kit is much better I hear - so little chance of Airfix retooling anytime soon .

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Good job on a v old and basic kit.

 

I bought it, or my Dad did,  when I was v young as the suggested scheme was all black and, with the kit being made of black plastic, it meant I didn't have to paint it.

 

Can I suggest you now buy the Revell kit to see how the industry has come on in the past 60 years. Its a very pleasant eye opener. Compare and contrast!

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On 17/07/2021 at 09:53, junglierating said:

Great job ....have you considered some aftermarket roundels....they are not that pricy on line 🤔

 

I haven't looked for any aftermarket decals for this kit - I wanted to see how well it went together straight out of the box.

 

They weren't too bad, I just had to be very gentle with them.

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On 17/07/2021 at 11:55, Properjob56 said:

Good job on a v old and basic kit.

 

I bought it, or my Dad did,  when I was v young as the suggested scheme was all black and, with the kit being made of black plastic, it meant I didn't have to paint it.

 

Can I suggest you now buy the Revell kit to see how the industry has come on in the past 60 years. Its a very pleasant eye opener. Compare and contrast!

 

I will keep an eye out for it - I'm sure I saw one in Hobbycraft but I was looking for something else at the time.


I have the Airfix and Revell Eurofighter Typhoon - it's interesting seeing the two offerings side-by-side.

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Very nice build, it was a limited retool in 1983. Basically some changes to the fuselage to give a Mk9 rear end and delete the gun pack. A new undercarriage was also tooled. According to Trevor Snowden it was intended to do a completely new kit, but it was a time when the owners of Airfix gave only a small amount of money for new products. It was about the time the Canberra B(I)6 was irrevocably changed to a B57. 

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23 hours ago, neilg said:

 

I will keep an eye out for it - I'm sure I saw one in Hobbycraft but I was looking for something else at the time.


I have the Airfix and Revell Eurofighter Typhoon - it's interesting seeing the two offerings side-by-side.

Might be worth having a look at kingkit.co.uk.

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