realworkingsailor Posted March 14, 2023 Author Share #61 Posted March 14, 2023 18 minutes ago, AJohnson said: Here's my take on a Malta Vb, (1/48 Airfix, new mould), with European theatre sky underside, not the Azure blue. Similar to those pictures Andy. Nice! Another version I’ve seen involves painting the standard desert camo, then over spraying with a thin coat of EDSG. Done well, the underlying camo comes through as a two-tone blue. Andy Egilman, Edwardkenway, Jack12477 and 4 others 7 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egilman Posted March 14, 2023 Share #62 Posted March 14, 2023 2 hours ago, realworkingsailor said: I will nit-pick the year, Beurling was in Malta in 1942 (June through October). Your absolutely correct, My source is apparently wrong.... Thank you for the link, the sad thing is that he was eventually separated from the service for disciplinary reason, By late '43, the RCAF was concentrating on unit teamwork tactics and his lone wolf style of flying was becoming a liability.... , He survived ten crash landings during his career as a fighter pilot and was shot down I believe five times... But to those that flew with him, he was one of the deadliest pilots in the air.... A shame there isn't more pics of him and his aircraft.... Edwardkenway, Jack12477, AJohnson and 4 others 7 Quote Current Build: F-86F-30 Sabre by Egilman - Kinetic - 1/32nd scale In the Garage: East Bound & Down, Building a Smokey & the Bandit Kenworth Rig in 1/25th scale Completed: M8A1 HST 1930 Packard Boattail Speedster M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer F-4J Phantom II Bell H-13's P-51B/C Temporary Suspension: USS Gwin DD-433 F-104C Starfighter "Blue Jay Four" 1/32nd Scale Terminated Build: F-104C Starfighter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: "Relish Today, Ketchup Tomorrow" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egilman Posted March 15, 2023 Share #63 Posted March 15, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, realworkingsailor said: 1 hour ago, AJohnson said: Here's my take on a Malta Vb, (1/48 Airfix, new mould), with European theatre sky underside, not the Azure blue. Similar to those pictures Andy. Nice! Another version I’ve seen involves painting the standard desert camo, then over spraying with a thin coat of EDSG. Done well, the underlying camo comes through as a two-tone blue. Yep, they were all over the place on colors at Malta, like anything they could get their hands on was used to try and break the the aircrafts silhouette... (although they pretty much stuck with various blue shades underneath, you will find some with aircraft grey undersides as well) AS I see it, it is an open canvass... Enjoy, I know I will your rendition of it... Edited March 15, 2023 by Egilman Canute, AJohnson, Jack12477 and 4 others 7 Quote Current Build: F-86F-30 Sabre by Egilman - Kinetic - 1/32nd scale In the Garage: East Bound & Down, Building a Smokey & the Bandit Kenworth Rig in 1/25th scale Completed: M8A1 HST 1930 Packard Boattail Speedster M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer F-4J Phantom II Bell H-13's P-51B/C Temporary Suspension: USS Gwin DD-433 F-104C Starfighter "Blue Jay Four" 1/32nd Scale Terminated Build: F-104C Starfighter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: "Relish Today, Ketchup Tomorrow" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 17, 2023 Author Share #64 Posted March 17, 2023 Thanks again, everyone for all your valued contributions, both with this build and the discussion about a future build! There was a little good news in the mail yesterday, the PE bits I'd ordered arrived! Yay! Still waiting on the replacement parts from Airfix, but I can start building finally!. First up, the goodies: The replacement instrument panel looks pretty good. The gauges are very nicely printed on the PE, almost legible! I also picked up some PE seatbelts. I know they're not 100% correct for the Typhoon (or Tempest), but they're close enough that some minor fiddling will suffice. The price was right, so I figured "why not?". The PE has been attached to the Airfix part. I had painted the moulded knobs on the lower "legs" previously. It looks sooo much better than the kit supplied decal. For $5, even if it's going to be hard to see, it's a worthy investment. There is, of course, the issue of the PE increasing the thickness of the original part. I figure there are two options to deal with that. 1) thin the original part of compensate for the added thickness, or 2) skive off some more space in the fuselage halves. As you can see, I've opted for the second option. The shape of the panel is rather complicated. It's curved vertically, as well as having a raised centre section. Thinning the back may have caused issues with fitting the compass/gunsight casting. Some careful work with a sharp blade and sanding sticks and I soon had everything fitting together cleanly. Had it been a straight forward instrument panel, as in my Hurricane or