Hawk T1A Red Arrows Royal AF Aircraft
Hawk T1A Red Arrows Royal AF Aircraft
Something Different

The kit has acceptable detail in the cockpit and seats, with molded seatbelts and nice instrument panels. Unfortunately, there is no sidewall detail in this area. The wheel wells are completely bare, although the landing gear struts are perfectly acceptable. Surface detail is nice, fine recessed lines, but much of it will disappear under that monochrome paint.

Fit of parts is generally pretty good; I ran into some issues with a step on the top of the fuselage behind the cockpit, a small gap around the nose, and poor fit of the canopy. The instructions do not mention that the cockpit floor actually needs to be bent slightly to achieve the proper fit for both seats. The poor canopy fit can be alleviated by posing it open, which is easy because you are provided with two sections, and the Hawk canopy simply hinges to the right side of the aircraft.

Decals are provided for all of the team planes, and are printed by Cartograf. The colors are bright, the register is excellent, and there are plenty of maintenance stencils to liven up the aircraft. I had some issues with a few of the decals cracking in the Micro-Sol/-Set system, so I would recommend a weaker setting solution, like Testors. The white arrow on the underside doesn't fit together perfectly, and may require some touching up with paint.

Overall, not a bad kit, and will add some color to your model shelf, a nice change from all those olives and greys.