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ITALERI 1:72 BAE HAWK T.1A |
Reviewer:
Michael Johnson (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted:
19 May 2003
The British Aerospace Hawk has been in RAF service for more than 20 years. During its first 10 years, the Hawk has been used as the RAF’s advanced trainer, taught pilots tactics and weapons skills, became a fighter and thrilled millions as the mount of the Red Arrows aerobatic team.
Today the Hawk is still in production at Warton – but as a very different aircraft to that conceived over a quarter of a century ago. The sound performance, structural integrity and handling characteristics of today’s Hawk have their roots in a RAF requirement of the late 1960’s.
By the late 1960’s, the RAF’s basic trainer, the Folland Gnat and the advanced trainer, the Hawker Hunter needed to be replaced. In 1970 a new Air Staff Requirement (ASR) 397 was issued, outlining the requirements for a new trainer.
At the onset, it was realised that the new trainer needed to be exportable, which required it to be ground attack capable. The contenders were the Franco German Alpha Jet, the Hawker Siddeley
HS 1182 and the BAC P.59. By March 1972, the contract for 176 aircraft for the RAF was awarded to the HS 1182, the name Hawk was chosen in August 1973. By the early 1980’s the Hawk was the principal trainer of the RAF and the mount of choice for the world renowned Red Arrows.
The Hawk was designed from the onset to have 5 hard points, allowing a flexible weapons load to be carried. Weapons training and airfield defence roles began in 1977 and 1983 respectively with Hawks carrying 30mm centreline Aden guns, rocket pods and bombs for ground attack training. In early 1983 89 Hawks were converted to be adaptable with the AIM-9L Sidewinder AA missile. After this conversion, aircraft were designated Hawk T.1A.
The Hawks first export success was in 1977, when Finland purchased 50 Mk.51 export versions from Hawker Siddeley (later Bae) Export success grew, with Air Forces around the world purchasing the Mk50/60 series.
The Hawk100 and single seat 200 series aircraft are now in production, with the US Navy now flying a highly modified carrier capable variant, the T-45 Goshawk. Australia and Canada have also recently commenced using Mk100 Hawks for trainer operations.
The success of the Hawk continues unabated, with many more countries expressing interest in a versatile aircraft seen as the optimum solution to meet a number of firm requirements.
Well, I get keen on a lot of aircraft and this one is no exception! My attraction to the Hawk began when I was a raw modeller of 14, At one stage I had three of the Matchbox 1:72 Hawks in various stages of construction and I still have one of them, a Red Arrows version, with me today. These were all purchased for the princely sum of $2.50 from my local newsagent, which was a major “dealer” supplying me with a continuous flow of kits to feed my addiction.
In those halcyon days, only Matchbox and Airfix produced a model of the Hawk. Matchbox in particular produced a Hawk T.1A Red Arrows, RAF airfield defence Finnish variant as well as the single seat prototype Hawk 200. Fujimi produced a selection of Hawks as well.
However the most prolific of Hawk kit producers has been Italeri. They have released a Hawk T.1A, Hawk 100 and a T-45 Goshawk (USN carrier capable variant). The recent Revell kit is an Italeri re-issue with new decals.
In 1:48 scale, the only kit until recently has been the very basic Premiere kit, which is very limited run, looking like an up-scaled version of the old Matchbox kit, complete with Matchbox’s trench like panel lines. I have begun one of mine and will finish it!
Late last year Max from JB Wholesalers informed me that High Planes were producing the RAAF Hawk 127 version in 1:48 and added that Airfix had one on the way as well. To completely knock me over, he further added that Italeri were “upsizing” and producing a new Hawk T-1A.
The High Planes kit retails at a hefty $70, while the Airfix and Italeri kits should come in at around $35-50. I have ordered both the Airfix and Italeri kits to date. There is no doubt in my mind that now these kits have been released, a multitude of new aftermarket decal sheets and detail kits will hit the market.
Oh, Hawk Heaven is here!
The box is of the typical end opening type, with two grey plastic sprues, one clear and an excellent decal sheet and instruction sheet. On the whole, all parts are clean and flash free, with fine, nicely defined engraved panel lines.
My one gripe, as usual, is that the clear parts are not bagged separately, so protecting them from scratches and the like. It would be no more expensive to do and would save extra work for us all!
I elected not to use the kit decals as I intended to use an aftermarket set by Mike Grant Decals.