Defiant, it would have been much easier to thin down the panel. The paint was subsequently restored and the panel fitted to the first fuselage half. I then decided to fit the cockpit floor/radiator/wheel well piece next. I'm waiting for the paint to dry on the seatbelts, so installing the seat had to wait. I think this also makes things easier as you don't have to risk snapping off the control stick. As I mentioned earlier, I'm replacing the kit supplied munitions with some aftermarket castings from Eduard. You can see the difference clearly, between the kit part and the casting. Going the aftermarket route also required some changes to the underwing mounts, as you can see above, the mounting lugs are in slightly different places. After glueing the fairings to the underside of the wing, I used some scrap styrene to fill the mounting holes. The styrene was then cut and sanded to shape, and a little filler was used to smooth everything out. New holes were drilled to match the replacement munitions, and after the above photo was taken, a quick shot of primer was applied to confirm everything looked good. It's nice to be constructively moving forward with this build (for now). And it's probably nicer for everyone following not to be bombarded by endless pictures of paint chips (😁). Once the seatbelts are dry and the seat installed, construction should move quickly. I expect I'll have something that looks more or less like an airplane by the next update. Andy Landlubber Mike, AJohnson, Old Collingwood and 10 others 13 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted March 17, 2023 Share #65 Posted March 17, 2023 Looking good Andy! Dave_E, Old Collingwood, Egilman and 6 others 9 Quote Mike Current Wooden builds: Amati/Victory Pegasus MS Charles W. Morgan Euromodel La Renommèe Plastic builds: Hs129B-2 1/48 SB2U-1 Vindicator 1/48 Five Star Yaeyama 1/700 Pit Road Asashio and Akashi 1/700 diorama Walrus 1/48 and Albatross 1/700 Special Hobby Buffalo 1/32 IJN Notoro 1/700 Akitsu Maru 1/700 Completed builds : Caldercraft Brig Badger Amati Hannah - Ship in Bottle Pit Road Hatsuzakura 1/700 Hasegawa Shimakaze 1:350 F4B-4 and P-6E 1/72 Accurate Miniatures F3F-1/F3F-2 1/48 Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat built as FM-1 1/48 Special Hobby Buffalo 1/48 Eduard Sikorsky JRS-1 1/72 Citroen 2CV 1/24 - Airfix and Tamiya Entex Morgan 3-wheeler 1/16 Terminated build: HMS Lyme (based on Corel Unicorn) On the shelf: Euromodel Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde; Caldercraft Victory; too many plastic ship, plane and car kits Future potential scratch builds: HMS Lyme (from NMM plans); Le Gros Ventre (from Ancre monographs), Dutch ship from Ab Hoving book, HMS Sussex from McCardle book, Philadelphia gunboat (Smithsonian plans) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtaylor Posted March 17, 2023 Share #66 Posted March 17, 2023 Nice work on the after market parts and the mods. Old Collingwood, Canute, realworkingsailor and 5 others 8 Quote Mark "The shipwright is slow, but the wood is patient." - me Current Build: Past Builds: La Belle Poule 1765 - French Frigate from ANCRE plans - ON HOLD Triton Cross-Section NRG Hallf Hull Planking Kit HMS Sphinx 1775 - Vanguard Models - 1:64 Non-Ship Model: On hold, maybe forever: CH-53 Sikorsky - 1:48 - Revell - Completed Licorne - 1755 from Hahn Plans (Scratch) Version 2.0 (Abandoned) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 18, 2023 Author Share #67 Posted March 18, 2023 I have to continue to express my profound gratitude for the continued kind comments and "likes", you guys are the greatest! I figured things would begin to speed up, and I don't think I was too far off! First up came the seatbelts. Some minor surgery was required on the right hand side of the seat (left in the above photo). Airfix has a cast on lever on that side of the seat, and by carefully inserting a sharp chisel blade I was able to cut it free from the seat. The important thing is to leave the detail intact, so a lot of care was needed. By cutting this slot, this then allows the lap belt to be properly anchored on the side of the seat, with the lever passing over top. I know these particular seatbelts are not 100% accurate for a Typhoon, but for me (and any casual observer with a magnifying glass) they're close enough. After the seatbelts were attached to the seat, the seat could then be mounted in the cockpit. Overall I think the aftermarket made for a nice little upgrade, at a relatively cost effective price point. With these details, I am seriously giving consideration to having the canopy open, I think it would be a disservice to hide all my "hard" work! *Eagle eyed viewers may notice the bandage on my left index finger. This is due to an unrelated bread slicing incident last evening, and not the result of any lapse of due care and attention in the employment of my hobby knife. Incidentally, if you're slicing some crusty bread, make sure you have a good grip to prevent the serrated bread knife from grabbing and rolling the loaf and dragging your finger into its path. Oh yeah, and keep your fingers further away from the knife next time too.....