Revell Hunter FGA.9 - finished

[Sepp]

Ahoy!

 

I've been looking forward to starting my first GB effort

 

The venerable Revell FGA.9/mk 58, built (mainly) as a straight '9'.

 

With various aftermarket stuff - it won't all get used, I'm going to do a pic-n-mix.  Why are the French Mirage decals in there you ask? All will become clear!

 

The pic above unfortunately doesn't include Buchon Scale Model's Oerlikon rockets; the kit includes a suitable rail (I did say mainly a straight '9'), but no ordnance. These are still inbound from Norway. Outer pylons will receive the SNEB pods. The SAC gear will probably not get used. I hear bad things about bendy legs. We'll see.

 

And so, the subject. Regular viewers will not be surprised that this will be yet another what-if/alt history scheme - namely, an aircraft of 7e Escadron, Forces Armées Bretonnes, in use from 1962 to 1983.

 

 

First up will be the shark mouth. If I can't get that to work, the whole thing will fall over, and this will magically morph into a more conventional subject!

 

All for now,

 

Sepp, out.

 

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Oh... the Mirage decals?

 

I needed ejector seat triangles, in French

 

Looks like I'm going to have to build a Mirage at some stage now!

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Sepp

[Scotsman]

Can't have too many hunters!

[themongoose]

Love the plan! I’ll follow along and see how 1st contact works out  

[artoor_k]

What-If? I'm in!

 

[Panzerwomble]

Love Hunters , I think this recently won on the "most elegant" aircraft poll .

 

Look forward to seeing how this one develops ! 

[Dpgsbody55]

I like this.  It's a model I wish I'd bought when new.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Sepp]

Right - off we jolly well go.

 

Plan A for the teeth is mask and spray, with decals being plan B.  As I have to draw the whole thing first anyway, I've started with B. Making masks from the drawing should not (ha!) pose too much of a problem.

 

My first thought was to copy the mouth from the scheme sketch and make up pieces for the centre which I could mod as required to get the mouth to fit the fuselage.

 

and boy, was that a mistake A right royal pita to fiddle with, so I fell back on what I should have done to start - extend the mouth to the centreline, and copy it.

 

The first try was way too narrow.

 

The second was waaay too wide.

 

And the third.... (three bears moment)

 

ooh, hello, looks like we might have a winner

 

 

Yep. That'll do - a tiny bit of work to adjust the teeth, but I'm happy.

 

The resulting decal sits nicely with no wrinkling, even though it's quite large. It looks like it might even be persuaded to conform to the gun troughs. If not, I can always slit the decal as the troughs will be painted some metallic shade, anyway.

 

Excellent... tomorrow: fettling and mask making, but it's a lovely evening here so I hereby declare it to be pub o'clock.

 

Cheers!

 

Sepp, out.

 

 

 

 

 

[Rick Griewski]

Just have to like an air plane with teeth!   

[MikeMaben]

Nice teeth Sepp 

[chrish]

The shark teeth will be well worth it! 
looking great!

I went down this road years ago with a 1/48 (scratch conversion) Taiwanese S2T… I think everything looks better with teeth.

except the killer bunny in Monte Pythons “Holy Grail”

[Sepp]

Time for an update:

 

The True Details cockpit set is a major step up from the kit offering - the seat is worth the money on its own - and I doff my cap to the artist who created the tub and sidewalls as it all fits in the fuselage without needing to carve/sand anything away.  The set I picked up off ebay was incomplete (seller was upfront about this, so I have no issues with them), and the stick was missing the top half, so I've had to press bits of the kit into service.  The throttle is from David Parkins' etch set, and the LP cock aft of the throttle is crimped brass rod.  (Small aside: If anyone knows where I might find another TD resin set, I'd be grateful for the info - seems to be a discontinued item and is out of stock everywhere. I have a mk.6 in the stash, and I'd really like a set for it.)

 

Quite pleased with how it turned out - yes, I know the Hunter had a black 'pit, but in 'my' universe, Breton Hunters were licence built and the powers-that-be mandated that the cockpits be finished in a grey-blue mix... which just happens to look exactly like Vallejo's medium gunship gray. 

