1/48 Academy Hawker Hunter FGA 9

by Gianmaria Corona

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This is my first contribution to ARC and my first Hunter ever built. I really love this elegant jet plane with its so "British" look.  I don't want to waste time and words speaking about the Academy model. All the flaws of this kit are commonly known:

1. Undersized cockpit and seat.
2. Wrong shape of tail chute opening.
3. Some difficult fitting for air intakes and wings.


But "it's the only game in town" in 1/48 scale and summing up, I consider it a good kit.  Trying to correct its flaws, I replaced the original cockpit with one produced by Aires. This is a mix of resin and PE parts with a good price-quality ratio.  Wanting to improve even the quality of the wheel bay I replaced the original ones with those produced by Aires.  I replaced even the original canopy, too thick, with a Squadron acetate one.  After a lot of putting and sanding, especially for intakes and wings to fuselage connection area, I finally painted a British NATO camouflage composed by Dark Green, Dark Seagray and Alluminum using Gunze Acrylic paints for the uppersurfaces and Tamiya Chrome Silver for undersurfaces. A final touch of Payne's Gray oil colour diluted in Humbrol thinner and applied with a brush in all the panel lines has given more contrast to the camouflage.

Click on images below to see larger images

Decals are from an Xtra-Decal sheet I found at my local Hobby shop and represent  a 54th Sqn. Aircraft of the BAFO (British Air Force in Germany) during the 1960.
I applied them over a coat of Gunze gloss clear acrylic paint that helps to avoid any silvering effect.
A final coat of Gunze flat and gloss clear paints mixed in equal parts, definitely fix the decals and give the correct shade to the camouflage. I really enjoyed building this kit and I hope you all like it.
Gianmaria

Photos and text © by Gianmaria Corona