🙄 Once the glue for the seat had set, the fuselage halves are then mated, and glued, and taped together. There's a few extra bits and pieces to navigate around to get the halves to join up, but with a little care, things came together nicely. The rudder and tail fins were next to go on. Nothing really remarkable. Just be aware that, as far as details go, the tail fins are not symmetrical, make sure the correct one goes on it's proper side. I think I did a quadruple double check on that before I applied any glue. I'm pretty sure I got it right... I think... The lower half of the wing was next. This was a multi step process to get them glued into place. Tape was used to hold things in place temporarily until the glue set. For today's finale, the upper wings were also attached. The kit does make provision for the gun bays to be left open, but I decided on mine to keep them closed. A personal decision, mostly because, for me, I felt it complicated the painting and lettering process. The next steps are hardly worth documenting; there's a few areas where some filler and some sanding is require. Nothing too major, the worst spots are the chin fairing under the radiator, followed by the forward joint of the lower wing (just aft of the radiator outlet). This shouldn't take too long and painting will happen soon. Andy yvesvidal, Jack12477, Egilman and 10 others 13 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 19, 2023 Author Share #68 Posted March 19, 2023 Thanks for all the likes, everyone! After a little filing and sanding treatment, painting has now begun. As I mentioned in my first post, I was considering modelling this after a Canadian operated Typhoon, sometime in the mid-summer (later July - early August) period when the camo schemes were slowly being restored. From what Ive seen, this usually meant the upper invasion stripes were painted over first, then as time (and paint supplies( allowed, the lower surfaces followed suit (in some cases it looks like these striped areas may have lasted into the winter of '44-'45). I initially thought that I could mess around with the supplied invasion strip decals to achieve the look I was after, but I've instead decided that I would try my hand at painting the striped myself, and not have to mess around with large sheets of opaque decals (which can cause trouble with merely a backwards glance). Over the course of my "research" (looking at YouTube videos of model builds for hours), I saw a technique whereby the builder painted the invasion striped first, before the rest of the model. This made a lot of sense to me, as the amount of masking is considerably reduced (just mask the stripes, not the whole airplane)and even more reduced for me as I'm only striping the lower areas. I would say that things have turned out fairly well. Just a couple of tiny spots to retouch, but otherwise I'm pleased. The stripes work out to 6mm wide, at this scale, and fortunately I had a roll of masking tape that exact same width. Also of interesting note, the Canadians didn't quite follow the painting specification when applying the stripes to the tail section of the airplane. On British planes, the sky band forward of the tail was uncovered, with the first white strip immediately ahead of it. The Canadians simply incorporated this band into the aft most white strip, which is why my tail bands may appear to be in the incorrect location. I'm not sure if this applies to other Canadian aircraft, but it seems this was the standard of 143 Wing Typhoons (438, 439 and 440 Squadrons). Andy CDW, AJohnson, king derelict and 10 others 13 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted March 20, 2023 Share #69 Posted March 20, 2023 Those invasion stripes look sweet! Painting over decals is the way to go if you can swing it. Egilman, Edwardkenway, Old Collingwood and 5 others 8 Quote Mike Current Wooden builds: Amati/Victory Pegasus MS Charles W. Morgan Euromodel La Renommèe Plastic builds: Hs129B-2 1/48 SB2U-1 Vindicator 1/48 Five Star Yaeyama 1/700 Pit Road Asashio and Akashi 1/700 diorama Walrus 1/48 and Albatross 1/700 Special Hobby Buffalo 1/32 IJN Notoro 1/700 Akitsu Maru 1/700 Completed builds : Caldercraft Brig Badger Amati Hannah - Ship in Bottle Pit Road Hatsuzakura 1/700 Hasegawa Shimakaze 1:350 F4B-4 and P-6E 1/72 Accurate Miniatures F3F-1/F3F-2 1/48 Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat built as FM-1 1/48 Special Hobby Buffalo 1/48 Eduard Sikorsky JRS-1 1/72 Citroen 2CV 1/24 - Airfix and Tamiya Entex Morgan 3-wheeler 1/16 Terminated build: HMS Lyme (based on Corel Unicorn) On the shelf: Euromodel Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde; Caldercraft Victory; too many plastic ship, plane and car kits Future potential scratch builds: HMS Lyme (from NMM plans); Le Gros Ventre (from Ancre monographs), Dutch ship