Euro Decals 1/32 BAE Hawk in Worldwide Service
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Overview
The BAE Hawk is a small two seat jet that has found its way around the world as both a trainer and a light attack aircraft. Over the years, the Hawk has been flown by well over a dozen nations since its introduction in the mid-1970s. On the scale model side, the subject has been kitted in many scales over the years, and recently both Revell and Kinetic have produced kits in 1/32.
The Decals
This newest sheet from Euro Decals provides five schemes for your BAE Hawk kit. The options give a broad selection of different nations from around the world, all with different camouflage schemes. The first option is a special scheme worn by a Hawk T.1 from 100 Squadron RAF in 2012. This plane is painted up in World War Two colors, with most of the plane in black and the fuselage spine in dark green and dark earth. It also features a large skull and crossbones on the underside, a string of bomber mission marks on the nose, as well as WW2-era roundels and fuselage markings. Apparently, there were two of these painted this way, identical except for the serials (the other being XX246).
The second option is a Hawk Mk 63 from 17 Squadron of the Royal Jordanian Air Force. Jordan purchased their Hawks from the United Arab Emirates and started flying the type in 2015. This plane is camouflaged in a desert scheme consisting of light stone and desert sand over light aircraft gray. The Jordanian roundels are on the upper wings and the Jordanian flag is on the vertical fin. The only additional marking is the individual aircraft number, 1722, that goes underneath the flag on the fin.
Next up is a Hawk Mk 51, HW-345, from the Finnish Air Force. Finland has operated the Hawk for many years, and this option shows it in its current low visibility scheme. This consists of the upper surfaces finished in medium gray and the undersides in light aircraft gray. The Finnish roundels are in six positions on this aircraft, and the decals provide these in two parts to aid in alignment. A boar's head is on the tail, as is a white 45 aircraft number.
Option number four is from further south, being a Hawk Mk 52 of the Kenyan Air Force. This Hawk is from early on in the life of the Hawk, dating from the early 80s. As such, it's camouflaged in early 80s RAF colors of dark green and dark sea gray over light aircraft gray. The large Kenyan roundels are on both sides of the wings, and the Kenyan flag is on the tail. Aircraft numbers are in black on the tail and rear fuselage. Like the Finnish option, the Kenyan roundels have a separate piece for the center dot to aid in alignment.
The final option on this sheet is for a Hawk Mk 53, TT-5309, of the Indonesian Air Force. This aircraft is from 1996 to 2001, and due to its local painting, the exact colors aren't known. However, it looks to be finished in overall medium gray, with a disruptive blue gray pattern on the upper surfaces. The forward fuselage upper section is painted black, for an interesting bit of variation, and while the instructions don't mention it, this makes this option an aircraft from the Jupiter Aerobatic Team (thus knowing the 5-year time frame of the aircraft).
The decals are very nicely printed on a single large decal sheet, and they include a lot of stenciling that is option specific, which is a nice touch. A detailed diagram shows where all of those go as well, so no guesswork needed, and the decal sheet is split into sections for each option so there is no chance for using the wrong stencils as long as you stick to the section.
Conclusion
If you're wanting to build a 1/32 Hawk and are looking for some interesting marking options, definitely check out this sheet. My thanks to Fantasy Printshop for the review copy.