Airfix 1/72 Hawk T.1

I made a start on the model earlier this week and the first job was to cut the flaps from the wing as on parked Hawk T.1s they were usually down;

The inside edges of the wings were then thinned down and strips of thick plastic were glued to the front edges of the flaps. When set these were sanded to an aerofoil shape;

The panel lines on the lower wings either didn’t match up or in the case of the aileron hinge lines were missing altogether so these were filled or scribed where necessary;

Something else missing from the wings were the navigation lights so a section each side was cut out then clear red and green pieces of plastic from old toothbrushes were glued into place and when set sanded to shape and polished;

Although they are slightly oversize they will be masked off to make them the correct size after painting.

One thing I forgot about the flaps is that the inboard edges fit under the wing fillets and not flush with them. This meant I had to lengthen the flaps by about 2mm and sand to shape. It also meant that the fillets on the lower wings needed removing as well;

Aftermarket stuff for this particular kit is pretty sparse and although I found out this week that Neomega do a resin cockpit, I needed to get on with the build. Two etch sets by Kuivalainen that were ordered earlier in the week turned up today so I used a set for the cockpit and ejection seats plus I added lead behind the front instrument panel to stop the model being a tail-sitter;

The Kuvalainen set is very similar to an Eduard etch set and is pre-painted however I’ll be spraying over it and painting the details with Vallejo instead. The most I have done here in extra detail is to add throttle quadrants and rudder pedals and with the etch and for the size of the model it’s good enough for what you will be able to see through the canopy. I will probably order a Neomega cockpit for the next time I build an Airfix Hawk as their resin cockpits are pretty good.

At some point over the weekend I’m hoping to get the cockpit painted so that I can get the fuselage together, after that the build ‘should’ be pretty rapid after that as there will be no stores or pylons fitted.