Britain's Reply (1/72 Brengun car-door Typhoon Ib)

[Procopius]

NOTE TO VISITORS FROM THE FUTURE: Build notes can be found in this post.

 

 

MRS. TATE [Mavis Tate, MP for Frome]: We were told yesterday that our Air Force was superior to the German air force, and I very much hope that is the case. But I am told there are Focke Wulf machines flying in German squadrons which are said to be in some respects superior to our fighters. I understand that our reply to the Focke Wulf is the Typhoon. I may be misinformed, but I should like to ask the Minister whether we have Typhoons flying in our fighter squadrons and whether they are over their teething troubles.

 

-- Hansard, "Production", 15 July 1942

 

 

On 30 May 1943, twenty-two Fw 190s made a low-level raid on Torquay, dropping 21 bombs, killing or seriously wounding 125 people and destroying fifty buildings. One of the raiders collided with the steeple of a Roman Catholic church and then crashed into a house, and three more were brought down by anti-aircraft guns. Reginald Palk, then a schoolboy, was digging through the rubble of St Marychurch, demolished by a bomb, when "I heard the sound of more aircraft approaching...I looked up to see the fantastic sight of RAF fighters in pursuit."

 

These were Typhoons from 257 (Burma) Squadron scrambled too late to intercept the Jabos, but now roaring after the escaping German fighters. The lead two Typhoons of the squadron's Yellow Section sighted a Fw 190 at five miles distance making for France at a speed in excess of 320 MPH.

The British fighters now went to full War Emergency Power, and the big Typhoons surged after the Fw190, closing the gap from 10,000 yards to 150, whereupon the section leader fired a one and one-half second burst from his Typhoon's four 20mm cannon. The Fw190 shuddered, flipped on its back, and crashed into a cliff on the isle of Guernsey.

 

I've always been fond of the Typhoon, something of an also-ran as far as RAF fighters go; it was unreliable and suffered from defects for almost the whole of its brief operational life, and it never really came into its own as the hoped-for Focke-Wulf killer, those laurels instead reposing upon the infinitely more beautiful Spitfire IX and the Typhoon's own younger sister, the Tempest. But in everything the Typhoon did there is for me an element of dignity and protectiveness, the air of a big man of infinite patience rolling up his sleeves as he steps forward, be it roaring after fleeing low-level raiders at speeds no German aircraft could escape or appearing out of the murk of a June morning above the 21st Panzer, confidently pushing towards the beaches of Normandy. There is a reassuring solidity to her; you know she may not be agile enough to land the hit, but you also know that when she hits, it will be hard, there'll be meaning in the blow.

I was originally going to build some Eduard Fw 190s, but that seemed a bad way to start off, and begin as you mean to continue, I always say. Plus Beard seemed to want to know how the Brengun kit goes together, and I'd just gotten another one, so it seemed like fate was telling me to do what I really wanted to do anyway.

I'm for once unsure what markings the aircraft will have.

 

The kit has decals for the Typhoon of R T P "Bob" Davidson, a rather swashbuckling Canadian ace (after being shot down, he joined a Maquis group and fought with them as a private for sometime, in addition to teaching them to play poker -- but not very well, apparently, as he won 5000 francs off of them) who also flew Blenheims over Crete and Hurricanes over Ceylon and had a remarkable set of two Italian, two Japanese, and one German aircraft claimed destroyed. He later flew Sabres on exchange with the USAF over Korea and claimed several MiG-15s damaged.

 

I also have markings from a Techmod sheet for the white-nosed Typhoon R8781, in which several pilots scored claims totalling two and one shared Bf 109. I like this one just because I think the white nose is kind of novel, and will be interesting to paint. It's also an early enough Typhoon that I wouldn't need to add the tricky-looking photoetched fishplates that Brengun thoughtfully sells seperately from the kit at a rather premium price.

Photos to come.

Edited November 15, 2016 by Procopius

[Procopius]

Here's one I built earlier:

A bad job on the canopy, which I masked with bare metal foil:

I have some Montex masks (ugh) on order, but decided to try to do it myself for this build:

As you can see, the canopy does not fit well:

That substantial gap can't be eliminated without sanding down either the canopy or the rear fuselage. Shoddy, poor work on Brengun's part, and yet no review I've seen has mentioned that the clear parts (the whole point of the car door kit) simply don't fit!

The best way I can think to describe the kit is that it's like someone made an AZ kit with Eduard's plastic.

[Stew Dapple]

...

That substantial gap can't be eliminated without sanding down either the canopy or the rear fuselage. Shoddy, poor work on Brengun's part, and yet no review I've seen has mentioned that the clear parts (the whole point of the car door kit) simply don't fit!

....