from Ab Hoving book, HMS Sussex from McCardle book, Philadelphia gunboat (Smithsonian plans) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 20, 2023 Author Share #70 Posted March 20, 2023 Thanks everyone! Mike (@Landlubber Mike), Thanks! I agree in many cases painting is the way to go, especially for invasion stripes. Speaking of which, they really pop after the grey underside has been painted: Really pleased with how things have turned out so far. Hopefully that continues. After masking the undersides, the blue-grey has been added: The photos don't really show it well, but it is the lighter blue-grey that everyone chose. Once the paint has had the chance to fully dry, it will be time to start making the skinny little poster-putty worms for masking off the camouflage scheme. Then there will be a lot of breath holding, and finger crossing that it all works out and I'm not left with a mess. Andy Edwardkenway, Dave_E, Jack12477 and 7 others 9 1 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 21, 2023 Author Share #71 Posted March 21, 2023 As always, thanks everyone! No point getting too verbose about the next stages, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves: Big sigh of relief, everything went according to plan. Just a couple of very minor touch up spots. This is probably one of the more complicated paint jobs I've done (on account of the invasion stripes), but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again. Andy ccoyle, Jack12477, yvesvidal and 9 others 9 3 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egilman Posted March 21, 2023 Share #72 Posted March 21, 2023 Beautiful job!!! Looks like you have the putty technique down.... Perfect soft edge camo.... Well done! Edwardkenway, Dave_E, Old Collingwood and 6 others 9 Quote Current Build: F-86F-30 Sabre by Egilman - Kinetic - 1/32nd scale In the Garage: East Bound & Down, Building a Smokey & the Bandit Kenworth Rig in 1/25th scale Completed: M8A1 HST 1930 Packard Boattail Speedster M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer F-4J Phantom II Bell H-13's P-51B/C Temporary Suspension: USS Gwin DD-433 F-104C Starfighter "Blue Jay Four" 1/32nd Scale Terminated Build: F-104C Starfighter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: "Relish Today, Ketchup Tomorrow" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtaylor Posted March 21, 2023 Share #73 Posted March 21, 2023 Dave_E, Canute, Old Collingwood and 5 others 7 1 Quote Mark "The shipwright is slow, but the wood is patient." - me Current Build: Past Builds: La Belle Poule 1765 - French Frigate from ANCRE plans - ON HOLD Triton Cross-Section NRG Hallf Hull Planking Kit HMS Sphinx 1775 - Vanguard Models - 1:64 Non-Ship Model: On hold, maybe forever: CH-53 Sikorsky - 1:48 - Revell - Completed Licorne - 1755 from Hahn Plans (Scratch) Version 2.0 (Abandoned) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 22, 2023 Author Share #74 Posted March 22, 2023 Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it! @Egilman I wouldn’t claim to be a master yet, but given how inexpensive a package of poster putty is (and how far it goes), I can afford a little error in my trials. Well, I received some good news this morning, Airfix has shipped out the replacement landing gear parts. Yay! Andy Dave_E, mtaylor, Egilman and 7 others 10 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted March 23, 2023 Share #75 Posted March 23, 2023 Andy, your worms did a great job, wow! Stellar paint job! Glad to hear that Airfix sent out replacement parts -- good to know what companies will do that. Canute, Dave_E, CDW and 5 others 8 Quote Mike Current Wooden builds: Amati/Victory Pegasus MS Charles W. Morgan Euromodel La Renommèe Plastic builds: Hs129B-2 1/48 SB2U-1 Vindicator 1/48 Five Star Yaeyama 1/700 Pit Road Asashio and Akashi 1/700 diorama Walrus 1/48 and Albatross 1/700 Special Hobby Buffalo 1/32 IJN Notoro 1/700 Akitsu Maru 1/700 Completed builds : Caldercraft Brig Badger Amati Hannah - Ship in Bottle Pit Road Hatsuzakura 1/700 Hasegawa Shimakaze 1:350 F4B-4 and P-6E 1/72 Accurate Miniatures F3F-1/F3F-2 1/48 Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat built as FM-1 1/48 Special Hobby Buffalo 1/48 Eduard Sikorsky JRS-1 1/72 Citroen 2CV 1/24 - Airfix and Tamiya Entex Morgan 3-wheeler 1/16 Terminated build: HMS Lyme (based on Corel Unicorn) On the shelf: Euromodel Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde; Caldercraft Victory; too many plastic ship, plane and car kits Future potential scratch builds: HMS Lyme (from NMM plans); Le Gros Ventre (from Ancre monographs), Dutch ship from Ab Hoving book, HMS Sussex from McCardle book, Philadelphia gunboat (Smithsonian plans) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share #76 Posted March 23, 2023 Thanks Mike! Yeah, it’s really nice that Airfix does stand behind their products. Gives me confidence in buying their products in the future. I can now stop staring at the mailbox hoping that maybe something might show up, and start staring at the mailbox knowing that maybe something might show up! 