Old School Instructions

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I recently posted a new acquisition in the form of a very reasonably priced (only £8.00) Hawker Hunter Kit:

And I've now made a tentative start, to find that the instructions are very distinctly old school - so no helpful arrows to show exactly (or even approximately) where all the little bits go - just the printed list of instructions along the lines of: 8. Cement aileron pins into wing locations, setting at the desired angle (13 & 14)

And one of the tail-planes was missing, in spite of it being a still-stapled plastic bag and paper header. This will be fun....

[Ratch]

This type of 'Locate and Cement' instructions were educational. I learned many components on lots of subjects (probably forgotten most of them now), so they were very useful. I can understand why they switched to the universal language of schematics, but nowadays its harder to identify what some parts are (without the in depth knowledge).

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[Tour de Airfix]

I recently built some Dapol and Ratio plastic models for a diorama and these too had similar old school instructions. I must admit I found them really nice to follow as I felt there was no way I could miss a step. I obviously like lists 🤭

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I guess one of the key reasons (apart from making our lives easier!) for going to schematics rather than locate & cement instructions was to save money on translating - but as you point out, it was very definitely educational to learn where an aileron went and roughly what one looked like.

I'm trying to work out how (and where) to put a bit of weight into the fuselage (to obviate tail-sitting), and also trying to decide whether to fill all the pre-drilled holes for stores which I don't really want to use (as they're not very accurate).

I've fabricated a replacement tail-plane however (from laminated CD cover polystyrene) - lots of filing and sanding, but it looks fairly similar!

[Tour de Airfix]

Now that’s commitment 🙌

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It's the way things used to be! Since returning to model making (like you, during Covid) after a gap of around 60 years, I'm constantly surprised when things are easy or straightforward!

[jopres57]

Interesting to read that you're vintage bagged kit has parts missing. I have quite a few old kits like this and some of them have clearly been put into new plastic bags and re-sealed. One give away is when the old staple holes are still visible in the instructions.

Edited March 12 by jopres57

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It definitely had the original staples in place - even the rust was present! Definitely hadn't been opened and re-stapled. I guess parts went missing even back then!

[jopres57]

This is a vintage Hunter kit that I built recently. I finished it out of the box as a stress free build to remember one of my favourite Airfix models from back in the day.

 

 

Not long after I finished this I saw a short documentary on telly about the famous Black Arrows display team. Quite a few good shots of the Aircraft were shown, one in particular was shown taxiing on the ground. This particular machine had its outer wing leading edges in good condition, but the edges inboard of the strakes were distinctly weathered. . I don't know why this should be, unless the outer wings had recently received some maintenance.

[null_null981707818191]

Thanks for posting the picture - I hope mine finishes as neatly. I'm aiming at completing mine as a 43 Squadron aircraft - I like the colour scheme!. The decals that were in the bag are yellow and curled into a roll - when I tried to very gently flatten them, they started to crack, so I sourced some from Hannants. I notice that you've omitted the 'rockets' - as I intend to as well. But I think quality control was distinctly lacking with mine - not just a missing tailplane, but also no long range tanks - not an insuperable problem however. I have already decided to use a PJ productions pilot - the one in the kit seems to be far too small to see over the dashboard! Not as straightforward as I'd hoped, but I like a challenge.

[Marto]

Try this link for instructions:

It is for the FGA.9 but as scalemates points out, its the same kit plus a few spares.

Airfix Hunter Scalemates

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Thanks Marto - I had a look, but it's a very different kit in terms of lots of the inserts and dangly bits. I'll plod on!

[Ratch]

17 hours ago, Marto said:

Try this link for instructions:

It is for the FGA.9 but as scalemates points out, its the same kit plus a few spares.

Airfix Hunter Scalemates

Here are the original instructions

Airfix 1/72 Hawker Hunter F.6 (288) - - The Airfix Tribute Forum - (tapatalk.com)

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Thanks Ratch - they're a bit clearer than the poly-bag version!

I'm making a bit of progress - I've added some nose-weight using aquarium lead strip (thanks for that tip as well, Ratch!), and I've blanked off a few openings that would have been a bit obvious, and also added a 'ceiling' for the nose-wheel opening. I'm going to put a bit of detail into the wheel wells, and I'm ready to start painting the interior - I'm going to use a very dark grey rather than plain black. Here's a picture of today's progress however:

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Ready to close up the fuselage. As mentioned previously, the pilot that came with the kit was much too small to look remotely in scale, so I used a PJ Production resin version - although he did need the Douglas Bader treatment... It's interesting how much more thought needs to go into an old-mould-model. But I don't want to go too far from an out of the bag build, so I've decided to stick with the supplied wheels, even though I think they are bit on the thin side.