FOCUS ON THE 16/12 WHITE HAWK

Some photos I’ve taken of the Sixteen 12 ‘Wargames’ Special Edition White Mk IX Hawk.

As most Space: 1999 fans will know, the original model Hawk props, designed by Brian Johnson and built by Martin Bower were originally painted white as per instructions, but following delivery to the studio it was decided viewers might confuse the Hawks with the white Eagles during the ‘Wargames’ space battle scenes, so the more familiar orange paint scheme was applied, although a few pre-publicity photos of the White Hawk did appear.

On screen the sleek, wasp-like Hawk only appears in the first season episode, Wargames, and is instantly recognised by Moonbase Alpha’s science expert, Prof. Bergman as the Mark IX Hawk!  The intonation in his voice leads me to think that these craft are far more deadly than its assumed predecessor, the Mark VIII!

In spite of its single appearance, the Mk IX Hawk has certainly proved a fan favourite, and over time some magazines and comics have given the Hawk spacecraft various historical back stories relating to the Space: 1999 universe.

Probably the most notable came from the American ‘Starlog’ magazine during the late seventies/early eighties, which did champion Space: 1999 at the time.  The magazine’s writers concocted an ‘imagined’ detailed history suggesting that the Hawk is a further development of the SHADO Interceptor from Gerry & Sylvia Anderson’s previous series, UFO, with upgraded Mark 10 Hawks  stationed in the orbiting Space Dock, (Starlog writers  christened the dock, Centuri ) until the Dock’s destruction, as seen in the opening 1999 episode, Breakaway!  

While I don’t really buy into the UFO connection, I do like the idea that the Hawks operate and are despatched from a space station.

They don’t have any obvious landing gear so, inspired by some of the fan-built model Hawk landing pads I’ve seen at convention model shows over the years I thought I’d scratch- build a small landing cradle  myself for my own smaller version.  Then I built a space station hangar diorama to fit it in, taking some inspiration from the Moonbase Alpha Eagle Hangar.  

The question has been asked by some as to why Earth needed a fleet of elite fighter spacecraft.  A hint in the series might be in the second season 1999 episode, The Rules of Luton, in which John Koenig recounts to Maya how his wife had sadly died during a terrible global (and presumably a space) war that took place in 1987. At its end all prejudice was apparently wiped out, and survivors witnessed the rise of a new and enlightened civilization!

When it comes to its size, the Sixteen 12 Hawk is 8 1/2” in length, slightly shorter than the 10” MPC plastic kit. (The Sixteen 12 Eagle is 11 3/4”)

Although you don’t see both a Hawk and an Eagle in the same shot during the episode I’m assuming both the Eagle and Hawk are supposed to be the same relative scale based on their cockpit windows, so I imagine the size has been worked out taking into consideration the length of the original props which, again I’m assuming are intended to be the same scale .The large original Hawk props are 31” and 15” (as well as with a much smaller 5” model) The main Eagle props are approx. 44”, 22”, and 11” ( along with a smaller 51/2” model) 

The Sixteen 12 White Hawk model, limited to just 1500 units, comes in the usual attractive Sixteen 12 packaging, along with a neat in-flight display stand.