🤪 Andy Dave_E, Egilman, Canute and 8 others 11 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDW Posted March 23, 2023 Share #77 Posted March 23, 2023 Does Airfix have a North American customer service center like Tamiya does, or do the replacement parts come out of GB? Either way, it's good news. In the past, I have requested to buy replacement decals for Tamiya kits I owned where the decals were ruined due to my own issues, but they replaced them for free. Was really surprised by that. realworkingsailor, Old Collingwood, Dave_E and 7 others 10 Quote Completed Projects: USS Fletcher 1:144 Scharnhorst 1:350 USS Independence LCS-2 1:350 1:32 J7W1 Shinden Interceptor/Fighter Fairey Swordfish Mk. II 1:48 Harbor Tug Box Scale Albatros D.V 1:32 Ala-Kart 1:25 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder 1:24 S-100 Schnellboot 1:72 Mercury Capsule and Atlas Booster BR-52 Steam Locomotive 1:35 Triumph 3 HW Motorcycle 1:9 Scale F-16XL-2 Experimental Fighter Bomber 1:48 Rafale 1:48 F-15E Strike Eagle 1:48 Petlyakov PE-2 Soviet Dive Bomber 1:48 TBM3 Avenger 1:32 1931 Cadillac 1:25 Scammell Pioneer SV2S Heavy Breakdown Tractor 1:35 M-50 Israeli Sherman 1:35 Military Wrecker 1:32 Delahaye 135 1:24 Toyota Sard Supra GT 1:24 Enzo Ferrari 1:24 1970 Baldwin Motion Camaro 1:25 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 Stock Car 1:25 American LaFrance Eagle Fire Pumper 1:25 1940 Ford Standard Coupe 1:25 VolksWagen Dragster/Dune Buggy/Street Rod 1:25 Kawasaki Ninja H2 Carbon 1:12 Porsche GT-1 Evo 1:24 Scharnhorst 1940 1:700 IJN Akitsushima Seaplane Tender 1:700 HMS Hood 1941 1:700 Prinz Eugen 1942 1:700 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share #78 Posted March 23, 2023 10 minutes ago, CDW said: Does Airfix have a North American customer service center like Tamiya does, or do the replacement parts come out of GB? Either way, it's good news. In the past, I have requested to buy replacement decals for Tamiya kits I owned where the decals were ruined due to my own issues, but they replaced them for free. Was really surprised by that. It doesn’t look like it, they have a web storefront in $US through their parent company (Hornby Hobbies), the only customer support I found was just helpful tips and suggestions, as well as the usual returns information. The technical support and spares is all in their UK “Airfix” storefront. I suspect if you dug around on the “US” website, you’d just end up there anyway. Andy Edwardkenway, Dave_E, Canute and 6 others 9 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share #79 Posted March 24, 2023 A minor setback, and a lesson learned. Yesterday afternoon I was all ready to begin applying the decals and lettering. My intention was to first start with the sky coloured band at the tail. Well, I was not at all happy with the kit supplied decal, firstly because it had to be cut free from the invasion stripes portion, and secondly, because it simply refused to wrap neatly around the tail. It was like playing wrinkle whack-a-mole. There was no amount of setting solution that would ever make that decal comply with the instructions is was being given. So rather than get overly frustrated I decided to go with plan "B": mask off the area and paint it. Properly. And boy, am I glad I went that route. Lesson learned, don't waste time with large stripe decals if you have the option to paint instead. This also reinforced my earlier decision to paint the invasion stripes. One thing I've found with Cartograf decals, while their printing is nice, the decal film can vary in thickness considerably. On my Wellington build, the decal film was thicker, so the decals were fairly robust, and didn't distort when applied. The film for the decals supplied with my Typhoon kit is considerably thinner. This isn't normal a problem for smaller decals, but for larger ones this can be a problem, as the decals will be easier to tear or distort or some miserable combination of the two. The supplied decals for my Hurricane build also had very thin film (hence the issue with the registration number balling up into a mess). For my Defiant build, the film thickness was somewhere in the middle, not as thick as the Wellington decals, but slightly thicker than for the Hurricane, or Typhoon. I should add that since my little detour, I've resumed applying the lettering and have not run into any further issues or, at least, I'm ready for any issues that my crop up and I can plan ahead for dealing with them. Andy mtaylor, CDW, pjofc4 and 8 others 11 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDW Posted March 24, 2023 Share #80 Posted March 24, 2023 Andy One of my favorite modelers to watch and learn from is a guy named Greg, from the UK (Gregs Models on YouTube). Many times, I have watched him scan/copy his decal sheets then print a black and white copy which he uses to cut his own masking to paint his markings instead of