a DEMONstration of an old kit - the Hawker Demon

[null_null981707818191]

Rather misguidedly (in some ways) I was so enthused by my recent build of the Airfix Vintage Classic Bristol Bulldog that I decided the similar vintage (but much older packaging and moulding) of the Hawker Demon 1/72 was a logical follow-on. Note to self: next build will not be bare-metal finish, and will not involve complicated rigging.

I found it quite a tricky build – usual problem of not enough fingers to get all the struts aligned correctly – and also there were one or two fit issues, but nothing that a bit of judicious sanding and quite a bit of filler couldn’t disguise. I knew from the start that the decals that came in the kit were totally ‘shot’ – they’d gone extremely brittle and a fairly uniform yellow, so the above view of the finished aircraft shows the replacement set from Model Decal quite nicely – I liked the colours and patterns of the 600 Squadron Auxiliary Air Force ‘City of London’ based at Hendon in 1937, so that’s what I ended up with. The Model Decal set 108 also includes options for lots of other Hawker Hart, Hind, Audax and Osprey variants – though maybe they’re for another day…

One good thing though was that the decal set also included instrument panels for all the various aircraft, so that helped to fill the otherwise totally empty cockpit (with the addition of a plasticard 'backing' panel). I also added a 'leather' coaming and a little windshield.

The pilot and air-gunner were standard Airfix aircrew from the kit, but by giving them white overalls, hopefully I kept them ‘period’.

Having cut my teeth on rigging a biplane with a simplified version of that required for the Bulldog, I tried to add a few more wires to the Demon, again using AK Super-Thin. There is not much room to work at 1/72 scale, but I was quite pleased with the rigging outcome. The propellor was given a semblance of woodenness by a series of various colours of streaked paint, finally gloss varnished. 

The paint finish, incidentally, is all brush applied, and I tried out the Ammo Bare Metal Air Set, using Silver for the cowling, and Matt Aluminium for the doped surfaces, and Gun Metal for the exhausts (the ends of which I also painstakingly drilled out). The Matt Aluminium areas - after application of decals – were sealed with Vallejo Satin Varnish, again brush applied.

So that’s the Airfix 1/72 Hawker Demon done and dusted. The next build is going to be a lot more modern, and will not be silvery coloured, and will not require rigging! But I’m sure the spare decals will get used eventually.

Thanks very much for reading my rambles and for looking at the pictures.

[Kenneth ONeill]

White Sidcots would be plausible from the formation of the RAF up to the Battle of Britain I think.

[Matthias Muth]

Looks very good.

It's a nice vintage kit.

Interesting, my once has a different registration, build decades before.

Matthias

aka modelldoc

[SD45elect2000]

nicely done model. I like it, Now I'm getting one of my own !

Randall

[null_null981707818191]

Thanks for the kind words Randall. Hope you enjoy the build - and good luck with the rigging!

[Dominic Thomas]

Good to see what this looks like in 600 Sqn markings. Modeldecal sheets provide great subjects and your model looks just the job.

It’s good to read about other people’s experience with rigging. I wouldn’t give up on it if I were you.