Hobbycraft's 1/48 scale
Hawk 75 "Axis"

Reviewed by Brett Green

Hobbycraft's 1/48 scale Hawk 75 is available online from Squadron.com

Hobbycraft has a number of gems in its back catalogue. The most noteworthy of these are their 1/48 scale P-26, P-35 and Hawk 75 / P-36 kits. These are all accurate in outline and fairly simple to build. Even more importantly, they are the only kits available in 1/48 scale of these interesting and important aircraft. We only have to look at Tory Mucaro's excellent P-26 posted in today's HyperScale update to see how nice these kits can look when finished.

The Hobbycraft Hawk 75 has now been re-released in Axis colours.

Hobbycraft's 1/48 scale Hawk 75 "Axis" comprises 67 parts in grey injection molded plastic, 8 parts in clear and markings for 12 aircraft. The model is now packed in a sturdy side-opening package with attractive box art.

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Thumbnail panels:

This kit is provided with the Twin Wasp engine and its associated cowling, plus all the parts appropriate to finish the model as a Vichy French, Finnish or Luftwaffe Hawk 75.

The grey plastic is presented with finely recessed panel lines and a few raised panels and lumps as approporiate. Fabric control surfaces are represented by shallow scallops - nice.

The outline of the Hawk is accurate, and the four-part Twin Wasp engine includes moulded-on pushrods. Cockpit detail is a bit basic, but it can be supplemented with either scratch built details; or an after-market P-40B cockpit could be adapted to fit the kit. The wheel wells feature a textured "canvas" cover in the main bay, but the forward section for the legs are shallow and featureless.

Clear parts are thin and transparent. The canopy is supplied in three separate parts (with optional windscreens), so the cockpit may be displayed under the open canopy if desired.

Kit engineering and parts breakdown is conventional. This should be an easy build even for a relatively inexperienced modeller.

The decal sheet is outstanding. It offers no less than twelve colourful Axis marking options - five Finnish, two Luftwaffe and five Vichy French.

The decal sheet is in perfect register and glossy. Colours look good too.

A full colour marking guide showing one fuselage side and the top view of each aircraft is printed on the back of the box.

Instructions are supplied on two letter-sized double-sided sheets. A number of options for the windscreen, armament, pitot tube and exausts are included, but there is no indication as to which option is appropriate for particular subject aircraft. References will be helpful here.

Hobbycraft's 1/48 scale Hawk 75 / P-36 family is fundamentally good several decades after the kits' debut.

The outline is accurate, and the model should be quite easy to build straight from the box. The determined superdetailer could spend some extra time adding parts to the cockpit and perhaps replacing the engine. It will also be possible to adapt any of the available after-market P-40B cockpits to this kit.

The 12 excellent decal options in this release also offer the kit a new lease of life.

Thanks to Hobbycraft for the review sample.

Text and Images Copyright © 2009 by Brett Green
Page Created 18 February, 2009
Last updated 18 February, 2009

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