using decals. His finished work is always superb. I believe you are right on the money about painting vs decals particularly when it comes to large stripes but it's also true of national insignias and ID numbers. often the national marking decals are not colored properly and need correction. I love the results you got painting on your stripes. AJohnson, Old Collingwood, Edwardkenway and 8 others 11 Quote Completed Projects: USS Fletcher 1:144 Scharnhorst 1:350 USS Independence LCS-2 1:350 1:32 J7W1 Shinden Interceptor/Fighter Fairey Swordfish Mk. II 1:48 Harbor Tug Box Scale Albatros D.V 1:32 Ala-Kart 1:25 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder 1:24 S-100 Schnellboot 1:72 Mercury Capsule and Atlas Booster BR-52 Steam Locomotive 1:35 Triumph 3 HW Motorcycle 1:9 Scale F-16XL-2 Experimental Fighter Bomber 1:48 Rafale 1:48 F-15E Strike Eagle 1:48 Petlyakov PE-2 Soviet Dive Bomber 1:48 TBM3 Avenger 1:32 1931 Cadillac 1:25 Scammell Pioneer SV2S Heavy Breakdown Tractor 1:35 M-50 Israeli Sherman 1:35 Military Wrecker 1:32 Delahaye 135 1:24 Toyota Sard Supra GT 1:24 Enzo Ferrari 1:24 1970 Baldwin Motion Camaro 1:25 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 Stock Car 1:25 American LaFrance Eagle Fire Pumper 1:25 1940 Ford Standard Coupe 1:25 VolksWagen Dragster/Dune Buggy/Street Rod 1:25 Kawasaki Ninja H2 Carbon 1:12 Porsche GT-1 Evo 1:24 Scharnhorst 1940 1:700 IJN Akitsushima Seaplane Tender 1:700 HMS Hood 1941 1:700 Prinz Eugen 1942 1:700 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share #81 Posted March 24, 2023 40 minutes ago, CDW said: Andy One of my favorite modelers to watch and learn from is a guy named Greg, from the UK (Gregs Models on YouTube). Many times, I have watched him scan/copy his decal sheets then print a black and white copy which he uses to cut his own masking to paint his markings instead of using decals. His finished work is always superb. I believe you are right on the money about painting vs decals particularly when it comes to large stripes but it's also true of national insignias and ID numbers. often the national marking decals are not colored properly and need correction. I love the results you got painting on your stripes. Thanks! I’ll have a look at his work. I’m sure I’ve already stumbled across a video or two of his (YouTube rabbit holes), I’ll pay closer attention. I think there’s also a factor of scale to consider as well, when it comes to painting or decalling markings. I think if I was working in 1:48 or larger, I’d definitely give it a shot. Although there’s still no guarantee that the paint I might be using is the correct colour either! 😜 Andy Dave_E, Jack12477, Old Collingwood and 6 others 9 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted March 24, 2023 Share #82 Posted March 24, 2023 The other issue I have with decals for things like stripes and belly bands is that there are times when you have to paint similar colors elsewhere on the model which don't have decals, so you are forced to try and match the paint job with the decal sections which isn't very easy and almost looks worse if you have two colors that are close but not identical. Anyway, great job Andy! CDW, Canute, mtaylor and 8 others 11 Quote Mike Current Wooden builds: Amati/Victory Pegasus MS Charles W. Morgan Euromodel La Renommèe Plastic builds: Hs129B-2 1/48 SB2U-1 Vindicator 1/48 Five Star Yaeyama 1/700 Pit Road Asashio and Akashi 1/700 diorama Walrus 1/48 and Albatross 1/700 Special Hobby Buffalo 1/32 IJN Notoro 1/700 Akitsu Maru 1/700 Completed builds : Caldercraft Brig Badger Amati Hannah - Ship in Bottle Pit Road Hatsuzakura 1/700 Hasegawa Shimakaze 1:350 F4B-4 and P-6E 1/72 Accurate Miniatures F3F-1/F3F-2 1/48 Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat built as FM-1 1/48 Special Hobby Buffalo 1/48 Eduard Sikorsky JRS-1 1/72 Citroen 2CV 1/24 - Airfix and Tamiya Entex Morgan 3-wheeler 1/16 Terminated build: HMS Lyme (based on Corel Unicorn) On the shelf: Euromodel Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde; Caldercraft Victory; too many plastic ship, plane and car kits Future potential scratch builds: HMS Lyme (from NMM plans); Le Gros Ventre (from Ancre monographs), Dutch ship from Ab Hoving book, HMS Sussex from McCardle book, Philadelphia gunboat (Smithsonian plans) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 26, 2023 Author Share #83 Posted March 26, 2023 Thanks again everyone! The lettering is tentatively finished. As I did with my Hurricane, I laser printed the registration number on blank decal paper. As long as I keep choosing to model airplanes with black painted numbers, I can do this as many times as I like. The font is about as close as I could get and the "1" in 518 is actually a lower case "L", but overall I'm happy. The only spot where I have questions is the stencil located inboard of the underside roundels. It reads "Check Firing Contacts Before Connecting Leads". After I had applied them and figured out what they said, it got me wondering