Hawk

[AeroplaneDriver]

After a couple of fairly involved projects I feel a need for one of those builds that go from box to shelf quickly and easily (spurred on a bit by Rally's quick build!).

So for this weeks project I have chosen one of the Italeri Hawk 100s in the stash.

No pics yet, but last night I spent a few hours getting the cockpit painted and putting some detail into the gear wells.  I love the Italeri Hawks, but the Mk100 kit still has the old instrument panels with analog instruments, so I sliced them of and made three LCD displays for each panel out of thin styrene sheet.  Gear wells were detailed with stretched sprue ductwork and some styrene strip.

As for the backstory...


By late 2006 the UK-US relationship was stretched to breaking point over several issues, including the F-35 program and Iraq.

On the F-35 front, a year of intense lobbying and negotiation had failed to resolve the UK's technology transfer concerns.  Meanwhile France was waiting in the wings with an offer to develop Rafale for the RN with a majority UK workshare.  At the same time the US defence budget, raveged by continued civil war and insurgency in both Iraq and Afghanistan was under considerable strain.  Many programs were under threat, including the massive F-35 order.  Small as the UK order would be, cancellation could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Finally, in January 2007 there is a breakthrough that benefits everyone, though as with all great negotiations, there are comrpomises on both sides.

For the UK, the US offers an unprecendented degree of sovereignty over the UK's F-35s.  Though falling short of initial UK demands, the agreement will allow indigenous UK maintenance and upgrade of the F-35 with some restrictions.

At the same time the USAF's F-35 order is cut by 25%.  Faced with a conflict without a visible exit strategy in Iraq and a similar situation developing in Afghanistan, the USAF needs a capable, but cheap COIN platform.  Sending F-15s and F-16s out to strike a single insurgent truck is becomming expensive, particularly as the fleet is encountering a pace of operations never forseen and which is taking a serious toll on servicability-in short, the Vipers and Eagles are being worn out at a time when it is increasingly obvious that they will sonn be needed in Iran!

On January 30, 2007 the Pentagon announces the A-COIN program.  A-COIN will be an off-the-shelf buy of an Advanced COunter INsurgency and FAC aircraft for use in low intensity conflicts such as Iraq, where there is little or no air-to-air threat, and where a cheap high performance platform is required to deploy an array of weapons, including new small bombs designed to reduce collateral casualties in urban combat.

After a brief evaluation period, the BAE Systems Hawk 130 is selected.  There is little attmept to disguise the fact that the Hawk was the only option all along, or that the Hawk order is part of the deal securing a UK order for 90 F-35s.

The initial order for 106 OA-36A FireHawk aircraft is signed on April 09, 2007, with first delivery in November 2007.

Around the same time the UK MoD was facing challenges as the much loved Jaguar left service.  The Jaguar had proved a cheap and easily deployable weapon system in several conflicts.  Once it was gone the famous UK military hindsight recognized that the FireHawk may be a good platform for the RAF in operations such as Iraq and Afghanistan; it was cheap, flexible, and the operating and support infrastructure was already in place.  In December 2007 BAE recieved the unexpected Christmas present of a second FireHawk order, this one from the MoD for 36 aircraft for the RAF.

So it was that by early 2009 both the USAF and RAf were opertaing FireHawks in Afghanistan, Iraq, and western Iran.


More history and detail as the build progresses.  Pics tonight after Cub Scouts!

[Bryan H.]

Sounds great!    


Bryan

[Scooterman]

Bingo!  Now I know what to do with my Airfix kit!

[AeroplaneDriver]

OK, first pics of the FireHawk build...

The Office-the round dials from the T.1 panel were sliced off and a 3-panel glass cockpit added.  Front and rear instrumentation/sensor display is identical, allowing flexible tasking between front and rear seat crewmembers.  





The cockpit sidewalls had no detail so I added a little with styrene strip and fine wire.



Likewise, the gear wells had not detail whatosever, so I added a little with strip, stretched sprue, and wire.

As with the cockpit I didn't use any reference, just made it look "right" (to me anyway).



Tomorrow the assembly should be mostly complete, then we can all start wondering if this will end up as an OA-36A or a FireHawk GR.1(T).

[K5054NZ]

Wicked! Awesome! BRILLLLIAAAAANT! More pics! More progress!


Great idea, I like it.

[nev]

RAF of course!

[cthulhu77]

Jeez, that cockpit is really nice !  Having never built one of those kits, I am seriously impressed with how it is turning out, and can hardly wait to see the paint on .

             greg

[AeroplaneDriver]

Today's progress;

Mostly assembled, puttied, and sanded.

