Hawker Typhoon Mk 1b by Realworkingsailor - FINISHED - Airfix - 1/72

[realworkingsailor]

Ok, so it's time to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. Or maybe just time to get my modelling backside into gear.

 

For my next airplane model I've opted for another 1/72 kit from Airfix (they're a bit addictive, to be honest):

 

 

A 2019 rebox from a tooling released in 2013, the kit originates somewhere near the beginning of Airfix's current resurgence. The overall detail is quite good, albeit somewhat clunky in odd places like the pilot's  boarding step. I may be tempted to scratch build a replacement out of some bass.

 

 

The kit is comprised of four sprues moulded in the typical grey plastic found in many Airfix kits, along with one small sprue of clear parts. The clear parts appear to be well cast, and for the most part the grey plastic parts are crisply moulded with minimal flash. I did discover a couple of issues with the landing gear parts. The first issue I found, one part was broken on the sprue. This must have happened during the picking/packing phase as there was no sign of any wear and tear on the box or anywhere else, the second issue was a short shot on the opposing landing gear leg. I've highlighted the errors here in this detail picture:

 

 

I have been in some form of contact with Airfix's spares department and I hope to have this issue resolved soon-ish (at this current moment in time they claim to be dealing with an overwhelming number of e-mail requests for spares. As I have no contrary evidence I have to take them at their word, and will give them the benefit of the doubt).

 

Otherwise the kit comes with the usual A4 instruction booklet and decals from Cartograf:

 

 

The two included paint schemes are for Typhoon MN666 (C G) flown by 121 Wing Commander Charles Green out of Le Fresne-Camilly, France in June of 1944 (In the Canadian Sector inland from Juno Beach), as well as MP197 (MR U), part of 245 Squadron. The later is quite interesting as it was the only known Typhoon to be painted with a shark mouth. From November 1944 to March 1945, "Sharky" was flown by Harrison "Moose" Mossip, a Canadian.

 

I plan to deviate from both of these schemes. I did a little research and have decided to give a go at painting mine up as a proper Canadian Typhoon. In my case, it will become MN518. Initially assigned to 143 Wing Commander Robert Davidson, (and marked "R D"), it was reassigned to Wing Commander MT Judd, after Davidson went missing in May 1944. Under Judd it was re-marked "M  J" and served as his airplane through the summer of 1944. Some careful decal surgery should allow me to create the necessary letters for this plane, and I can print the registration number myself, as I did with my Hurricane. I am also planing on painting the aircraft as it would have appeared later in the summer of 1944, after the order had been given to begin removing the invasion stripes and repainting the camouflage. In my case the stripes will only be applied on the lower surfaces only.

 

Also, to add to the fun, all the Canadian Typhoons in 143 Wing were equipped with bombs, not rockets. Airfix does provide a couple of bombs in the kit, but I happen to have a nice resin set from Eduard (that came as part of pack of goodies for my Wellington). So I'll be using these bombs instead:

 

 

I can honestly say I have not seen too many bomb equipped 1/72 models in my online searches. I can understand, as the rockets are a more interesting feature, but at least this way, mine will stand out a bit from the rest of the pack.

 

With any luck my parts issue will be resolved, and I've just ordered the necessary paints, so construction will begin shortly. I've seen a number of these kits build online, and they do produce some excellent models. Hopefully mine will live up!

 

Andy

 

[AJohnson]

I’m here Andy, love the “Tiffy”, an overlooked fighter but it evolved into a deadly ground attacker.  
Agree about the more recent 1/72 Airfix offerings, not  the highest spec/detailed but good fun and usually straightforward to build. 😁

[Dave_E]

🍿🥤

[CDW]

Happy to follow and learn a bit more about Typhoons. How did the pilot go missing while his plane lived on?

[realworkingsailor]

From what I read, Davidson was using a different airplane, MN957 (F3 N).  I can only assume his regular plane was down for maintenance.
 

On May 8th 1944, they were conducting operations in France, in preparation for the coming invasion. Davidson’s (replacement) plane developed engine trouble and he was forced to crash land. He evaded capture and ended up with the French resistance, even fighting alongside them, until liberation in September 1944.

 

There are a number of stories of other Typhoon pilots similar to Davidson’s. Sadly, many do not have such happy (or adventurous) outcomes. 

Mossip’s story is one of them. On his last mission in March ‘45 (also in a different plane), after attacking a train he was observed to crash into some high tension wires, and was killed as a result.