Construction (as always) started in the cockpit. Italeri provide a busy little interior of which all parts were painted in appropriate colours. The bang seats (complete with belts) are very nice indeed, only needing careful painting to do them justice. Whilst all this was drying, I added nose weights to the front of the fuselage.
A quick dry fit ensured the completed cockpit tub fitted well so it was then cemented into place along with the jet exhaust and the fuselage sides joined together. The fuselage only needed minor amounts of filler that were then cleaned up with wet and dry used wet to remove any seam lines.
© Michael Johnson 2003
The wings attached very well, with small amounts of filler required, smoothed over with the nail polish remover dipped ear bud. This is a fantastic way to fill gaps in areas such as wing roots or hard to access areas. I apply the filler as normal, leave it to cure for 5 minutes and then run an ear bud dipped in nail polish remover (make sure the remover is of the acetone type) along the filler. The moist ear bud softens and smooths the filler into place perfectly, removing any excess in the process. Once dry the whole process can repeated if required. The tail planes were added and adjusted once attached to ensure that they sat at the correct “stance”.
The transparency at the tip of the fuselage was added and required shaping with wet and dry so as to smooth it into the fuselage. Some polishing with Novus plastic polish soon restored the shine.
The model was then set aside while I masked up the canopy.
At this stage, I painted all the wheel wells, undercarriage doors and undercarriage legs with Citadel Skull white, Once dry, a wash of Aeromaster RLM66 with a small amount of dishwashing liquid added was applied to “dirty up” the white. The dishwashing liquid serves two purposes, to improve flow of the wash and to retard the drying time of the wash. After 10 minutes I wiped away excess wash with an ear bud, leaving the wash in all the recesses.
Decal options are provided for 3 aircraft. Options are, Hawk T.1A No. 234 Sqdn 1TWU, RAF Brawdy 1988, Hawk Mk.66 Swiss AF and Hawk Mk.51 Finnish AF. The decals are typical Italeri quality, being thin, dense and in register. However I had just purchased an aftermarket sheet by Mike Grant Decals. Mike produces superb decals using the Alps printer system. Slobbering profusely at the mouth, I purchased two sheets (1:72/1:48) of a RAF 74 Squadron Hawk in full Tigermeet livery. 74 Squadrons Hawks are black overall with the squadron badge on the tail fin. The “redressing” of this Hawk for Tigermeet replaces the squadron badge with a Tigers Head covering almost all of the tail.
I ordered the decals off the net using my credit card and within a week had them in my eager hands. They looked as good in real life as they did on the monitor, their only vice is that they required careful handling. Mike was of great assistance and I intend to re-visit his site and check out more subject sheets.
I used moist tissue to stuff the pre-painted wheel wells. This is a great way to mask cockpits, wheel wells and the like. The moist tissues can be shaped using a toothpick whilst in place and once dry create an almost perfect mask. To remove the tissues after painting is complete, just use an eyedropper to remoisten and remove with a pair of tweezers. Any over spray can be then corrected.
First step was to paint the white framing on the canopy, for this I used Citadel Skull White. Once this had dried I masked the white frame area off and airbrushed the entire airframe Tamiya Flat Black. It may have been me but these new formula, smaller pots seem to need a lot more mixing than their larger predecessors. At this stage I also sprayed the undercarriage doors as well.
Once all the paint had cured, I applied several coats of Johnsons Future with a wide flat brush, kept especially for this purpose, to seal everything in and preparing the surface for the decals.
I went very carefully when applying the decals, which settled wonderfully onto the model with no silvering at all. I used Aeromaster Sol II decal solvent to help bed them all down with no adverse reactions. Once the decals had dried, the fuselage was washed very carefully with a damp cloth to remove any glue and solvent residue. This is where I was a bit careless and obliterated the fuselage serial numbers. After searching through my decal box I used some spare Xtradecal Hawk serial numbers as this kit had to be finished for the club “Tiger” competition. I then contacted Mike Grant who promptly sent me out a complete replacement! Now I can replace the “borrowed” serials at a later date. Once the Xtradecal substitutes had dried, the decals where then sealed in with yet another coat of Future.
Once again the model was put aside to cure and finally sprayed with Aeromaster Satin Clear, to give an “in scale” gloss appearance.
© Michael Johnson 2003
I had decided earlier on to give this Hawk some claws and added the centreline gun pod and a sidewinder missile under each wing. As this would be more in keeping for it’s more usual role of Airfield Defence and aggressor training.
The undercarriage was added without any problems and my Hawk was completed.
There were no real problems building this kit and as such I would recommend heartily to all.
World Aircraft Files
© Michael Johnson 2003
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