Hasegawa 1/48 Typhoon mk.1b

[gaz45]

This is my first offering into this GB



Whats in the box lets take a look
Plastic in a plastic bag



Seriously some very nice detail on the sprues















X2


















A few loose parts





Nice clear parts



We'll see about the decals



Finally the instructions













Hopefully i will start this very soon has with the others i'm doing a build for the SI-FI SIG.

[gaz45]

While i'm here i'll do the history bit

The Hawker Typhoon (Tiffy in RAF slang) is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium–high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane but several design problems were encountered and it never completely satisfied this requirement.

The Typhoon was originally designed to mount twelve .303 inch (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns and be powered by the latest 2,000 hp engines. Its service introduction in mid-1941 was plagued with problems and for several months the aircraft faced a doubtful future. When the Luftwaffe brought the formidable Focke-Wulf Fw 190 into service in 1941, the Typhoon was the only RAF fighter capable of catching it at low altitudes; as a result it secured a new role as a low-altitude interceptor.

The Typhoon became established in roles such as night-time intruder and long-range fighter. From late 1942 the Typhoon was equipped with bombs and from late 1943 RP-3 rockets were added to its armoury. With those weapons and its four 20mm Hispano autocannons, the Typhoon became one of the Second World War's most successful ground-attack aircraft.



Typhoon Ib EK139 N "Dirty Dora" of 175 Sqn. being armed with "500 lb" concrete practice bombs in late 1943.
Role Fighter-bomber
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer Hawker Aircraft
Designer Sydney Camm
First flight 24 February 1940
Introduction 11 September 1941
Retired October 1945
Primary users Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force 
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Produced 1941–1945
Number built 3,317
Variants • Hawker Tornado
• Hawker Tempest
• Hawker Sea Fury

Design and development
Origins


The unarmed first prototype Typhoon P5212 taken just before its first flight. The prototype had a small tail unit and a solid fairing behind the cockpit, which was fitted with "car door" style access hatches; no inner wheel doors were fitted and the Sabre engine used three exhaust stubs either side of the cowling.

Even before Hurricane production began in March 1937, Sydney Camm had embarked on designing its successor. Two preliminary designs were similar and were larger than the Hurricane. These later became known as the "N" and "R" (from the initial of the engine manufacturers), because they were designed for the newly developed Napier Sabre and Rolls-Royce Vultureengines respectively. Both engines used 24 cylinders and were designed for over 2,000 hp (1,500 kW); the difference between the two was primarily in the arrangement of the cylinders – an H-block in the Sabre and an X-block in the Vulture. Hawker submitted these preliminary designs in July 1937 but were advised to wait until a formal specification for a new fighter was issued.
In March 1938, Hawker received from the Air Ministry, Specification F.18/37 for a fighter which would be able to achieve at least 400 mph (640 km/h) at 15,000 feet (4,600 m) and specified a British engine with a two-speed supercharger. The armament fitted was to be twelve .303 inch Browning machine guns with 500 rounds per gun, with a provision for alternative combinations of weaponry. Camm and his design team started formal development of the designs and construction of prototypes.

The basic design of the Typhoon was a combination of traditional Hawker construction (such as used in the earlier Hawker Hurricane) and more modern construction techniques; the front fuselage structure, from the engine mountings to the rear of the cockpit, was made up of bolted and welded duralumin or steel tubes covered with skin panels, while the rear fuselage was a flush-riveted, semi-monocoque structure. The forward fuselage and cockpit skinning was made up of large, removable duralumin panels, allowing easy external access to the engine and engine accessories and most of the important hydraulic and electrical equipment.
The wing had a span of 41 feet 7 inches (12.67 m), with a wing area of 279 sq ft (29.6 sq m). It was designed with a small amount of inverted gull wing bend; the inner sections had a 1° anhedral, while the outer sections, attached just outboard of the undercarriage legs, had a dihedral of 5½°. The airfoil was a NACA 22 wing section, with a thickness-to-chord ratio of 19.5% at the root tapering to 12% at the tip.

The wing possessed great structural strength, provided plenty of room for fuel tanks and a heavy armament, while allowing the aircraft to be a steady gun platform. Each of the inner wings incorporated two fuel tanks; the "main" tanks, housed in a bay outboard and to the rear of the main undercarriage bays, had a capacity of 40 gallons; while the "nose" tanks, built into the wing leading edges, forward of the main spar, had a capacity of 37 gallons each.

