The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, subsonic, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. Its aluminum alloy fuselage is of conventional string-frame construction. It was first known as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and BAE Systems. It has been used in a training capacity and as a low-cost combat aircraft.

Operators of the Hawk include the Royal Air Force (notably the Red Arrows display team) and several foreign military operators. The Hawk was produced at BAE Brough until 2020 in the UK and continues to be produced under licence in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), with over 1000 Hawks sold to 18 operators around the world.

Italeri came in 2008 with its new tool Hawk, reboxing it another three times so far, with Tamiya and Academy also reboxing it in 2009 and 2012 respectively, covering various subtypes. The specific copy is the 2010 “Red arrows” edition and was bought sealed in 2023 at a sale price that I couldn’t refuse (though I have the Airfix kit unbuilt). The kit comes in a very high quality, side opening box (but with a tray inside), carrying a nice box art with a photo of a Red Arrows bird. I liked very much that a photo of the sprues, the decal sheet, the PE fret and a full color profile are printed on the backside.

Upon opening the box, I was greeted with 84 red styrene parts, arranged in two large and two smaller sprues. A PE fret is also included, to beef up the cockpit looks. Molding of the styrene parts is nice and crisp, with minimal flash, easy to clean. I did notice a couple of shallow sink marks at the top of each wing half, thankfully easy to deal with. Panel lines are mostly engraved with nice depth and seemingly at the correct places. The distinctive rivets at the aft fuselage area are beautifully represented as “raised”.

Cockpit is well detailed. For the instrument panel and side consoles, you either have the option to use the very nice PE panels with decals underneath, or use only decals. The seats are very well done and the seat belts are provided as PE parts. Finally the four rear view interior mirrors are also supplied as PE. Though one can never stop super detailing, I believe the cockpit, as supplied by the kit, will satisfy most of us.

The landing gear, bays and door innards are sufficiently detailed and the wheels are nicely weighed. The flaps are separately provided and can be posed extended or retracted (for which different flap actuators are provided), as can be the ventral air brake, which contains some good detailing in its housing (normally all above are retracted, even upon engine shutdown, but they look very interesting “deployed” - your choice). The air intakes are not extending to their full length as in reality, leaving a void which is not that apparent unless you peek into those openings. The exhaust nozzle is well done and with sufficient depth. Finally, the distinctive centerline pod is well done, as are the three tiny smoke generator injectors.

Transparencies are well made and crystal clear, with the distinctive pyrotechnic lining on both canopies nicely molded. Instructions are typical Italeri, very nice, coming in the form of a 8-page b/w pamphlet, containing a short history of the type, a sprues map, a color chart, with the construction spread in 8 clear and concise steps ανδ color callouts given where applicable.

One basic scheme is catered for, that of The Red Arrows, as they operated in 2010. Colors are given in MM codes and in generic form. Decals are superbly printed and, though already 15 years old (as of 2025, the year of this preview), look to be in perfect condition (of course, one can only say upon using them).

Instructions want you to first assemble the cockpit and tail pipe and, together with the front wheel well, trap them between the fuselage halves. A hefty 50g of weight is recommended to be also trapped in the front, so be sure to stuff the nose area with as much weight as you can, to avoid tail sitting.

The intakes, dorsal aft cockpit cover and main well wall are next, followed by the wings (you can choose flaps up or down), tail planes and ventral strakes/air brake assembly (you can choose extended or retracted). The wings themselves are no less than a 15-piece affair (containing the flap actuators), so some extra care upon assembling wouldn’t hurt.

Next stages deal with the landing gear assembly and installation, the distinctive ventral pod, various small “thingies” (pitots, fillet antennas, smoke injectors and so on) and, finally, the windscreen and canopy (where you are supposed to bend, paint and attach four rear view mirrors at the latter’s innards - good luck there…), ending a build that, apart from the somewhat complex wing construction and the optional use of PE, looks pleasant and straightforward.

Spiros Pendedekas

April 2022

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