ACADEMY 1:48 HAWKER HUNTER FGA.9

Reviewer: Nick Hall  (dixhall@hotmail.com)

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.  The FGA.9 was really a ground attack version of the F.6 with strengthened wings and pylons to allow a larger underwing bombload.  Academy have released both versions in similar kits.  Both kits are essentially the same except for weapon load and decals.

The Academy kits capture the unique lines of the Hunter quite well, but there are a number of problems associated with both kits (and since they are basically the same kit reboxed - the problems are commonplace).  Particularly the cockpit tub and ejector seat are too small, undercarriage legs are incorrectly positioned, wheels on all undercarriage are too small and the two-piece canopy does not fit properly.  Aeroclub and KMC have undertaken to release resin detailed cockpits which can be used for these kits and will go some way to helping with the cockpit problems.

Onto the FGA.9 being the subject of this review.  The FGA.9 comes with the same selection of stores for the the F.6 (drop tanks, 1000-lb & 500-lb bombs and rocket pods) plus 230-Gal drop tanks and extra pylon braces.  The decalling sheet also contains the same set of stencilling as for the F.6 Hunter but with two aircraft examples from No.8 Sqn RAF and the other from the Kuwait Air Force.

Although the sprues are essentially the same for both kits, Academy have supplied the differences with pylons and flaps for the FGA.9.  The blast tubes on the cannon troughs are on only one of the aircraft - the Kuwait AF has them but the RAF version doesn't.  This will need to be corrected at the appropriate construction step and diagrams of the underview colour scheme/decal callout of both examples in clearly show which has them and which doesn't once you know what to look for.  The flaps can be positioned as open if you desire but will require a bit of cleaning up to get rid of the ejector pin marks.

The kit also captures the intake area well and internal trunking, plus the internal splitter plates and compressor face.  On the other side of the coin, however, the air brake looks pretty crude (mind you it does look pretty crude on the real thing).  The wheel well detail has been done well and decal placement/colour callout has been given on a separate A4 sized sheet which is good.  Colour references are given in FS and BS number codes.

The kit was reasonably straight forward to put together (other than those parts pointed out above) and the panel lines are quite well defined.  The completed product is nice and looks everything like the real thing.  Despite its shortcomings I'd recommend this kit to intermediate modelmakers who want a nice representation of an FGA.9 Hunter.

Related Reviews:  Academy 1/48 Hunter F.6   :  Academy 1/48 Hunter F.6 - another viewpoint
           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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