I just noticed that I haven't painted the silver hood locked indicator on the left sidewall.  I'll add that.

 

The shoulder straps on the seat are moulded in the wrong order - the straps that attach to the seat frame should be inboard - no biggie, but something to watch if you're following a colour pic as a reference... it'll show the blue straps inboard.  I'm not hugely happy with the stripes on the upper firing handle... they might get revisited, or not, I haven't decided yet.  The pale grey will almost certainly get a wash to tone it down.

 

Both the kit and resin cockpit tubs omit the hood jettison handle (next to left rudder pedal) and the emergency oxygen release (round yellow/black knob just aft of the fuel gauges, adjacent to the right side panel.   Ignore the other stripy button on the extreme right, it's the anti-G system test button and ought not to be bee coloured.... but I quite like it, so it's staying. 

 

I have no idea what the box that's sitting on top of the left side panel, or the raised arc like lump on the right side panel next to the emergency oxygen release are supposed to be - they don't appear in my copies of the flight manuals/pilot's notes for either the F.mk.6 or the FGA.9 (or the FR.10, for that matter).  What should be there, but aren't, are the IFF and nav light switches.  Oh well.

 

The IP received one or two spurious placards to tart it up a bit, and a representation of a  more modern attitude indicator, rather than a plain black artificial horizon.  I may or may not bother adding gloss to the instruments... I don't really like that look, and an early trial suggested that it would just show up the fact that the details were in 3d relief.

 

Poor pic, but the kit stick received a minor reshaping and  some suggestions of buttons, switches, the brake handle and aileron sensitivity control knob.

 

In other news, the aft fuselage is joined, and the inner duct work constructed.  The upper seam is near flawless - well done Revell. The lower seam... not so much. A fair bit of sanding/scribing to be done there. The horzontal stab swash plates are a bit soft, and David's etch set includes nice crisp replacements, but I haven't convinced myself that I want to sand off the originals and then rescribe the fin.

 

Next up will be adding the tail pipe and building up the forward fuselage - but first, some major sink marks to address.

 

That's all for now!

 

Sepp

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Sepp

[crobinsonh]

Gotta like a Hunter. Some mighty fine work. At some point I might get off my ass and finish my 1/32nd F5 Hunter. Following and hoping it will give me the inspiration to get on with it.

[Sepp]

31 minutes ago, crobinsonh said:

Gotta like a Hunter. Some mighty fine work. At some point I might get off my ass and finish my 1/32nd F5 Hunter. Following and hoping it will give me the inspiration to get on with it.

Thanks for the kind words ... the Hunter is a lovely aircraft - hope I do it justice!

[BradG]

That is a nice cockpit. Looks fantastic.

[Sepp]

A couple of things stood out while I was looking at various reference pics.  As there's another Hunter in the GB now, I thought I'd share early, rather than waiting until I had more progress to show with mine.

 

Firstly, in step 7 the instructions show the nose gear retraction jack as being fitted on the left of the gear leg:

 

It should go on the right, as shown in this diagram from the manual.

 

Purists will want to replicate the front door jack and actuating arms, too, as they're missing from the kit.

 

Secondly, if building an example with the muzzle blast deflectors, be aware that the instructions have them reversed.

 

Part 141 (correponding to 139) is shown on the right hand side of the nose , and below is in place as suggested.

 

This places the 'step' on the deflector outboard, and is incorrect. The deflectors ought to look as below, with the step inboard:

 

Swapping parts 138/138 and 140/141 sorts that out.

 

---

 

Anyhoo, time for a very quick update.

 

Fuselage is built up.

Some sanding required to blend the slightly different profiles of the various sections, but nothing show stopping. The joint between the spine and fusealge is commendably good; only a tiny skim will be required where the forward piece joins the aft section.

 

The sharp-eyed will note that I've made a basic error, in that I've not pre-painted the part of the forward fuselage that tucks behind the intake splitter plates, so I've created myself a fiddly masking job.

 

I did say it would be a quick one!  Not much to show this time, but I am (slowly) making progress

 

Cheers!

 

Sepp