if these stencils are specific to rocket firing Typhoons or were they applied to all Typhoons, regardless. If anyone has information, please let me know. I haven't sealed the decals yet, so removal is still easy. Andy CDW, ccoyle, Landlubber Mike and 8 others 11 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egilman Posted March 26, 2023 Share #84 Posted March 26, 2023 41 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said: got me wondering if these stencils are specific to rocket firing Typhoons or were they applied to all Typhoons, regardless. All Typhoons had the capability of firing rockets, they were designed from the start as tank busters, ground support aircraft..... Old Collingwood, Canute, mtaylor and 4 others 7 Quote Current Build: F-86F-30 Sabre by Egilman - Kinetic - 1/32nd scale In the Garage: East Bound & Down, Building a Smokey & the Bandit Kenworth Rig in 1/25th scale Completed: M8A1 HST 1930 Packard Boattail Speedster M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer F-4J Phantom II Bell H-13's P-51B/C Temporary Suspension: USS Gwin DD-433 F-104C Starfighter "Blue Jay Four" 1/32nd Scale Terminated Build: F-104C Starfighter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: "Relish Today, Ketchup Tomorrow" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 26, 2023 Author Share #85 Posted March 26, 2023 1 hour ago, Egilman said: All Typhoons had the capability of firing rockets, they were designed from the start as tank busters, ground support aircraft..... Yes and no. Designed at the outset as a pure fighter (the prototype Typhoon was equipped with 12 .303 brownings), there were performance issues that ultimately made it lacklustre in that role. In the fighter-bomber role, while the Typhoon could carry either bombs or rockets (and were initially designed to be interchangeable), the skills needed to effectively deliver each type of munition were different. The British found it was more efficient and effective for each squadron or wing to specialize in one or the other. All of 143 wing (RCAF) airplanes were bomb carriers from the outset of their transfer to Britain. So I think my question still stands, would that stencil have still been applied to an airplane that, while capable, would not, foreseeably, have been equipped with rockets? I doubt the factories would have applied anything. I think any fitting out would have been done at the various maintenance units, in preparation for whatever frontline unit the aircraft was destined for. Andy Old Collingwood, mtaylor, Jack12477 and 3 others 6 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egilman Posted March 26, 2023 Share #86 Posted March 26, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, realworkingsailor said: Yes and no. Well your correct, it was designed as a 400kt+ interceptor to counter the FW-190 which was kicking Spitfire tail when it was introduced... and once the aircraft was proved, the air ministry pre-ordered 1,000 craft... but that order was never completed they were the Typhoon Mk 1A's... It's issue were engine and structural related which made it's fighter role problematic... The aircraft was redesigned with improved engines and cannons rather than machine guns and structural improvements which weren't completely successful... (the Typhoon Mk 1B) The typhoon had a bad reputation for shedding its tail in flight... Although they got that issue down to acceptable levels, it never completely went away... During '42, the Germans developed a new tactic using the FW 190 as fighter bombers launching low level harassing raids on the southern english coast... the Typhoon achieved it first small run of success during this period where it managed to intercept and shoot down many of the fw-190's, but I believe this was because of the 190's overloaded condition.... After that partial success, it was decided because of it's low level flying characteristics, fast and heavy armament load... They decided to try it out as a fighter bomber.. so mounts were installed in the wings to accept bombs or rockets, the rocket launchers and bomb racks used the same mount and firing circuitry... the intention was to field mixed units of rocket and bomb armed aircraft to do low level sweeps over enemy territory... In practice though, this idea was found to be impractical, as both dropping bombs and firing rockets on target took completely different skillsets, so they broke the bomb and rocket aircraft into separate squadrons flying form the same airbases... In this role the Typhoon Mk1B was a huge success... (although is still had the structural issues that were never fully resolved, and an engine that was underpowered and not completely reliable which was also never fully resolved) But yes all typhoons (except for a few early Mk1A's remaining) were bomb and rocket capable, and both types, bombs/rockets, used the same electrical firing circuits, so yes they all would have the stencil... (even the Mk1A's that were brought up to Mk1B standards) it