RAF Eurofighter Typhoon, best options in 1/72

[Courageous]

I know this question that has been asked before but IIRC that was over 7 years ago.

I know very little about our front line fighter and Wiki talks of 'tranche' and 'block' but I don't know how this is indicated in the kits that were/ are produced. I have read on here that Revell was 'the' standard years ago. Is that still the case? What tranche/ block was that? What are my options for an RAF aircraft?

TIA

 

Stuart

Edited February 25, 2018 by Courageous
Amendment

[cvrle]

IIRC, if you want a RAF machine, the Hasegawa kit is the one to get. There are two Revells, one "old" new tool and a "new" new tool with a slightly simplified breakdown. The "old" new tool isn't representative of a RAF machine, but I don't know what's the "New" new tool is like.

 

Cheers!

[Courageous]

16 minutes ago, cvrle said:

if you want a RAF machine

Yes it's for an RAF machine, will have to edit my post.

[Bobski]

16 hours ago, cvrle said:

IIRC, if you want a RAF machine, the Hasegawa kit is the one to get. There are two Revells, one "old" new tool and a "new" new tool with a slightly simplified breakdown. The "old" new tool isn't representative of a RAF machine, but I don't know what's the "New" new tool is like.

 

Cheers!

Both the 2007 and 2017 tool Revell kits can be build into an RAF machine without modification. The main things that are missing are a full set of wing pylons and a decent assortment of air-to-surface weapons. The fit is a little ropey though, so it takes a bit of work to get right.

 

The Hasegawa kit fits a lot better and has better detail, except the seat, which bears only a passing resemblance to a Typhoon seat, and the exhaust nozzles, which are only provided in an "in-flight" configuration. Hasegawa has a full set of pylons, which is a big plus, and a better (but still not comprehensive) set of weapons. It's also, unfortunately, 3-4 times the price of the Revell kits... 

 

[Selwyn]

16 minutes ago, Bobski said:

Both the 2007 and 2017 tool Revell kits can be build into an RAF machine without modification. The main things that are missing are a full set of wing pylons and a decent assortment of air-to-surface weapons. The fit is a little ropey though, so it takes a bit of work to get right.

 

The Hasegawa kit fits a lot better and has better detail, except the seat, which bears only a passing resemblance to a Typhoon seat, and the exhaust nozzles, which are only provided in an "in-flight" configuration. Hasegawa has a full set of pylons, which is a big plus, and a better (but still not comprehensive) set of weapons. It's also, unfortunately, 3-4 times the price of the Revell kits... 

 

There is a slight error on the Hasegawa pylons in that they are not handed.  In real life the twin round Cartridge breeches on the side of the pylon always face outward for easy access, so  when built up the Hasegawa kit has one side of the aircraft pylons wrong with this detail situated on the inside of the pylons.

 

Selwyn

[Courageous]

Cheers guys.

In view that the Hasegawa is nearly £40, are their AM bits to correct nozzles, wing pylons, weapons, etc.

 

Stuart

[757flyer]

To follow that thought, what aftermarket ejection seat is best for the Hasegawa kit?

 

Mike

[pdsvidioman]

Pavla Models  PAVS72047 seems to be the best bet. Paul

[Bobski]

22 hours ago, Courageous said:

Cheers guys.

In view that the Hasegawa is nearly £40, are their AM bits to correct nozzles, wing pylons, weapons, etc.

 

Stuart

The only exhausts are the ones from Olimp, but the diameter is miles off and they don't fit. I had two sets and both were far too big. One option is a spare set of 'open' nozzles from the Revell kit, which will fit, or some plastic tube of the right diameter, cut to length, which you then cover with something to represent the red exhaust covers on the real aircraft.

 

The pylons aren't 'handed', as Selwyn says, but it depends on whether that's a game changer for you. If it is then you'll probably have to modify the kit pylons as I'm not aware of any decent aftermarket ones. 

 

The only weapon that is missing is Paveway IV, and the only ones I'm aware of in 1/72 are in the Olimp weapons sets for Harriers or Tornados over Afghanistan. They aren't too bad but take a bit of care to build up. 

 

14 hours ago, 757flyer said:

To follow that thought, what aftermarket ejection seat is best for the Hasegawa kit?

 

Mike

Unless you have a seat from the Revell kit, I would go with Pavla.

