Hawk’s F2H-2 Banshee….. Reworked!
Firstly, a confession. This is a re-post of one of my favourite aircraft & like many others
(I think) I was hoping that the new Kitty hawk kit would bring me the satisfaction I have been waiting so many years for. Didn’t happen! There have been many comments about accuracy which don’t need to be repeated here, but the good news which prompted the facelift above, was the release of Furball’s new decal sheet ‘Sea Blue Banshees’ which I just had to have.
Superb covers it nicely, with a multiplicity of choices: 16 in all, covering both the -2 & 2P.
The model is the venerable Hawk offering from 1957 or thereabouts with around 20 parts which distinguished themselves by having raised outlines for positioning the decals, no cockpit, no nosewheel bay no interior (see-through in fact) & not much of anything else.
It was a bit too short as well, with a too – short canopy just to make things even more difficult.
My original build modifications covered lengthening the fuselage. new canopy, cockpit, seat, windshield, nose wheel bay, full undercarriage – struts, wheels & retraction arms, air intake ducting, turbine faces & exhausts, correcting the wing-tip tanks & so on. Most of these were scratchbuilt; only the seat & main wheels being resin & a few items were from my spares box. This time around sees a complete sanding, new U/C doors, a full repaint, tweaking the canopy, rebuilding the U/C retraction geometry, drilling out the nosewheel spokes & the new decals representing a plane from the VF-11, USS. Kearsarge in 1952. I think she’s earned a rest now, having given me more fun & challenges than anything else I’ve ever built.
7 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Jeff Bailey said on February 25, 2018
It certainly looks great now, Tony! Superb finish. You sure turned a stinker into a beauty!
Tony Prince said on February 25, 2018
Thanks Jeff.
Tom Bebout said on February 25, 2018
Wow Tony, nice job reworking an old kit. Really looks nice, worth all the effort you put into her.
Tony Prince said on February 25, 2018
Thanks Tom. A real challenge but worth it. Loved the Banshee since I was about 12 years old & that’s a fair while ago!
Craig Abrahamson said on February 25, 2018
Your build is a real “eye-catcher’, Tony….I love it! Stellar work, sir!
Tony Prince said on February 25, 2018
Thanks Craig. Appreciate your feedback. Pity about the KH kit but maybe they’ll do the -3 version better?
Harry Samit said on February 25, 2018
Excellent rendition of one of Naval Aviation’s coolest jets. I am about to build a slew of Airfix’s 1/72 examples. If only Furball would scale down their decals!
BZ
Tony Prince said on February 25, 2018
Thanks Harry. That’s a great project ahead of you. Love to see them when finished.
Bruce Scott said on February 25, 2018
Fantastic job! A real beauty.
Tony Prince said on February 25, 2018
Kind words Bruce. Many thanks.
Robert Royes said on February 25, 2018
Absolutely beautiful ! Great restoration!
Tony Prince said on February 25, 2018
Thanks Robert. Very kind words & much appreciated.
Terry Schuler said on February 26, 2018
Tony, Very nice !, a wonderful finish, probably better looking then the real thing !
Tony Prince said on February 26, 2018
Thanks Terry. I used Model Master Acryl Dark Sea Blue #15042 through the airbrush, further coats (thinned) with a very light rub down between with fine sanding sponges. I then used thinned Future; one coat applied with a soft flat brush, then decals & a final coat; also by brush. Many photos show Banshees with a very high gloss finish & this is what I tried to do. Certainly the finish weathered, faded & scratched in service & there are even some photos showing graffiti as a result of landing on the ‘wrong’ carrier!
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Tom Cleaver said on February 26, 2018
Nice work – all that effort paid off. Nice to see the photo of the three Sergeant Pilots of VMJ-1.
Tony Prince said on February 28, 2018
Thanks Tom; much appreciated.
paul teixeira said on February 27, 2018
wow fantastic job on this old hawk!!! Looks like a modern day kit with all the work u put into it.
Tony Prince said on February 28, 2018
Thanks for your comments Paul. I really enjoyed doing this one. Everything was a challenge one way or another but it made me try things I wouldn’t have been prepared to risk with a more up-to-date (and much more expensive) kit.
Greg Kittinger said on February 28, 2018
Can’t believe what you got out of that old kit! I had opened a Hawk Javelin, and just closed it up again and ordered an old Heller kit off ebay – just couldn’t face what I would have to do to end up with a decent model out of the Hawk offering. Love what you did with it!
Tony Prince said on March 8, 2018
Thanks Greg. It was a labour of love I guess. I was very disappointed in the recent release from KH so I really had no option. I enjoyed it, which is what matters.
George Williams said on March 1, 2018
Terrific amount of work on this kit to bring it up to scratch, really well done.
Tony Prince said on March 8, 2018
Thanks George, much appreciated.
Drew Tarter said on March 6, 2018
I’m speechless, Tony – it’s just hard to fathom that this is the old Hawk kit. Just stunning work!
Tony Prince said on March 8, 2018
Many thanks Drew. I loved doing it (mostly).