Revell 1/48 Eurofighter Typhoon F2 - 3sqn QRA

[Notdoneyet]

So there I was happily chopping away at a CA DeHavilland Hornet F1 for the "Best of British" GB when, as a break from parts clean up, I picked up the Revell Typhoon instructions ..... before I knew what was happening parts were off sprues and Storm Shadows were being assembled (they'll come in handy for a future Tornado GR4 build)."Ah well", I thought I might as well build the Typhoon as a quick ( ) almost OOB build .............

First off the cockpit was assembled and painted. The perceived wisdom on many forums is that the Typhoon cockpit is Dark Admiralty Grey - this is WAY too dark for the consoles which I believe are Barley Grey. I believe the Dark Admiralty Grey reference is the colour of the cockpit sidewalls. So the sidewalls were painted DAG and the consoles and IP painted Barley Grey and NATO Black.

In an attempt to minimise seams in the intake trunking the overcomplicated intake assembly was persuaded to fit into the fuselage :-

I should have used bigger "persuaders" as this was the result :-

A lot of filling and sanding later I had achieved a passable "seamless intake" and fitted my patented seamless "S curve" trunking to the intake - looks pretty good eh?

Now before you throw huge sums of money in my direction for copies of my patented extended trunking, I'll let you in on the secret. Here's a pic of the seamless trunking just before it was fitted :-

Yup, carefully painting the Revell part provides a very good illusion of what can (or can't) be seen up the intake of the real thing

The kit seat is a much better representation of the MB Mk16 than the Airwaves resin offering - it just needs the centre console (under the joystick) to be slimmed down so that the seat can fit around it. Added some Eduard belts and added it to the 'pit :-

Although the canopy is going to be closed I decided to add the mirrors (Eduard again) handles and ductwork to the sides of the canopy :-

Everything was then buttoned up and primed (used Mr Surfacer 1200 for the first time - this stuff is absolutely amazing!!!!) :-

Then sprayed with Model Master FS 36314 Flint Gray for the radome, fin tip and anti abrasion coating on leading edges (as well as noses and tails of the DASS wingtip pods). Xtracrylics Barley Grey was sprayed along panel lines and randomly over the wings and then lightened by 20% white and the remainder of the airframe sprayed. This still wasn't light enough so the whole airframe was oversprayed with a highly thinned mixture of white with a touch of Barley Grey added and then various bits given the Alclad treatment. Resulting in this :-

So that's where she is as of now. A little tidy up and then a coat of Future and it will be on with the (hundreds of) decals.

Thanks for looking and apologies for the long post. Any comments and criticism greatly appreciated.

Ian

Edited July 26, 2008 by Notdoneyet

[AnthonyWan]

She looks great Ian!

What sqdrn are yo u doing?

[AnonymousDFB1]

Nice work Ian, got one of these in the stash to do sometime.

[Bennygman]

That's looking really good Ian. The pic of the clamped fuselage is hilarious and brings back happy(?) memories of the Monogram Do 335. Shame it didn't work as you'd hoped, but great recovery with the intake 'trunking' - British ingenuity at it's best . I'm not beyond stealing a good idea so I may have to try that.

Steve.

[Mike]

Ian, and very inventive work on the trunking

[Fmk.6john]

Very nice building Ian, the Typhoon is really beginning to grow on me.

JB.

[daz greenwood]

Greta looking Tiffie, I like Tiffie's too!

[timraven1992]

I want one!

Good work, can't wait to see it done!

Cheers

Tim

[Stephen]

Nice work so far.

Stephen

[Notdoneyet]

Thanks for all the comments peeps, most appreciated

She looks great Ian!

What sqdrn are yo u doing?

Anthony, I'll be doing her as a 3 sqn F2 with the QRA fit of 4 ASRAAM, 4 AMRAAM and 2 1000L tanks. I'm scratch building the inboard ASRAAM rails ATM.

Very nice building Ian, the Typhoon is really beginning to grow on me.

JB.

JB, doesn't carrying a Typhoon around give you a poorly back? Sorry a bit of Mike humour (?) there, I'll get my

Cheers,

Ian

Edited July 27, 2008 by Notdoneyet

[Tigerausfb]

We're almost exactly at the same stage Ian. I see you've added a strip for the slime lights beneath the cockpit, I did the same. Amazing what you start to pick out staring at photos. Looking mighty fine anyway.

Cheers - Andy

Edited July 27, 2008 by Tigerausfb

[copey]

Nice work, makes me want to start mine.

