While I think its fair to say the Battlehawk is the'star' vehicle, the Hawkwing is a very close second.
It's a unique design is quite reminiscent of the kind of vehicles that appeared in Gerry Anderson's earlier shows.
The lower aircraft section which is piloted by Kate Kestral is known as the Egg Shell for some obscure reason.
The upper flying wing section is piloted by Hawkeye, and referred to as Gun Bay.
Like the original model in the series, the Bandai Hawkwing has retractable swing wings either side of the Egg Shell, and the Gun Bay has fold down wing tips.
While, in my opinion the series left a lot to be desired, there were some good things to come out of it.
The box detail. All the missiles are lost but the little badge remains.
A nice little specification sheet is also enclosed.
Is that a great looking aircraft or what? Personally I reckon that's a 10:10 !
I remember these Bandai toys were very expensive when they first came out in 83(?). I could only afford the Treehawk and Terrahawk. Very nice models. I didn't know the lower fuselage was the 'Egg shell' but in the show the cockpit of the 'gun bay' wing piloted by Hawkeye lowered down into the egg ahell piloted by Kate Kestrel and the gun bay became a flying bomb. I suppose with the aircraft being a Hawk/Bird it makes the cockpit an egg? :)
ReplyDeleteMega expensive on release,stupidly so. I got them after hey were discounted heavily.
ReplyDeleteI could never understand why in every episode, the wing section was launched at the enemy as a flying bomb! Same shaky fx sequence every time!
I would have loved a model of the Terrahawks MEV!
ReplyDeleteGreat shots Mike! I never watched Terrahawks but I can appreciate the fibery of these die-cast toys. Theres a big double page article on them all in this months Collectors Gazette magazine paper, along with an article on the original Mars Attacks cards.
ReplyDeletefibery? finery!
ReplyDeleteI've always enjoyed the craft from this show. I must agree with Bill about wasteful it was to use the wing as a cruise missile. I see this toy on Ebay frequently, but the price just kills me.
ReplyDeleteLike William, I enjoyed most of the main vehicles from the series. The special effects, when compared to earlier GA shows felt like a step back, but I always figured the enthusiasm from the makers was a great deal higher than the budget.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'm alone in thinking that Terrahawks isn't one of the classic GA series, but when it came out in 1983, I was happy to think it was aimed at a new younger generation of GA fans.
I do remember the cost of the toys being quite expensive, which meant choosing just one favourite example - my choice was Battlehawk which cost just me over sixteen quid at the time! The Hawkwing in the photos I recently got off eBay for twenty quid!