Hawker Super Hunter F.11 COMPLETED

[AeroplaneDriver]

She's all put together and cleaned up with a nice coat of Tamiya White Primer. 

Now the hard part...how to paint it.  My near lack of 1/72 in the stash means it WILL be a UK Hunter. RAF or RN shore based interceptor both possibilities.  But the white primer has me wondering how she'd look in Raspberry Ripple at Boscombe. I have decals that could work for this...also considering an "RAF In Vietnam" scenario escorting Vulcans in a nice fictional SEAC scheme. 

Decisions, decisions....

[Captain Canada]

Looking good Nick ! Sure changes the look of her eh ? Cheers

[AeroplaneDriver]

Turns out this Hunter F.11 will find itself deployed to RAF Muharraq in Bahrain following the failed Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1961 as part of the UK force in place to deter further Iraqi aggression.

It will be serving with a certain feline themed RAF squadron with a distinguished history. 

[Old Wombat]

Ooh! That looks nice!

[Gondor]

That is looking nice.

Gondor

[Pellson]

Beautiful!!

F Mk 16, maybe? 

[Mossie]

Shaping up.

[Caveman]

That does look good!

[AeroplaneDriver]

Happy to report that this one if finished!  Pics tomorrow. 

[AeroplaneDriver]

All done...

From the beginning the Hawker Hunter was a capable fighter for its time, but despite its export success it lost out to supersonic contemporaries such as the F-100 and Mirage. 

In 1955 the Hawker P.1109B demonstrated a radar equipped Hunter armed with guided missiles in the form of the IR guided DeHavilland Firestreak.  Another development explored a supersonic version with a thinner, more highly swept wing and an afterburing Avon engine.  Seeing the potential of merging these developments Hawker produced the P.1112 in late 1956.  There was immediate interest from overseas with this new "Super Hunter" capable of Mach 1.4 and a cruise speed of Mach .94-.97 without the use of afterburner.  RAF interest was lukewarm with the new Mach 2+ EE Lightning well into development, and other even more ambitious fighters on the drawing board. 

Then the axe fell on the RAF in the form of the March 1957 Defense White Paper which announced that the era of the manned fighter was largely over.  The Lightning was spared, but all other promising future fighters were abandoned.  Suddenly the RAF saw the supersonic Hunter as a way to supplement fighter number without introducing a "new" aircraft.  The upgrade was given the designation Hunter F.11, following on from the FGA.9 ground attack upgrade of the F.6 already in development.  In production form the F.11 was equipped with the Ferranti AI.23 AIRPASS Radar system that also equipped the Lightning.  This capable radar set combined with a potential warlord of four Firestreak missiles turned the Hunter into a capable interceptor. 

In Early 1959 the RAF ordered 128 Hunter F.11s, with the first 36 being upgraded F.6 airframes.  Experience with the upgrade showed that a new build would actually be easier and in some ways cheaper than the extensive upgrade, plus with export interest heating up a new production line was warranted. 

The F.11 served with the RAF from late 1959 until 1985 when the last RAuxAF squadron disbanded.  Twelve examples remained in service the Royal Navy FRADU until 1994. 

Export customers included Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Thailand, and Norway with F.11 production totaling 488 including conversions from F.6 models. 

This model depicts an F.11 serving with 74 "Tiger" Squadron in late 1962.  Following Iraq's failed invasion of Kuwait in 1961 the UK beefed up its military presence in the region, deploying two squadrons of Hunter F.11s and a squadron of Canberra bombers to Muharraq in Bahrain.

[Weaver]

Wow that's pretty, and even more impressive given that you did it in a week!

[Gondor]

That's really good 

Gondor

[Caveman]

looks like a winner to me!

[Mossie]

Looking good in toffee and chocolate.

[Nick]

Phwoar! That's a cracker that is!