I dare say there are few fans of 1950s and 1960s jets who do not like the Hawker Hunter. It is one of those iconic aircraft that seems to just look right. Like the Canberra, the Hunter was used by dozens of units in its hey-day of the mid-late 1950s. Designed as an interceptor, it was also quite capable as a fighter bomber and had substantial overseas sales, many of them ex-RAF planes upgraded for local conditions.

To coincide with their new book, Fantasy Printshop has developed this set of decals that covers no fewer than 27 different two seat Hunters. All of these aircraft are T.7 versions. Many RAF squadrons used the T.7 for refresher training or as unit hacks. This is true for a few station flights as well. Then there are those used by 4FTS for advanced jet training.

Since the T.7 lasted in RAF service longer than the single seat versions, the aircraft was seen during its life in a large number of schemes. The early standard training scheme was overall high speed silver with yellow training bands. Later this was red, white and light aircraft grey. Some were painted light aircraft grey or high speed silver with fluorescent strips and bands. These will be the most difficult to duplicate. Others were in dark green and dark sea grey over light aircraft grey, a standard tactical scheme while some had the wraparound scheme. As you can see, lots of possibilities.

I am sure you are now wondering about available kits. To my knowledge, one has to round up a conversion set for this. Academy does both an F.6 and FGA.9 which can be used as a basis for these markings.

The decals themselves are superbly done and include a full range of serial numbers for all 27 planes.  There are enough insignia on the sheet for one full color and one low visibility option. The sheet itself is superbly printed as you'd expect from Fantasy Printshop.

It is a great sheet and one of those 'Must Have' items for any 1/48 Hunter fan.

March 2024

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