DamienB Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Having had no time for modelling for the last year and finding myself once again in desperate need of a bit of relaxation, I pulled one of these beautiful little kits out of the stash with the intention of just throwing it together OOB. However I didn't fancy doing either of the RAF schemes in the box... and went off the Swiss schemes too... and then a brainwave struck while looking through my photos from Yeovilton last year. So here we go, Hawker Hunter Aviation's ZZ190 - an ex-Swiss F.58 in British military markings... with ROYAL NAVY titles to boot! And for comparison, the real thing... The kit was built out of the box with just a few exceptions - the larger drop tanks supplied in the kit aren't proper Swiss ones as they lack the tail fins and the ventral bumpers/strakes so these were added from plastic card and strip respectively. A missing aerial between the Sabrinas is also from plastic card. I also drilled holes in the blast suppressor blocks to represent the cannon apertures. Other than that the kit is exactly as Revell intended it. Sprayed with Xtracrylix and finished off with Xtracylix flat varnish also sprayed. I have to say this tooling really is a cracker, and obviously designed by somebody who cared about the subject. The detail present in the undercarriage bays and cockpit rivals the best 3rd party resin add-ons and lots of nuances of shape have been faithfully represented. The fit is superb almost without exception (the wings are a bit narrow for the recess in the fuselage, but a minor bit of bending the halves outwards at the root makes them a snap-fit). On the negative side there are some panels on the starboard side of nose that are mirror images of those on the port side, when they are only present on the port side of the real thing (destructor panel and rescue panel - and I only noticed after I'd sprayed the camo so have left them as-is), there are no intake walls (I sprayed the interiors black - you can't tell now without sticking a torch down there), plus the wing leading edge and wing tip inserts are a little bit too thick so needed a fair bit of sanding to fair them in. I'm also a bit suspicious of the size of the wheels - they may be a bit undersized but I purposefully didn't check this as I wanted to just finish something quickly. As with the Revell Gannet there are a few instances of part number confusion in the instructions - where the numbers refer to the parts for the opposite side for some things e.g. main gear doors. Decals are mostly from the kit - some of the stencils needed cut and shut treatment to get them to match those on ZZ190 and the yellow text below the cockpit still isn't right but hey, near enough. The RN titles, the URL on the spine and the rescue other side panel on the starboard nose were printed on white decal paper. My laser printer couldn't match the green at all, it was way too light, but the grey wasn't too bad, and some careful overpainting of the edges once applied has left an acceptable result I think - as long as you don't look too closely. Now I look at the pics I see I still need to paint the wingtip lights - argh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Wilson Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Very nice, a lovely build of a lovely kit. I have built three of these and plan to use the PJ conversion to do a T7 just as soon as I finish the Airfix Canberra to go with them. There's something about that era of jets that the current ones just can't match. Stuart Wilson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Nice nice nice!!! You are correct about the wheel size Damien Aeroclub do a set of replacements. Thanks for the info on the panel assymetry Interesting journey the airframe went on! Nice find! to wot Stuart said. (Except I ain't bulding a cranberry ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Lovely job. Couple of things Damien; What colour is the underside? Not having seen the real thing 'in the flesh' I'd assumed it was Swiss painted aluminium, but your model looks greyer. In a previous discussion about the Swiss 195 (?) Gallon tanks, the feeling was they were more or less extended 100 gallon ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackLight Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Nice Hunter, always is a delite to see one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamienB Posted June 9, 2010 Author Share Posted June 9, 2010 (edited) What colour is the underside? Not having seen the real thing 'in the flesh' I'd assumed it was Swiss painted aluminium, but your model looks greyer. I had a good look at ZZ190 and 191 at Yeovilton last year (and didn't take any close-up shots - doh!) and my memory was that it was a plain grey - certainly the interior of the doors looked metallic while the exteriors did not. None of my photos from the arrivals day show the slightest metallic tint to the underside grey - except possibly on the Sabrinas (which I didn't boher with on the model). I used LAG anyway. In a previous discussion about the Swiss 195 (?) Gallon tanks, the feeling was they were more or less extended 100 gallon ones They differ in a lot of details - strakes are different as are the circular access panels, panel lines where sections join, etc. See http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/AWA2...-Tresin/00.shtm for some shots of the two together. The Revell kit's big RAF tank looks good to me as a basis anyway. Argh - I see what you mean now, the big RAF tanks are too long. I think I'll live with it for this one. Edited June 9, 2010 by DamienB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzH Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 (edited) Great model Damien, like it a lot! From what I understand there were three hunters, ZZ190, ZZ191 and XF995, a two seat version, not sure of the mark, leased back to the FAA, based out of Yeovilton, not sure if they were actually FRADU or not? I was down there earlier this year just after a fire in the hunters hangar that had meant they had been moved into the Aeroplane/Flying Clubs hanger, bonus, get some pictures! The undercarriage is NMF/Aluminium, wheel wells are grey, however, have a look at the third photo down, does that belly door look grey or NMF? The drop tanks are Swiss types with the extra’s mentioned above, I think yours, Damien look spot on, interesting that the single seats have two, the Two seat has just the one. The underside on the single seat is definitely grey and the full Swiss ECM, interesting that the two seat has wrap around and none of the Swiss ECM… Again, brilliant model, I'm planning on one of these in 48th - One day! Edited June 9, 2010 by OzH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz greenwood Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Very nice as always Damien! I like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 (edited) some nice pics in the website gallery though sadly none of the RN cool photos OzH Edited June 9, 2010 by walrus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenMG Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Lovely, lovely job Damien. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamienB Posted June 9, 2010 Author Share Posted June 9, 2010 Thanks peeps! OzH - the T-bird is an ex-RAF one hence no Swiss bits. I'm guessing from the green camo nearby that the grey u/c bay is from the t-bird? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzH Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Thanks peeps! OzH - the T-bird is an ex-RAF one hence no Swiss bits. I'm guessing from the green camo nearby that the grey u/c bay is from the t-bird? That all makes sense! I think your right.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 very very nice looking build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Nice one Damien! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Nice one Damien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark M Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 well done looks FAB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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