Revell's 1/32 Hawker Hunter By Jonathan Mock

Revell's new 1/32 Hawker Hunter kit ranks alongside the Airfix Lightning as one of the the most eagerly awaited kits in the UK at least and like the Lightning, it doesn't disappoint. Revell have obviously done their homework on this kit and given it a big budget. The result is a far more accurate replica of the Hunter than the dimensionally-wayward 1/48 Academy effort.

A big box and a mass of sprues mean this is no weekend project. Surface detail is finely recessed with some neat rivet and fastener detail. The cockpit consists of a tub with excellent side consoles detail and a choice of superb instrument panels for RAF or Swiss aircraft. The multi-part ejection seat is also a decent stab at the Martin Baker Mk.3H. The seat feature a nominal attempt at the straps; injection moulding just can't provide the same depth of detail as, say, a resin accessory can, And Revell were wise not to try.

Like the 1/48 Academy kit, the fuselage is split into nose, main body and tail cone, with all the breaks falling on natural panel lines. The nose itself is broken down with a separate nose cap and gun bay (again, a la Academy). Take care with your prep work here and if need be add some shims of plasticard to get a better fit than relying on filler to blend everything in later.

Revell also supply good intake ducting and have accurately captured the shape of the intake interior itself. With the ducting loosely in place, the forward fuselage should snap into position. It took a couple of goes with my sample but it does work. The rear section fitted into place no problem, and Revell have the bulged fairing around the jet pipe just right too. The wings slot into recesses in the fuselage; I needed to exert a little pressure to space the mating edges apart so that they would slot into place. It takes a little brain work and superglue, but it's not insurmountable if you think it through.

The wings also feature separate outer leading edges making it easier to model other versions, if not from Revell then at least the aftermarket sector who'll no doubt take advantage of this sensible engineering to offer backdates to earlier marques. The undercarriage legs are crisp and moulded in the main as single piece items, a welcome change from Revell who usually split them into two halves. The wheel wells are crammed with Monogram-esque detail.

A mass of external stores is also supplied: a choice of 230 gallon (RAF) or 675 litre (Swiss) drop tanks for the inboard pylons, the smaller 100 gallon tanks carried on the outboard station, MATRA pods, different cannon breech fairings, as well as some exquisite Maverick missiles, truly works of the toolmakers art. There are also some extras supplied for the Swiss version, one of which appears to be some kind of triple ejector rack, the other stub pylons for wings, all of which has sparked discussion amongst modellers as to their purpose!

The huge, 30 x 38cm decal sheet has options for four aircraft, 208 and 45 squadron from the RAF and Fliegerstaffel 20 and the Patrouille Suisse display team from the Swiss Air Force. All the aircraft all essentially in the same colour scheme of Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey and painted Aluminium undersides, though for the 45 squadron machine this should really be Light Aircraft Grey given hat the aircraft features the later red/blue roundels.

Full stencil data are supplied for both services and all the various external stores. Print registration in my sample was good and the covering varnish glossy but tough. The design of the sheet is obviously a labour of love and it comes as no surprise that it was researched and drawn by Dick Ward of Modeldecal. If the kit schemes don't whet your appetite, then Xtradecal have also weighed in with their own sheet - X005-32 - which has more options for RAF aircraft from 1, 8/43 and 54 squadrons as well as two examples from No 1 TWU and 229 OCU when they were affiliated with 79 squadron. The sheet provides all the squadron markings as well as underwing serials and type 'D' roundels. No doubt more sheets will be forthcoming!

One urban myth that should be scotched is that this kit is based on the Echelon 1/32 vac-form. True, Revell did acquire the patterns to that kit some time back, but this Hunter was based on wholly on original Hawker information and tooled from scratch.

A magnificent effort in almost every respect. I can imagine that a fair few kits are going to be bought by modellers who'll worry about where they going to display it later. But with a kit this good, its worth the effort to make the room...Internet Modeler expresses its thanks to Hannants for the review sample.

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