Silver Wings' 1/32 scale
Hawker Hart

by Leo Stevenson

Roden's 1/32 scale DH.2 is available online from Squadron.com

Silver Wings' 1/32 scale Hawker Hart is very nice and the fit is good, but it does lack some of the surface details that are on the original aircraft, for example some of the rivet rows on the aluminium cowling area (easily added with the right tools).

The photo-etched parts aren’t very impressive, with the fuselage lashing being a bit simple and the breather tube for the top fuel tank being reduced to a flat crude hook (I replaced this with a section of thin stainless steel tube bent to shape).

The tube-shaped tails of the bombs are mysteriously not supplied as photo-etched parts but they’re cast in resin so they need to be thinned right down to look correct.

Despite these minor deficiencies this kit is a good representation of this very beautiful and iconic aircraft.

The silver dope finish was achieved with a mixture of Alclad II ‘white aluminium’ and ‘dull aluminium’, with a light spray of ‘semi-matt aluminium’ in areas. The polished cowling area was mostly done with Alclad II ‘Chrome’ with tarnished shading done with ‘polished aluminium’.

I didn’t use the Silver Wings’ kit decals (apart from the RAF roundels), instead I made my own markings by cannibalising the kit’s aircraft numbers, adding one number of my own from my spares box, and masking and spraying the rest. I did all this to make it represent one of the aircraft flown by 39 Squadron RAF in Risalpur, India during 1937; a troublesome area known by the British army of the time as ‘The Grim’.

Nothing wrong with the kit’s own decals, I am just cursed by always wanting to be different!

www.leostevenson.com

www.leojubilee.co.uk

Model and Text Copyright © 2013 by Leo Stevenson
Page Created 13 May, 2013
Last Updated 13 May, 2013

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