Revell 1/32 Hawker Typhoon

By Alex Parr

One of the first things that struck me upon opening the box of this model was the ungainly way out of proportion of the hinged on the door of the Typhoon. Then and there I decided to convert it to a four-blade bubble canopy model.

My method of construction is less than conventional in that most of the modifications are done before assembly starts and the construction plans go out the window. With the wings shell ejection ports were cut before gluing them together. The flaps were cut from the wings and longerons made and glued to the flaps. The same was done to the horizontal stabilizer elevators. Later the rudder was treated in the same manner.

With my trusty lathe (1/2" chuck drill mounted in a vice) the rocket heads were turned from sprue along with the tail tubes. Slots were cut in the tubes at 90-degree angles and the stabilizers fitted. All were painted black with a yellow ring around the head of the rocket. Aluminum tube was used for the main body and the lot assembled to make a complete rocket.

The rails were cut from plastic sheet to the right length and width with a taper from half the length of the rail and then a thinner section of plastic sheet was glued to the lower edge of the rail forming an inverted "T" section. The pylons were turned in the "lathe" and cut half the length and fitted to the rails. All were painted aluminum. For the "D" step, I used stretched sprue. For the seat belts I used unpainted masking tape and the fittings from stainless steel wire using jewelers tools and a whole lot of patience. Most gunsights do not come with the glass sight so that had to be made and painted using an OO brush.

Manufacture of the control panel was a major exercise. Suffice to say the instruments were drilled from the panel, a thin clear plastic sheet was place behind the panel, and photocopied and reduced instruments were stuck to a thin backing plate in the right positions. Then the whole was glued together. Bezels were painted in their correct coloring, and switches and levers were made and fitted. Sound easy doesn't it. All the cockpit side panels, seat adjusters, throttle quadrant and prop pitch control as well as mixture control were made, painted and worn detailed using a silver wash.

Next was the prop. This needed an extra blade and this was done using thin plastic sheet glued together and shaped to the right shape and curvature. The locating slots on the spinner backing plate were removed and reset at 90 degree angles with one more having to be made, spinner also had to be remodeled.

The gun-barrels were drilled and the tires flattened and bulged. My method of doing this is to put a small amount of water in a heavy frying pan and while over the heat press the wheels down until the desired bulging and flattening is achieved.

Canopy manufacture is of the conventional method of making a wooden mould and stretching heated clear plastic until the desired shape is made. The rest is straightforward assembly after the internals of the fuselage have been painted and weathered. After the gluing together of the fuselage, the radiator flap was cut and set with a hydraulic jack fitted. Fitting of the undercarriage was then done after painting and making hydraulic lines on undercarriage and wheel bay. I used 5-amp electrical fuse wire for these lines and the small connection boxes from thin plastic.

Painting is standard except I sprayed aluminum paint as a first coat around the engine cowls, cockpit entry, and leading edges of the wings and tailplane. After painting final coat take small pieces of masking tape, stick it to the desired surfaces and rip it off and this gives the effect of chipping and worn patches. Wheels were painted grey/black and rubbed with light tan to give the effect of mud and crud.

The supplied decals were crap, with the colors being completely wrong for the era. They use brick red instead of bright red, and the blue was the wrong color. But they did get the white right and stuffed up on the yellow. To cap it all off the whole thing was translucent showing the paint underneath, some time in the near future I shall have to make my own.

Weathering was done to give the impression the aircraft was operating off a muddy grass strip in Normandy consequently is pretty filthy. On completion the whole was locked down with clear matte varnish. The canopy is definitely not right and I like my canopies open, it is only temporary so it back to the drawing board to correct that to my satisfaction. I have only been modeling for four years and this is not the bast example you will see but I am learning and am most willing to receive advice from those who wish to give it.

© Alex Parr

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This article was published on Wednesday, July 20 2011; Last modified on Saturday, May 14 2016