 Also incorporated into the inner wings were inward-retracting landing gear with a wide track of 13 ft 6¾ in.
By contemporary standards, the new design's wing was very "thick", similar to the Hurricane before it. Although the Typhoon was expected to achieve over 400 mph (640 km/h) in level flight at 20,000 ft, the thick wings created a large drag rise and prevented higher speeds than the 410 mph at 20,000 feet (6,100 m) achieved in tests. The climb rate and performance above that level was also considered disappointing. When the Typhoon was dived at speeds of over 500 mph (800 km/h), the drag rise caused buffeting and trim changes. These compressibility problems led to Camm designing the Typhoon II, later known as the Tempest, which used much thinner wings with a laminar flow airfoil.


Prototypes


The second prototype P5216 in the standard RAF camouflage of 1941, possibly with yellow undersurfaces. The retractable tailwheel and main wheels now had doors fitted. Six exhaust stubs and the later standardised four cannon armament were other changes from P5212.

The first flight of the first Typhoon prototype, P5212, made by Hawker's Chief test Pilot Philip Lucas from Langley, was delayed until 24 February 1940 because of the problems with the development of the Sabre engine. Although unarmed for its first flights, P5212 later carried 12 .303 in (7.7 mm) Brownings, set in groups of six in each outer wing panel; this was the armament fitted to the first 110 Typhoons, known as the Typhoon IA. P5212 also had a small tail-fin, triple exhaust stubs and no wheel doors fitted to the centre-section. On 9 May 1940 the prototype had a mid-air structural failure, at the join between the forward fuselage and rear fuselage, just behind the pilot's seat. Philip Lucas could see daylight through the split but instead of bailing out, landed the Typhoon and was later awarded the George Medal.

On 15 May, the Minister of Aircraft Production, Lord Beaverbrook, ordered that resources should be concentrated on the production of five main aircraft types (the Spitfire and Hurricane fighters and the Whitley, Wellington and Blenheim bombers). As a result, development of the Typhoon was slowed, production plans were postponed and test flying continued at a reduced rate.

As a result of the delays the second prototype, P5216, first flew on 3 May 1941: P5216 carried an armament of four belt-fed 20 mm (0.79 in) Hispano Mk II cannon, with 140 rounds per gun and was the prototype of the Typhoon IB series. In the interim between construction of the first and second prototypes, the Air Ministry had given Hawker an instruction to proceed with the construction of 1,000 of the new fighters. It was felt that the Vulture engine was more promising, so the order covered 500 Tornadoes and 250 Typhoons, with the balance to be decided once the two had been compared. It was also decided that because Hawker was concentrating on Hurricane production, the Tornado would be built by Avro and Gloster would build the Typhoons at Hucclecote. Avro and Gloster were aircraft companies within the Hawker Siddeley group. As a result of good progress by Gloster, the first production Typhoon R7576 was first flown on 27 May 1941 by Michael Daunt, just over three weeks after the second prototype.


Operational service

Low-level interceptor


A Mark IB Typhoon US-A in April 1943. It was flown by Squadron LeaderT.H.V Pheloung (New Zealand).

An 18-inch-wide (460 mm) yellow recognition stripe is visible on the upper wing.
In 1941, the Spitfire Vs, which equipped the bulk of Fighter Command squadrons, were outclassed by the new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and suffered many losses. The Typhoon was rushed into service with Nos. 56 and 609 Squadrons in late 1941, to counter the Fw 190. This decision proved to be a disaster and several Typhoons were lost due to unknown causes and the Air Ministry began to consider halting production of the type.
In August 1942, Hawker's second test pilot, Ken Seth-Smith, while deputising for Chief Test Pilot Philip Lucas, carried out a straight and level speed test from Hawker's test centre at Langley, and the aircraft broke up over Thorpe, killing the pilot. Sydney Camm and the design team immediately ruled out pilot error, which had been suspected in earlier crashes. Investigation revealed that the elevator mass-balance had torn away from the fuselage structure. Intense flutter developed, the structure failed and the tail broke away. Modification 286 to the structure and the control runs partially solved the structural problem. (The 1940 Philip Lucas test flight incident had been due to an unrelated failing.) Mod 286, which involved fastening external fishplates, or reinforcing plates, around the tail of the aircraft, and eventually internal strengthening, was only a partial remedy, and there were still failures right up to the end of the Typhoon's service life. The Sabre engine was also a constant source of problems, notably in colder weather, when it was very difficult to start, and it suffered problems with wear of its sleeve valves, with consequently high oil consumption. The 24-cylinder engine also produced a very high-pitched engine note, which pilots found very fatiguing.

