Airfix Typhoon 1B Dogfight Double

[VT Red Sox Fan]

2 hours ago, dogsbody said:

Looking good!

 

One small question, if I may: Why clear line for the brake lines? Would not the original be metal tubing with maybe some rubber section where it needs to bend around the oleo?

 

 

 

 

Chris

Chris, thank you for the compliment and happy to try and sort this out--obviously I messed up in how I wrote about my landing gear install—it probably got messed up with communicating about the temporary glue smudge. 
 

As you pointed out, I used clear fish line to create the brake line.  Once installed, I then painted it aluminum (it was not in my photo etch set).  I had assumed there would be a black rubber flexible piece of the brake line down by strut shock absorber, but the period photos below and Frank's book convinced me otherwise (perhaps is was overspray on the flexible part).  I am no @Chris Thomas, but painting it aluminum seemed logical and most importantly, backed up with a period photo--with my luck the Typhoon experts will come out shortly with convincing evidence to the contrary. 😎  If they do, at least it is an easy touch up--and of course would be appreciated help. Very good question and I appreciate your review of my project.   Best, Erwin

 

Period photos:

 

 

Clear fish line part:

 

Aluminum painted/pin washed line:

  

Edited April 19, 2021 by VT Red Sox Fan

[The Spadgent]

Great save on the chin. You’re really taking this to the next level. Looking fantastic. 🙌🙌🙌

 

Johnny

[VT Red Sox Fan]

3 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Great save on the chin. You’re really taking this to the next level. Looking fantastic. 🙌🙌🙌

 

Johnny

Thanks Johnny, means a lot coming from you.--Best, Erwin

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Now that I have caught up to where I was before "CA Glue Gate", it is time to put the finishing touches on the airframe--I plan on doing the weapons and prop last. 

 

For the wing tip lights I used Microscale Krystal Klear.  Basically, it just took 2 coats and the lenses turned out great.  In between the coats, I used a razor to create a small hole and colored it with appropriate wing tip color bulb.  My understanding from Frank's book and pictures on the web is the wingtip lights are overall clear with colored bulbs. 

 

Finally, I attached the photo etch step.  I found this step to be difficult as the mounting point is not well marked, or I missed the opportunity to drill a hole earlier in assembly--never-the-less, period photos and Frank's book came to the rescue for proper placement. 

 

Up next will be the weapons and prop.  Thank you all for your thoughts--best, Erwin  

 

1st lens coat with bulb painted

2d lens coat complete/blended

Photo etch step attached

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by VT Red Sox Fan

[giemme]

Neat job, Erwin Looking at that last pic, it looks bigger than 1/72!

 

Ciao

[VT Red Sox Fan]

@giemme—G, thank you, high praise coming from you—Best, Erwin

[VT Red Sox Fan]

The last mile--weapons!  I think @CedB commented on his B-17 build that building weapons for your aircraft can be significant portion of the build--a rocket armed Typhoon proved to be a journey for me. 

 

Given the amount of help I received from @Chris Thomas, @Troy Smith, @Graham Boak, @JackG, @spitfire, and @Selwyn I felt that I needed to spend some time to get this right.  What triggered this whole effort was when @opus999 pointed out that Airfix's rocket launch tubes had an incorrect flat bottom instead of 2 guides on either side of the rocket rail.  Furthermore, I also took a detour into researching the pig tails which initiated the launch of a rocket.  If you count fins, thread, rocket bodies and rails, arming this aircraft consumed 48 parts--I think that tops the number of weapons parts I used on my F-4 and is certainly the highest number of parts I have used for weapons on a WW2 fighter--that said, when  I glance over at @giemme's gorgeous builds I think the effort is becoming worth it.

 

Thanks to Johnny's  @The Spadgent great idea, I attached  rocket fins earlier using silly putty as a guide and painted the weapons a Humbrol Bronze Green.  I understand that the white and red stripes I used indicate this to be a standard load out of High Explosive rockets.

 

The first step was to modify the rails supplied by Airfix to correct the guide rail deficiency identified by @opus999.  I had purchased the Valiant Wings resin update, but I preferred the outlines of the rails provided by Airfix.  I used a drill to mill out the center of the rail to create the guide rails.  I had 1 accident and corrected that easily with Squadron putty.   

 

The next step was to attach the pigtails--since I crewed the aircraft, I decided to attach them for firing.  I figured the pilot would double check the weapons were armed during preflight & the crew chief would raise the step once the engine was started.  Once the thread was trimmed, I painted the pig tails Tamiya Red Brown.

 

Once this was done the I attached the weapons with Tamiya glue and attached the prop with Silly Putty.  The reason for using silly putty to firm up the prop shaft was because I had glued the prop bearing plate earlier in the build and the prop hung loose on the plate.  My rationale for attaching the plate earlier in the build that was given the tight tolerances, I did not want to split the main fuselage seam--trying to keep this hobby to one finishing opportunity to excel a build.🤣  Also, as you can see, the white glued canopy came off with no issues.

