ACADEMY 1:48 HAWKER HUNTER F.6

Reviewer: John Hall  (rec.models.scale)

The Hawker Hunter's design can be traced back to the 50's when it was clear that a replacement for the Vampire and Meteor was needed.   The first prototype flew in July 1950.  The F.6 came into service in 1956 with a more powerful Avon engine and a revised wing leading edge to cure a high altitude nose-pitching-up problem.  It was a multi-use aircraft that was in service with the RAF for 40 years and saw numerous different camouflage schemes from the colourful and glossy schemes in the 50's to the common low-viz grey of the 90's.  It was an aircraft used by Flight Demonstration teams including the Blue Diamonds and Black Arrows as well as in service with other less military units such as the FAA. Some 21 Air Forces used the Hunter and it is still in service with the Singapore Air Force.

I was very eager to open the kit and start construction, finally having found a manufacturer to produce a good representation of this most successful of British made fighters in the 1/48th scale.  It's quite clear on opening the box and having a look at the sprues that this Academy kit will capture the unique Hunter lines really well.   Having been forewarned about the smallness of the cockpit I decided also to grab a suitable resin unit from Aeroclub at the same time.  The kit's parts are clean and crisp injection-molded plastic with recessed panel lines and a good deal of detail scribed. The decal sheet has options for two different aircraft on completion.

I started construction on the cockpit using the Aeroclub resin parts I had purchased. I still had a look at the unit the kit supplies and quite clearly, on close inspection, everything is way too small.  In fact it looks like everthing in the cockpit has been made at the 1/72 scale!  The Aeroclub unit is much larger than Academy's supplied parts and I would strongly suggest that if you buy this model you also dispense with the use of Academy parts and buy an appropriate cockpit set from an Aftermarket source or you will have a badly undersized cockpit.

Construction was relatively straightforward thereafter but I had quite a bit of trouble with construction and fitting of the intakes, in spite of fixing these to the wings as a sub assembly before attaching to the fuselage.  The resulting effort was a little bit disappointing and a bit of putty had to be slapped in to fix it all up so be wary of this complicated area of assembly when you get to it.  Other than that things went pretty smoothly.

External armament and stores is generous and can be affixed to four underwing pylons.   Options include bombs, large and small drop tanks and rocket pods and should be used in conjuction with reference photos so you know what combination is selected in real-life situations.

The decal sheet contains all the stencilling needed for the aircraft, which is bound to keep you busy for quite a while! Two examples are provided, one being a 63 Squadron aircraft with a bright yellow and black checkerboard marking on the tail and this is shown on the box cover. The other is from 65 Squadron that has a more operational look about it and probably used during the 60's and 70's.  Of course there is nothing stopping you from pursuing an aftermarket source for decals and replicating an aircraft with markings from another squadron, air force or even a flight demonstration team.

All up this quite a decent kit but the supplied cockpit brings it back down the list of acceptableness like rocks in water. So that just about shoots it dead for "valueness" if you have to purchase an aftermarket cockpit unit like I did.   Accuracy otherwise seems quite good and I would still give it a recommendation for construction to all but the novice of builders who are happy to make up their own cockpit.

Related Reviews:  Academy 1/48 Hunter F.6 - another viewpoint  :  Academy 1/48 Hunter FGA.9
            Matchbox 1/72 Hunter T.Mk 7/F.Mk 58

Related In-the-box Reviews:  Airfix 1/72 Hunter FGA.9 

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