1/72 Italeri T-45A Goshawk  

by Dario Crisman

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This is my first submission to ARC and this is my favourite model.  It represents the most important jet trainer in service with US NAVY and USMC. Substantially, it may be considered as a “British” Hawk with the exception of landing gear, airbrakes and arresting hook, that are adapted for an aircraft carrier-based capability. The ejection seats are the same of F/A 18 and F-14D.

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The starting point of my work was to find good photos of this aircraft and I found them in the "Walkarouds" section of this site. There were no aftermarket  items for this kit , so a lot of effort was made to improve the good Italeri kit, especially on landing gear and cockpit, where I scratchbuilt many details according to the real one. Only  resin seats were available, being the same of other well-known 1/72 model aircrafts. Some little decals were printed with my low-cost  printer using a standard clear sheet.

 

The paint scheme for this trainer is rather simple, with  typical  gloss white and red. I used Model Master gloss white as "primer"; then the overall surface was airbrushed with Tamiya  flat white.  For the red colour I used a first base of  MM fluorescent red covered with Lifecolor LC 56 gloss red, so the final nuance was slightly brighter, but not fluorescent.  A coat of Tamiya clear was applied before setting the decals.   Weathering was reached with pastels and black oil paint thinned with turpentine.  A final semigloss coat by a mixture of thinned Tamiya clear with a drop of flat base completed my job. 

It’s a very nice kit , with recessed panels lines, good decals and reasonable interiors. I hope you will appreciate it.

 

Dario

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Photos and text © by Dario Crisman