MPM 1/72 scale Hawker Sea Hawk

Manufacturer: MPM (Czech Republic), available from Squadron Mail Order, 1115 Crowley Drive, Carrollton, TX 75011-5010, 972-242-8663 www.squadron.com
Kit: No. 72094
Scale: 1/72
Price: $ $18.98
Comments: Injection-molded, 37 parts, decals
Pros: Fine recessed panel lines, accurate shapes, beautiful canopy, well-printed decals
Cons:See-through engine nacelles, little detail in cockpit, small parts need cleanup, colors of Indian roundels reversed

MPM's new Hawker Sea Hawk is a welcome subject to the enthusiast of the early-jet era; molded in light gray plastic, the kit features an accurate outline and fine recessed panel lines. They're so fine, in fact, that I deepened mine with a scriber to make certain they didn't disappear beneath the paint.


The three-view and scrap-view drawings on the instruction sheet show a lot of details not included with the model. To compensate, you can make some of your own. I drilled out the gun ports and the exhaust nozzles which were both molded solid, deepened the slider tracks aft of the canopy, drilled a hole above the left intake to represent the cartridge starter exhaust, and added a pitot mast from hypodermic tubing.


The cockpit interior comprises a deck, basic sidewall consoles, an aft bulkhead, an instrument panel, a control stick, and a seat. No resin, film, or photoetched parts are included, and the big canopy will show that lack of detail. I reversed the instrument panel so its smooth face was inside, and used decals from my spares box to add gauges and consoles. The ejection seat is a basic representation of the Martin-Baker installed on production Sea Hawks, but the headbox is slightly too small, and the seat sits a bit too far aft in the cockpit. Although the instructions didn't specify it, I added weight inside the nose to ensure the model sat on its nose gear.

The fuselage from the jet exhausts forward is split into upper and lower halves and includes the wing halves, so the correct dihedral is molded in; the tail section is split into right and left halves.


The main wheel well assembly is nicely done and features a good representation of the lower engine casing visible in the well. This assembly fits into the lower fuselage/wing half but doesn't block the view from the intakes. Worse yet, you can see laterally through one intake and out the other as no intake trunks are provided. I cemented a piece of styrene sheet longitudinally in front of the wheel well box to block the view.


MPM has beveled the interior of the wheel wells, producing proper scale thickness. The gear doors are molded as single pieces and must be cut apart, but they are slightly larger than the openings. This allows you to trim them down for an exact fit. Two nice touches.


The fit of the forward fuselage area wasn't good and required filler; however, the wings and the empennage fit together fine. The diameter of the tail is just slightly smaller than the aft fuselage, so a little sanding was needed there. Most of the small parts should be cleaned up and thinned down; the small scoop just above the right intake and the catapult hook are over-size.


The landing gear attaches into the wells using small pegs and shallow sockets which can benefit from some reinforcing; I used gap-filling super glue for this. The nose gear is assembled in two parts (strut and fork) and is a nice representation of the real thing; however, the nose wheel lacks definition, which makes painting the tire difficult.


The injection-molded canopy is beautifully clear and fits well; absent from the kit are the prominent air inlets below each side windscreen panel.


The matte-finished decals by Cartograf feature three markings variations: two Fleet Air Arm aircraft and one of the Indian Navy. Though well printed, the Indian roundels are reversed - green roundels with orange centers. I put those in my spares box in the event I build a model of an aircraft from the armed forces of the Ivory Coast, for which they're correct! The decals conformed well and snuggled down. The light-colored decals are printed over white, so they are opaque. I used Warpaint Publication's Hawker Sea Hawk (No. 29) as my main reference.


The model captures the correct squat, yet aesthetically pleasing, lines of the early British jet. This was my first MPM model, and I enjoyed the 18 hours I spent building it. Despite its shortcomings in fit and lack of detail in certain places, it ends up an attractive model.