Subject: Re: article
From: "Steve Bamford ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Alexander Sidharta" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 01:34:10 -0800

Hi Alex,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks for sending it in.   

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com
 
Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Alexander Sidharta 
  To: Steve Bamford 
  Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 11:03 PM
  Subject: article

  Dear Steve,

  Please find my article on the Indonesian AF Hawk Mk.53 in 1/48 scale.

  Alex Sidharta
  Jakarta, Indonesia

  AIRFIX 1/48 Hawk Mk.53

  This is my Airfix 1/48 BAe Hawk Mk.53 in Indonesian Air Force's early South East Asia marking (1980 to mid 1990s). Now all of the Hawk Mk.53 sports 2 tone grey color and no longer served under training squadron.

  The 1/48 scale Hawk was one of the surprises Airfix brought to us modelers. Although the model features recessed panel lines, raised cockpit panels, optional dropped flaps, etc, the model itself is not a model I was dreaming of. It has grainy plastic surfaces, the lines are not sharp, and it has some errors on the undercarriage doors. I thought Airfix would give us a model at the same quality as their 1/48 Lightning kit. Pity, simply because Hawk is one of the best trainer aircraft in the world, and also it is a British aircraft.

  Construction began at the cockpit as usual, along with nose wheel housing which both was sandwiched between the fuselage-half. I used supplied ejection-seats and the only modification I did was adding seat-belts. I cut the flaps from main wings which left a very thick trailing edge on each wing. I didn't thin them at all as I thought it would be well-hidden after the flaps were installed. Later I discovered that I was wrong!

  All construction went-on; the fitting was, again, not the kind of new tool model I was expecting. Some filling and sanding here and there required. When finally the time installing the flaps came, I found that the inner flaps were too long for Mk.53 and must be cut.

  I modified the Hawk's drop tanks as well because the ones we use have cropped back-ends.

  For TNI-AU Hawk Mk.53, I used Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow, Model Master FS34102 and FS34079 for upper surface area and MM FS36622 Light Grey for underside. I mixed the color for the yellow-orange training identification band on fin top and wing tips.

  Model Alliance Worldwide Hawk decal was used for training squadron badge and serials. I had to use Scale Nutz decal for the Indonesian pentagon as the ones MA supplied have their red color of the pentagon too thin. Stencilings were again from MA Hawk stencil sheet and "TNI-AU" letters on wings were from Carpena decal.

  Final construction then was installing tiny navigational lamps, antennae, etc after sprayed the whole model using Gunze's Flat Coat.

  Now, after finishing this one, I still have 2 more Hawk 100 waiting.  One will be converted to -200 series and both will be in Indonesian marking too.