cdnguy68

I certainly do, too, Iain. It's also nice to have the replica "Hawk One" flying in the skies up here (especially when they let Chris Hadfield take it for a spin with The Snowbirds). As much as I'd like to say I'll sand and re-scribe the beast, I'm not sure I'm up to the task. I'll have to settle for a detailed cockpit and the gorgeous gold livery. But, my madness may yet get the better of me.

The beast is primed (save for a few loose engine parts) and almost ready to go. My Golden Hawk decals are on order from Leading Edge Models, and I have also ordered CMK's resin cockpit kit. The PE instrument panel and other goodies really sold me on it. Too bad I can't post pics from my iPad....

Bless you, Jennings!! I have a vague recollection of seeing instructions on how to do the Wing surgery (and now cannot lay my hands on it), but this side elevation is a new one for me. I *think* the Golden Hawk decal set I ordered includes them. I think.

I thought about doing C-GSBR, but it would require serious cockpit mods ( it has a couple of MFDs and a custom headpiece for the seat) so I'll go with the "stock" Hawk. In sad news, apparently the Sabre is for sale

I'm keen on this build, but I want to do a Hunter in the contemporary FR variant. A co-worker's dad flew one in Aden and he has lots of pictures of that bird. Any idea how hard it would be to modify the Hunter nose to FR standard? Thanks for your detailed build log!

While I wait for the awesome Richard P to send me the landing gear and wing spar templates for my Airfix 1/24 Muatang IV, I decided to get moving on my 1/32 Hasegawa F-86-40, which will be modified to become a Canadair Sabre in Golden Hawks livery. Today, priming begins. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hawks Pictures to follow. This is likely to be a slow build because of the mods (wingtip surgery to get the 6-3 wing and hopefully a scratch built engine cart), but I'm looking forward to tackling the job.

Richard: Thanks for the detailed response, and I will gladly take you up on the template details (message to follow). Thanks also for the thoughts on the foil. I guess I will save that effort for another kit, although I admit I was looking forward to the challenge. I'll go ahead with the 402 Sqn livery in the meantime. (Maybe I'll stick with my 1/48 417 Sqn CF-104 as a foil project). Really, I just want this "correct" enough to display. I'm probably not going to drop the flaps or anything quite like you've tackled, but a little dihedral correction and a decent LG bay and Gun Bays should be manageable. I share your thoughts on the future kit release and I'd love to see what they do with it. Looking forward to the next round of photos. Thx again from just down the 401

Hi Richard: I appreciate you sharing your efforts here. I'm in the early stages of the same kit (having finally hauled it from the stash) so your diary is timely. Until I saw your work with the landing gear bays, I was going to do mine wheels-up, but you've given me some small measure of hope. Any insights you can share on the dimensions for your spar or boxing in of the wheel bays would be gratefully received at this end. I am planning on doing mine in the 402 Sqn livery, but my plan (until convinced otherwise) is to use foil for the finish, although your comments about the aluminum lacquer on the wings got my attention. Am I headed down the wrong path? -Mark