Ha, you'd almost think that they only looked at the parts in the box and that none of the reviewers actually built the kit... hey, wait a minute...!

Nice intro as usual PC, I'll be along for the ride if that's okay

Cheers,

Stew

[amblypygid]

Moi aussi. I also have a soft spot for the searchlight jawed Tiffie, PC, I know from where you're coming.

Do you know whether the gap should be filled for accuracy (surely a bit easier than sanding down)?

[CedB]

As one of my BM friends would (probably) say, Ouf! Flash on the sprue 'bars'? That's something you don't see very often...

As always Egbert I admire your ability to inspire a feeling of pride and excitement in your intros.

Although 'Bob' sounds like a fitting recipient of your attention I'm also keen to see the 'white nose' and save you some pain, although I think 'Techmod', after Stew's recent experiences, deserves a ?

Good job on the canopy masking, looks neat to me.

I'm in, of course

[rob85]

Edward did you say you had two of these kits in the stash....

I like your eduard/AZ comparison, looking at the pictures it's very fitting. The surface detail looks nice even if the flash doesn't?

I am a fan of the below marking

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234964635-interesting-car-door-typhoon-markings/

And even if you don't like the markings there are some great pictures.

I do have a soft spot for the tiffie... Your stirring first post may even get me closer to finishing my painful tiffie build!

Rob

[Beard]

I feel quite honoured that I had an influence on your build and, I'll be looking for a box, suitable for a Brengun Typhoon undertaking a journey to the USA, when I get home later.

[woody37]

Great intro, rather looking forwards to your build.

I bought the 1/24 Tiffie as I share your soft spot for the beast, but keep picking it up and putting it down again!

[rob85]

Great intro, rather looking forwards to your build.

I bought the 1/24 Tiffie as I share your soft spot for the beast, but keep picking it up and putting it down again!

Probably best for everyone if you pick it up and the put it down on your work bench 😀.... Sooner you get it out the way the quicker you get to start on the 1/24 car door release for us.... I mean you

Rob

[Christer A]

Ever since I picked up an Aviology Tiffie sheet I've felt the need to get me one of these!

Good luck with the mighty Tiffie!

[Procopius]

Do you know whether the gap should be filled for accuracy (surely a bit easier than sanding down)?

I don't think so, the canopy looks terribly tall that way, based on a photo I saw on the Airfix Tribute Forums while researching the kit. Amazingly, almost none seem to have been built.

Edward did you say you had two of these kits in the stash....

Two (well two, including one in transit from UMM-USA, along with my photoetch), plus two Airfix Typhoons. The Airfix ones are apparently slightly short and less accurate than the Brengun kit, but its wingspan is slightly short, so I guess it's just which inaccuracy you prefer to accept.

I feel quite honoured that I had an influence on your build and, I'll be looking for a box, suitable for a Brengun Typhoon undertaking a journey to the USA, when I get home later.

What!? Discouraged already? If you can build a Sword Spitfire, you can build a Brengun Typhoon. I should write a modelling book someday. "Simply Finishing Model Aircraft". Chapters include: "Applying Decals -- Rum or Whiskey?", "The Best Swears for Closing Joins", "I'm Using Expensive Paint to Look Good to My Peers", and of course, "Weathering, Why Risk It?"

Ever since I picked up an Aviology Tiffie sheet I've felt the need to get me one of these!

The sharkie-mouth one? I love that. Accuracy be damned, that sharkmouth interior is red. It looks right, and you know it and I know it.

As always Egbert I admire your ability to inspire a feeling of pride and excitement in your intros.

I'm glad I can convey that for at least one person, for that's how I feel myself.

Good job on the canopy masking, looks neat to me.

Thanks! It has some spots I'm not thrilled with, and I always have the Montex mask to fall back on, But this seemed worth a shot, and it's mostly straight lines.

I bought the 1/24 Tiffie as I share your soft spot for the beast, but keep picking it up and putting it down again!

Your arms must be getting ripped. (I really hope that's a piece of slang that's made it across the Atlantic.)

[Cookenbacher]

A mighty Typhoon from the mighty Procopius, and an excellent intro PC - I'm now a Typhoon fan (chasing down those dastardly 190's).

When does your book come out? I'm especially looking forward to the chapter "Historical and Biblical References and 1/72 Modelling: A Blending of Disciplines".

[Procopius]

When does your book come out? I'm especially looking forward to the chapter "Historical and Biblical References and 1/72 Modelling: A Blending of Disciplines".

That's in Chapter 1, "Unfortunately We Have to Work with What We Have".

[rob85]

Your arms must be getting ripped. (I really hope that's a piece of slang that's made it across the Atlantic.)

