Testor's Hawk F2H-2 Banshee in 1/48 scale
For some totally inexplicable reason there is no 1/48 scale I/M kit of the Banshee in this scale (and precious few in any other either). This is my second effort from the 1957 vintage Hawk kit. There are only about 20 parts in the box so there's plenty of modelling ahead for your enjoyment. A brief summary of the work is as fokkows:
Sand & rescribe. Lengthen fuselage.Re-shape wing trailing edge fillet. Alter wing tip tanks. Reshape tailplane. Build intake trunks & exhaust plus compressor faces. Build nosewheel bay. Construct new undercarriage from brass & aluminium. Add suitable wheels. Find a new canopy & windshield. Build a cockpit. Find a seat. Re-shape tail.& make an arrestor hook.
I built this model about 3 years ago; took me about 80 hours & I enjoyed every one of them, but it helps of you're a masochist.
Built that kit after reading "The Bridges at Toko Ri", around 1963, even then, as a child, I thought it lacked detail. I have 'rebuilt' a few old kits myself, and I would never have considered what you did, I thought it was impossible. Great work.
The good news is that, due to your extra efforts here, those of us who aren't so adventurous/masochistic will have, before the end of 2013, a 1/48 kit that will not require this kind of effort. If I told you more, I'd have to ask for your home address so I could come and shoot you, but rest assured that a company that will do it right is doing it right.
I apologize for not watching the position of the mouse when voting for this and incorrectly giving you an 8 when I intended a 10. Perhaps the all-wise, all-powerful, all-seeing Mighty Site Administrator can repair my "fox paw."
I had this kit in my stash, but gave it away because I could't get myself to start building it. I love the Banshee, and like Tom said, now that you've build one of those old bricks, a brand new, state-of-the-art kit will appear this year 🙂
This is truly extraordinary work. Bravo.
absolutely stunning wonderful build
This is just superb work. I have the old Hawk/Testors F2H kit too, but every time I open the box I'm just to overwhelmed by the work it will take to bring it up to acceptable standards. Your project has insipred me to try. Again, a fantastic build.