Catching up on construction

I must apologize, since the media empire that is 72 Land has been unusually quiet for a couple of weeks. Nothing dire, but I haven’t had much in the way of computer time. The good side of that is that I have been able to get some construction work done in the modeling dungeon.

I've been able to make some progress on the three BAe Hawks. Cockpits built and painted and major assembly complete. I’ve built so many of these things that it took me a bit of time to realize that I have one of each of Airfix’s current three production kits on the workbench. This is the relatively recent T1, the stealthily-revised T1 that appears in a Red Arrow box with a different code (AX2005A), and the T2.

All three versions are engineered well and the fit is as good as it gets, requiring almost no filler. The newest T1 has the innovation of wing fences already as a part of the wing, so if you’re a ham-fisted modeler (as I am) that will be one less place to get errant glue all over the place. The modified version also has a one-piece canopy (something else The Lazy Modeller appreciates) and no HUDs on the cockpit consoles, and we’ve already discussed the much thinner exhaust can.

But three unexpected things happened. First, I resurrected an Italeri B-57B from the Shelf of Shame. Actually in this case it was a Box of Shame, but you understand. Second, I decided to resume work on a Williams Bros C-46 that had been languishing as long as the B-57. Finally, I stopped looking at the Cyberhobby Sea Vixen and got all the major bits together so that it now resembles an aircraft. Yes, I understand the nose is faulty, but it certainly builds up better than the ancient Frog version of the type. The one gripe I have with these new Cyberhobby kits is that they have the folded-wing built into the kit. I do get it that many modellers like the option, but if you are not going to build it with wings up, fit can become an issue. Most parts on this kit fit wonderfully (though the front fuselage seam was a struggle), but parts of the droppable flaps where they intersect with the foldable wings just… don’t. A bit of extra sanding and a sigh of relief that the bad patch is on the bottom of the aircraft and off we go.