Maginot

Splendid result. Great choice of less usual subject. Love the colour, depth and movement of the modelled sea.

Superb modelling.

That's a great result. Worthy subject for a model, the old Ceres. Love the popped slats. In these nasty Covid times, I'd be sorely tempted to refer to it as The Super Spreader. Cheers!

That's an inspirational effort. Very nice little model indeed.

What a brilliant thread, @Tokyo Raider. And Edgar's posts, which are preserved for posterity and linked on Page 1. Very interesting. I have begun building the 1/48 Tamiya Swordfish seaplane, so this information is very handy and will be applied to the Pegasus exhaust collector ring. Thank you all contributors. There are some great pics in this thread, but no more evocative than the Beaufighter languishing at Lord Mayor's Children's Camp, Portsea, down the bay south of Melbourne. You might be interested or relieved to know that this was rescued in the early 1960s and restored by Australian Aircraft Restoration Group at Moorabbin Airport. I volunteered there in my early teens and if memory serves, I spent hours in the blazing sun rubbing down paint on the wings with wet-and-dry. I can't recall paying much attention to the exhaust collector rings %~)) DAP Mk 21 Beaufighter A8-328 And to digress further, at the other end of the children's camp recreation ground is a squat cliff line with 19th century coastal battery emplacements and associated works called Fort Franklin. Grouse!

Of course it is, for goodness sakes. Got that on the bench myself. Excuse my slowness. Glad you prevailed over the hospital experience. I had a couple of very serious ops some years ago. I didn't like the surgeons and doctors, but the nurses were outstanding. We had a great time. One came up to me as I was wheeled out of intensive care and said; "Thanks, John. We don't usually get many laughs in ICU." I have no idea what she meant %~))

Thanks @MDriskill. The Revell 1/32 kit looks very doable and it would twin very nicely with a HKModels 1/32 Mosquito that is two builds away, ceteris paribus (all things being equal). In chasing up the Revell 1/32 kit, I also came across a comparison with the MDC resin kit that @SafetyDad mentions. As he points out, very good reviews, but I don't think I'm up to taking on a resin kit, at least not yet. To digress... As you say, the price is certainly more agreeable, which is not such an issue for me now. Not that I'm rolling in moolah, you'll understand? But I'll be dead soon enough and money's not the primary variable it once was %~)) I'm enjoying a later-life renaissance and return to modelling after loosing my stash in a fire (story here if you seek a cure for insomnia). This has cleared the decks of old kits, so now I seek the best engineered models of less popular subjects, at least until my skills develop and desire for esoteric subjects becomes insatiable. I suppose the Mossie is an exception, because it's an all time favourite airframe and the HKM kit does not have longitudinal fuselage halves (que?) which I simply have to experience. I've kinda settled on 1/48 for aircraft, partly for convenience of display, partly because it's easier to build dioramas in that scale (which I've never attempted before and have a cracking idea for the Typhoon setting), and partly because I've started with the 1/48 Tamiya Fairy Swordfish seaplane that is claimed to be one of the best kits ever produced (currently in build to test this hypothesis and anyway, I just love the Stringbag). I only have a humble stash; a 1/72 Roden Zeppelin Staaken, a 1/48 Airfix Walrus and the 1/32 HKM Mossie. So I'm tempted by the 1/24 Typhoon, just to try another scale. Alas, I also have several nasty AFVs in 1/35, exclusively WW1 and interwar armoured cars, and WW2 German semi-tracks (for Dog's sake don't tell anyone). Oh, and a 1/12ish semi-scale Fokker D.VII foamie by E-flite from R/C days, assembled and hanging from the ceiling. But there are so many Tiffy kits covered here that I have a lot of toing and froing to do before I decide which to secure.

That maybe so, but the fact remains the joint was redesigned. Reference - engineering drawing at 4:54. Perhaps you could share a reference to support your claim? I'd be interested to follow up. Cheers.

What an extraordinary thread! There's more clues here than in a Poirot story. But what on Earth is TET? I Googled it and found a company that makes Imperial breakfast tea. Maybe you soak components in tea %~)) Hope you're back to full serviceability soon, Mr B.

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very much for your considered and helpful responses to this thread.

My goodness, Mr @72modeler. Thank you very much for your helpful summary ranking the kits. You certainly must like this hefty Hawker fighter. I'm developing ideas around modelling a post Normandy landing Tactical Air Force Typhoon with bubble canopy in 1/48, in a diorama depicting a forward airfield setting. If I choose the ceiling hanger in 1/24, I'll likely go the car-door canopy version.

Thank you for your comprehensive response and link, Mr. Driskill. Outstanding! Based on responses and research so far, I'm likely to choose between the Airfix 1/24 as a ceiling hanger (the only way I can keep this gargantuan) or a 1/48 kit to incorporate into a diorama. Interesting that you mention the lack of 'fish plate' tail reinforcement surface detail in the Brengun kits. This likely refers to the so called 'transport joint', where the rear-most fuselage monocoque assembly, incorporating tail surfaces, was attached to the rear fuselage monocoque structure that stretches from the tubular steel cockpit section. The joint was considered to be a poor design and was redesigned on later production Typhoons and tempests. ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/typhoon-with-tempest-tailplane.48865

If I recall correctly, Reini, the raised cockpit has a pilot safety benefit as well as improved visibility and more room for the hopper. In the unfortunate circumstance of a prang that concertinas engine and fuselage, being up and out of the way, the cockpit has a better chance of retaining structural integrity, thereby improving the pilot's chance of survival. What a cracking build, Zebra. CA-28 Ceres is a worthy and unusual subject for a model. And your 1/48 scale effort, Ianwau, is inspirational. I'm tempted to plan a 1/48 scale build sometime in the future; it's on the list. My old man showed me around his workplace on a family day in 1964; Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. All wide-eyed with wonder I was. He showed me some wings, radial engines and wooden crates full of miscellaneous components shoved into a corner behind Mirage jigs and Atar engines. My mind's eye labels these 'Ceres bits' as I vaguely recall him pointing and saying that name, I now surmise leftovers from the end of the production run. One day, he brought home an artificial horizon and another cockpit instrument that were likely either Ceres or Wirraway. I think they went to the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group, where I volunteered in my teens. Thanks for the opportunity to wander down memory lane...

At the risk of being labeled lazy, more in the hope of provoking interest and debate, I thought I'd pose the question: "What's the best Tiffy kit?" I recently subscribed to Ian Slater's Typhoon Legacy Pty. Ltd. to support, albeit in a very humble way, an utterly grouse project. I found his channel on Spewtube some time ago and highly recommend a view or two. The whole rebuild process is fascinating and immaculately presented. The insight this project provides into early 1940s aircraft structure and fabrication processes is mouthwatering. So, I have it in mind to model Hawker Typhoon 1b JP843, 609 Squadron RAF, as a kind of dedication to the project and to respond to my newly aroused awareness of this fabulous fighter. I'm very interested in your opinions of Tiffy kits that you've had a crack at, available past or present. Any scale will do. I've never built one.

Oooh! This is coming along nicely. Interesting reading your comments about Fishermans Bend, Beggsy. My Old Man worked next door at CAC when the runways were still there (and no Westgate Bridge). As a wide-eyed 9-year-old, I attended the works Christmas open day in 1964. The precinct has changed somewhat since then %~))