Hasegawa 1/48 Typhoon Mk. I B

[Ran]

Hi,

 

With the Seafang stuck on a missing part (my fault) and the A-26B Invader stuck on a missing part (less my fault - as I got it off eBay) - I'm starting another build.

 

The box I happened to pull out of the stash comes from the 'cheaper' side of it - kits I got for lower prices that I plan to use as part of my training and getting more skilled process.

It's a 1/48 Typhoon - another WWII favorite with a very distinct look.

As a Hasegawa - I expect good fit and ease of build - I just hope the decals are still good to go.

 

 

 

Ran

 

[Azgaron]

Always nice with a Typhoon!

 

Håkan

 

[Ran]

You won't F&@$ing believe this.

 

Started with the cockpit. It's interesting to see the kit following the engineering of the real thing with the tubing construction of the cockpit.

 

Interim phase after some dry brushing:

 

I decided to craft my own seat belts this time. I'm using simple paper based tape and some rings I got off a crafts shop.

 

The stages:

 

 

 

 

 

Sealed with CA drops:

 

and the seat side:

 

There is a narrow slit just above the seat location on the cockpits rear bulkhead - a nice touch that can be used for the seat belts.

 

All assembled, touch up with some paints:

 

 

 

 

 

When I was dry fitting the cockpit to the fuselage parts i found out I'm MISSING A PART !@#!@#!@#!@#!@#

 

PART J4, right side panel, front of cockpit is missing

 

Checking back on the photo of the parts I took while cleaning the spruces - I saw it was missing there as well, so I was not the one who lost it.

 

NOW I HAVE three kits on hold due to missing parts.

 

Looked up in my emails - I got his kit from the same guy I got the A-26B - god bless him !@#!#!@#

 

So - if you have a spare J4, can send me a photo with scale, or know how I can get replacement parts from Hasegawa - your help will be appreciated.

 

Ran

 

[Azgaron]

Nice work with the cockpit!

 

Håkan

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Wow ... This isn't your year is it. Three great builds and all have missing parts. Keep the faith you will get through these issues and the kits will look great im sure. 

Edited July 28, 2018 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[Ran]

It's been a long while since I discovered I'm missing that part - more then 6 month.😫

I've been busy during this time - with the Sea King and the A-26B mostly.

I managed to get someone in Japan to quote me that part but as it turned out the part+shipping would have costed more then what I payed for the kit originally.

 

I needed some rest from the short run Vautour I'm building so I though I'd look again at the Typhoon.

 

Re-examining the missing part I decided to try and scratch the darn piece. I mean it can't get worse and if I fail I can always try and depict a damaged plane.

 

So - here goes, step by step:

 

Measuring and eye-balling:  

That's the missing part:         

 

I need a bulkhead - use the opposite part:         

 

Install the bulkhead and support tabs:     

                                                                

 

Check the cockpit still fits in:

 

For aircraft skin I used two thin plasticard sheets, cut to size and bent over a circular object:

 

Done:

 

Verify with the canopy on:

 

 

Looks good enough - and the build is officially back on track

 

Comments are welcomed as usual.

Best

Ran

 

 

 

 

[colin]

Hope the decals are better than my Raiden kit I'm doing, first time I've had decals like this, nothing would get them to soften and settle down. Mind you first time this has happened to me with Hasegawa, although I have heard they can be nasty sometimes

[Ran]

My Vautour is reaching its paint stages - so I need to take a break from time to time for paint to cure.

Time to move on with the Typhoon !

 

After the fuselage re-building it was the cockpit's turn to go into the fuselage parts.

I must admit I did not take that into account when starting to re-build the missing skin part and this proved to be a problem. The cockpit would not just fit in as some of the strengtheners used to glue the bulkhead in place were glues right on where the cockpit should go.

 

After some cutting, curving and cursing it all boiled down to one part of the cockpit I had to remove for it to fit it (marked on the 2nd image). Luckily this part is invisible when the fuselage is closed - so don't tell. 😉

 

 

 

and closing it up:

 

The kits wing engineering is quite cool - it kind of slides into place - with huge gaps in the wing roots - which had to be manually squeezed and held while the glue cured.

 

 

And this too starts looking like an airplane:

 

 

That's it for this weekend.

Comments are welcomed as always.

Best

Ran

 

[Ran]

I had just a little time this week end - and most of it was dedicated to pre-painting.