 

Andy

[CDW]

Great background story, Andy! Thanks

[Canute]

Andy, I'm in.

 

The "Tiffie", for me, is right up there with the P-47 Jug as a ground attack aircraft.

[CDW]

I just ordered the massive 1:24 Airfix Typhoon kit and am waiting for it to arrive. I messed around and waited until it became harder to find and more expensive but I got one while the getting can still be done. Don't know when or if Airfix will release this kit again. 

[AJohnson]

15 minutes ago, CDW said:

I just ordered the massive 1:24 Airfix Typhoon kit and am waiting for it to arrive. I messed around and waited until it became harder to find and more expensive but I got one while the getting can still be done. Don't know when or if Airfix will release this kit again. 

I have built the “Bubble top” 1/24 and have got the “Car door” version in stock in 1/24, beasts of a kit and a bit of a challenge to build. I’d post some pictures up but would be a bit guilty (again!) of thread hijacking….

[realworkingsailor]

41 minutes ago, Canute said:

Andy, I'm in.

 

The "Tiffie", for me, is right up there with the P-47 Jug as a ground attack aircraft.

I think there’s a joke about all that a P-47 pilot has do when he’s attacked by the Luftwaffe… Duck down and run around the fuselage to avoid getting hit…. 🤪

 

Andy

[realworkingsailor]

18 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

I have built the “Bubble top” 1/24 and have got the “Car door” version in stock in 1/24, beasts of a kit and a bit of a challenge to build. I’d post some pictures up but would be a bit guilty (again!) of thread hijacking….

Well, Canada Post is hijacking my paint shipment, so please feel free 😁

 

Hanging around Scalemates, I’ve taken the opportunity to look through the instructions for all of Airfix’s recent 1/24 offerings (Typhoon, Spitfire, Hellcat), quite frankly they look almost overwhelming! 
 

Andy

[AJohnson]

4 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

Well, Canada Post is hijacking my paint shipment, so please feel free 😁

 

Hanging around Scalemates, I’ve taken the opportunity to look through the instructions for all of Airfix’s recent 1/24 offerings (Typhoon, Spitfire, Hellcat), quite frankly they look almost overwhelming! 
 

Andy

The new breed of 1/24 scale kits are a world away from the "Classic" 1970's ones.  I have nearly built the Mossie, but it s a 🐷 to get right with the engines and undercarriages - so it is sitting getting dusty.  The Hellcat was a doddle and almost fell together and the Typhoon was somewhere between the two; slightly misaligned parts that needed a good scrape to get rid of the flash and seams.  I have the Spitfire IX, but not started it yet, looks more like the Hellcat in quality - I hope! 🤞

 

Anyway before you change your mind a few pictures and as Ken @Canute mentioned them my 1/24 "Jug" for comparison. (Now that was a 🐷 to build! 😆)

[CDW]

All three look excellent! The P-47 is the Kinetic kit?

[AJohnson]

2 minutes ago, CDW said:

The P-47 is the Kinetic kit?

Oh yes! 😱  You need buckets of sand and cement to fill the gaps in that baby! 😆  Unless you are a huge Jug fan just avoid, especially as they are not cheap kits either...💸

[Canute]

A razorback C model. Nice. I don't do 1/32 a/c, mostly due to display space, That being said, they look great. My unit in Germany flew Jugs in 9th AF.

 

Andy, good joke. They were big brutes, 14K pounds or so. Typical Republic Ironworks beast.

[Edwardkenway]

Nice planes @AJohnson, I wish that I had room for some of the larger kits.

I'm in for this Andy, you do some kind of magic with these 1/72 kits😉

[AJohnson]

1 hour ago, Edwardkenway said:

Nice planes @AJohnson, I wish that I had room for some of the larger kits.

So do I! 🤣 They all live in the garage! 😢

[realworkingsailor]

A small update on my build, as I am still waiting on my paint order to arrive. I have begun doing what I can with the materials at hand. The good thing is I can get a fair bit of this prep-work done so that when the time comes for assembly, I won't be waiting around for the paint to dry.

 

 

For now the inside of the fuselage has been painted. Some of the details have been picked out in black and gunmetal. I may will probably add a pinprick of red where the various knobs and levers should be. The detail is quite indistinct, given the small scale and mostly won't be visible. I've also been picking at the piece that makes up the cockpit floor and landing gear bay. Not much else to really show at this moment, until my paint shows up, and the slowest game of e-mail tag (with Airfix) gets resolved.... 

