Revell 1/32 Red Arrows Hawk

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:16 pm

Hello there fellow ISM'rs!

I got this kit recently for the bargain price of just £9.99! And although I have a few builds on the go, I have kind of stalled out with the AUF1 and Challenger 2 for now, so wanted to build a plane for a change.

So far this kit seems nice, no warping on the wings (a problem noted on the earlier releases) and fit so far is good. Its a shame its in red plastic, the other release of this kit (the Hawk T1A) comes with a weapons sprue, but is the same kit, albeit in grey plastic. To date I have built up the cockpit "tub", engine intake and engine outlet and the wings.

Onto the pics!

Last night I sat and started painting the ejection seat details. I noticed that the decals provided for the seatbelts are frankly crap, so I am going to save up for the available PE seatbelt set for this kit. Since I am going to have the canopy open, and its big and obvious I think its a worthy addition. I also added some ribbing detail to the cockpit sides (got the other side still to do) as there is obvious ribbing there on the real thing (pattern of ribbing taken from reference pics) which was missing in the kit.

C&C welcome!

Post by **UKscalemodeller** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:21 pm

excellent work Gav

Post by **Paul** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:31 pm

Nice start gav.

Be careful I think there's a major fit issue on some of these kits on the fuselage, think its the nose?

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:41 pm

Dry fitting so far shows the entire fuselage to fit lovely. Nothing jumping out at me so far as being ill-fitting.

Post by **Paul** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:46 pm

Gav0909 wrote:Dry fitting so far shows the entire fuselage to fit lovely. Nothing jumping out at me so far as being ill-fitting.

Good

Its was people who said they bought the kit when it came out and it was fine, but when they bought one lately it was terrible?

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:58 pm

As far as I am aware it was the other way round, the initial released kits had issues, so all the reviews were done on "bad" kits, this one I have is fine as far as I can tell. Fit is fine, no warping in the wings (which was a noted issue before).

Post by **Lee** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 1:03 pm

I have this kit in the stash as well. I got it so cheap I bought the BigEd set for it too. Look forward to watching it come together mate

YouTube · Post by **customtk** » Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:42 pm

I've built one and had no fit issues
Top kit for the money

Post by **BrummieModeller** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 1:53 am

I would get this kit but I do have 9 1/72 red arrow kits in my stash to do so i will just get bored building red arrows if i got this lol

Good work though dude

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 4:51 pm

The next update is here, in video form.

[youtube]OuBSg-PAgCU[/youtube]

Post by **DC87** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 5:01 pm

Very nice looks great, really like the subtle weathering to show rivets etc.

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 12:42 pm

Well with the new sanders from Ultimate in my possession, I dug out the Hawk (or rather brought it off the shelf) last night and went at the rough filler bits in the various nooks and crannies around the underside of the intakes, where my original sanders couldn't reach.

I then gave her a coat of primer. Although I need to do the underside later this evening. And once its all dry then the primer coat will need a light sand as my room is pretty dusty and airbrushing kicks up dust, which then settles onto the model!

Once the primer is down then I think I will build up the rest of the parts, main undercarriage, undercarriage bay doors, airbrake, dye tank etc and get some primer on them.

No picture, but there isn't much to show. Cheers

Post by **SpaceShipOne** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:12 pm

Great job Gav'!

You get a lot of plastic for so little money, I love it!

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 11:56 pm

Cheers Antoine!

Primer! All primed up, going to go over bits again as the red shows through the grey primer. This isn't much of an issue since the final colour will be red anyway.

Post by **DC87** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 12:52 am

Looking good gav

Have you left the canopy off for a particular reason as I'm taking notes for building mine?

Post by **BrummieModeller** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 1:38 am

Looking good gavvv-larrrrr

It is quite a beast isnt it

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 9:31 am

DC. Yeah, I am having this with the canopy open so left it off for now. I thought about having it in place just to act as a mask, but the main canopy doesn't fit that well, there is a gap at the back where it meets the fuselage.

Dan - cheers dude

Post by **Paul** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 9:56 am

Nice job gav looking good

Post by **UKscalemodeller** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 10:59 am

Nice work Gav.

Post by **Filo387** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 3:01 pm

I have just pick one of those up today. I can't wait to build it.

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 10:09 pm

Cheers guys.

Ok, so I am a bit irritated just now. I happened to have the paint that Revell suggest for this, Gloss Fiery Red. So I primed the plane, and pre-shaded it, just to help add some interest to the otherwise flat red. However. Turns out that this paint is quite translucent. Result....lots of coats going to be needed to cover enough of the pre-shading so it doesn't look daft!

My usual not very neat pre-shading

And with some red on

The closest wing there has had a few quick coats and is more the effect I am after. The further wing has just one coat....

You might be able to see the collection of red in the panel lines where its dark, and some runs etc. So once this coat is all dry I am going give it a sand over to smooth things out, then put another coat on. I hope this means I will get a nice smooth coat at the end.