[onosendai]

I have to do a RAF Hasegawa EFA to present it together with mine production Schopf F59, I saw the problem of closed "inflight" exhausts and I think to do them in Cad and  print with my 3D printer, the rest I do well, unfortunately i've very little time to make plastic models.

[shatters]

What about crosskitting Revell bits onto the hasgawa one ?

 

Phil

[Courageous]

Cheers guys.

I'm a bit loathed to pay £40 for the Hasegawa then having to spend extra on seats and stuff. So what needs to be done to the Revell kit(s) to make them half decent?

And, as matter of interest, what variants do these kits build into?

 

Stuart

[Bobski]

On 2/27/2018 at 1:36 PM, Courageous said:

Cheers guys.

I'm a bit loathed to pay £40 for the Hasegawa then having to spend extra on seats and stuff. So what needs to be done to the Revell kit(s) to make them half decent?

And, as matter of interest, what variants do these kits build into?

 

Stuart

 

The Revell kit of the single-seater needs a lot of care in the assembly as the fit isn't great, but other than that it can be built up into a perfectly good RAF Typhoon out of the box, either an F2 or an FGR4. If you want to be picky then you would need to rescribe the access panel for the avionics bays either side of the fuselage as Revell use the same twin-seat fuselage mould for the single-seat and twin-seat kits. Hard to describe in words, but photo references will show what I mean. 

 

The one thing you won't be able to model from the Revell kit is the jet in a 4+4 QRA fit, because it doesn't have the outboard pylons. You can have a 2+4 fit, with 2 ASRAAM and 4 AMRAAM and a pair of wing tanks though, which is perfectly fine. You can't do any of the air-to-surface configs, other than maybe Storm Shadow, because the kit is missing most of the pylons and weapons.

 

[Silverkite]

weren't the missing pylons included in the updated box?

 

Luigi

[NealParkes]

Olimp do a resin aftermarket set, not the best quality but it does give you the pylons you need. 

[Phantome]

Guys, you can get the Hasegawa Typhoon for about £25 on eBay or Amazon or any number of Asian sellers.

 

Can't believe it's 2018 and people still pay UK retail price for Hasegawa kits

[charlie_c67]

IIRC correctly, the "old" Revell single seat Typhoon gives a reasonable representation of an F.2 example, whilst the new one due in April (?) is better for the newer FGR.4.

[Bobski]

On 3/1/2018 at 1:46 PM, Silverkite said:

weren't the missing pylons included in the updated box?

 

Luigi

I don't remember. I think the inboard pylons may have been, but not the outboard pylons.

 

16 hours ago, charlie_c67 said:

IIRC correctly, the "old" Revell single seat Typhoon gives a reasonable representation of an F.2 example, whilst the new one due in April (?) is better for the newer FGR.4.

No, that's not correct. Both kits can be made into either an F2 or an FGR4.

[Silverkite]

Thank you Bobski,did a search and it seems it comes with more pylon even though the instructions don't say a word about them

 

 

but I have both Hasegawa,Italeri and the first Revell boxing,so since I hate myself and the free space in my shelf I think I'll be fetching one more boxing of the first version and at least one box of the revised kit ^^

 

Luigi

[Selwyn]

6 hours ago, Silverkite said:

Thank you Bobski,did a search and it seems it comes with more pylon even though the instructions don't say a word about them

 

 

but I have both Hasegawa,Italeri and the first Revell boxing,so since I hate myself and the free space in my shelf I think I'll be fetching one more boxing of the first version and at least one box of the revised kit ^^

 

Luigi

Don't get confused about the pylons. The only pylons provided in this (03952) kit are the centre wing pylons and the inner wing pylons. 

 Typhoons have 4 underwing stations each side. The outermost  pair, are called Integrated tip stub pylons and are a permanent fit and usually carry only  AIM9L ASRAAM or IRIS-T missiles.

The other three underwing stations  are removable stores pylons and can be used  in several configurations.  What seems to cause confusion are the centre wing drop tanks, they have their own built in pylon so in real life to fit the tank you have to remove the stores pylon (if it's fitted).

What you have in this kit are two drop tanks, two centre wing pylons that could be fitted instead of the tanks, and two inboard  stores pylons. There are no outer wing pylons. If you look at the lower wing molding  although marked for all other underwing stations, there are no  locating holes marked on the wing for an outer wing pylon. 

