It has taken a bit over a year to complete but my 1/48 Hasegawa hawker Typhoon is finally done. To start off this is my second model I’ve completed since I got away from the hobby some 20+ years ago. I also regret the quality of the photos but I only have a Kodak Easy Share to operate with.
The aircraft is Serial #R8843 of Tangmere Wing flown by Wing Comdr D.J. Scott. I found it ironic that the identifier letters on the aircraft matched his initials. I ended up modeling this particular aircraft due to the fact that the kit decals curled with Solvaset and dried before I was able to catch it and salvage them. Thus there was a delay in construction until I found an aeromaster set on ebay that matched up with the paint scheme i had already painted. The kit decals were stripped off with masking tap and the new ones applied.
The build is OOB with the exception of Eduard PE seatbelts, copper wire rocket cables and the stretched sprue antennae. The overall detail and build is quite good with one exception. the kit has fuselage inserts for the cockpit area to accomodate their car door mold also. The fit of these leaves a sizable gap along the fuselage side. This was filled with a strip of styrene and Mr. Tool modeling putty and sanded smooth. My rescribing still requires some refinement but overall not bad. Additional filling was required along the wing roots.
Model Master Enamels were used throughout and was weathered with pastels, Tamiya weathering pastels and Pro Modeler washes.
I am grateful to be able to share this with you all as I am a bit remote and isolated as far as modeling goes. It’s a 100 miles to the nearest LHS and any other avid modelers. I greatly appreciate any feedback be it praise or critique as I am meerly improving my skills and enjoying a return to an immensely rewarding hobby. I wish to send out my Thanks to everyone here for all of the tips and assistance I have recieved from this forum.
Nice looking kit especially considering it has been a while since you restarted the hobby. I am on my fourth one now after about the same amount of time away. The F14 I posted was my third and I am just now getting some confidence and a little skills back. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to seeing more kits in the future.
That’s a very nice job. I would never have guessed it was only your second build since returning to the hobby. The only critique I could offer is to observe that you obviously need to build more!
Like you, I’m a “returnee” having gotten back into the hobby about a year ago after being away for over 30 years. I don’t know about your experience, but when I started looking into getting back into modeling I was blown away by all the advancements since the last time I built something. Photo etch, slide molding, truly accurate kits! Good gosh.
I’m a ship guy myself but I do make the occasional foray into warbirds when one catches my fancy or if I have a particular connection to (one of my pending projects is the “Memphis Belle”. I had the honor of meeting Col. Morgan at the Belle a number of years ago when she was on display at Mud Island. Believe me, he was one crusty old bird. I was able to get his autograph on a print of the Belle and found out that he and the co-pilot, Jim Venaris, and one of the waist gunners, Cas Nastal, would be at an air show in Millington, TN., the next day. I was able to get all three autographs on the print and it now hangs proudly in office. Since I got back into modeling I have been wanting to do a build of the Belle which would do honor to the print and those men’s memories - they are all deceased now.
You probably cruise the airplane forums and sites much more than I do. Have you read anything about the various kits of the Belle? I’d be willing to go with any B-17F kit and do a little kit bashing to get the Belle in the right configuration. If you do have any information on this I’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t mind steering me in the right direction. My e-mail is on my profile. If you should e-mail, please put something in the subject line so I won’t trash it as spam.
Once again, great work and welcome back to the hobby!
Thank you to all for the compliments. Another detail I failed to mention is that I masked the comouflage with silly putty. This worked quite well just next time I need to round the edges a bit more and airbrush in lighter coats as I feel my edges came out a bit hard.
Hear, Hear Fermis, I just really like the the brutish slugger look of the Typhoon
Yeah Doogs I recommend the silly putty over Play doh
Bob - That is an awesome story concerning the Memphis Belle. I seem to recall Revell put out a 1/72 Memphis Belle back in th 70’s. I may be mistaken as I was in high school then building rather prolifically. Although I hadn’t built anything in many years I still stayed in touch with the hobby. I’ve had a subscription to Finescale for a number of years, visit any LHS and I would still pick up a kit or tools now and then. It just took settling down in a permanent home with a dedicated modeling room to get me going again. But you are right in the amazing advancements that have been made in modeling. I now find myself picking up PE and resin detail and alternative decals for my future builds. Although my main interest is WW2 aircraft I have a nice little stash of ships to build also. In fact I’m slowly diddling away at the Hasegawa 1/700 IJN cruiser Kinugasa.
Nice job on the Typhoon, Joe. Very nice considering you are just back to building.
As an aside, it is not a coincidence that the pilot had markings the same as his initials. In the RAF that was standard practice for wing commanders. Johnnie Johnson’s Spitfire was JE J, for instance.
Thanks again for taking a look and for the compliments and encouragement.
Tony - The paints are RAF Medium Sea Gray, RAF Dark Green and RAF Ocean Gray.
Hutch - Have fun with and poat some pics. Again there were some fit issues but nothing that couldn’yt be overcome
As a note I forgot to mention that I dropped the gunsight into the fuselage and I was unable to retrieve it. Through help found here on the Forum I was able to find and order a replacement. This was an additional month and a half delay.
outstanding job, the typhoon is one of my favorite birds,its down right mean looking and dont want to be the on the receiving end of one. keep it up and thanks for shairing