The Typhoon did not begin to mature as a reliable aircraft until the end of 1942, when its excellent qualities — seen from the start by S/L Roland Beamont of 609 Squadron — became apparent. Beamont had worked as a Hawker production test pilot while resting from operations, and had stayed with Seth-Smith, having his first flight in the aircraft at that time. During late 1942 and early 1943, the Typhoon squadrons were based on airfields near the south and south-east coasts of England and, alongside two Spitfire XII squadrons, countered the Luftwaffe's "tip and run" low-level nuisance raids, shooting down a score or more bomb-carrying Fw 190s. Typhoon squadrons kept at least one pair of aircraft on standing patrols over the south coast, with another pair kept at "readiness" (ready to take off within two minutes) throughout daylight hours. These sections of Typhoons flew at 500 feet (150 m) or lower, with enough height to spot and then intercept the incoming enemy fighter-bombers. The Typhoon finally proved itself in this role; for example, while flying patrols against these low-level raids, 486(NZ) Squadron claimed 20 fighter-bombers, plus three bombers shot down, between mid-October 1942 and mid-July 1943.

The first two Messerschmitt Me 210 fighter-bombers to be destroyed over the British Isles fell to the guns of Typhoons in August 1942. During a daylight raid by the Luftwaffe on London on 20 January 1943, four Bf 109G-4s and one Fw 190A-4 of JG 26 were destroyed by Typhoons. As soon as the aircraft entered service, it was apparent the profile of the Typhoon resembled a Fw 190 from some angles, which caused more than one friendly fire incident involving Allied anti-aircraft units and other fighters. This led to Typhoons first being marked up with all-white noses, and later with high visibility black and white stripes under the wings, a precursor of the markings applied to all Allied aircraft on D-Day.

Switch to ground attack


Rare wartime colour photograph of an unidentified Typhoon in 1943 showing the black and white indentification stripesunder the wings

By 1943, the RAF needed a ground attack fighter more than a "pure" fighter and the Typhoon was suited to the role (and less-suited to the pure fighter role than competing aircraft such as the Spitfire Mk IX). The powerful engine allowed the aircraft to carry a load of up to two 1,000 pounds (450 kg) bombs, equal to the light bombers of only a few years earlier. The bomb-equipped aircraft were nicknamed "Bombphoons" and entered service with No. 181 Squadron, formed in September 1942.

From September 1943, Typhoons were also armed with four "60 lb" RP-3 rockets under each wing. In October 1943, No. 181 Squadron made the first Typhoon rocket attacks. Although the rocket projectiles were inaccurate and took considerable skill to aim and allow for ballistic drop after firing, "the sheer firepower of just one Typhoon was equivalent to a destroyer's broadside. By the end of 1943, eighteen rocket-equipped Typhoon squadrons formed the basis of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) ground attack arm in Europe. In theory, the rocket rails and bomb-racks were interchangeable; in practice, to simplify supply, some 2nd TAF Typhoon squadrons (such as 198 Squadron) used the rockets only, while other squadrons were armed exclusively with bombs (this also allowed individual units to more finely hone their skills with their assigned weapons).

By the Normandy landings in June 1944, 2 TAF had eighteen operational squadrons of Typhoon IBs, while RAF Fighter Command had a further nine. The aircraft proved itself to be the most effective RAF tactical strike aircraft, on interdiction raids against communications and transport targets deep in North Western Europe prior to the invasion and in direct support of the Allied ground forces after D-Day. A system of close liaison with the ground troops was set up by the RAF and army: RAF radio operators in vehicles equipped with VHF R/T travelled with the troops close to the front line and called up Typhoons operating in a "Cab Rank", which attacked the targets, marked for them by smoke shells fired by mortar or artillery, until they were destroyed.


198 Sqn. Typhoons on airfield B10/Plumetot, France, in July 1944. MN526 TP-V has the larger Tempest tailplane and a four-bladed propeller. A heavy dust cloud has been stirred up by the taxiing aircraft.
Against some of the Wehrmacht's heavier tanks, the rockets needed to hit the thin-walled engine compartment or the tracks to have any chance of destroying or disabling the tank. Analysis of destroyed tanks after the Normandy battle showed a "hit-rate" for the air-fired rockets of only 4%. In Operation Goodwood (18 to 21 July), the 2nd Tactical Air Force claimed 257 tanks destroyed. A total of 222 were claimed by Typhoon pilots using rocket projectiles. Once the area was secured, the British "Operational Research Section 2" analysts could confirm only ten out of the 456 knocked out German AFVs found in the area were attributable to Typhoons using rocket projectiles.