didn't matter if they were a rocket or bomb equipped typhoon... (By D-Day, the RAF's 2nd TAF fielded 11 RP ("Rockphoon") squadrons and seven "Bombphoon" squadrons. I can keep digging up more, but British aircraft are not my strong suit.... You are correct brother, it was not designed as a fighter-bomber, I though it was... But it became very clear that ground attack was it's very best role... (and it became the basis of the Hawker Tempest, which was the best Fighter Bomber of the war bar none... (with all due respect to the IL-2 and P-47 crowd {chuckle}) Edited March 26, 2023 by Egilman Edwardkenway, Old Collingwood, Canute and 4 others 7 Quote Current Build: F-86F-30 Sabre by Egilman - Kinetic - 1/32nd scale In the Garage: East Bound & Down, Building a Smokey & the Bandit Kenworth Rig in 1/25th scale Completed: M8A1 HST 1930 Packard Boattail Speedster M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer F-4J Phantom II Bell H-13's P-51B/C Temporary Suspension: USS Gwin DD-433 F-104C Starfighter "Blue Jay Four" 1/32nd Scale Terminated Build: F-104C Starfighter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: "Relish Today, Ketchup Tomorrow" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 26, 2023 Author Share #87 Posted March 26, 2023 I’ve been doing as much digging on my own as I can, the only real reference that I can find is from a decal company called aviaeology. In their aircraft stencil set for the Typhoon, they are ambivalent on the status of that particular stencil. From what they say, definitely present in rocket Typhoons, maybe/maybe not for bombphoons… In all honesty it’s enough ambiguity for me to leave things as they are, but my curiosity is still piqued… Andy Landlubber Mike, mtaylor, Edwardkenway and 5 others 8 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egilman Posted March 27, 2023 Share #88 Posted March 27, 2023 9 hours ago, realworkingsailor said: the only real reference that I can find is from a decal company called aviaeology. There are references my friend... See if you can find a copy of... Thomas, Chris and Christopher Shores. The Typhoon and Tempest Story. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1988. ISBN 0-85368-878-8. Thomas, Chris. Hawker Typhoon (Warpaint Series No. 5). Husborne Crawley, Bedfordshire, UK: Hall Park Books Ltd., 2000. Shores, Christopher and Chris Thomas. Second Tactical Air Force Volume Four. Squadrons, Camouflage and Markings, Weapons and Tactics. Hersham, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., 2008. ISBN 1-906537-01-1 Chris Thomas is the guru of everything Typhoon and Tempest, there is no better source.... I'm currently looking thru my library brother to see if I have a copy of Warpaint #5.... If I do I'll let you know... Canute, CDW, Edwardkenway and 3 others 6 Quote Current Build: F-86F-30 Sabre by Egilman - Kinetic - 1/32nd scale In the Garage: East Bound & Down, Building a Smokey & the Bandit Kenworth Rig in 1/25th scale Completed: M8A1 HST 1930 Packard Boattail Speedster M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer F-4J Phantom II Bell H-13's P-51B/C Temporary Suspension: USS Gwin DD-433 F-104C Starfighter "Blue Jay Four" 1/32nd Scale Terminated Build: F-104C Starfighter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: "Relish Today, Ketchup Tomorrow" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egilman Posted March 27, 2023 Share #89 Posted March 27, 2023 (edited) Hey brother, I do have Profile Publications #81, The Hawker Typhoon.... Probably the best reference I have available.... I'll see if I can post it... I also have Wydawnicta Militaria's volume on the typhoon as well... (but it is in polish) You have a PN brother... Edited March 27, 2023 by Egilman Canute, mtaylor, Landlubber Mike and 2 others 5 Quote Current Build: F-86F-30 Sabre by Egilman - Kinetic - 1/32nd scale In the Garage: East Bound & Down, Building a Smokey & the Bandit Kenworth Rig in 1/25th scale Completed: M8A1 HST 1930 Packard Boattail Speedster M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer F-4J Phantom II Bell H-13's P-51B/C Temporary Suspension: USS Gwin DD-433 F-104C Starfighter "Blue Jay Four" 1/32nd Scale Terminated Build: F-104C Starfighter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: "Relish Today, Ketchup Tomorrow" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realworkingsailor Posted March 27, 2023 Author Share #90 Posted March 27, 2023 7 hours ago, Egilman said: Hey brother, I do have Profile Publications #81, The Hawker Typhoon.... Probably the best reference I have available.... I'll see if I can post it... I also have Wydawnicta Militaria's volume on the typhoon as well... (but it is in polish) You have a PN brother... Well received, thank you so much! Andy Canute, Jack12477, AJohnson and 2 others 5 Quote Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati Current Build: USF Confederacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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