1:32 Revell BAE Hawk

[FZ6]

I’ve been slowly working on the new Revell Hawk since I purchased it the other week. I have purchased decals from Hannants which arrived in a couple of days. I will be doing a gloss black one. The sheet is great and I’m spoilt for choice but think it will be a 19 Squadron aircraft. I can decide a little later.

The kit is amazing value for money and I gave in to the temptation to start it as soon as I got home. The red plastic is a pain to work with but it’s easier to see stray parts when they fall on the floor. I also think the red plastic also hides the detail.

I assembled the seats and thought they looked a bit squat but put it down to not being used to seeing ejector seats in this scale. I then saw the comments on how the seat base looks to be adjusted to the highest point and decided I would alter them.

First off I trimmed the headrest and rail from the back of the seat which may have been easier if I had not assembled the seat first. I then had to do some repair work on the seat back with a piece of plasticard before refitting the rail which had a plasticard spacer added

Seat Back

Headrest and Rail

This picture shows a Tamiya 1:32 Pilot sat in the kit seat as it comes. As you can see the pilots head is too high in relation to the headbox.

This pic shows the pilot on the adjusted seat and it looks much better. I’m no expert where the pilots head should be in relation to the head box but it looks much better. Another advantage of lowering the seat is that there will be a bigger gap between the seat base and bottom of the instrument panels so more will be seen of the rudder pedals. The seats lack the straps and the webbing looks a bit crap as a decal but the seat is a perfect blank canvas for extra detailing.

The cockpit contains some great detail but is lacking detail so I have added some detail from plasticard using Turnerdads excellent photo reference of the cockpit here on Britmodeller. I think I’ll be having the canopy shut to preserve the lines of the hawk but plenty should be seen through the large canopy. You can also see from this shot that the nose wheel bay is already glued in position.

I glued the Air Intakes together as a complete unit and used Halfords Primer applied quite thickly with a brush to try and hide the seams which seems to have worked well. Just need to give them a coat of light grey. I will need to trim off the rear lip with a modelling knife in order to fit the intake fan. I have test fitted the intake and id will fit in like this as a join the fuselage halves.

I’ve also cut the flaps from the wings and assembled them I don’t have a pic yet but the fit was excellent.

I’ll post more as I work on the model but any comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

[moaning dolphin]

Looking good! Can't wait for mine to come, i've got some good ideas for it. Just a point of note though, if you've raised the head box and intend to have the canopy closed, might be worth check fitting the seat to save heart break later! Hope it all goes well and will be watching closely.

Cheers now

Bob

[geedubelyer]

Nice start.

I like the mods to the seat and agree that they are a fine basis for some additional TLC. The cockpit ribbing looks convincing and should stand out nicely with some colour on it. I may have already seen it but do you have a link to Turnerdads cockpit shots please?

I'm keen to see how you are tackling the flaps too as I need all the help I can get in that department.

Looking forward to your next updates.

Cheers.

[FZ6]

Looking good! Can't wait for mine to come, i've got some good ideas for it. Just a point of note though, if you've raised the head box and intend to have the canopy closed, might be worth check fitting the seat to save heart break later! Hope it all goes well and will be watching closely.

Cheers now

Bob

Fortunately I've not had to raise the headbox at all. The headbox and rail are one part with the bottom of the rail fitting into the cockpit floor I've just cut off the seat base part and repositioned it lower down the rail to make it look better. So in effect I've lowered the seat.

Hope that makes sense. I'll keep updating the thread as the build progesses.

Nice start.

I like the mods to the seat and agree that they are a fine basis for some additional TLC. The cockpit ribbing looks convincing and should stand out nicely with some colour on it. I may have already seen it but do you have a link to Turnerdads cockpit shots please?

I'm keen to see how you are tackling the flaps too as I need all the help I can get in that department.

Looking forward to your next updates.

Cheers.

Here is a link to the thread with the Hawk Photos.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=24070

Regards,

Mark

Edited February 18, 2011 by FZ6

[jet-mech]

watching this with interest mate. looks good so far

[geedubelyer]

Hi Mark, thanks for the link. Very nice detail shots there

Fortunately I've not had to raise the headbox at all. The headbox and rail are one part with the bottom of the rail fitting into the cockpit floor I've just cut off the seat base part and repositioned it lower down the rail to make it look better. So in effect I've lowered the seat.