That made me laugh hard.... It's the little unexpected things that make life and comedy great

[Beard]

What!? Discouraged already? If you can build a Sword Spitfire, you can build a Brengun Typhoon. I should write a modelling book someday. "Simply Finishing Model Aircraft". Chapters include: "Applying Decals -- Rum or Whiskey?", "The Best Swears for Closing Joins", "I'm Using Expensive Paint to Look Good to My Peers", and of course, "Weathering, Why Risk It?"

I made a complete hash of the last Sword Spitfire I made, and I'm in the process of making a hash of a Sword Seafire, so of course I'm discouraged (but then I had no courage in the first place).

Do you need a co-author?

[CedB]

(He's definitely back! Great posts PC)

I'll buy the book... assuming there's a chapter called "Interior detail - why bother?".

[Navy Bird]

That is an interesting dilemma with the canopy, PC. If I understand this right, if you fill the gap, it's too tall. If you sand the fuselage down so the canopy sets properly, then it's not tall enough. So you need to find the happy medium...do you have any drawings you trust that show how high the canopy should be? Are there any aftermarket vac canopies available?

Cheers,

Bill

[Darby]

Fancy bombing Torquay! The bounders. I go fishing not far from there.

[keefr22]

Wonderful opening post again PC, seta the tone for the build perfectly!

Tally ho!

Keith

[Cookenbacher]

Can you just sand the back half of the canopy down a little, say about half-way to your masking, and then sand the corresponding portion of the fuselage a little, until the front half of the canopy frame touched the car door? You'll end up with a small step in the bottom of the canopy though - I didn't say it was good idea.

[charlie_c67]

We also need a guest chapter from Ced. "Double entendres and where to find them"....

[Procopius]

We also need a guest chapter from Ced. "Double entendres and where to find them"....

Surely "How to Pull Off a Double-Entendre"...

I've decided to try Photobucket again for hosting, as Facebook image links decay over time. Let's see how it goes.

So the Brengun gear bays are (1) composed of a multitude of parts, and (2), quite a bit thicker than the wing. The Czech companies by and large seem to be very optimistic, in the face of all evidence, even, that they can get very thin plastic out of their molds.

These aren't even all of the parts. They're supposed to float about in a sort of vague cloud and then coalesce into the form of a very detailed gear bay, according to the instructions.

I'm not really sure this part is going to go terribly well for me. I think the logical order of operation is to assemble the bits on the bay fronts, paint them and the bays, then glue together, then wreck all that work when I mask off the bays to paint the underside. (Tiffie wheel wells were silver.) Thanks to its big intake, the Typhoon requires a little more forethought than the noble Spitfire, and I also need to remember to paint the intake bits silver.

You can also see some of the surprisingly well-fitting cockpit bits. I have a vague memory of sanding down the sides for a good fit against the fuselage walls, but everything else seems pretty good.

Speaking of the fuse, I went in and cleaned it up a bit -- there are ejector pins placed thoughtfully in the troughs where the firewall and seat armour need to go. Thanks, Brengun!

I also taped up the fuselage and test-fitted the lower wing -- my memory didn't fail me, it was a bit tight, and I did a little sanding to improve the fit.

[charlie_c67]

Much better, though in my defence I am on night 4 of 5....

What's the plastic like to carve on these Brengun models? Their Yak's peaked my interest.

[Procopius]

Can you just sand the back half of the canopy down a little, say about half-way to your masking, and then sand the corresponding portion of the fuselage a little, until the front half of the canopy frame touched the car door? You'll end up with a small step in the bottom of the canopy though - I didn't say it was good idea.

Sanding down the fuselage is where my thoughts have been going. I'm a little nervous about it, though.

That is an interesting dilemma with the canopy, PC. If I understand this right, if you fill the gap, it's too tall. If you sand the fuselage down so the canopy sets properly, then it's not tall enough.

I think it's still an appropriate height if the canopy is lowered, or rather, a better way of putting what I'm trying to say: the canopy should be at the level of the coaming, not that of the turtledeck.

Are there any aftermarket vac canopies available?

Yes, and Stew kindly sent me one some time ago, but it's for an aircraft with an internal rear-view mirror.

What's the plastic like to carve on these Brengun models? Their Yak's peaked my interest.

A bit like the AZ Joypack Spitfire IX, or the Eduard Hellcat.

[CedB]

We also need a guest chapter from Ced. "Double entendres and where to find them"....

Sorry guys, I've been playing with my own parts tonight and not had time to see what you were up to. Thankfully PC has backed me up ("How to Pull Off a Double-Entendre' - is that a triple entendre?) so I needn't have worried! I'll try to get a grip in the future (fnaar fnaar!)

Great start PC. Czech instructions, don't you love 'em? I think you're on the right track assembling the bays, painting and masking, but then I've been known to be wrong... you could always brush paint them afterwards?