Thoughts? And be honest!

Post by **DC87** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 10:38 pm

Honestly Gav I like the look of the closest wing which has had the quick coats with the pre shading showing through. These red arrows airframes are in there mid 20s now so a worn look is justified

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 11:14 pm

Don't worry I am not getting rid of all the pre-shading, I just don't like an overly strong pre-shading and its taking a few coats to get coverage I am happy with. Almost there though.

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 11:54 pm

This is how she stands now. Much better. Still perhaps another final thin coat on the wing tops, for some reason the pre-shading is really standing out on there.

Sorry about the bad pic, apparently iPhones don't like taking in focus pics of gloss red...

Using the Ultimate thinners with the Revell acrylics was much easier than with the Vallejo thinners, or water that I had to use before. Made my job much easier to get nice coats of colour. Also didn't need much thinner to paint mix to get a nice consistancy for spraying which is good.

Thoughts?

Post by **Paul** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 11:57 pm

Looking good gav, having fully tested the Ultimate thinner with revell paints I agree it sprays real nice with them.

I would defo tone done the preshading till it's barely visable mate as these would be keep in very good condition IMO.

Post by **wappynutter** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 11:59 pm

Looking good Gav mate.....

You've about pulled it off.

Well done again..

Post by **EpoxySniffer** » Sat Oct 26, 2013 12:15 am

The pre shading still looks a bit heavy in places ... more paint dude !!!

Your right to try and add some variation to the red, if its all one tone it will look toy like. I would even put a faint wash in the panel lines. Thats what I am going to do when I get round to building mine. I heard the kit supplied decals are a bit thin and the red shows through the white markings on the underside and some guys mask these and airbrush them on instead. Dont know if that is true or not but thought I would pass it on and give you a heads up about a potential issue later in your build.

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Sat Oct 26, 2013 12:24 am

Yeah, the pre-shading in this case is more for tonal variation than weathering per se. I am aware that the Red Arrow jets are kept pretty clean (not spotless though if you see close ups of them), so yep there will be a few more layers of paint in places.

Epoxy - Yeah the red isn't finished yet, that's just where I got to this evening. The Fiery Red is pretty translucent. And yeah, was going to paint the white arrow from the start anyway, hence me leaving off the strakes etc from under the wings, to make the masking easier.

Cheers

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Sat Oct 26, 2013 12:07 pm

I have to just say, that the red looks so much better in real daylight! Def needs another coat in some places, and will then give it all a light sand to smooth it out, then one final coat, then a gloss coat.

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:19 pm

Okey doke so I made some good progress today! The red is all complete now, and looks much better. I have still got to do a panel line wash, but I will do that later on.

Today was a case of painting the numerous "odds n sods" such as undercarriage, wheel well bay doors, airbrake, wing strakes etc. And lots of masking on the fuselage.

First up was masking the tail fin for the application of Vallejo Model Air Signal Blue. This kit only comes with the white decals, so the blue section on the tail has to be painted.

Turned out pretty damn good if I do say so! And its symetrical on each side as well! Bonus!

Next up, wheel wells and airbrake well.

These were painted Vallejo Game Colour Stonewall Grey, washed with Citadel Badab Black and the pipes painted VMA Black Metal.

Numerous "odds n sods" painted

Then the big bit. Masking and painting the underside white arrow. The kit comes with decal sections for this, but I thought I would give a go at painting it!

And boy am I glad I did! Minor panel line runs to correct, but bloody good if I do say so! I think for the most part its even symetrical which is awesome! The front isn't quite a point as that part is under the front mount of the dye tank which needs placed there. I left the flap actuator strakes off as this made the masking much easier. I have painted the one white that needs to be for each wing, and need to paint the rear half of the other but that is a much easier job than trying to mask over them while they were on the plane!

Your thoughts are most welcome. I am really chuffed with how that came out I must say!

Post by **DC87** » Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:28 pm

Crikey, super update Gav. Arrow is starting to look incredible. What a job you've just done on that undebelly, sublime painting/ masking skills again it's looking sweet

Post by **BrummieModeller** » Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:49 pm

Looking very nice!!!!!!

Post by **EpoxySniffer** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 12:27 am

Great job on masking those stripes, white is such a crappy colour to paint. You pulled it off though

Post by **wappynutter** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 12:56 am

...... and the Gav0909 is back!!!

back to ISM mate.... wondered where you'd gone...

Joking aside dude you just turned this build around....

...back with an awesome update, all masking and painting to perfection post.

Very well done mate, be chuffed with yourself cos I know I would be...

Gently gently weathering now and your on the home straight... and out in front...
on a Winner....

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:56 am

Andy your a friggin nutter mate! But its a good thing lol. Cheers I am uber pleased with the arrow. Looking at it in the fresh light of day this morning there are some bits I need to touch up, but nothing major so all in all I am pleased.