 

Last bit will be final antenna install and then she is done--Thank you all for your inputs--Best, Erwin

 

Rockets ready to go from earlier in the build

Rockets mounted to milled rails with sewing thread pig tails attached that need to be trimmed/painted

Pigtails attached and ready for final trimming:

Weapons attached/thread trimmed & painted Tamiya Red Brown/milled launch rails/prop attached:

 

[giemme]

The rockets are definitely a worthy addition, Erwin - great job!  

Ciao

[The Spadgent]

Looking the part. I love the PE step. The rockets of course are the icing. 🙌

 

Johnny

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Closing this build out.  The only hanging chads left were the underside antennas--based off of Frank's book I went with the kit antennas as I believe Airfix got this right.  Overall, I really LOVED this kit--it fell together.  The only, & very minor issues I with this kit are 1) sink marks in the main gear wells, 2) channels should be molded into rocket launchers & 3) the main gear wells could use some more side wall detail (although they are well executed for this scale).  If (more like when) I do another Typhoon, I will use Eduard's photo etch set--the rocket pig tails & landing gear brake lines are included are also included--that said,I can not knock Bergun set, their kit is awfully nice as well and gives you exactly what you asked for, great cockpit details.  To do this kit justice, I would recommend investing the time into rockets--when complete and properly painted, they are real focal point of this kit aircraft. 

 

Learning points--Britmodeller's aircraft discussion forum by era is AMAZING!  I also learned a lot about pre-shading in this build--not from advice, but by doing. I think one of the best nudges I have ever received came from Martin @RidgeRunner when he saw all my old Badger bottles and advised me to go dual action with a paint cup on top--I only wish I had done so earlier.   Finally, I really learned to overcome over thinning--I am now sold on starting Tamiya paints at 50/50 and thinning from there.  I tried to pre-trade the dark green areas--maybe I should have tried an off white-grey or white as opposed to black--any thoughts on this?  All this said, I with weathering you can overdue it, & I imagine in 1/72 scale it easy to do on a well maintained aircraft like Stapleton's. 

 

Special thanks goes to @Chris Thomas--the center of excellence for all things Typhoon (I think I even saw him on YouTube discussing RAF Tyophoon operations), @Troy Smith who made the time to link a novice like I me to an expert like Mr Thomas, @JackG, @spitfire, and @Selwyn who taught me a TON about WW2 RAF weapons colors & markings.  Thanks to you gents, I believe this is the most accurate RAF aircraft I have built--I went ahead and purchased the Eduard photo etch for an Airfix Supermarine Swift.  Any thoughts if Tamiya's  Tamiya XF-82 Ocean Gray 2 (RAF) & Tamiya XF-81 Dark Green 2 RAF are accurate for the markings offered by Airfix? 

 

I would be remiss not thanking @giemme, @The Spadgent, @RidgeRunner, @billn53 & @opus999.  You guys have been helping me improve for years!  Thank you so much--for me you have turned 1/72 scale from outline builds to an art that is fun to build and look at.  Tracking all of your awesome builds is both a treat and jaw dropping--I hope you see I am catching up 😎

 

 

 

Joohnny @The Spadgent inspired me to do a Ready for Inspection, so I did one on the Typhoon 1B/Fw190A8 Dog Fight Double--Next up will be the Midway Dogfight Double--best and thanks to all-Erwin

 

[giemme]

Excellent result, Erwin!    

 

How about posting a link to your RFI here too? TIA

 

Ciao

[VT Red Sox Fan]

4 hours ago, giemme said:

Excellent result, Erwin!    

 

How about posting a link to your RFI here too? TIA

 

Ciao

G, thank you so much--appreciate the point out and the compliments on my work--here is the link to the Ready For Inspection--Best, Erwin

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by VT Red Sox Fan
link

[The Spadgent]

Great work Erwin. You can really see the improvements as your skill set increases. Above all though it looks like you’re having fun. Excellent stuff. I’ll head over to the RFI and the new builds. A pleasure to watch. 🙌

 

 Johnny.

[opus999]

On 4/8/2021 at 7:22 PM, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Opuss, as always thank you for your thoughts and compliments--FWIW, my technique may be more hazardous than yours, (I used silly putty jammed into the nose cone to mount a tooth pick and then dipped into a Tamiya yellow lid)--would you be willing to share your technique?  Best, Erwin  

Just getting back to this as I've been away from the forum for quite a while.  My wife taught me the technique -- it is something that is used in Norwegian Rosemaling painting to make perfect-looking dots.  I can't say that the technique is any better, just that some things work better than others for some people.  I tried the technique you used and made a real mess of it every time!  

 

I'll try to post some pictures, but basically you stick the spinner on your bench so it won't move pointing upwards.  Then you take the back end of a paint brush handle and dip it in the paint.  Hold the paint brush as perfectly upright as possible and slowly lower the paint end down so it is centered on the spinner.  The real trick is to have the spinner well coated in acrylic and use an enamel paint to make the dot.  That way, if you're like me, you can use thinner to wipe it clean the first few times until you get your eye calibrated and finally get it centered!  

 

Like I said, may not work for you.  But it worked for me and I wasn't able to do it your way.  This technique is really good for making dots -- I used it to make the lights on the center of the bottom of the A-36.