Regards,

Mark

That's a neat mod and will help when you get to the straps and belt stage too because you won't have to cram them into a such a short space. Do the seats still fit into the wells now that you've lowered the bases or will you have to remove some material from the rocket packs?

Cheers,

[FZ6]

Do the seats still fit into the wells now that you've lowered the bases or will you have to remove some material from the rocket packs?

Cheers,

Thanks for the comments so far.

The seats fit ok. Please see the pic below. I thought I’d try a black and white pic to try and hide the glare from the red plastic

The Hawk had an outing to Huddersfield yesterday on the Sheffield Model Group table and I was able to chat to a few people knowledgeable on the Hawk learnt a lot.

One thing I did learn was that the ejector seats are usually raised when the pilot gets out so if you are displaying a Hawk on the ground the modifications to lower the seat aren’t really necessary but I’ve done the work now and think the seats look a little better for it.

The next two pics show some work I’ve done on the flaps. Once you’ve removed the flap from the upper and lower halves of the wing you will have a bit of a mismatch as the top half is smaller resulting in a step. I glued the halves together and then glued in some strips of 40 thou plasticard. I did two layers to get it tall enough and then sanded it smooth. I took care to make sure I got an even curve on the leading edge in order to give it the aerofoil shape.

I’ve also made one of the plates missing from the tail plane. The location of this is represented with a curved line and a dot, which I marked out in pencil to make it more visible. I used the radius from the dot to the line to cut a circle out of 10 thou plasticard. I then trimmed it until I got something that looks like the right shape. Once I had the shape in it I cut the slot for the tailplane. This went easier than I thought and I’m pleased with the result.

I've decided I’m going to build mine as XX312 in 19 Squadron Markings. I’ve not decided if I’ll do it in the special scheme or just the standard bird.

Just typing in Hawk XX312 into Google revealed many photographs of this aircraft.

Links below.

http://www.abpic.co.uk/search.php?q=XX312&u=reg

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=XX312

While I was looking at the photo below I noticed that the two air intakes behind the pilot on the top of the fuselage are shorter on the kit so I will need to extend them. Shouldn’t be a difficult job with some Milliput.

http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1120551/

From looking at the photos I have also noticed that this aircraft has the long tail fillet as well as the slightly stepped rear fairing above the jet pipe with the light in the middle (Part 58)

Next job is to add a few more cockpit details to finish it off so I can get the fuselage halves together.

[geedubelyer]

The Hawk had an outing to Huddersfield yesterday

Ah,.....I thought I recognised it. It looks good in the flesh. I like the ribbing to the cockpit interior, nicely done. Did you follow a plan or just eyeball it using turnerdads' walkaround....?

Neat work on the flaps too. I have n't got that far yet so I appreciate your posts. It certainly helps me plan mine.

Will you be adding weight in the nose or in front of the main gear axle line at least? I can't tell yet whether it actually needs any as I have n't added the tailpipe, horizontal tails, airbrake or rudder. Other folk have used some weight as a "just in-case" precaution.

One thing I'm a bit worried about is the clearance between the top of the seat and the canopy now that I've added a bit of parapack detail....

I really want the canopy closed on mine but there does n't look to be much room now.

Keep up the good work.

[Phartycr0c]

Just landed one of these for myself ( The Argos one) I think ill wait until the excitement dies down then happily plagurise all the wonderful builds going on at the mo.

I do like the extra detailing your doing, especially the flap area as Hawks have a tendency to droop at rest. Im surprised Revell didnt give the kit the option.

[jet-mech]

looking great there fella! following this with a LOT of interest

[periklis_sale]

nice work mate!

[Mike]

Some nice work there... keep it up

Regarding the headbox, I've thought that the canopy looks curiously "empty" on some of the finished models I've seen, so is the seat actually too short, or the cushion wound up too high?

[marky sparky]

Looking good. It's nice for someone to find the dodgy bits first, I can't wait to get mine started.

