High Planes Models 1/48 scale BAe Hawk Mk.127

Kit: No. 48006
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: High Planes Models, 127 Wheeler Street, Corryong, Victoria 3707, Australia, 61-260-76-1961, www.corryongcec.net.au/~hiplanes
Price: AUS$50 (about $25)
Comments: Multimedia; 87 parts (39 injection-molded, 21 resin, 17 photoetched, 8 white-metal, 2 vacuum-formed), decals
Pros: Crystal-clear canopy, good selection of markings, interesting subject
Cons: Flash on plastic parts, troublesome fit, crude metal cockpit details, no Sidewinder missiles

The British Aero Systems Hawk 100 series aircraft trace their roots to the T.Mk.1 advanced trainer. Often used to train fighter pilots, navigators and weapon systems officers, 100 Series aircraft have been widely exported around the world, the most recent customers being Australia, Canada, and South Africa.

The main components of High Planes Models' multi-media kit are molded in soft light-blue plastic parts. The large sprue gates and excessive flash make cleanup tedious. Some parts require precise placement, but there are no locating pins. Like most limited-run kits, there are no part numbers, and the instructions require careful study before the model is assembled.

Some of the recessed panel lines are so light that they can be lost easily when sanding seams. Some don't align from one fuselage or wing half to the other, and some exterior details are missing. If you want to add more, a good photo reference on the Hawk is on Darren Mottram's website: http://motty.hobbyvista.com/ Hawk-Articles-01.html

The cockpit can be dropped in after closing the fuselage halves and results in a better fit that way. I opened the wheel wells and filed the exhaust opening to an even, circular shape. High Planes' exhaust pipe looked too small, so I made a new one from plastic tubing.

The cast white-metal cockpit tub was crude and required lots of filing for a good fit. The resin control columns, instrument panels and shrouds, and ejection seats were nicely cast. Pipes on either side of the seat headrests should be removed, and the rear seat bottom needed to be filed down for it to fit under the closed canopy. I had to check the placement of the shrouds as they fit tightly to the windscreen and the front seat. The Hawk's prominent head-up display was not included in the kit.

I liked High Planes' crystal-clear vacuum-formed canopy (with a spare). Cutting it out from the sheet and fitting it was easy, but installing the resin internal frames was not. The position of the rear-seat blast shield was not clear. I ended up leaving out the front and rear canopy frames. Decals for the canopy-detonating cords were tricky to apply.

The rear spine had to be cleaned up to ensure a close fit and minimize the use of filler. I opened up the various intakes and exhaust ducts (the large round hole at the rear is not to be filled as it is the auxiliary power unit exhaust port) before gluing the spine in place. I had to fill and file the intakes to the correct shape; the opening should look like a sagging capital "D."

The wing/fuselage joints needed work. The one-piece lower surface had to be filed to fit the fuselage, and the upper surfaces were thicker than the root stubs on the fuselage. To get the trailing edges acceptably thin, I sanded the surfaces from the inside. I also made razor saw cuts for the photoetched fences.

I recommend drilling small holes in the horizontal stabilizers and fuselage and mounting the "stabs" with brass wire pins.

The landing gear has white-metal struts and resin wheels. The main axles are skinnier than the holes for them in the wheels. After cleaning up the gear doors, I added tiny hinge tabs to make mounting the doors easier.

High Planes provides two drop tanks, a gun pod, and underwing pylons, but no ordnance. I scratchbuilt a pair of Sidewinders from plastic stock.

The paint and markings guide was helpful, but had no bottom views. Colors are labeled in FS numbers and names. I used enamels all around. Markings are provided for several Royal Australian Air Force Hawks, including the specially marked No. 76 Squadron's 2003 Avalon air-show special. The kit decals were good, with a few items slightly out of register. The yellow crew names for the air-show special I chose were translucent and disappeared against the black trim. All the decals responded well to Solvaset.

I spent more than 40 hours on my Hawk, much of that time cleaning up the parts and making everything fit. I recommend this kit only to experienced builders.

- Ross Whitaker