Cheers for the other comments, much appreciated. Turns out that the airbrake well, and the inside face of the airbrake are the same colour as the airframe (red in this case) not grey as I have done them. So either I repaint them, or I just leave them as is and use artistic license.

So next step I think will be to touch up the arrow, paint the white on the remaining flap strake. Get the various strakes, antennae, undercarriage etc all mounted onto the plane and then get a coat of gloss on her and do a wash on the panels. After that is done, I will do the decals. Will just use the kit decals for the side stripes rather than try to mask and paint that, the chances of me getting them symetrical are quite low ahahah!

Until next time. Ciao for now

Post by **Paul** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:09 am

Great work Gav, masking looks really sharp

Post by **Stiggie** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 5:07 pm

Dude did you gloss coat the wheel wells before washing or straight onto the grey paint? Looking awesome mate. I say leave the grey in the brake well. You need to brake that red colour a little. She's looking good. Just finished my black stripe on my Tomcat which I'll upload just now. Very impressed with my first mask and spay job.

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 5:12 pm

Stiggie, no gloss in the wheel wells. I only tend to gloss before a wash if I want to remove most of the wash again later. In the wells I just put it all over, wasn't aiming for the recesses only. So they are now a touch darker than they were. I removed any large pools of wash mind, but yeah.

Cheers

http://m.youtube.com/user/MrBobsBuilds · Post by **Rob** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 8:46 pm

And well-chuffed you have every right to be. Super job on the masking and painting

Post by **Maketci** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:27 pm

Hi Gav ;
Great looking mate, congrats.

Regards,
Maketci.

Post by **SpaceShipOne** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 11:08 pm

Very well done!

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:28 am

Another update on last nights work.

I masked up and painted the white stripe across the undercarriage doors.

The dye injection nozzles were mounted and painted as well.

Undercarriage and various fuselage antennae were all added.

As well as the airbrake and the strakes that go either side. The wing flap strakes were added as well.

Gear bay doors were painted inside and washed black as well.

Next step is to paint and install the hydraulic arms that attach to the main gear legs and touch up the mount point for the main gear as they decided to break as I glued the gear in. I will then add the gear bay doors to the front and main gear bays.

After that, all that remains is to gloss the entire model, give the panels a wash, add all the decals, then gloss again. I will also need to mask up and paint the canopy frames as well.

So yeah, your thoughts are welcome.

Post by **Paul** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:31 am

Great work gav, masking again looks great

Post by **wappynutter** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:30 pm

Told ya mate....... Nailed it.......

Many many thumbs.....

Good luck finishing this up dude...
So close you can reach out and touch the finish line....

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:23 pm

Right so yesterday I wanted to get a gloss coat onto the Hawk in prep for a wash and decals. So out came the vallejo gloss varnish. However, I could not for the life of me (at least not without the risk of filling all the details with varnish) get a smooth coat. I kept getting orange peel effect. So I spoke to Paul and he suggested I brush some Klear on (I have never had great experience with Klear as a varnish before, hence why I wanted to try a proper gloss varnish first). So I brushed Klear onto it, and obviously a section of the varnish on the wing wasn't quite dry and the Klear has lifted the varnish off (no biggy other than you can see where it was).

Anyway I let it all dry, put some more Klear on and its blending in ok now so all is not lost. Klear also seems to have a habit with me of making the paint work blister. It does go back down as it dries, but its a bit disconcerting when you turn round and your plane is covered in blisters!

Anyway, some pics!

I added the wingtip lights, which didn't fit very well so a touch of filler was needed after some jiggling. Tape was just to stop me ruining the paint of the wing.

Varnish issues!

All ok now though.

Clear parts painted, glossed and unmasked. Lovely!

As she stands ready for decals (todays job)

Comments and critisism are most welcome.

Post by **Paul** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:54 pm

Looking good gav, as i said ive never had those issues with clear, the only problem i have is if it dries in a pool it goes a bit cloudy so ive no idea whats happened mate.

Canopy looks brilliant too mate

Post by **ridgers22** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:55 pm

looking like a stunning aircraft gav

well done mate cant wait to see her wit the decals on

Post by **Stiggie** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 4:35 pm

You scaring me with the gloss coat. Hope I dont get the same problem with my F14 soon. I will be using Humbrol Gloss cote as its all I can find in South Africa or my town. I also have the Humbrol matt cote for the finish.
But hey the Hawk is looking too good,. too good....Its mind blasting! 'You mean mind blowing" No anything can blow your mind, this was MIND BLASTING! (Sorry had to quote Russell Peter's)

Post by **muskegman** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 5:43 pm

Wow that looks great

Mark

Post by **Nige201980** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:53 pm

Looks great Gav the canopy looks so clear.

I've never had any issues with Klear i think my problem was the humbrol matt varnish i used hoping to get into Doncaster next week so will be picking something else up while im there.