I managed to buy two of these today at a little shop in Deal, Kent for £19.99 each, they've still got about 5 or 6 left but was thinking of buying a 3rd, why? because at less than twenty quid; why not! and I'm sure the price will only increase over the next year or so. More to add to the stash!!

Keep up the good work.

[FZ6]

Ah,.....I thought I recognised it. It looks good in the flesh. I like the ribbing to the cockpit interior, nicely done. Did you follow a plan or just eyeball it using turnerdads' walkaround....?

Neat work on the flaps too. I have n't got that far yet so I appreciate your posts. It certainly helps me plan mine.

Will you be adding weight in the nose or in front of the main gear axle line at least? I can't tell yet whether it actually needs any as I haven't added the tailpipe, horizontal tails, airbrake or rudder. Other folk have used some weight as a "just in-case" precaution.

One thing I'm a bit worried about is the clearance between the top of the seat and the canopy now that I've added a bit of parapack detail....

I really want the canopy closed on mine but there does n't look to be much room now.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the comments guys. For the interior Framing was done by eye using the photos for reference as I don't have any Hawk Plans. Just got a bit more to add on the port side. Next job for the interior will be to extend the starboard consoles as there is a map case behind it which needs adding. I'll also add a bit of wiring.

With regards to the noseweight I've dry fitted as many of the main parts as I can and balanced it on my finger where the main undercarriage legs are located and can confirm it is a tail sitter so I will need to add weight to the nose.

A quick update. This evening I've been working on adding some detail to the head box. I used various materials Mainly foil from wine bottles. The advantage of buying this material is that it comes with wine! I also used various fuse wire some plasticard and some etched brass nuts from Aber I had in the bits box. I sliced off the red bit on top of the headbox with a knife and repositioned it on top of the foil once I'd added the extra detail.

I've checked my canopy this evening as I'm planning to do mine closed as well and the seat fits ok with the detail on the top of the head box.

Mike the rear seat almost comes up to the top of the canopy so it's deffinately not too low. Looking at photos of the real thing the Front seat might be a touch too low but only by a couple of mm at the most I want to study a few more pics before I make a decision on this.

At less than £20 I can almost see myself making a few of these as it's a lovely kit and a bargain too.

With regards to the flaps, Revell give you the guides of where to cut but don't provide the parts so maybe flaps will be included in the next issue of the kit that will hopefully come with weapons.

Edited February 23, 2011 by FZ6

[FZ6]

Here is another small update with the work I've done on the Hawk over the weekend. Progress is a little slow as I've limited modelling time but this is what i've achieved so far.

First thing was to spray the interior of the fuselage and the outside of the intakes black to prevent red plastic being seen through the vents on the fuselage.

I then did a bit more work on the seats. First off seat padding was made from Milliput. I used talcum powder to stop it sticking when I rolled it. Once the straps are in place the seat will start to look the part. I tried slicing off the box on the left hand side of the seat and laminating it with plastic to make it a bit wider,(rear seat in pic) but if you do this the seat no longer fits so it isn't worth doing really. The pouch on the rearbulkhead was made with wine bottle foil.

All being well I'll get the interior finished this week and I can start painting it.

More to follow as work is carried out.

Mark

[AndrewE]

Excellent work on the seats Mark.

Andrew

[periklis_sale]

great work so far mate!

[bigbadbadge]

Wow looks great, fantastic work.

All the best

Chris

[Scarlet]

I’ve also made one of the plates missing from the tail plane. The location of this is represented with a curved line and a dot, which I marked out in pencil to make it more visible. I used the radius from the dot to the line to cut a circle out of 10 thou plasticard. I then trimmed it until I got something that looks like the right shape. Once I had the shape in it I cut the slot for the tailplane. This went easier than I thought and I’m pleased with the result.

The 'plates' should have a straight bottom edge and be symetrical. On the real aircraft they are made up of four parts, top, bottom and the two different size side guides and are knicknamed 'bacon slicers'. If you've used the photos the that Mark Marples uploaded as a reference, they show the tailplane in a stick forward attitude and not the neutral position (port side photo shows this well, the two white marks should be in line for tailplane neutral), exposing a wedge shape bit of different colour paint which looks like the shape you have there.

