A pair of Airfix Hawks in 1/72

[Fritag]

Have you ever been glad to see the back of a build? 

 

WIP Here

 

So, take two x 1/72 Airfix Hawks (series A55202A).

 

One to be made as a c.1983 TMk1 Hawk in the classic red/white/grey trainer scheme - specifically XX176 with a very young Fritag aboard on 18 July 1983:

 

 

And here’s the completed model, finished with Tamiya Flat White XF-2 and NATO Black XF-69, Humbrol Light Aircraft Grey 166 and Revell Fiery Red 330.  All airbrushed acrylics.  Semi Gloss Clear coat knocked back a bit by a Flat Clear coat - both Tamiya clear lacquers.

 

 

The other to be made as a c.1984 TMk1A Hawk in wraparound camo as flown by the TWU's - specifically XX263 steered by young Fritag in c.April 1984:

 

 

 

And the completed model, finished in Colourcoats, Dark Green and Dark Sea Grey, airbrushed enamels followed by Tamiya Lacquer Flat Clear coat 

 

 

 

It’s the third build in a sequence; following builds of a Chipmunk T10 and a JP 3A/JP 5A.  RFIs here:  Chipmunk T10 and Jet Provosts

 

So this build has been going on and off since 2015, with some extended periods of inactivity stretching it out somewhat.  

 

It also served as a test bed for my experiments with vac-forming using a dental vac machine, resin casting, home-brew photo etching and over the last 12 months or so my education in and use of 3D CAD (Fusion 360) and resin printing (MARS 3 printer and Chitubox Pro).

 

Anyways, you take yourself an Airfix series A55202A and then throw most of it away 

 

IIRC the bits you do use in modified form are the fuselage halves, wing halves and horizontal tailplanes.  Oh, and I think the main wheels, and the control column, survive to some extent as well.

 

Feel free to skip the next several paragraphs and go to the photo’s; but for the interested the following is, I think, a fairly complete list of what was done.

 

Cockpit

 

1. Home made cast resin cockpit tubs from a stripped back and modified CMK Hawk 100 resin cockpit tub to as the master.  Detailed with plastic strip, lead wire etc.

2. Eduard pre-painted PE Instrument and side Panels (background colour repainted).  PE rudder pedals.  Can’t remember what make.

3. Modified kit control column.

4. Fusion-designed and resin-printed front and rear coamings and rear bulkhead storage bags.  Weapons sight glass on the T1A from clear plastic.

5. Painted Humbrol Dark Sea Grey/Tamiya NATO Black and weathered with oils and drybrushing.

 

Ejection Seats

 

1. Home cast resin Mk10 ejection seats with the early wide-cheeked head boxes.  As a master I used the seat pan from the CMK Mk 10 seats, removed the straps, added various scratch details and topped it off with the (somewhat reshaped) head box from old Matchbox hawk seats.  Cast 4 seats.

2. Straps a mixture of pre-painted PE and lead foil rear seat apron from lead foil.

 

Canopies

 

1. Home vac-formed canopies and windscreens from fusion-designed and resin-printed masters (earlier in the build I used cast resin masters, but ended up tinkering with the shape in fusion).

2. Internal canopy framework with MDC; and windscreen and canopy external framework fusion-designed and resin-printed.  I had previously home-etched the MDC, but the printer (a game changer) provided a better solution.

3. Internal blast shield cut from clear plastic using a fusion-designed and resin-printed template.

4. Rear view mirrors, aircon pipes and other bits and bobs fusion-designed and resin-printed.

5. Internal canopy join straps (terylene?) painted with decanted Tamiya rattle can TS-7 Racing White.  Internal (wider) strip painted on to the internal canopy framework and the external (narrower) strip masked and painted on the outside of the canopy.  The whole internal/external thing is often missed.

 

Fuselage

 

1. Filled in many of the Airfix trenches. Rescribed panels various (such as the ram air turbine doors).  Carved off several inappropriate details.  Added hinge details to the ailerons and rudder.

2. Rebuilt the ram air exhaust vents on the top of the fuselage.

3. Made a starter exhaust collar from plastic card.  Starter exhaust from nickel tube.

4. Quick boost resin ram air Intakes.

5. Home-etched grills let into the top of the fuselage.

6. NACA ducts x 5 per fuselage; plunge moulded into the fuselage using heated shaped brass masters.

7. Rear-starboard fuselage exhaust thingummy from bent nickel tube.

8. Remodelled wing root fairings.

9. Home resin cast various lumps and bumps including the aileron linkage housings:

10. Home made ‘seamless trunking’ from plastic card plus home vac-formed intake interiors.

11. Scratch built Adour compressor face. Which disappeared never to be seen again:

12. Tail pipe from thinned plastic tube with fusion-designed and resin-printed turbine face, which can just be seen if a torch is shined indelicately up the Hawk tailpipes.