At Mortain, in the Falaise pocket, a German counter-attack that started on 7 August threatened Patton's break-out from the beachhead; this counter-attack was repulsed by 2nd Tactical Air Force Typhoons and the 9th USAAF. During the course of the battle, pilots of the 2nd Tactical Air Force and 9th USAAF claimed to have destroyed a combined total of 252 tanks. Only 177 German tanks and assault guns participated in the battle and only 46 were lost – of which nine were verified as destroyed by Typhoons, four percent of the total claimed.
The effect on the morale of German troops caught up in a Typhoon RP and cannon attack was decisive, with many tanks and vehicles being abandoned, in spite of superficial damage, such that a signal from the German Army's Chief of Staff stated that the attack had been brought to a standstill by 13:00 '...due to the employment of fighter-bombers by the enemy, and the absence of our own air-support. The 20 mm cannon also destroyed a large number of (unarmoured) support vehicles, laden with fuel and ammunition for the armoured vehicles. On 10 July at Mortain, flying in support of the US 30th Infantry Division, Typhoons flew 294 sorties in the afternoon that day, firing 2,088 rockets and dropping 80 short tons (73 t) of bombs. They engaged the German formations while the US 9th Air Force prevented German fighters from intervening. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, said of the Typhoons; "The chief credit in smashing the enemy's spearhead, however, must go to the rocket-firing Typhoon aircraft of the Second Tactical Air Force... The result of the strafing was that the enemy attack was effectively brought to a halt, and a threat was turned into a great victory."
Another form of attack carried out by Typhoons was "Cloak and Dagger" operations, using intelligence sources to target German HQs. One of the most effective of these was carried out on 24 October 1944, when 146 Typhoon Wing attacked a building in Dordrecht, where senior members of the German 15th Army staff were meeting; 17 staff officers and 36 other officers were killed and the operations of the 15th Army were adversely affected for some time afterwards.


Armourers loading RP-3 rockets with 60 lb High Explosive heads onto steel Mk. I rails. The large hinged gun bay doors are open. The weathered Invasion stripes are on upper and lower wing surfaces, indicating this photo was taken some time in June 1944.
On 24 March 1945, over 400 Typhoons were sent on several sorties each, to suppress German anti-aircraft guns and Wehrmacht resistance to Operation Varsity, the Allied crossing of the Rhine that involved two full divisions of 16,600 troops and 1,770 gliders sent across the river. On 3 May 1945, the Cap Arcona, the Thielbek and the Deutschland, large passenger ships in peacetime now in military service, were sunk in four attacks by RAF Hawker Typhoon 1Bs of No. 83 Group RAF, 2nd Tactical Air Force: the first by 184 Squadron, second by 198 Squadron led by Wing Commander John Robert Baldwin, the third by 263 Squadron led by Squadron Leader Martin T. S. Rumbold and the fourth by 197 Squadron led by Squadron Leader K. J. Harding.
The top-scoring Typhoon ace was Group Captain J. R. Baldwin (609 Squadron and Commanding Officer 198 Squadron, 146 (Typhoon) Wing and 123 (Typhoon) Wing), who claimed 15 aircraft shot down from 1942 to 1944. Some 246 Axis aircraft were claimed by Typhoon pilots during the war.
3,317 Typhoons were built, almost all by Gloster. Hawker developed what was originally an improved Typhoon II, but the differences between it and the Mk I were so great that it was effectively a different aircraft, and was renamed the Hawker Tempest. Once the war in Europe was over Typhoons were quickly removed from front-line squadrons; by October 1945 the Typhoon was no longer in operational use, with many of the wartime Typhoon units such as 198 Squadron being either disbanded or renumbered.


Modifications 1941–1945

A Charles E. Brown photo of EK286, "Fiji V, Morris Headstrom Fiji" a brand-new presentation aircraft, at Gloster's Hucclecote airfield, April 1943. The photo gives a clear view of the "car-door" cockpit entry; the rear view mirror under a perspex blister can be seen on the hinged canopy roof.
As was usual with many front line Second World War RAF aircraft, the Typhoon was modified and updated regularly, so that a 1945 production example looked quite different from one built in 1941. In the last months of the war, a number of older aircraft were taken out of storage and overhauled, sometimes seeing active service for the first time; for example, R7771 was from one of the first production batches, built in 1942 with the car-door canopy and other early production features. This Typhoon was delivered to, and served on the Fighter Interception Unit in 1942. In February 1945 R7771 was listed as being in front line service on 182 Sqn.; by then it was fitted with a clear-view "bubble" hood, rocket rails and other late series features.

Carbon monoxide seepage
The first problem encountered with the Typhoon after its entry into service was the seepage of carbon monoxide fumes into the cockpit. In an attempt to alleviate this, longer exhaust stubs were fitted in November 1941 ("Mod [modification] 239"), and at about the same time the port (left) cockpit doors were sealed. The Pilot's Notes for the Typhoon recommended that "Unless Mod. No. 239 has been embodied it is most important that oxygen be used at all times as a precaution against carbon monoxide poisoning." Despite the modifications, the problem was never entirely solved, and the standard procedure throughout the war was for Typhoon pilots to use oxygen from engine start-up to engine shut down. In addition to carbon monoxide seepage, pilots were experiencing unpleasantly high cockpit temperatures; eventually a ventilation tube helped alleviate, but did not solve the problem. In addition two small, rear opening vents were added below the port side radio hatch, just below the canopy.

Tail
A major problem, afflicting early production Typhoons in particular, was a series of structural failures leading to loss of the entire tail sections of some aircraft, mainly during high-speed dives. Eventually a combination of factors was identified, including harmonic vibration, which could quickly lead to metal fatigue, and a weak transport joint just forward of the horizontal tail unit. The loss of the tailplane of R7692 (having only 11 hours of flight recorded) on 11 August 1942, in the hands of an experienced test pilot (Seth-Smith), caused a major reassessment which concluded that the failure of the bracket holding the elevator mass balance bell crank linkage had allowed unrestrained flutter which led to structural failure of the fuselage at the transport joint.
Starting in September 1942, a steel strap was fitted internally across the rear fuselage transport joint, although this was soon superseded by Mod 286 (modification number 286), in which 20 alloy "fishplates" were riveted externally across the rear fuselage transport joint, while internally some of the rear fuselage frames were strengthened. This was a permanent measure designed to stop rear fuselage structural failures and was introduced on the production line from the 820th aircraft; between December 1942 and March 1943, all Typhoons without Mod 286 were taken out of service and modified. Modified balance weight assemblies were fitted from May 1943. Finally the entire unit was replaced with a redesigned assembly from August 1944.
Although these modifications reduced the numbers of Typhoons being lost due to tail assembly failure, towards the end of the Typhoon's life there were more tail failures, this time caused by a change to the undercarriage latch mechanism in late 1944; in high-speed flight the undercarriage fairings were pulled into the slipstream, creating an uneven airflow over the elevators and rudder resulting in tailplane and then rear fuselage structural failure. In total 25 aircraft were lost and 23 pilots killed due to tail failures.

Canopy

Late model Typhoon of 440 (RCAF) Squadron. Note the bomb rack under the wing. Rows of five gallon jerrycansdominate the foreground
The Typhoon was first produced with forward-opening "car door" style cockpit doors (complete with wind-down windows), with a transparent "roof" hinged to open to the left. The first 162 Typhoons featured a built-up metal-skinned dorsal fairing behind the pilot's armoured headrest; the mast for the radio aerial protruded through the fairing. From mid- to late 1941 the solid metal aft dorsal fairing was replaced with a transparent structure (later nicknamed "The Coffin Hood"), the pilot's head armour plate was modified to a triangular shape and the side cut-outs were fitted with armoured glass; the first production Typhoon to be fitted with this new structure was R7803. All earlier aircraft were quickly withdrawn and modified. From early 1942 a rear-view mirror was mounted in a perspex blister moulded into the later "car-door" canopy roofs. This modification was not very successful, because the mirror was subject to vibration. Despite the new canopy structure, the pilot's visibility was still restricted by the heavy frames and the clutter of equipment under the rear canopy; from August 1943, as an interim measure, pending the introduction of the new "bubble" canopy and cut-down dorsal fairing, the aerial mast and its associated bracing was removed and replaced with a whip aerial further back on the rear fuselage.
Starting in January 1943, R8809 was used to test a new, clear, one piece sliding "bubble" canopy and its associated new windscreen structure which had slimmer frames which, together with the "cut-down" rear dorsal fairing, provided a far superior all-around field of view to the car-door type. From November 1943 all production aircraft, starting with JR333, were to be so fitted. However, the complex modifications required to the fuselage and a long lead time for new components to reach the production line meant that it took some time before the new canopy became standard. To have as many Typhoons of 2nd TAF fitted before "Operation Overlord" conversion kits were produced and Gloster, Hawker and Cunliffe-Owen modified older Typhoons still fitted with the car-door canopy.