I do like the extra detailing your doing, especially the flap area as Hawks have a tendency to droop at rest. Im surprised Revell didnt give the kit the option.

Hawk flaps don't droop (airbrake does), they are selected fully down on shutdown. IMO Revell have missed a trick here and should have had seperate flaps as an option, but they have included a seperate rudder for some obscure reason? The Hawk rudder is not hydraulically powered and has a sprung centering unit meaning it is always in it's neutral position unless the rudder pedals are moved which does'nt happen when parked.

[atdb27]

Coming on nicely Mark,

At £20 quid (less 1p) seems so tempting to get one or several for myself!

Adrian

[FZ6]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I hope to get some work done on the seat straps this evening.

The 'plates' should have a straight bottom edge and be symetrical. On the real aircraft they are made up of four parts, top, bottom and the two different size side guides and are knicknamed 'bacon slicers'. If you've used the photos the that Mark Marples uploaded as a reference, they show the tailplane in a stick forward attitude and not the neutral position (port side photo shows this well, the two white marks should be in line for tailplane neutral), exposing a wedge shape bit of different colour paint which looks like the shape you have there.

Hawk flaps don't droop (airbrake does), they are selected fully down on shutdown. IMO Revell have missed a trick here and should have had seperate flaps as an option, but they have included a seperate rudder for some obscure reason? The Hawk rudder is not hydraulically powered and has a sprung centering unit meaning it is always in it's neutral position unless the rudder pedals are moved which does'nt happen when parked.

Scarlet thanks for the info it's really useful. I'm only a casual admirer of the Hawk so don't know a great deal about the aircraft and I'm learning new things about this wonderful aircraft all the time, so any feedback that can help me build a better model is greatly appreciated.

I could have sworn the plates looked like how I modelled from my photographic references I used. I didn't use Mark Marples photos as I was looking in the wrong section of Britmodeller for them but I've found them. Mark Marples pics show it much clearer and I can see the bacon slicer guides you're referring to and was thinking how I could represent that on the model but it looks a bit tricky to try and replicate so I'll just make some more with symmetrical top and bottom surfaces.

Mark Marples Hawk pics are here for anyone who's not seen them.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=51911

[Scarlet]

You're doing a great job and with the extra detailing you are putting into the model and I thought if you found out later this part was wrong you'd be well p'd off - I would. If I can help with any other info (spent 6 years working on Hawks) just ask.

[FZ6]

You're doing a great job and with the extra detailing you are putting into the model and I thought if you found out later this part was wrong you'd be well p'd off - I would. If I can help with any other info (spent 6 years working on Hawks) just ask.

Thanks Scarlet, you're right. It's better to spot it now than further down the line when it is more diffucult to correct.

One thing you might be able to help me with is the map cases / document holders at the back of the starboard consoles. I'm trying to work out how far back they extend and if the one in the rear cockpit is the same size as the one in the front. There is more room in the front cockpit behind the console due to the bulkhead in the rear cockpit.

Regards,

Mark

[geedubelyer]

Thanks for reposting the link to Marks' walkaround Mark. There are some very useful images in that thread.

I hope you don't mind me asking this question here

they show the tailplane in a stick forward attitude and not the neutral position (port side photo shows this well, the two white marks should be in line for tailplane neutral), exposing a wedge shape bit of different colour paint which looks like the shape you have there.

Scarlet, how common is this stick forward attitude for the horizontal tails? The reason I ask is that many images on reference sites (like Airliners etc) show the tailplanes of parked Hawks to sit parallel to the rearmost upper fuselage area rather than the ground. Just wondered which is more common, cheers.

Now, back to your regularly schedueled programming

[Gabe Pincelli]

Here are some pics of the "plates" on a T-45. Might be a bit easier to see on a white jet. They are close to symetrical but not quite. Note the aft bottom corner. Also , the top plate is slightly more narrow at the forward end than the aft end. (With the stabilator leading-edge-up the top edge is nearly horizontal)

HTH,

Gabe