Matchbox 1/72 Hawker Hunter Mk 12
This Hawker Hunter Mk 12, XE531 was used by the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) for equipment development trials (fly by wire) 1980-81.
The idea came from the old soft cover edition of "Flying Colors", a state of the art reference at the time. I thought the colors were "eye catching", or in the least, different. There was probably more time spent masking than building the model, which was your typical Matchbox kit. It turned out acceptable, and stands out amongst the other Brit aircraft of the era, on my shelf, and cleaned up pretty good after all these years.
Definitely catches the eye. Good job Joe. Excellent paint work.
Joe,
Love the Hunter, hate the juxtaposed seating, but you made it look beautiful. I really like the scheme. Great job.
Nice looking model, Joe, and a very neat paint job.
Another nice one Joe. Don't see many Matchbox kits built on this site.
Joe, thanks for posting this, it brought back memories. When I went to Farnborough in September 1974 with the Air Force, I remember one day we were starting to drive back to London, and we went by a black hangar with the doors open, and peeking out from inside was XE531. The Hunter is one of my all time favorites, and I always thought this was a striking color scheme, with that rich Irish green. XE531 was converted from a single seat Mk 6, and was the only Mk 12. Unfortunately XE531 crashed from take off at Farnborough in March 1982. Great job on a very pretty model of one of the most beautiful aircraft ever!
great scheme
A nice build Joe. A Matchbox oldie but goldie...
Lovely paint job.
Well done Joe.
Great paint scheme, nice build.
Very nice finish.