A refueling probe has been added, since a boom-type refueling setup was not practical for the USAF given the size of the aircraft.

A fairing has been added above the nose for some sort of super-duper sensor system.  I'm not 100% convinced I like it, so it will probably be reshaped or replaced tomorrow.






Underneath the fairing for the 27mm cannon has been fitted aft of teh nosegear.



Armament will include Hellfire/Brimstone missiles and GBU-41 180lb LCD (Low Collateral Damage) PGMs for use in support of troops engagine insurgents in urban areas.  GBU-41s have dual laser/GPS guidance and have active terminal guidance to engage moving targets.

The two GBU-41s are shown with their wings in the stowed position ready for loading.



The GBU-41s are made of Magic AAMs with the forward control surfaces lopped off and a seeker head from a GBU-10 glued on.  the wings are made from styrene strip and are intended to operate in a similar way to the GBU-39 250lb Small Diameter Bomb, opening into a diamond configuration.

[Damian2]

Oh man I love the ideas!!! I've got two similar projects in the planning and aquisition phase...one a two seater similar to yours. The other is a single seater derived from the Hawk Mk.100 called the 180 at the moment:



Basically they took the Hawk Mk.100 and closed the rear cockpit and divided the area up for fuel and avionics...I'm going to need someone who loves writting back stories for this one!





Damian

ps. Love the idea of the LCDs!!! Mind if I use them on my Hawk 180?  

[AeroplaneDriver]

ps. Love the idea of the LCDs!!! Mind if I use them on my Hawk 180?

One of my favorite things about this site is the way everyone's ideas go into a big pot that everyone else dips into.  Dont ever feel the need to ask if you can use an idea you see me use.  With few very it's going to be an idea I picked up somewhere else anyway.

As for your single-seat Hawk 180-I toyed with that exact idea as a way to get more fuel into my Hawk, but I decided against it(mainly because I want to make this a quick mostly-OOB build).  I do think it's a great idea, and cant wait to see yours!!

By staying with a 2-seater I can give ita secondary trainer role for a time of tightly squeezed defense budgets and it makesa better FAC platform.  I looked at a conformal tank arrangement, but again, everything I tried would involve a complete evening of sanding-filling-repeating.  So my solution to the fuel problem;  a fuel cell in the vertical fin!

[Captain Canada]

Great stuff, Aeroman ! Lovely job on such a wee cockpit.

I'd like to see her as a USAF bird, as there are already enough RAF hawks about. The AAR probe is a nice touch as well.

Cheers !

[Damian2]

ps. Love the idea of the LCDs!!! Mind if I use them on my Hawk 180?

One of my favorite things about this site is the way everyone's ideas go into a big pot that everyone else dips into.  Dont ever feel the need to ask if you can use an idea you see me use.  With few very it's going to be an idea I picked up somewhere else anyway.

As for your single-seat Hawk 180-I toyed with that exact idea as a way to get more fuel into my Hawk, but I decided against it(mainly because I want to make this a quick mostly-OOB build).  I do think it's a great idea, and cant wait to see yours!!

By staying with a 2-seater I can give ita secondary trainer role for a time of tightly squeezed defense budgets and it makesa better FAC platform.  I looked at a conformal tank arrangement, but again, everything I tried would involve a complete evening of sanding-filling-repeating.  So my solution to the fuel problem;  a fuel cell in the vertical fin!

I'm going to pick up another Mk.100 for my 180 project tomorrow nite (may even make a start ) On my version of the LCD I'm going for a combo of GPS/Thermal imaging for the engagement of stationary/moving targets respectivley, thereby circumventing the need for a laser designator on the airframe or area. The secondary load is going to be rocket pods for FACing and Stingers for killing attack choppers...I just have to figure out how to integrate a built in gun...

[K5054NZ]

I'm going to need someone who loves writting back stories for this one!

Did someone say my name? B)  

[AeroplaneDriver]

Today's progress:

Construction is complete except for the landing gear, weapond and a few antennae.  I sprayed a silver primer coat, then this evening the first coat of the paint scheme.





I had planned for the weapons loadout to be two whiffed GBU-41 Low Collateral Damage PGMs on a MER on one wing and three Hellfires on a triple launcher on the other, but since my stash is completely devoid of Hellfires, there will likely be a single Maverick in place of the 3 Hellfires.  I'll also have a centerline tank and a Sindewinder on one wingtip and, wait for it....a LANTIRN/TIALD type laser designator on the other.

Sorry, no pics of the painted model until it's finished-hopefully tomorrow night!

[Brian da Basher]

Wow looking good there AD! I kinda like that silver....it looks like it formed on its own from molten metal.  B)

Brian da Basher