Hasegawa 1/48 Hawker Typhoon IB

Started by David D. · 7 ≡ · ↻ 10 years ago
  • Profile Photo
    David D. said 10 years, 6 months ago:

    Hi All,

    it's been a very long time since i last posted on this site. I have been active on some other forums recently but I received an email the other day from the site and thought I would renew my activity here. The reason for my long absence was due to some health issues which were shall we say life threatening but I pulled through and pulled through and I am now back and feeling much better.

    I had been wanting to do a Hawker Typhoon for quite some time and really wanted to do a Tiffie from one of the Canadian Typhoon squadrons that served with the 2nd Tactical Air force (2 TAF) during the war, The aircraft I chose was 5V-X serial No. RB281 that was piloted by Flying Officer Hugh Fraser.

    Some History:

    Hugh Fraser's Typhoon t was delivered to 439 Squadron on 28th December, 1944 and was a late production Typhoon. Because of this fact It most likely had the larger tempest tailplanes and 4 blade propeller. Among the first action to be seen by this aircraft was on 1 January 1945 when Hugh Fraser engaged a large number of FW190's destroying two of them in the process during a low level dogfight. on 14 February 1945 Hugh Fraser, flying 5V-X along with F/L Lyell Shaver engaged two ME262's from 5./kG 51 flying below them at roughly 3000 feet. They dove to engage the Luftwaffe aircraft, Shaver hit one which blew up while Fraser poured 20 mm rounds into the other ME262 which started belching smoke and tumbled down through the clouds. Both pilots from KG51 FW Werner Witzmann and Lt Hans-George Richter were killed, falling about 20 miles north of Coesfeld, Germany. On 2 March, 1945 while returning from a mission 5V-X RB281 suffered an engine failure and crash landed near Eindhoven. Fraser survived as did the aircraft which was repaired but eventually written off just after the war.

    Here's a pic of Fraser in his Typhoon.
    http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/DAVIDD_09/hawker%20typhoon/HughFraserTyphoonib_zps61e92551.jpg

  • Profile Photo
    David D. said 10 years, 6 months ago:

    For this build I have added the following upgrades to bring the Hasegawa kit up to the standards of a late Typhoon.

    Ultracast Tempest tailplanes
    Ultracast Typhoon exhasuts
    Ultracast 4 blade propeller. The kit comes with a 3 bladed prop.
    Airies Typhoon bubble top cockpit for Hasegawa kit.
    Barracuda cast Typhoon main wheels and anti flutter tail wheel
    Eduard Canopy mask set
    Aeromaster decals Storms in the sky Part II with decals for Nicky
    Eduard British 500lb resin bomb set.
    http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/DAVIDD_09/hawker%20typhoon/IMG_0200b500x500_zpsefa05eb4.jpg

  • Profile Photo
    David D. said 10 years, 6 months ago:

    and a profile of his a/c.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

  • Profile Photo
    Seamus Boughe said 10 years, 6 months ago:

    That sure is a lot of aftermarket! I am surprised you didn't get the Barracuda Cast Typhoon Intake (which is Beautiful). Typhoons are mad cool! The only downside that I can see is that you will not be able to see much of that detailed cockpit once the fuselage is closed. Good luck on this one.

  • Profile Photo
    David D. said 10 years, 6 months ago:

    Hi Seamus,

    Thanks for having a look at the build. I built my own intake. Pics to follow.

    Dave.

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    David D. said 10 years, 6 months ago:

    Here's some work I did on the cockpit staring with the armour plate and head rest.
    In the actual Typhoon the cockpit harness shoulder straps wrapped around a horizontal bar that was mounted on the armour plate. Here's a pic of Nicky showing how they were done.

    http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/DAVIDD_09/hawker%20typhoon/Typhoon5V-Xseat600_zps51b40f40.jpg

    Also, here's a drawing of the actual seat used in the Typhoon.

    http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/DAVIDD_09/hawker%20typhoon/images400_zps7fe1fd9d.jpg

    Also,

    The Aries cockpit doesn't provide any detail here so I had to scratch build the area.

    I cut out 3 brackets for the harness bar using plastic sheet then pre drilled the holes with a small bit then used a larger .5mm one that would allow the plastic rod to slip through. As you can see they have a pointed end on them which I will sand and round off make them look more in scale.

    For this scale, rivets of the correct size are not really possible to do by just cutting off pieces of .5mm strip rod which is the smallest size you can get for instance in evergreen plastic. I have a number of different size rivets that I purchased from Masterclub for detailing my models and I did initially try .5mm rivets above the harness bar but they looked over-sized compared to the picture i was using as a reference so I went down to a .4mm rivet from Masterclub and they looked spot on. I kept the .5mm hex rivet on the top plate as it looked good by itself. These rivets are absolutely tiny and very hard to see. A steady hand was required to get them in place.

    Also, the cockpit seat has a seat adjustment level on the right side as well. I suspect the left and right ones adjusted forward/backward movement of the seat while the other adjusted height.
    So I scratch build the right hand lever which I will add last when assembling the cockpit to the airframe as well as the armour plate and seat.

    The final picture shows the left and right cockpit side walls painted up, the armour plate complete and painted, the firewall and cockpit seat. Aries did a good job on the seat as it is fairly accurate.

    6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    David D. said 10 years, 6 months ago:

    Further progress update.

    My plan right now is glue the floor ( Airies provides a floor as part of their cockpit set but in actuality there was no floor as the seat, floor boards, joystick rudder pedals etc. were part of the cockpit frame) and left side which you see to the airframe, then add the armour plate and cockpit seat then the front firewall and instrument panel last. From my dry fitting this looks to be the best way to mount the cockpit.

    I am going to use a late type QL type harness as these were often seen on Typhoons by March 1945. For this I have ordered a late harness set from HGW which they make for a late spitfire.

    Scatchbuilding:

    I modified the aires armour plate by adding an extra piece of evergreen styrene card, then built the rod and mounts which the seat belts pass through and adding some .4mm rivets along the top of the amour plate above the seat belt rod.

    I also built the seat adjustment handle on the right side of the cockpit seat from styrene card and rod.

    Added some lead wire to the right and left side of the cockpit panels.

    The cockpit was painted in cockpit green with the upper parts of the frame done in natural aluminum. Floor boards were painted in faded black.

    http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/DAVIDD_09/hawker%20typhoon/IMG_0327a500_zps9fa69519.jpg

    http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/DAVIDD_09/hawker%20typhoon/IMG_0328a500_zpsa2b98f74.jpg

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