A Matter of the Hart – AMG 1/72

[Patrik]

Undoubtedly, Hawker Hart was the most significant technical step forward produced by the British aviation industry during the interwar years. Talking about the standard Kestrel bomber, it has been also one of the lucky interwar airplanes attracting wider attention of kit manufacturers, starting with Frog Penguin in 1936, and going on with Airfix (1957), Aeroclub (beginning of 90’s) and Amodel (2012). On purpose, I am not listing either the AZ kit, which is Hart only by name, and requires quite serious surgery to get the right airplane type out of the box, or the Merlin copy of the Frog Penguin model.

 

 

The latest arrival to the family was produced by Arsenal Model Group (AMG) from the Ukraine and it was released miraculously this summer amidst the turmoil of the war. The kit was introduced here:

 

 

It is with certainty the best 1/72 Hart kit regarding the moulding quality so far. As concerns the level of detail, both interior and exterior, it is simply a nitpickers’ wet dream. At least in the box, let us see how it fares on the workbench. I am not going to use one of the kit markings. Instead, I am going to build it as K-2091 from No. 11 Squadron, Risalpur, NW India:

 

 

Using the legendary Modeldecal sheet:

 

 

The kit shows outstanding respect to historical accuracy and attention to detail, so it is rather surprising to find a few omissions right after opening the box. The first one is the missing fuselage gun body in the interior. Clearly somehow “forgotten”, because the cocking handle is present on the PE fret (orange arrow) – at least I think so😉. By the way, would some of you know what the part indicated by the green arrow could be good for?

 

 

The next ones are the missing air intakes on the top of the cowling, which are quite prominent on many Harts. Curiously, they seem to be hiding behind the propeller in step 20 of the instructions, but they are not present in the kit. By the way, the instructions are quite generic, probably in order to be able to use them for as many Hart variants as possible. No problem for Hart aficionados, however they can be in parts rather misleading for the uninitiated.

 

 

Both of the above issues can be very easily corrected, but the last one is more critical. Contrary to the 1/48 AMG Hart, its smaller brother contains just one upper wing central section, the one with two fuel tanks. Not exactly a problem for me, because “my Hart” was (by lucky coincidence) equipped with the later “Hind” wing and thus two tanks – see the orange arrow in the photo of K-2091. However, most Harts (especially home based) were equipped with one wing fuel tank only, and therefore caution is needed. Although some people may simply decide to ignore the problem, the modification is not that complicated and I will recommend it, if references for your particular Hart say so.

 

 

The Hart has not been portrayed well by kits only, but by reference literature as well. So as usual, selection from my collection concluding the initial post.

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Patrik

[wombat]

I’ve seen many references that say Harts in India had bigger radiators but no details. Is that a visible difference?

[Patrik]

Errata:

My sincere apologies to the good folk in AMG. Today, while looking for something else, I found the air intakes on the sprue. Parts 17 and 19, completely ignored by the instructions.

I swear they were not there last time I looked ...😀

 

[Patrik]

6 hours ago, wombat said:

I’ve seen many references that say Harts in India had bigger radiators but no details. Is that a visible difference?

I do not think there was an external difference. The radiator was in a retractable case, and they seem all the same to me. However, if someone can prove otherwise, I will be happy to hear.

 

On the other hand, I found the reason for the two upper wing tanks in K2091. K2091 was part of the Hart (India) series of 50 airframes (K2083 - K2132), which were apparently equipped with two tanks during the production already.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Patrik

[Britman]

The item on the fret with the green arrow I think looks like the control run at the base of the control column .

 

Keith 

[Roger Holden]

I think the green arrow is pointing to a drift sight, which compensates for wind drift when bomb aiming. It would probably be mounted internally at the bomb aiming position, or possibly externally near the rear cockpit.

 

Those AMG kits are outstanding and the best kits by far of any inter-War RAF biplane in 1/72. In fact, they make all previous kits look plain crude...

The only downside I can see is that they gave the Demon kit the same 'bomber' interior parts as the Hart.

 

The A-Model kits have the single wing tank, IIRC....

[Patrik]

On 12/18/2022 at 11:14 PM, Britman said:

The item on the fret with the green arrow I think looks like the control run at the base of the control column .

 

Keith 

Seems a plausible idea to me Keith, thank you, though the available pictures of the interior are not conclusive in this matter. I will investigate more. In worst case, I am going to fit it into the most appropriate place in the cockpit and we will see.😀

I made a kind of an inventory of the parts in the kit with the instructions a day before yesterday. Frankly said, the instructions are nice mess. Quite a few parts omitted, some others mislabeled, attention is going to be paramount.

 

On 12/18/2022 at 11:38 PM, Roger Holden said:

I think the green arrow is pointing to a drift sight, which compensates for wind drift when bomb aiming. It would probably be mounted internally at the bomb aiming position, or possibly externally near the rear cockpit.

 

Those AMG kits are outstanding and the best kits by far of any inter-War RAF biplane in 1/72. In fact, they make all previous kits look plain crude...

The only downside I can see is that they gave the Demon kit the same 'bomber' interior parts as the Hart.

 

The A-Model kits have the single wing tank, IIRC....

Drift sight - intriguing idea Roger, I have to admit. Once again, more investigation is needed.

 

I fully agree the AMG Hart family kits are of outstanding quality. As regards the Amodel single tank central section, combining the parts seems kind of sacrilegious to me.😀 Adding the few missing ribs should solve the problem nicely. What do you think?

 

[Patrik]

Harts (India) seem to have exhibited more differences to the standard Hart as I thought. First, it looks like the spent cartridges were collected in an external case.

 

 

In addition, there was also an inspection (or lighting?) hatch behind that case.

 

 

Then, however, it is not the case of Harts (India) only, this apparatus. What can this be? It does not look like the usual wind driven generator to me. Could it be the winch for the trailing aerial? Because it appears to be present only on such Harts that do not feature the aerial wires between the fin and the wings.

 

 

As mentioned above, more investigations will be needed in the days to come.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Patrik

[Patrik]

I could not resist and dry-fitted the fuselage today. It consists of four parts, bottom, both sides and the cockpit cover. It fits perfectly, even without cleaning the parts.

 

[perdu]

That is a lovely fit on there, could be a future purchase for me.

I love the detailing of the exhausts, Hart series bugbear of mine and I didn't do it very well on mine.

 

That etch piece might well be  the control run in front of the control column but if it is the production drawing lacked for something.

 

Look

 

In this shot which I found on  the net (and if it has copyright I will remove it and apologise), the top of the 'stick' turns left or right to give a rolling movement to the aircraft operated by the cables down to the grey pulley wheel shaft which feeds control movement via the cables up through the compass platform/bracket then out to the ailerons.

 

The window is often seen on Harts and Hinds, you got them in the kit I had to use Sellotape over a hole, not awfully successfully

 

I searched, you could almost call it researched the Hart family for my Hind, can't say I ever saw a drift sight like that but that means nowt.

 

Can't help with that antenna-looking device though sorry, how about "Build it, fit it, paint it then ignore it"?

 

 

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Interesting thread! I have the AmG 1/48 Hart but not the 1/72- actually I’m waiting for them to do an Audax which they will surely do as there is an ‘ook on the sprues!

 

hitherto the only way I got a half accurate Hart and Hart trainer was to mix and match Amodel Avis and Aeroclub. However credit is due to the Airfix Hart/Demon which has razor sharp trailing edges and the correct dihedral on the lower wing which the above kits miss! 
 

look forward to following your build- I’d shy clear of sellotape though which will yellow and use Krystal Klear for the lower windows

as for your side mounted apparatus might it be a TT winch? 

 

TT

[Patrik]

@perdu@Britman@Roger Holden Thanks for the suggestions, guys. By now, I am sure the etched part is supposed to represent the Mk.VI course setting bomb sight (Armament of British Aircraft 1909-1939 by H. F. King), Roger was right. It was mounted in the bombing aperture under the front seat. Unfortunately I have not been able to find suitable photo of the "thing" yet in order to compare it with the etched representation.

 

 

All Harts had a window on the starboard side. Harts (India) seem to feature one more on the port side, in similar position (but of different size and shape) as later on Hinds. This one is not present in the kit.

 

@TEXANTOMCAT TT winch. Another intriguing idea, thank you. I have ordered the Air Publication on Hawker Hart with a hope that it answers the question (and hopefully some more). As soon as it arrives (I receive the download link😀) I will share my findings.

Edited December 26, 2022 by Patrik

[Dave Slowbuild]

Patrik, if I might ask a question, how do you find and order an Air Publication?
  I have been looking around on Google to find a link but had no success.

 

Dave

[Patrik]

10 hours ago, Dave Slowbuild said:

Patrik, if I might ask a question, how do you find and order an Air Publication?
 I have been looking around on Google to find a link but had no success.

Found three sources in the past:

1. http://www.flight-manuals.com/

2. https://www.flight-manuals-online.com/

3. https://www.aircraft-reports.com/

I can vouch for Nos. 1 and 2, because I bought from both of them. No issues, perfect services. I can say nothing about No. 3, as I have never bought from them.

 

While we're on the subject of Air Publication - received Hart AP today. It is obvious that more than just gun body is missing in the cockpit. In fact it is the whole internal gun assembly. I believe it had been designed and then somehow left out or forgotten, because it is not only the cocking handle on the PE fret, but there is even a groove in the floor right in front of the bombing hatch ready to accept the ammunition box (which is not in the kit either).

 

 

Regarding the bomb sight - not much help from the AP, just confirmation of the previous information.

 

 

And the mysterious apparatus on the starboard side? In the end, no big mystery. The first option (boldly discarded by me) was in fact the right one, see below in blue. The trailing aerial is also present (red), but on the other side of the fuselage. It is also quite apparent below the fuselage on some in-flight photos - now that you know what to look for. 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Patrik

[Dave Slowbuild]

Thank you Patrik!
 

Dave

[Patrik]

Enough investigation, let us start the real work. However, first I have to apologize to the kit designer. The parts I am missing (see below marked red) were present in the original renders from 2018 and they are in the 1/48 kit. They just have not survived the resampling to 1/72 for one reason or another.

 

 

For example, just a few days ago I noticed the slat actuators were missing too. They were quite probably planned as part of the PE fret, they are in fact in plastic in 1/48 and then they are missing completely in 1/72.

 

The interior is a kit by itself. Very complex, and in the end it should fit exactly inside the fuselage. Though the fit of the parts has been excellent so far, I do not dare assembling and painting the interior all in one go, and then find out I need to remove one millimeter here or there, as the tubular construction is extremely fine anyway. I decided to fix what I dared to fix now and do the painting and assembly step by step. By the way, some of the PE parts are simply too fine and small to be usable and I replaced them by pieces of plastic or wire.

 

 

 

 

I also started the modifications appropriate to Hart (India), I just left the extra window for a day my hands are less shaky than a day after New Year’s Eve.😉

 

 

 

Happy modelling in 2023!

Edited January 1, 2023 by Patrik

[Patrik]

The inbuilt fin offset is a nice touch. The necessary modifications less so. Inevitable tax for "universal" Hart family empennage.🙁

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by Patrik

[Patrik]

Long time no post. Rare combination of private and business travelling kept me out of my modelling bench for at least half the January. However, I have not been idle and worked on the complex interior assembly. First I am going to present the bomber's station, with the missing parts - inspired by the picture from the Air Publication - scratchbuilt.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Patrik

[Patrik]

Quite crowded. And this is not the end of it, yet.

 

[AdrianMF]

Wow!

 

It's quite an Odyssey to build an accurate and detailed Hawker Hart/Demon/Hind/Osprey etc. There seem to be endless variations in just every detail. I tried and largely failed to build a definitive Airfix Demon a while back, and settled for "looks like a Demon", and I have a bunch of Aeroclub/A/AZ model kits, and even the dreaded Merlin/Penguin repop! 🫣

 

FWIW I found the plans in the Mushroom publication pretty generic and not much use for identifying differences between the versions, but suspect you are wa-a-ay beyond that point now.
 

Looking forward to your build - the interior so far looks smashing.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Patrik]

5 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Wow!

 

It's quite an Odyssey to build an accurate and detailed Hawker Hart/Demon/Hind/Osprey etc. There seem to be endless variations in just every detail. I tried and largely failed to build a definitive Airfix Demon a while back, and settled for "looks like a Demon", and I have a bunch of Aeroclub/A/AZ model kits, and even the dreaded Merlin/Penguin repop! 🫣

 

FWIW I found the plans in the Mushroom publication pretty generic and not much use for identifying differences between the versions, but suspect you are wa-a-ay beyond that point now.
 

Looking forward to your build - the interior so far looks smashing.

 

Regards,

Adrian

I really do regret telling you that ALL your patiently hoarded Demons and Harts mentioned above, are light years behind the recent AMG kits. I can tell, I have patiently hoarded all of them too😀. Regarding other members of the Hart family, only time will tell, if AMG manages producing replacement for your and mine carefully hoarded Audaxes, Hardys, Ospreys, Hinds, Hectors, Hartbeests and whatever else as well.

I am enthusiastic about the kit, but then, I am rather easy victim to such kind of enthusiasm, because in my modelling carrier I have been building mostly vacforms, resins and shortruns, and if it was a mainstream kit, then it was generally from the 60's or 70's. Therefore I would be probably excited about any modern kit, where actually details are so sharp and everything fits and no kidding.

 

Concerning Mushroom plans, in my opinion they are there mostly to show just the principal differences between the variations, in the same way the drawings in the Putnam books do, and of course they are there to fill in the otherwise empty pages😀. As you correctly guessed, I had stopped trusting them long time ago.

[Graham Boak]

Yes Patrik, but having patiently hoarded Harts, Demons etc (as I have) would it not be better for me to actually make, modifying as necessary, some of these?  Rather than throw away all this for a new, better, more expensive hoard which in its turn will be superseded by something even better...

 

I could make room for a Hart trainer and a proper "low-back" Demon.

[Patrik]

1 hour ago, Graham Boak said:

Yes Patrik, but having patiently hoarded Harts, Demons etc (as I have) would it not be better for me to actually make, modifying as necessary, some of these?  Rather than throw away all this for a new, better, more expensive hoard which in its turn will be superseded by something even better...

 

I could make room for a Hart trainer and a proper "low-back" Demon.

Modeller's circle of life😀. The only solution is to build as fast as we hoard. Which, at least in my case, is pure utopia. By the way, proper low-back Demon you can have from AMG. Sister kit to the Hart, released in 2021.

 

The Hart is really good kit and the interior went together faster than I expected. Fit is excellent, as long as you remember that using common sense is often much better than following instructions. Like for example when said instructions tell you that you should use the short transversal parts of the tubular construction No. 27, 29, 30, 31 and 32, when in fact common sense tells you that parts No. 27, 28, 30, 35 and 37 would be more useful for the purpose.

 

A touch of colour here and there will be needed, but otherwise I am happy with the result.

 

[Patrik]

A kind of magic. Now you see me.

 

 

Simsalabim. And now you don't, and newer again you will.

 

 

Although the assembly of the fuselage from four parts figured prominently in my bad dreams, in the end the fit was perfect.

Edited February 18, 2023 by Patrik

[galgos]

Just read through all of this Patrik, superb research and modelling as ever…..and in diminutive 1/72 scale to boot! I look forward to seeing the rest of your Hart-felt journey! 
By the way, did you finish your Gauntlet? I’ve looked but may have missed it. Loved the way that was developing.

PS Just found it, beautiful! 

PPS I have two Silver Wings Hart kits but not yet the time to build either!   This is how my Gauntlet turned out: