1/24th Scratchbuilt Hornet
By Fred Yarema
The De Havilland Hornet (F. Mk 4 - 45 Squadron WF 975B - Malaya) was my third scratchbuilt attempt and is of traditional vac-formed construction. The wings feature CAD drawn ribs and spars cut from styrene sheet. This makes for a very strong model - I can pick up the Hornet by a wingtip without fear of breaking it. The horizontal stab, and all the control surfaces as well as the props, rockets, bombs, wheels, etc. are cast resin.
Again, all the decals were Alps printed. Apparently I upset a British modeler to the point where after seeing a photo of the model in "Scale Aircraft Modeler", wrote to the magazine to dispute the colors of the squadron bands adjacent to the fuselage roundels. I used the "Warpaint" book on the Hornet as my reference for the markings and can easily change the decals on the model, bit I think I'll wait for a color photo of WF 975 before I do so. He should however, be commended on his ability to spot modeling mistakes on postage size magazine photos. I think the hardest part about the Hornet was making identical, yet opposite handed propeller blades for the opposite turning Merlins. The Hornet won a first at the 2000 Nationals in Dalas. Look for a few more Hornets to turn up at future shows as I sold a few sets of moldings to interested modelers. Hopefully, someone will finish one soon (did you hear that Ron Dobrzelecki?).
The photo of my display cabinet shows my scratchbuilt models and a few kit models, the most unusual being the Mk. II Beaufighter (Merlin engined) in the lower left corner.
© Fred Yarema 2002
This article was published on Friday, September 27 2013; Last modified on Saturday, May 14 2016