One of the more successful trainers of the last 30 years has been the Bae Hawk. Initially designed by Hawker, this company was combined into the amalgamation of British aerospace companies that became known as British Aerospace. Despite the age of the initial design, the Hawk has proven itself to be quite adaptable to differing requirements. This particular variant has been marketed as not only a trainer but also as a light strike fighter. The elongated nose carries a variety of sensors to allow it to accomplish this mission. In addition, it has self defense capabilities in the form of wing mounted Sidewinders.

So far it has not been a huge seller, however, Canada has recently signed on for a slightly different version and is calling it the CT-155. It will be used in the training role and is basically a replacement for the CF-116s that were retired right after spending major funds upgrading the airframe and avionics systems! Politicians!

Opening the box (one of those miserable single piece, end opening affairs) you find all the sprues unprotected as for some reason, Italeri no longer puts kits into a bag. What this does is to increase the probability of parts loss after opening the box if one does not build the kit right away.  These end opening boxes are most prone to having little bits slip out of the cracks in the box. Sounds like false economy to me. How expensive is a plastic bag?

Anyway, the kit on the sprues looks very much like the older Hawk kit, however, this one has all the bits and pieces for the newer Hawk. The interior is more than adequate though purists will undoubtedly replace the seats and perhaps add an etched brass set. Instrument panels and side consoles have raised detail on them which many like. There is also a blast shield that will have to be placed into the canopy that is always a bit tricky. No indication of having the canopy open is given, but it should not be too difficult a feat to perform.

Stores consist of  wing tip mounted Sidewinders, underwing drop tanks and a center fuselage gun pack. Only the wing tip mounts are different from the other Hawk kit. The wing itself has all of the flap actuators and leading edge fences as separate items as on the older kit. All of the tail sensors and other little electronic bits and pieces are separate, making this kit just a fiddly as the previous Hawk.

Instructions are quite good and have both FS 595a and Model Master callouts for the colors. There are options for two aircraft. One is the demonstrator as shown on the box art with a four color scheme reminiscent of the USAF SEA scheme. The other is in Australian markings, but with an RAF serial as if the plane had not yet been delivered. Greys are the predominant color for this one. The small decal sheet is very well printed and should work well. If you don't want to use either scheme, Mike Grant Decals has just produced a sheet for the Canadian CT-155 that will work quite well.

This really is a nice little kit. Experience has shown that it will require careful construction to get a suitable result. This is not a shake and bake quick build kit by any means. As such, it should only be tried by those who have had experience with rather fussy kits. However, the results will be a very nice kit.

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!

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