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
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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
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