[DBMiller]

Welcome!

[gaz45]

So time to make a start

The tools i will start with



In this section i aim to have the cockpit finished and close up the fuselage (hopefully)

The cockpit parts have all been cleaned up and there is a couple of IPM's which i will fill with some vallejo plastic putty just on the off chance they will be seen ( but i doubt it once the fuselage is buttoned up) and once dry they will be sanded smooth. then assembled.









I decided to glue in place the side parts to the fuselage prior to priming and painting so i hope these will line up well.



These were then primed in Ultimate grey and black primer once this was dry it was painted up in Tamiya xf-5 flat green.
Once this part is dry it will have some detail painting, a little dry brushing then some weathering.



The instrument panel and the radiator will get painted up with mr hobby h-12 flat black also some dry brushing add along with the decal for the instruments



So the cockpit, instrument panel and the fuselage sides have been dry brushed with some tamiya xf-12 jn grey and a little Ultimate dark dirt wash.
I am very happy with the result so far





That is all for now in the next part i will get the fuselage buttoned up and start on the wings.
Thanks for taking a look and for your comments Happy modelling.

[gaz45]

Just a quick update.
When i was fitting the instrument panel i realized that i had the floor and pedal parts in the wrong way ( ) silly mistake on my part but i don't think this will be seen once the fuselage is fitted together.

So the fuselage is now buttoned up and there are just a couple of the seam parts that will need a little filler, this filling will be done with a little sprue goo has i think there will be a small ammout of rescribing to be done.









While set sets up and cures i will work on the wing sections.



Now on the lower half of the wings there need to be some holes drilled for the rocket supports



There are however no size for these holes indicated in the instructions so this is what i did using 1 of the supports for reference.

I started by offering up a 0.85mm bit to the hole indications and drilling a hole then moved on to a 0.9mm bit, this was a very snug fit for the rocket supports so i figured that after priming and painting it maybe a little tight so i went a little larger using a 0.95mm bit.





The rear tail wings were then cleaned up and glued together



Once these were all dry and any seamline on the wings had been filled they were all sanded using the various grades of Ultimate sanders and then finally polished up with the Ultimate buffers.



That is it for this part in the next part i will dry fit the wings and see how the fit is and see how i will deal with this if the fit is not a good one.

Thanks for looking and any comments are appreciated has we all have something to learn.

[digger303]

Just a quick update.
When i was fitting the instrument panel i realized that i had the floor and pedal parts in the wrong way ( ) silly mistake on my part but i don't think this will be seen once the fuselage is fitted together.

Thanks for looking and any comments are appreciated has we all have something to learn.

I thought it looked strange, but I wasn't going to say anything and there low and behold you discovered it. Like you said though you would have to have a spy camera to see it later. Looking like a good build

[gaz45]

Thanks Digger

[gaz45]

After a summer break it's time to get back to this build.
The rear stabilizers have been attached



Upon test fitting the wings the fit is far from a good fit the underside does fit better than the upper side has you can see there are gaps where the upper surface meets the fuselage.
I will glue this in place where it fits just to hold this in place.





While this dries I have cleaned up the landing gear and the covers ready to be fitted once the wing roots have been sorted.



Right back to these wing roots.
I have some thin plastic card which i will cut down to fill these gaps and glue in place with some TET this i have never tried before and any further gaps will be filled with sprue glue.

So i slid some plastic card into the gaps and marked these with a pencil cut them to size and glued them in place



It did take several pieces inserted into the gaps to get it looking something like a good joint and once dried i sanded them the best i could has i said before i have never tried this before.
I know it's not perfect but i'm quite happy with it so far.







To finish off this i filled any of the remaining gaps with sprue glue and once this is dry it will be sanded again





That's all for now thanks for taking a look and for your comments.

