BAE Hawk T Mk 1A
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Kit Review
We have to say that a Hawk from China was a bit of a surprise, although the type has secured worldwide sales over the year, so maybe it is not that odd. Inside their usual stout box you will find ten grey-coloured and two clear sprues. The cockpit is well furnished with multi-part ejection seats complete with photo-etched seat belts, instrument panels with decals and a nice one-piece ‘tub’ to put it all in. The fact that this then fits into the front two halves of the fuselage will hint at the fact that it would seem the later 200 series is also planned, maybe along with the Mk 127 etc?
No mention is made of adding nose weight at stage two, but we are pretty sure you had better fill that nose cone! The aft 3/4 of the fuselage comes next, so the crunch will come with joining this to the separate nose; let’s hope it all lines up OK. The dorsal airbrake housing is a separate piece, so no nasty join line through its middle at least and the tail piece is also separate with the exhaust nozzle that only has very shallow detail; that part is separate though, so it could be removed and extended if you so wish. The wings are split in the usual manner the wheel wells are separate, as are the clear tip lights and the control surface linkage fairings. Other clear parts include the nose cap and the anti-collision beacon on the underside. The four wing pylons have separate sway braces and the dorsal airbrake is only shown open, so until we try, we don’t know if it can be built closed. The main undercarriage units are well detailed, with separate doors and the wheels are plastic, split vertically as normal and are ‘weighted’. All your various blade antenna underneath are separate, which will make cleaning up the main joints a lot easier, although we have to hope the dorsal scoops aft of the canopy are smaller than in the instructions. For ordnance you get AIM-9L and P missiles, 155mm rocket launchers, M117 iron bombs and drop tanks. As usual, HobbyBoss include their usual loading diagram to tell you which goes on what pylon
The kit offers three decal options: XX256, No.2 Tactical Weapons School, RAF Chivenor, 1981 in wrap-around grey/green camouflage XX341 of the Empire Test Pilots School, A&AEE Boscombe Down, 2000, in their distinctive ‘raspberry ripple’ scheme; XX226, No.4 Flying Training School, RAF Valley, 2001 in overall gloss black with the tiger art on the vertical fin. The accompanying decal sheet is well printed, a little bright maybe, but with a full set of airframe and ordnance stencils.
Verdict
A surprise, but quite a nice one, which I am sure will better both the Airfix and Italeri examples. It offers a complete package, good moulding and excellent detail so we think that it is a kit that should be welcomed into any modern RAF collection
We have to say that a Hawk from China was a bit of a surprise, although the type has secured worldwide sales over the year, so maybe it is not that odd. Inside their usual stout box you will find ten grey-coloured and two clear sprues. The cockpit is well furnished with multi-part ejection seats complete with photo-etched seat belts, instrument panels with decals and a nice one-piece ‘tub’ to put it all in. The fact that this then fits into the front two halves of the fuselage will hint at the fact that it would seem the later 200 series is also planned, maybe along with the Mk 127 etc?
No mention is made of adding nose weight at stage two, but we are pretty sure you had better fill that nose cone! The aft 3/4 of the fuselage comes next, so the crunch will come with joining this to the separate nose; let’s hope it all lines up OK. The dorsal airbrake housing is a separate piece, so no nasty join line through its middle at least and the tail piece is also separate with the exhaust nozzle that only has very shallow detail; that part is separate though, so it could be removed and extended if you so wish. The wings are split in the usual manner the wheel wells are separate, as are the clear tip lights and the control surface linkage fairings. Other clear parts include the nose cap and the anti-collision beacon on the underside. The four wing pylons have separate sway braces and the dorsal airbrake is only shown open, so until we try, we don’t know if it can be built closed. The main undercarriage units are well detailed, with separate doors and the wheels are plastic, split vertically as normal and are ‘weighted’. All your various blade antenna underneath are separate, which will make cleaning up the main joints a lot easier, although we have to hope the dorsal scoops aft of the canopy are smaller than in the instructions. For ordnance you get AIM-9L and P missiles, 155mm rocket launchers, M117 iron bombs and drop tanks. As usual, HobbyBoss include their usual loading diagram to tell you which goes on what pylonThe kit offers three decal options: XX256, No.2 Tactical Weapons School, RAF Chivenor, 1981 in wrap-around grey/green camouflage XX341 of the Empire Test Pilots School, A&AEE Boscombe Down, 2000, in their distinctive ‘raspberry ripple’ scheme; XX226, No.4 Flying Training School, RAF Valley, 2001 in overall gloss black with the tiger art on the vertical fin. The accompanying decal sheet is well printed, a little bright maybe, but with a full set of airframe and ordnance stencils.
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| The instrument panel has a decal to go on top | The cockpit tub has moulded side console detail |
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| Slide-moulds allows single-piece intakes | Surface detail is just via engraved lines, no mass of rivets |
Verdict
A surprise, but quite a nice one, which I am sure will better both the Airfix and Italeri examples. It offers a complete package, good moulding and excellent detail so we think that it is a kit that should be welcomed into any modern RAF collection
