Duke Hawkins is a series of aerospace books (plus the Occupation of Brussels) with amazing photographic detail in a walk-around format. HMH Publications describes the Duke Hawkins series,

“So, there I was, looking for a book that could show me the Jaguar in every detail. I didn’t find it. I found a couple of photos online, but I wasn’t really extatic (sic) about that… That’s when I decided to make a book for myself. I showed it to a friend and he said: “We should publish it! And make other books too!” And here we are.”

Tibet covers the size of the American Southwest, with an average elevation of 14,000ft (4,380m), surrounded by some of the highest mountain ranges in the world with the Himalayas to the south, the Karakoram to the west, and the Kunlun to the north. The terrain of north and western Tibet is barren mountain desert, the northeast province of Amdo resembles the Mongolian steppes, the southeast province of Kham drops slightly in altitude and the topography, according to the author,

“devolves into exaggerated slopes, impossibly narrow valleys, and gnarled conifers normally associated with Chinese watercolors. It is the central plateau, however, that has become synonymous with Tibet…it is a harsh, rocky land of hypnotic beauty where, because of the altitude, light seems to intensify colour and detail.”

In the Box

Instructions: The instructions were divided into six pages of clearly marked parts and their construction sequence. There was also a page for the four different paint schemes.

Sprues: 3 molded in gray plastic

Clear plastic: 1 sprue

Decal Sheet: With markings for three different countries United States, Japan and Taiwan.

Building the Model

Cockpit

The cockpit was assembled along with other parts into the forward parts of the fuselage sides (the whole fuse is in four different sections). Assembly was not an issue, make sure you get the pilots seat frame and bulked slotted firmly in the cockpit floorboard because the top of the fuse interlocks with the bulked and if the seat is not completely down, the top of the canopy will not fit. Details in the cockpit were not all that pronounced and the instrument panel did not have a decal.