13. Airbrake bay lined with plastic card.  Airbrake reshaped and refined with added home-cast resin teardrop fairing.  Airbrake posed very slightly opened – as often seen on parked Hawks.

14. Ventral strakes from etch (can’t remember the producer) improved with soldered-on brass rod and added flanges from plastic card and some archer resin rivets.

15. HGW 3d cast resin ‘domed’ rivets on the rear of the fuselage and the tailplane.  Not really visible after painting.

16. Brass tube let into nose to form the pitot tube fairing and the pitot is the Master brass pitot (well worth it).

17. Anti-collision strobes, tail nav light and all the aerials fusion designed and resin printed (clear resin for the strobes).

18. At a latish stage I realised the nose contours were a bit pinched and not rounded/chubby enough.  I think that the kit as moulded is slightly pinched but I’d exacerbated it in my attempts to fill/sand/rescribe (repeat x several) the trench like nose avionic bay hatch panel lines.  So I used fusion to design some templates to correct the profile of the noses, printed a couple for each Hawk, stuck em either side of the nose and built up the nose with halfords filler primer before sanding/micromeshing it back.  Happy with the shape of the noses now.

 

Wings

 

1. Home etched vortex generators (VGs).

2. Leading edge stall strips from 0.5mm square section plastic rod.

3. Brass wing fences from the Airwaves set with added ‘flanges’ from 0.2mm plastic card.

4. Flaps posed down as that's how parked Hawks are usually seen. Cut out flaps, reworked kit parts to act as masters for home produced resin flap, scratched some flaplets from plastic strip.

 

Undercarriage

 

1. Nose leg and wheel. Legs originally scratched from plastic, brass and nickel tube, bits salvaged from the kit part and home-cast resin.  Home-cast resin wheel...  Then I lost one a leg and wheel and ended up fusion designing and resin printing the nose legs and wheels with nickel tube for the fescalised oleo.

2. Main legs.  Home cast resin legs and hubs with nickel tubing for oleos and plastic card details.  Modified kit wheels.  Retraction strut fusion designed and resin printed with nickel rod for the fescalised section.

3. All undercarriage doors fusion designed and resin printed.

4. Nose leg bay. Built up from plastic card with various added details from plastic card etc.

5. Main leg bays. Shortened and reshaped bay; removed bay roof and built up the side walls from plastic card with various added details from plastic card, stretched sprue and lead wire etc.

6. Undercarriage bays painted white and the undercarriage legs and internal sections of the undercarriage doors painted light aircraft grey.

 

Armament (TWU Hawk)

 

1. Aden gun pod. Modified from what I think was an old Airfix offering (from the first Airfix Hawk kit) or possibly an old Matchbox offering.  Either way, re-scribed, grills and vents added, gun barrel cover/fairing from reshaped plastic tube.

2. Wing Pylons, Long tailed CBLS and practice bombs, fusion designed and resin printed.

3. Various further cockpit details (e.g. rear cockpit bulkhead storage bag, cockpit rails etc.

4. Painting and decaling etc.

 

Finishing

 

1. Paint colours as above.

2. The Valley Hawk was painted over a white primer with weathering limited to a dark wash in the moveable control surface lines and some judicious staining with oils.

3. The TWU was painted over a mottling of greys and browns.  Post-painting work consisted of a mottled oil-dotting technique with light and dark grey (starship filth) from the Mig Ammo oil brusher range plus a dark wash and staining as above.

 

I think that‘s about it 

 

So welcome  back those as skipped the lengthy description. And now some Photo’s. 

 

Valley

 

Cockpit

 

 

 

Generally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Underneath

 

 

 

 

 

And just cos I quite like this one

 

 

TWU

 

Cockpit

 

 

 

 

Generally

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Underneath

 

 

 

 

And with the gun pod

 

Not my favourite look for the Hawk, so I just tacked the gun pod on for the photo’s and took it off again.  I’ll probably lose it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final one of them both

 

 

I said it during the WIP, but the TWU Hawk is definitely my favourite.

 

And there we are.  Hope you like ‘em and thanks to everyone who commented on the WIP and made the thread fun to do.

 

 

 

Edited April 1 by Fritag
typo

[AdrianMF]

I'm exhausted just reading through the modifications! 
 

Amazing builds the pair of them. It simply doesn't look like it is possible that they are only 1/72 size - the detail and precision of build, painting and weathering would be incredible, if we hadn't seen it unfold over 180-odd pages.

 

Wonderful. I feel like a prehistoric ape staring up at a big black smooth slab.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Hopesdaddy]

All I can say is wow, possibly the best pair of Hawks that I've ever seen in  this scale. Well worth your time and effort.

[fatalbert]

Its been such an epic build and a pleasure to follow,i just can't wait to see your next project.

Would it be possible to see them next to the Chipmunk and Jet Provosts?.

[ruudster]

an amazing WIP journey and now the stunning payoff.  Great builds!!!

[Dave Slowbuild]

The bar for 1/72 has been raised to unprecedented heights - a giant leap for mankind.     I am not worthy to even look at these Hawks…

 

I’ve got the Airfix kit in the stash along with a Master Models pitot and a Xtradecal sheet.  I was planning to add some seat belts, thinking that would give me a nice little project.  Not really going to cut it now though is it?  

[Farmerboy]

What ever l say won’t be good enough, ‘nuf said. 

[Navy Bird]

You have set new standards for 1:72 scale aircraft. Outstanding isn't strong enough of a word. I don't know which superlative word is. I have the Airfix Hawk 100 in my stash, but now I'm not sure what to do with it. At least I have some extraordinary subjects to aim at. Thank you for that!

 

Cheers,

Bill

[giemme]

I find extraordinary and absolutely amazing that:

 

- you remember all the mods you did to the original kits (albeit knowing what you do for a living, I'd be willing to bet that you kept notes along the way )

- you learned and mastered 3D in such a short time span

- you mastered "traditional" modelling techniques along the way

- you kept going for seven years, keeping up with all the banter from us usual suspects 

 

The end result is absolutely astonishing,  but I need to get back to this and watch it on a big screen, not just from my phone.

The camouflage Hawk is my favorite too, but they both deserve these:

 

        

 

 

luckily your next build is going to be much quicker....

 

Ciao 

[geedubelyer]

Utterly remarkable Steve. 

As other esteemed members have remarked, these are some of the finest 1/72nd scale models we've ever witnessed.

Brilliant job on both aircraft and now a question........how?

I mean I've read what you've done and I understand the processes but the question remains.......simply how?

I am very eager to see what you build next whether it be a 1/48th scale Defiant or a 1/32nd scale Hurricane. Whatever it is I know the build is highly likely to be  informative, eye opening and ultimately entertaining. 

 

Thanks so much for taking us all along for the ride, it's been a pleasure.

Cheers

 

Edited January 21 by geedubelyer

[bigbadbadge]

Perfect replicas both and in 1/72nd scale too, WOW , my ghast is truly flabbered, what phenomenal work. 

 

Chris

 

 

 

[philp]

Great looking Hawks and it was fun watching the whole process through.  Now on to those Jags.

[Darwinism]

Fantastic work Fritag, I can’t believe they’re 1/72 - they’re little jewels.

[keefr22]

I don't want to repeat myself again with what I said in the build thread that these are two of the best aeroplane models I've seen in ANY scale..... oh, drat, I think I just did.. 

 

Not much else to say that hasn't been said already Steve, other than they are both magnificent and simply stunning to look at! 

 

Keith

 

[Rabbit Leader]

It’s taken me three go’s to think of something appropriate to say about these superlative Hawk kits, however whatever appreciative words I write, please magnify them by 100%. Honestly, if this is not the highest level of 1/72 modelling, I don’t know what is. We all strive to achieve perfection, it’s nice to know that someone out there, can manage to reach it! 
Cheers.. Dave 

 

[Phone Phixer]

A marathon of a build, but what an epic journey.

This was truly a masterclass in 1/72 detailing. Just sublime.

[feifeitim]

Said it at the end of the build thread Steve - quite awesome!

[Lord Riot]

Absolutely outstanding! A couple of the best and most detailed aircraft I’ve seen in this scale. 
 

Even more impressive that you actually flew them. Massive respect.

[Tempestwulf]

Ladies and Gentlemen we have a pure winner on our hands. And to build planes you were able to fly has a personal meaning that's invaluable.

[HOUSTON]

Very nice.

I followed the build intermittently and was a great build.

[Pete in Lincs]

Excellent stuff. I imagine there were exciting moments during the build, like doing the NACA ducts for instance. I did 18 months or so working on them at Chivenor before I left the RAF, so I think I can vouch for how good they are. Now, isn't there a 1/32 kit out there? Just saying...

[tomprobert]

So in short, there wasn’t / isn’t a huge amount of Airfix left 
 

These are just gorgeous little renditions of a beautiful aeroplane. The added detail and attention has raised these to perhaps the ultimate Hawks in this scale. Beautiful!

 

Tom

[binbrook87]

Wow! They're stunning builds I do like to see the original colour schemes. Both are very nice but i do like the camo 63 sqn machine

[CedB]

I've said it before and I'll say it again - two stunners that you can be VERY proud of.

 

Giorgio summed it up for me - two amazing models, greatly extended techniques and a superb result. 

 

Wow, what a ride!

[Serkan Sen]

This is the longest RFI summary and the best builds in 1:72 scale I have ever seen.

Congratulations Steve!

Serkan