Airfix 1/56 Bae Hawk
| KIT #: | J 6003 |
| PRICE: | $20.00 delivered |
| DECALS: | One option |
| REVIEWER: | Scott Van Aken |
| NOTES: | Quickbuild kit |
| HISTORY |
The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1974 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 is still in production in the UK and under licence in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), with over 900 Hawks sold to 18 operators around the world.
| THE KIT |
Without
reading too much into it, I saw this offered on Amazon so I ordered it. When the
package arrived, it rattled as if every part had fallen from the sprues. Well,
in a way, this was true as there are no sprues. Everything is separate. I also
discovered that it is an odd scale, which hampers one's ability to use
aftermarket decals, something I had planned on doing.
The parts simply snap together like Legos and there are even
some Lego-like bricks to help with the construction. There is no interior, no
landing gear and no proper decals. One gets stickers. Even the canopy attaches
with Lego-like protrusions attached on the inside, so more advanced modelers
will probably want to paint it on the outside. The kit includes a display stand,
which is pretty well needed thanks to the lack of landing gear.
The kit does have engraved panel lines, though they are fairly soft. Things like the molded in wing fences are also fairly thick, but then the target audience is such that it is appropriate. Instructions are wholly pictorial and the box states the kit can be completed in an hour, which I believe. The stickers are for a 100 Squadron aircraft in overall black.
| CONCLUSIONS |
Well, I fell for it thinking I'd get a standard scale kit. I have to assume the others in the series are also an odd scale so I won't be picking up any of those any time soon. This kit is obviously aimed at the pre-teen group who are used to Legos and will be able to easily handle building this one.
| REFERENCES |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAE_Systems_Hawk
March 2022
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