 

Andy

 

[Danstream]

Good start Andy.

Dan

[realworkingsailor]

 

 

 

Hmmmm….

 

 

 

OOOooooh…..

 

 

 

 

 

Blech 🤮……

 

 

Decision Made!

 

Just ordered the replacement instrument panel from Yahu Models. 😁

 

Andy

[Canute]

Must be a generic WW II single seater.

[realworkingsailor]

28 minutes ago, Canute said:

Must be a generic WW II single seater.

Not so much generic as uninspiring. In the lower “legs” of the plastic instrument panel piece, Airfix did manage to mould in some raised detail (which you then cover with a blank decal for some reason). It seems like they could make their instrument panels a little better, they just choose not to. Probably for the sake of keeping things simple for less experienced modellers.

 

Andy

[Javlin]

43 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

Probably for the sake of keeping things simple for less experienced modellers.

That's probably one reason Andy but also being 1/72 hence the reasons as you move up the scale things change if the modeler want's more PE and in your case Yahu.

[Landlubber Mike]

Great start Andy.  Good move on the Yahu upgrade 👍  Looking forward to following along!

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks guys! I’m in another waiting phase on the build, I did get my paint yesterday (finally!), but I’ve gone about as far as I can while I wait for the part(s) I ordered on the weekend. Also still waiting to see if Airfix has sent me the replacement landing gear legs, maybe they’re in the mail, I dunno…. 
 

 

Yeah…. Something like that…

 

Andy

 

[realworkingsailor]

So, I went fishing today, and caught a couple of 1000 pounders...

 

 

I thought of describing my activities today in a more direct fashion, but it might put me at odds with various government security organizations should they happen to stumble upon my build log....🤪

 

Still waiting on bits and pieces (it may be another week, I don't know), but I will keep trying to stay busy, even if it's only messing around with small parts here and there....

 

Andy

 

[CDW]

Tom Petty was from my state of Florida, up around the college town of Gainesville, in Allachua County.

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks Everyone!

 

Did I mention my paint arrived a few days ago?

 

Anyway, I'm looking for some opinions. I need some help with determining the better shade of dark grey for the camouflage scheme. I've run a couple of test panels for evaluation. Both grey colours are from the same manufacturer and both are classified as "RAF Dark Sea Grey" (although different formula numbers). The one on the left is slightly darker, and the one on the right seems slightly bluer. The dark green (at the bottom) is the same as I used on my Wellington bomber.

 

 

I initially thought this would be a cut and dry decision, but I find myself waffling. So I figured I'd see what everyone else thinks.

 

Andy

[JKC27]

48 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

Thanks Everyone!

 

Did I mention my paint arrived a few days ago?

 

Anyway, I'm looking for some opinions. I need some help with determining the better shade of dark grey for the camouflage scheme. I've run a couple of test panels for evaluation. Both grey colours are from the same manufacturer and both are classified as "RAF Dark Sea Grey" (although different formula numbers). The one on the left is slightly darker, and the one on the right seems slightly bluer. The dark green (at the bottom) is the same as I used on my Wellington bomber.

 

 

I initially thought this would be a cut and dry decision, but I find myself waffling. So I figured I'd see what everyone else thinks.

 

Andy

Gotta love these difficult decisions!  Personal preference for me is the left side........the right seems almost too blue.

 

That being said, will be following this build for sure.  I've gone down a rabbit hole of model plane kits while I decide what freighter to do next (although I did get slightly started on the Robert S Pierson and Tim S Dool - Andy will know these). 

I'm starting to wonder if maybe my impression that there is not a lot of WWII Canadian aircraft models is false....not a lot of RCAF markings are offered, yet our pilots mostly flew under RAF colours, if I a not mistaken, as I am certainly not up my Canadian military history. 

 

I will get a thread started on our club Lanc build in the next day or so.

[Egilman]

1 hour ago, realworkingsailor said:

The one on the left is slightly darker, and the one on the right seems slightly bluer. The dark green (at the bottom) is the same as I used on my Wellington bomber.

The Green is good brother, but they painted for contrast, the Dark Grey is just a tad too dark, the lighter one looks to me to be the ticket, I always thought that RAF Sea Grey had a touch of blue in it... (and gives the proper contrast)

 

Wartime color shots...

Museum color shot showing the same coloration..

Edited March 9, 2023 by Egilman