Mark

[bexwh773]

Cracking cockpit there Ian and the rest looks pretty smart too, maybe I might just lift mine off the bottom of the stash.............

Bex

[Angels49]

Looking very nice, I will be waiting to see it in RFI.

[Notdoneyet]

Many thanks for all the positive comments.

We're almost exactly at the same stage Ian. I see you've added a strip for the slime lights beneath the cockpit, I did the same. Amazing what you start to pick out staring at photos. Looking mighty fine anyway.

Cheers - Andy

Andy, thanks! I also drilled out the APU exhaust and added the raised outer lip using part of a drinking straw :-

I couldn't be bothered to modify the tail exhaust as you have - perhaps when I build a "Bombphoon" with the other Typhoon in the stash .....

Nice work, makes me want to start mine.

Mark

Cracking cockpit there Ian and the rest looks pretty smart too, maybe I might just lift mine off the bottom of the stash.............

Bex

Mark & Bex, thanks, if you are contemplating building this kit :-

1. Fit the intake assembly (and intake splitter and "cheeks") to the fuselage before fitting the lower wing - it makes filling and sanding the seams inside the intakes a lot easier (or use intake blanks )
   
2. If you want the airbrake closed then remove all of the rib detail moulded on the inside of the airbrake (takes 30 secs with a Dremmel ) otherwise the airbrake will not fit over the spine.
   
3. Good luck - the fit, generally, is not what it should have been and the intake especially is overengineered IMHO. Be patient and careful and the results will be ok.
   

HTH,

Ian

[Notdoneyet]

Time for another update. I've spent the last few days labouriously applying the decals ............ While beautifully printed they didn't always adhere well, especially some of the smaller stencils so I've spent some time wondering why I have "NO STEP" stuck to my fingers. The grey used in the kit decals for serials and stencils is much too dark so after application the grey decals were oversprayed with a highly thinned mix of white with a touch of Barley Grey added.

Here's some pics - decalled pre wash and weathering :-

I created some corrected walkway markings for the wing in Powerpoint and applied those instead of the incorrect "NO STEP" kit decals :-

Here are a few pics post panel line wash and weathering of the underside. For the latter I used the excellent Windsor & Newton water soluble oils (a mix of dark grey for the dark stains and some Cadmium Yellow Hue mixed with a small amount of Burnt Sienna for the oil stains) :-

Next up work on the undercarriage, pylons and other "droppy off" pieces.

All comments and criticism welcomed.

Cheers,

Ian

[AnonymousDFB1]

Nice work Ian

[HOUSTON]

She is HELLUVA BEAUTY....

Stunning work..

Houston :

[periklis_sale]

WOW!!!

Amazing work!!

can you tell us more about the W&N water oils?

[TEZ]

Ian,

That's coming along very nicely. I especially like the weathering you've done on her.

Andrew

Edited August 6, 2008 by TEZ

[lgl007]

Wow... awesome build... I love the paint job and the weathering :-)

-Greg

[Notdoneyet]

Many thanks for the kind comments.

can you tell us more about the W&N water oils?

Periklis, as it says on the tube they are water soluble oil paints so they can be thinned with water (great for washes) and can be removed with a damp cloth/cotton bud before they dry. After they have dried they can be removed with turpentine. They really are great to work with Here's a pic of some :-

Small update - I've finished the pylons and stores - scratchbuilding the inner ASRAAM rails and a second pair of ASRAAMs to go on them :-

I'm just finishing off detailing the undercarriage legs and then it will be time to fit all the "droppy off" bits.

Thanks for looking and any comments/criticisms you may have.

Ian

Edited August 6, 2008 by Notdoneyet

[EE Lightning]

Hi Ian,

Nice one - coming along very well...Like the way you've cleaned up the joins and the subtle shading to the panel lines, very good. Looking forward to the next installment! Thanks for your posting Best wishes, Geoff

[Notdoneyet]

Thanks Geoff. I'm not sure the next installment is worth looking forward to but here it is anyway .....

Undercarriage bits detailed (I added the hydraulic lines to the main legs, the natty blue flexible hoses add a splash of colour), painted and given a grubby wash :-

Next update (later today?) should be in RFI or "Compost Corner" or wherever completed builds are supposed to go these days

Thanks for looking,

Ian

Edited August 7, 2008 by Notdoneyet

[Alan P]

Very nice build ian

should be in RFI or "Compost Corner"