1/48 Miles M2H Hawk Major

[agalbraith]

Hi gang

Well finally finished the car models I had to build for some workmates.......yaay back to aircraft again Phew

I Started some time ago converting mt Special Hobby Maggie into an M2H as operated by the Marlborough Aero Club circa 1939 (ZK-AFL). Then dear ol Dave releases a kit of it! I am still going to build Daves but decided to get back into this one as I had come so far. By the way, I dont know if you can still get this lovely wee kit through Dave but I highly recommend it if you want to save a lot of time converting the Magister. So much more is different when you get into it!
Here is the actual plane, silver & blue



Here is what I am up to so far. As you can see, the rear fuse is drastically reduced at the tail and it is all backfilled with superglue and filed down to the approx profile(I will refine it more when I get the fuse together). I put spars in the wings as they were a bit swolen mid chord and trimmed them(wings) to a neat fit on the fuse. I started scratchbuilding the cockpit last night and you will notice there is a thin shim on the bottom of the fuse. Thats because the wing dihedral was still too flat and looked all wrong after studying pics(it looks spot on now to the eye). The engine cowl is also quite different and I have made good progress there also. As well as drastically modifying the kits resin rudder.



Still a loooong way to go. I hope you enjoy it so far.

Like I say there is a lot of work in this conversion, so get Kiwi's one if you can!

Cheers

Anthony

[Dave Homewood]

Ooh, I am going to enjoy following this one. A great subject. I have Dave's Kiwi Resins kit of the Miles Hawk Major, it's a really gorgeous little kit. I really am keen to build it someday soon but I am still looking for references to the RNZAF operated ones.

I fell in love with the Canterbury Aero Club's one's colour scheme which was red and silver. I would really like to build that, but am in two minds as i also want it to be a military one, having met several pilots and researched others who trained on the Miles Hawks and other types in the early days at No. 2 EFTS, Bell Block.

My real question is, as I've seen photos of several impressed types that they simply left in the aeroclub or civil colours and slapped roundels and a number onto, does anyone know if the RNZAF operated the Hawks in their civil schemes too with roundels added? Or were they immediately painted yellow?

I have seen types like the Wicko, Rearwin, and even de Havilland Moth Minor and Tiger Moths in their civil schemes with military markings. I reckon the Hawk would look fantastic in red and silver with roundels. What do you think?

[Dave Homewood]

Anthony,

If you're looking for some nice detail photos, see this thread I started at PlaneTalk some while ago, to which James kindly added photos of a very gorgeous flyer in the UK. The scheme on that one is very similar to the Canterbury one I mentioned

forum.planetalk.net/viewtopic.php?t=692&highlight=miles+hawk

[agalbraith]

Hi Dave

Thanks very much for the link. I like that cockpit shot. I have saved several pics from the net incl the Brazil Aviation Museums M2H they completely rebuilt.

I cant recall seeing the Cantebury Aero Clubs M2, do you have a pic?

I like the idea of doing it in her civil scheme with RNZAF impressed markings also, but I would prefer to hava a photo rather than guess, cos as you know..............just as it is finished a photo will surface!

I am going to try and get to see Matthew at Wigram and spend a day going through all their Hawk pics when I get a little closer to painting.

But that red and silver sounds like a cool scheme!

Cheers

[Dave Homewood]

I have not seen a photo of the red and silver machine as such, but I have seen a model of it by well known r/c scale builder Brian Borland. My parents used to know Brian and he's a top scale modeller who has won international competitions for his detail so I assume it is right.

[kiwichappers]

Another idea for the Hawk is the Mad Mac entry in the London Sydney race. Does any one have details or pictures of this plane?

[Peter Lewis]

That was G-ACXU / ZK-ADJ
Miles M.2F Hawk Major c/n 119
named 'Spirit of Manawatu'
Competed under the ownership of the Manawatu Aero Club
sold 750 pounds to Wellington Aero Club 20/1/1936
DBR in f/l near Stratford (petrol feed airlock) 21Mar36, Pilot J Walker.




Adding to the above, there have been 6 M.2 Hawks in NZ:
ZK-ADJ as above
ZK-AEQ M.2Y Wellington AC Hit hill & cr Mt Egmont 2Jun38
ZK-AFJ M.2P Canterbury AC Imp RNZAF as NZ589 W/off & RTS Rongotai 8Jul43
ZK-AFK M.2H Wellington AC Imp RNZAF as NZ578 W/off at Ohakea 5May41 after forced landing
ZK-AFL M.2P Marlborough AC Dam in f/l Port Waikato 25Mar39. Impressed in damaged condition as NZ588 not repaired, SOC Rongotai
ZK-AFM M.2F Western Federated FC, Wanganui AC Imp RNZAF as NZ587 DBR in F/l after engine failure New Plymouth 18Nov39. SOC 20Nov39

[kiwichappers]

flyernz,
Great picture and timely for me as I have one of Daves Hawks on the verge of being painted. It looks like I will need to remove the rear cockpit headrest and reshape the undercarriage spats then the proposed AFL will become ADJ and the first of the 'Mad Mac' series models.

I assume from the photo the airframe is silver overall but have no idea about the ZK - ADJ code colours and would appreciate your thoughts. Also what is DBR the abreviation for?

[Peter Lewis]

DBR = damaged beyond repair (but all things are possible with enough money!)

I have no notes on the colours of ADJ, but looking at the pic I would guess silver with red or blue reg and the race number in black. However, the orthochromatic film used in the 1930s could give strange results.
The biography 'Mac's Memoirs' was a book written soon after McGregor's death, and may be able to give you more info on the colours if you can find a copy.

[kiwichappers]

Thanks flyernzl. DBR, so obvious when you know! I will do a bit more digging on colours for codes whilst the silver paint dries out.

[davelochead]

Greetings,
As some of you have found out, almost every Miles Hawk has different undercarriage Fairings.
I am not sure if this is because they are damaged over the life of the airframe or are just what was made on the day at the Miles factory.
Your thoughts?
Incidentally, ive not heard of anyone building the KRM Hawk, and look forward to seeing one finished.
Dave Lochead

[Dave Homewood]

Dave, do you have any photos of the Canterbury Aero Club Hawk ZK-AFJ (NZ589) at all?