 The drop tanks are an universal fit and can be either wing mounted as a pair, or alternatively a single tank can be fitted on the centre fuselage station. 

No kit or aftermarket company provides a centre fuselage pylon which is used normally to carry a laser designation pod, several different types can be seen fitted depending on national user.

 

 The Hasegawa kit actually has two sets of outboard pylons  one set are complete with a rail launcher fitted and one set are plain pylons without the launchers. go down to the  8th sprue image that shows the pylon/tanks; hase pylons   to see them.

Hope this helps,

 

Selwyn

 

Edited March 5, 2018 by Selwyn

[Vultures1]

Thank you Selwyn, I found that explanation very helpful

[Silverkite]

18 hours ago, Selwyn said:

Don't get confused about the pylons. The only pylons provided in this (03952) kit are the centre wing pylons and the inner wing pylons. 

 Typhoons have 4 underwing stations each side. The outermost  pair, are called Integrated tip stub pylons and are a permanent fit and usually carry only  AIM9L ASRAAM or IRIS-T missiles.

The other three underwing stations  are removable stores pylons and can be used  in several configurations.  What seems to cause confusion are the centre wing drop tanks, they have their own built in pylon so in real life to fit the tank you have to remove the stores pylon (if it's fitted).

What you have in this kit are two drop tanks, two centre wing pylons that could be fitted instead of the tanks, and two inboard  stores pylons. There are no outer wing pylons. If you look at the lower wing molding  although marked for all other underwing stations, there are no  locating holes marked on the wing for an outer wing pylon. 

 The drop tanks are an universal fit and can be either wing mounted as a pair, or alternatively a single tank can be fitted on the centre fuselage station. 

No kit or aftermarket company provides a centre fuselage pylon which is used normally to carry a laser designation pod, several different types can be seen fitted depending on national user.

 

 The Hasegawa kit actually has two sets of outboard pylons  one set are complete with a rail launcher fitted and one set are plain pylons without the launchers. go down to the  8th sprue image that shows the pylon/tanks; hase pylons   to see them.

Hope this helps,

 

Selwyn

 

 

Thank you Selwyn,going to use numbers now and ignoring fuselage station numbers for Aim-120 as the inner/outward thing confuses me

 

Old Revell  has stations number 1-9 (fixed)  plus 3-7 (either drop tank or Storm Shadow) and 5 (drop tank and nothing else)

 

New Revell has stations number 1-9 (fixed) plus 3-7 (either drop tank or a good amount of nothing) 4-6 (whatever is going to fit here) and 5  (drop tank and nothing else)

 

Hasegawa covered everything but once again station 5 is OK for the drop tank but not fine for a LTS system as like Revell they missed the differences

 

Am I right or I messed it up?

 

Luigi

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by Silverkite

[Selwyn]

1 hour ago, Silverkite said:

 

Thank you Selwyn,going to use numbers now and ignoring fuselage station numbers for Aim-120 as the inner/outward thing confuses me

 

Old Revell  has stations number 1-9 (fixed)  plus 3-7 (either drop tank or Storm Shadow) and 5 (drop tank and nothing else)

 

New Revell has stations number 1-9 (fixed) plus 3-7 (either drop tank or a good amount of nothing) 4-6 (whatever is going to fit here) and 5  (drop tank and nothing else)

 

Hasegawa covered everything but once again station 5 is OK for the drop tank but not fine for a LTS system as like Revell they missed the differences

 

Am I right or I messed it up?

 

Luigi

 

you messed it up!

 

Wing tanks are on stn's  5 (RH) and 6 (LH).  centre fuselage is stn-0 (they don't like using the term  "stn 13!"). Under fuselage missiles are  on stn's  9 to 12. you are reading stations as if they run from right to left,which is wrong  they  actually alternate.  RH wing have odd number  stn's, LH wing even numbers. so the  outer  missile rails are actually stn's 1 (RH) and 2 (LH)

 

Selwyn

 

[Silverkite]

Guess I got them right at first and then after checking some generic F-16 chart I messed it up

 

So

 

Revell is missing 3-4 on both kits but has 7-8 on the later boxing?Whilst Hasegawa comes with all of them 'cept the LTS one and also panels lines need a fix then it will be up to me to chose whatever keeps me afloat ^^

 

Luigi

[PhantomBigStu]

just a slight correction as well, the centre line pylon in addition to the tank can be fitted with a LITEING pod