[digger303]

Those are gappy roots, but you filled them well.
Shame cause the art work looked so nice and promising.

[gaz45]

Thank you yes the art work did look promising

[gaz45]

The landing gear structure has been cleaned up and are ready to be attached.



The wing roots and the underside seam have now been sanded and any panel lines have been rescribed useing the Tamiya rescribing tool











The landing gear has now been added minus the wheels which will be painted up seperatly and added later.





The smaller detail parts have also been added







Now for the ordinence struts and rails these are painted up in the same colour has the underside so these will be added now and the rockets will be added later when they have been painted up and any decals added.



The wheels will also get painted and added later.





For this last part the Barrel fairings have been added



I have not added the rocket pylons at this point has looking at the instructions adding these now will impede the placement of the invation stripe decals so i think i'll paint these seperatly and add them towards the end along with the exhausts and the canopy.

That's all for now thanks for taking a look and for your comments.

[mse240966]

Brilliant idea to fix those wing roots.

[gaz45]

Cheers mate it's something i remember from somewhere

[gaz45]

The canopy has been cleaned up masked and added to the fuselage after painting the inside where the canopt fits.
and primed in Ultimate grey primer along with the bombs, bomb rails and the wheels.





A few parts on the body needed a little sanding



Then reprimed



Once this was dry the underside and the bomb rail were painted with a 50-50 mix of Tamiya XF-19 sea grey to Ultimate thinner.



This will now be left to completly dry before masking for the camo.

Thanks for taking a look and for your comments.

[Tomcat64]

Another one I've just caught up on Gaz!

Very nice work - especially on how you've tackled the gappy wing roots, they look to have worked out really well.

[gaz45]

Thanks Neil i think that worked okay

[gaz45]

Right what i think i will do next is mask up the rear section and paint the duck egg green band but for this i will be using Tamiya XF-21 sky.
First time using some of the 1mm Aizu masking tape and this is a great product and so easy to use.
I will be getting more from Ultimate.















So i masked up where the invasion stripes will go using a mixture of tapes and some clingfilm.
Then layed down a base colour with a mix of tamiya XF-19 sky grey 90% and XF-26 deep green 10% and this was thinned about 50-50 with Ultimate thinner.









Once this was all dry I masked up for the 2nd camo colour for this i used some Akan BS:641 dark green.



























When this was completely dry i masked off where the invasion stripes will be and got them primed and painted.

Firstly I sprayed several light coats of the Ultimate white primer and while this dried i spayed up the wheels and the bombs in flat balck.



For the white i used some revell gloss white that i had from a previous old revell kit that i had never used and i think it came out quite well.







For the next part i will do some detail painting in the wheel wells then it will be clear coated ready for the decals, I will also prime and paint the nose and the props.

Thanks for looking in and for your comments.

[Tomcat64]

Very tidy work on all that masking Gaz - that's coming along nicely

[Kevthemodeller]

Really coming together now, great looking cam

[gaz45]

Thanks guys your comments mean a lot

[gaz45]

Right so after a little detail painting and weathering in the wheel wells using some vajello steel, tamiya flat black and some Ultimate dark dirt clay wash this was then clear coated with a 50-50 mix of tamiya x-22 to mr hobby levelling thinner in preperation for the decals.
Now the decals are what i would call a little on the thick side I used the Ultimate decal solutions and has always started with the normal then went straight to the extra strong which i think was the wrong idea ( lack of experience on my part me thinks) resulting in some of the decals breaking up ( we live and learn)











While this was drying i cleaned up the remaining parts ready for priming and painting.



The exhausts will not be primed has i will be painting these with mr metal color 212 iron then they will be buffed up.



Once these other parts were primed in Ultimate grey primer i masked off the prop tips to paint them in akan fs-33538 pale gold once dry the yellow was masked up and the main props were painted in flat black and the nose in the akan sky.















Then they were fitted.





Once again this was all clear coated.

Now ready for a wash with the Ultimate dark dirt clay wash



This was applied all over then left to dry before wiping off with some damp kitchen paper.





















The rails and the rockets were then added Then a alclad ii matt clear coat was sprayed on









Once this was all cured the masking from the canopy was removed and i think i will call this finished.













Thanks for looking in and for your comments.
I will post the final photo's in the reveal section.

[Kevthemodeller]

Love these aircraft, the weathering looking real good

[digger303]

YEP !

[AlbertD]

Looks fantastic. This is one of my favorite planes.