 

Started with filling some seems and trenches:

 

Then sprayed Gray Stynylrez primer - it did not shoot too well, and was hard to spot over the gray plastic but it did reveal some places that needed some extra care.

 

Puttied and sanded again:

 

 

Then decided to use White Stynylrez primer:

 

 

The Typhoon had yellow strips on its leading edges. Airbrushing yellow is a night mare so I decided to check two options:

- On the left wing - I brushed some Oilbrusher AMMO Yellow

- On the right wing - directly brush some enamel Model Master 1707 Chrome Yellow FS13538

I may keep these two different yellows - as an internal joke.

 

 

 

So - the yellow needs to dry before I can continue - so this won't happen this weekend.

Best

Ran

 

[Ran]

Well .... its been almost two and a half months since the last update.
The build is done - as I spent all available time building and none writing 

 

So here comes....

 

Last time I updated - the yellow stripes were drying in preparation to painting.

 

My first move was painting the underside. After sifting through my paint warehouse I opted for PolyScale 505346 Isreal Gray. This is not exaclty what the paint scheme calls for but I do have a bunch of these and wanted to use them.

 

 

As part of the work was done during the night - it was no surprise that I forgot to pre-shade @#@#$#

So my next step was pre-shading - and I had a lot of fun with the Tamyia X-18 Semi-gloss black. I managed to dillute it just right and the airbrush was clean and the stars were aligned and it shoot straight and smooth.

 

 

Next came the base layer of the scheme - Tamyia XF-22 RLM Gray was selected. The airbrush gods smiled again I was able to cover easily and still maintain the effect of the pre-shading:

 

 

Next was the green. I scaled up and then printed the paint scheme, cut and placed the parts on the model. As it turns out - the scheme on the different views (top, side) in the instructions does not really match, and some creative stitching was needed.

 

 

 

When it came to painting - I spent hours trying to match the Mr. Hobby 307 using a lot of internet research. Could not find a match or even a close enough replacement. This led me to re-search the paint stock - and there it was - a single bottle of Mr. Color 307. Again I was lucky as far as airbrushing and the paint shoot like a dream.

 

 

 And the magical moment when the mask goes off:

 

I tried to use a Florry Wash on the underside - but it was just a disaster and opted instead for a Tamyia+Future+Water one, which gave better results.

 

for the top side the white Florry Wash worked like a charm:

 

I was starting to gear up for decaling - and noticed to my surprise that the white part of the invation stripes needs to be painted `)

So here goes with a Tamiya White:

In-spite of the protecting masking - some over-spray did make its way to the model.

Forgetting to paint the white stripes was the first sign of losing the mojo of this build.

 

The instrument panel decal went down very easy on the beginning of the build and nothing prepared me for what's next.

I started with the wing roundels. Cut them carefully, filled up the little water tab, put them in, waited for a couple of minutes and tried to place them. Nada - won't budge from the paper.

Waited, waited and waited some more. Nothing.

Started to get wee weed off, started to read about stuck decals, started to search the net for aftermarket decal sheets that can be shipped fast and cheap (none )

Just before I decided to trash the kit to the wall - I decided to try another decal. Cut of the black strips and put them in the water. After a long while I decided to change to hot water and after some more minutes them black strips started to respond to my increasingly more insisting pushing and shoving.

To cut a very long story short - all decals came off eventually, the roundels just minutes before I decided to paint the darn thing. It took me three 1.5h sittings.

The main problem is that the decals showed this very strange phenomena after being put on the model:

This improved only marginally after a lot of Micro Sol.

Some of them became very sensitive to touch:

 

But all in all most of them did the job right - just killed what was left of my mojo for this build completely off.

 

 

Then came the landing gears, then came the stores, then came the canopy making off and a bunch of more.

 

And it was time to call it a day !!!

 

Some quick previews to the Ready for Inspection:

 

 

 

 

 

Comments are welcomed

Ran

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Good looking Tiffy !  ... Ive not seen that happen to decals before ? 

[Ran]

Thanks @Corsairfoxfouruncle

As this kit was picked up off eBay I assume the decals are O L D and were not kept in good condition through their life.

It either this or they were cursed @@#$

 

I had to soak them for long time in warm water and then dislodge them from the paper backing with my finger applying firm but even side pressure. As the decals are thick I was able to do that without ripping them apart.

 

Ran

Edited May 21, 2019 by Ran

[Ran]

Final pictures posted at RFI: