1/48 Airfix Hawk CT-155

Gallery Article by Darius Aibara on Nov 20 2003

 

Hawk CT-155 RCAF/NATO 

There have been a rush of new 1:48 Hawk kits of late - the High Planes limited run export version, the Italeri-announced kit, and the Airfix "Red Arrows" and "Hawk 100" kits.  This is the Airfix Hawk 100 built almost out of the box as the RCAF/NATO CT-155 Hawk trainer.  The "almost" is due to my using a pair of Paragon resin MB Mk 10 seats in place of the kit offerings (which are not too bad).  The kit cockpit has raised instrument dials and buttons etc. but the main consoles lack the prominent multi-function displays (MFDs) and so I scratch built these from plastic card by drilling a hole of the appropriate diameter and then opening out the hole to a square profile using a small file.  The holes were drilled away from the plastic card edge to prevent the card from splitting, so after shaping I trimmed the card to produce the "MFD frames" which was then cemented to the kit consoles.  I painted and dry brushed the consoles to bring out the raised detail and added the MFD buttons using a blunted steel pin in a pin vice as a "brush" dipping it into a spot of paint and then applying it to the consoles.

 

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The rest of kit went together as per the instructions.  An option to drop the flaps is offered and I duly accepted.  The completed fuselage was sprayed with auto acrylic primer and then a several gloss applications of an auto colour approximating to the all over "Oxford Blue" of the actual aircraft.  The undercarriage is reasonably detailed but the one-piece wheels have a prominent ridge moulded around the ridge, which does not appear on photos of the aircraft that I have, so I sanded them off.  After coating with Johnson's Clear varnish I applied the kit decals - these were excellent with full stencilling provided for both the RCAF training and the RAAF lo-vis schemes.  The only problem was with the RCAF roundels: the Maple Leaf is sensibly provided as a separate decal but the main roundels have a white outline and this was out of register.  Fortunately I had some white decal circles with a similar diameter in the spares box and so I applied these first to cure the register problem.  The decals adhered well with no silvering and I sealed them in with further coat of Clear.  

These new Airfix kits are real gems and excellent value for money at £9.99!!!

Darius Aibara

      

Photos and text © by Darius Aibara