This was a pseudo commission. The other half said that she’d like to have one of my models to display on her desk at work. I was already building Kinetic’s 1:32 scale BAe Hawk in the colours of their prototype demonstrator ZJ100, or 102D as it was known at the time, but this was too big for what she wanted. However, the subject was perfect.

ZJ100 is special to us as we both worked on the programme which it was at the centre of. In fact the aircraft, along with its sister ZJ201 the single seat demonstrator, consumed the large majority of 8 years of my working life. The latter unfortunately crashed in 1999 at SIAD in Bratislava, but ZJ100 still makes the occasional appearance at BAE SYSTEMS’ Warton site.

So I put the Kinetic model on one side for a while and purchased Airfix’s 1:72 BAE Systems Hawk model (A03073), added Eduard’s photoetch set, a couple of pilot figures from PJ Productions and a custom display case from http://www.acrylicdisplaycases.co.uk and this is the result.

The model depicts BAe’s demonstrator on the apron with a test pilot and customer pilot approaching, prior to a sales flight.

The diorama is a little poignant for me in that the test pilot who did the majority of the trials flying, and who I worked closely with as an engineer, died the day before I completed it. It is highly likely he would have been the pilot depicted in orange overalls.

A detailed account of the build is available here.