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Red Arrows Hawk T1A


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Hi

I have decided to do this one for this Group Build, as I have other plans for the Hawk Group Build. I throw all my kits together straight from the box, so this GB is situation normal for me! I know this kit will be familiar to most people by now, so I think it needs no introduction.

hawkbox.jpg

hawkdecals.jpg

hawkbags.jpg

I have primed all the parts using Halfords Grey Primer, as I don't think my eyes would cope with all that red styrene (of course there are more sprues, but my cardboard background wasn't big enough!) I know that I should use white primer for a red finish, but that was all consumed on a recent school project for a certain 11 year old!

I have asked the question before on BM and have scoured the net, but am still trying to find a suitable Halfords colour match because I don't have an airbrush. I have spent ages in Halfords looking at the colours, but I'm not sure that the swatches on the cans are very repesentative of the contents! I am still stuck on this and wondered if anyone has used a car paint on a Red Arrows Hawk model that they could recommend?

primedsprues.jpg

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Hi

Is it just me, or are Revell instructions unclear and difficult to follow? It strikes me that they should take a look at Ikea's flatpack instructions for clarity!

Anyway, enough moaning, I have completed the cockpit and stuck the the top half of the fuselage together. The fit is not that good, so I decided to glue the top half first and when that had dried, glue the bottom half. Pictures to follow.

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I've only started modelling recently but quite like the Revell instructions, especially the painting instructions which in general don't leave anything open to guess work. That said, I've only built a couple of Revell kits so far, and they've all been fairly new ones, and that Hawk looks like an older one? Looking forward to the pics...

J.

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Ah, I thought it was an 'older' style box, but like I said, I'm new to all of this!

I find every scale fiddly! With 1:144 nearly everything is small. With 1:72 some parts are bigger, but then there are more parts, and they're small. And so on and so on with each Scale, the bigger the scale, the more small parts there are! :)

J.

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Hi

Here is my progress so far. I am not really enjoying this build. I have seen other people on BM getting some great results, but I am really fighting with this one! The seats and instrument coamings are not yet glued, to make removal for masking a painting easier.

I hope to make some more progress today.

hawkfuselage.jpg

hawkfuselage1.jpg

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Hi All

I would be the first to admit that I am not the best or most patient modeller in the world, but this Hawk is stretching my patience to the extreme! I like to throw my models together quickly and I thought that this large-scale model would fit the bill. I am sure that my very average skills are at the root of the problem, but I found that despite glueing the fuselage in manageable stages, I ended up with a step on the underside that required lots of Vallejo putty and sanding, followed by Mr Surfacer. The top side needed some attention as well, followed by a quick blow over with Halfords finest.

hawkgrey.jpg

hawkgrey1.jpg

Any areas requiring attention were dealt with, followerd by a coat of Halfords White Plastic Primer.

hawkwhite.jpg

hawkwhite1.jpg

I took advice form people here as to which Halfords car paint to use as I don't have an airbrush and settled on Fiat Red Orange.

hawkred1.jpg

hawkred.jpg

After the first coat, I managed to drop the model onto a tiled floor, resulting in the need for some Super Glue and swearing (not necessarily in that order!) After the second coat, which was applied too thick, I had to sand back some paint runs. I am now reasonably happy with the paint and am part way through applying the decals. The port side curved white stripe incorporating the fuselage roundel would not line up properly and is in slightly the wrong position, but it is too late to rectify. After much deliberation, I decided to apply the Roundel Blue to the tail after the decals were applied, as I didn't want the blue to bleed through the white decals. I need to touch up some areas of the cockpit where the red penetrated the masking.

hawkpartdecal.jpg

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Thanks, Iain.

I have applied all the large decals (including the arrow on the underside) without further trauma.

I decided to mask the tail and brush-paint the Humbrol 25 Roundel Blue, instead of sorting the gear. Hopefully, she will be standing on her own legs after dinner this evening.

hawkblue.jpg

hawkblue1.jpg

Edited by Alpha Delta 210
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As the lads said, she's looking great. Very crisp and clean, I'd be delighted with that finish.

There's actually a chance I could be building one of these for the IPMS Ireland table at Telford ( though not in Red Arrows colours ) so I'm watching this with a lot of interest. :popcorn:

I know you said it's given you a lot of issues, but you really can't tell from how it's looking now. I hope I manage to hide the issues just as well!

J.

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Thanks for the comments Jason and Royster.

She is now standing on her own (albeit slightly fragile) legs, but both main gear legs seem to be "toeing out", despite fitting firmly into the locating holes in the wheel wells. I will post progress pictures this afternoon.

I have been reflecting on the problems I had with the fit of the fuselage halves, and wonder whether the issue was caused by the very flexible nature of the plastic. The plastic might have flexed under clamping, resulting in the step on the underside. As a matter of interest, when I pick up the model now by holding the fuselage halves under the cockpit, the plastic still flexes - just a thought for those who plan to build one soon.

The undercarriage doors are supplied in one piece and need to be cut if displaying the model with the gear down. I will be getting out the razor saw this afternoon!

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Thanks for the tips Alpha! That's interesting about the plastic, sounds like it's thin plastic for a big kit. Also very interesting about the undercarriage doors. I'm building a 1:144 scale Harrier where you have to cut open the doors, but would have thought that a 1:32 scale aircraft would have that sort of stuff molded separately!

J.

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Hi Jason

I guess that they mould the doors as one piece to get a better fit if the modeller chooses a gear up pose. I am nervous about getting the saw out though, as I am a very cautious from the box modeller through and through!

Edited by Alpha Delta 210
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Hi

Here are a couple of pictures of the Hawk supporting herself!

I still need to attach the canopy, airbrake (both temporarily attached for the pictures), gear doors and various other small bits, along with the small decals. Despite my earlier frustrations, I am now quite pleased with the result. I hope that I don't drop her again!

hawkgear1.jpg

hawkgear.jpg

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You've every right to be quite pleased, she's looking great! I can't see the problem you had with the port side decal at all either!

I know what you mean about being worried about taking a saw to anything, I'm the exact same. I do enough damage to kits by following the instructions, why try to do more? :)

J.

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Hi Jason

I still haven't wielded the saw!

The problem with the decal is due to lack of spacing between the word "Force" and the roundel. The spacing is about right on the starboard side.

My feelings towards the kit are becoming warmer as I near the end, which is a good thing because I bought a second one a few weeks ago from Argos for £13.99 because I bought a microwave which entitled me to £5 off my next purchase. I can put up with the frustrations for that price (maybe not immediately, though!)

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I got this kit as well. I also found the wheels toeing out. Was more disappointed that Revell fail to mention that you need to apply the underwing decals, BEFORE, you fix the pylons; unless of course you are confident that you can trim them around them.

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Well Alpha, all I can say is I hadn't noticed it until you explained it, so that's a good sign. An awkward kit turning out well is so much nicer than a good kit not meeting your expectations!

Thanks for that info as well Pete, I'll be noting all of these pitfalls if I do build one, it'll hopefully save me some hassle...

J.

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I got this kit as well. I also found the wheels toeing out. Was more disappointed that Revell fail to mention that you need to apply the underwing decals, BEFORE, you fix the pylons; unless of course you are confident that you can trim them around them.

Hi Pete

Glad it's not just me then!

I agree that the instructions should have mentioned the decal placement. I have applied the decals before all the underwing bits, but that's only from recent Hawk experience in 1/72.

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