Hi all. I found this model in a
box of junk when I moved a few years ago. I have no idea who originally built it
and when it was done. I think I received it from hobby shop that closed down.
The model was in very poor condition but I liked the fact that it was chromed
plastic. It was not until a couple of weeks ago that I found out that it was an
old Hawk model. The fact that the model was so old struck my interest. I
normally do not restore models, but this one needed to be saved because of it
age. I had to disappoint my sons and not let them blow it up for the 4th of
July.
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I started out by
deciding what to do with it. It was missing a few parts and the canopy was brok en.
It had no interior detail at all and the landing gear was in the up position.
The chrome was also badly damaged. I decided this model had good potential to be
a flying display model. I have a bunch of 1950's vintage trophies that make
great display stands. I have sold several to customers that wanted something
different for their models. I cleaned the model and removed the original decals
before I started the repairs. I had to take most of the model apart and reglue
it back together. I found a decent canopy in my junk box and then modified it to
fit the model. It seems the Hawk model was kind of out of scale in several
areas. I did not bother trying to correct the faults because I was not trying to
make a perfect model. I pulled a seat off of a B-17 derelict and a pilot out of
a out of my junk figure box. I painted them and installed them into the barren
cockpit. I then added seat belts and installed the restored and polished canopy.
So far so good.
I then started to
prepare it for paint. I wanted to recreate the chrome effect as close as
possible. I decided to use Alclad brand paints. I had to sand the model down
with 2500 grit sand paper then polish it before it was painted. I then used a
number #3 tip in my airbrush to spray an over all finish. I then added little
tint to the paint to change the panel colors a little. This did not work as well
as I would have liked but I decided not to mess with the paint too much. It had
to much potential for becoming a SNAFU. Once the Alclad had dried I added the
blue nose with Poly-S and applied some old decals I had laying around. I have no
idea what brand they were. I then did some weathering with thinned out black and
burnt umber paints. The panel lines filled in well. The exhaust was done with
burnt jet exhaust from Alclad. Not exactly realistic but kind of a cool effect.
The over all airplane looks like one of the "Blue Nose Bastard" but
the identifications are not correct. The effect of the display came out about
like I wanted it to and it was a fun two night project. The model looks good
sitting on my end table and I have already had several offers on it, but I think
I am going to hang on to this one.
Happy Modeling
Andy
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