Snaps epic Journey - Airfix 1/24 Hawker Typhoon Mk1b build

Good night!  Epic journey is right!  Wow!  That is one detailed kit!  It will be awesome when done, but you might as well build the real thing!    Can't wait to see this build!

Eagle90

Here is the start of the build folks.

First of all, as I had speculated on Master models' 20mm Hispano Mk II cannon barrels with a total of £16.50 then that is the first place to have a play before starting on the cockpit area. The Airfix barrels are indeed wrong

Something had been niggling me about the 20mm cannons in this kit and once I had taken one off the sprue and then compared it to the Master barrels it hit me. The airfix kit cannon has the springs in the wrong place and the cannon are about 2mm short in the barrel. Take a look! Airfix's Hispano 20mm Mk II Part of the fairing - well, half actually! Airfix's cannon and fairing together. See how it fits. Master models barrel matched up to Airfix's barrel. Hmmmm! I do know from photos that the 20mm cannon muzzle did protrude from the fairing, and the MM barrels seem to do it by the right amount! All I have to do is to bore out the interior of the faring a little more so that the recoil spring sits properly.

First of all let's stay with the cannon for just a few moments. Airfix have provided the cannon fairings as two separate halves. Be warned builders. Although they all look the same, (top halves and bottom halves) they are ALL different. There are port and starboard, inner and outer top and bottom halves. DON'T GET THEM MIXED UP. When it comes time to fix them, do them one at a time! Now with the fairings being separate from the wing and each half dedicated to a cannon port this can give the builder the option of putting them on, or not! Advanced builders eyes are now rolling to the back of their heads as they slowly begin to see what just can be done with this kit. Like I said - more to this than meets the eye. Now we all know by now that the Airfix 20mm Hispano is not very accurate in regards to the barrel. They do note in the instructions that you can, if your eyes can see to do it drill, very carefully a 0.9mm hole in the muzzle to provide us with the bore. In this aspect, if you do the math then Airfix has got the bore right for 1/24 scale. :D However they got the recoil spring in the wrong place. I don't know if it was to make the faring fit the cannon or what, but purists who want to leave off a faring or two will have to correct this. Going back to my post on the cannon and Master models 20mm barrel, I have done some building and correction. Here's a reminder of Airfix's 20mm Here's my rebuild using master's 20mm barrel and fitting the ammo feed. It's ready for priming and painting. Now it has been noted that there will have to be alterations to the apatures in the wing frames to fit this. They would have to be done anyway as the original Airfix cannon when built wouldn't go though. It is and easy change as the holes just need enlarging. Now if we are going to alter all 4 cannon and make them right then there is another alteration to be made and that is to the fairings interior. they will have to be filed or sanded from the inside until the barrel fits properly. Airfix plastic is relatively soft and plyable so it's not too difficult to do. Just sand, clean, dry fit.... and do it while it looks right and the fairings for that port fit properly. It is correct to have the front 2 or 3mm of the muzzle sticking out. The cannon I have rebuilt is for the starboard inner gunport. Each gun and feed is for a different position. Take care when building and do one at a time. Next post we discover the delights of the cockpit area and I fall into a trap of my own making! James

Here we go with stages 1-8 The cockpit frame. I spent quite a lot of time with the instruction book working out the best way to put these parts together. I did this and the only part which I left off was the footboards which can be fitted at the end of stage 8 with no problems at all. Here we are with the build of the cockpit and engine support frame, unpainted and with out the footboards. It looks good. Plenty of fine detail. Problems being seam lines, some flash and because airfix uses quite soft plastic, some warpage. There are also mould release markings to be dealt with if you are going to want to do surgery to the fuselage to display this. The warpage is easily dealt with due to the soft plastic and occurs mainly with the wing spars. Only then did I think about painting and I decided to go partly my own way with this and putting on the primer coat of black showed me that this wasn't going to be easy to paint and I eventually realised that I should have painted each piece individually and then once together touched up with a brush. This is a note for my next Tiffy! The frame in Primer black. I did this in black so that the aluminium and interior green paint would show up better and have a good dark base rather than a neutral grey. I decided that quite a lot of the forward airframe, especially in the engine bay would be interior green. Having original BS reference paints, but not used that brand before through my airbrush and no empty dropper bottle to decant the extracrylix paint into, I referred back to my own paint matching charts. The closest Vallejo paint for interior green is 71.126 IDF Green. It is only a fraction lighter than BS283 and with a dark primer underneath it should come out just about right. It wasn't easy to airbrush everything when together and I had to redo areas that had suffered overspray and ended up with a touch up session with a paint brush, still I am pretty happy with the result, and I think that it looks close to what a wartime Tiffy would look like. After looking at cockpit photos on the net, my next tiffy's airframe will look slightly different. More Aluminium, less black on the frame. Once dry and cured I added the pre-painted footboards. Next up we start adding detail to this area! Comments etc welcome

This looks like a fantastic kit to work with and credit to Airfix for getting all that sweet surface detail molded in.

Have fun with the build and please keep us posted in this WIP- I am just jealous enough to consider getting one of these myself.

Off to a nice start.  That kit looks amazing!

Mike

Looks awesome.  I have been intrigued by this kit, so will be riding alongside your build.  Thank you for sharing; it has already been informative.

James

Great work so far. I got a reply from Airfix and they will replace the canopy if you drop them a line. Below is a picture I've taken of the "lens" on top of a mesh so you can see it a little getter

I agree with the comments on the Hispano cannons, it will take a little work but be worth it. You can also get some aftermarket belts from RB Productions they are the Suttons QS/QL/QP harness.

Looking forward to the rest of your build

Phil

This is the email I received today from Airfix

We are very sorry you have experienced problems with the product A19002.

The problem with the Q sprue, is not common to all the kits.

Problem was only found after the mould inspection when the clear sprue had been standing for several days.

The sprue feed was changed to eliminate this problem.

Would seem that some incorrect parts have slipped through.

We have despatched the Q sprue for you today.

Once again sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Regards

Airfix spares.

I wouldn't say thats a bit of "smoke" as I've heard for 4 kits now with them all having the issue, but as long as they have fixed the issue it may solve the issue with the split James had. I'm not sure how it could take several days for the issue to show, does it take days for the styrene to cure? I may have learnt something here about the manufacturing process.

Phil

Ah! now we have a little admission of guilt from airfix. Looking at it objectively it doesn't really detract from the overall kit, but it shows a little about their production.

I am assuming that they had it moulded in China and not by trumpeter who was rumoured to have moulded the mossie for them.

I do watch a lot of "How it's made" TV programmes and so learn a lot about manufacturing.

Yes, there is a problem with the sprue Q mould. It was probably fixed as soon as it turned up. If the sprue feed, where the liquid hot plastic was not quite right then this would cause problems as the plastic injected into the mould would not have got to everywhere it should properly. This in turn would cause the lens effect as the plastic would not have formed into that part of the mould properly.

This would have a knock on effect to where the part meets the sprue and the connection made there. All the bouncing and movement involved with packing and transport could cause undue movement there on the canopy part as it is the only bit of the part that attaches to the sprue and could cause the stress crack.

There could have been a lot of kits packed before this problem was highlighted and fixed. This is why airfix probably have a lot of corrected sprue Q's ready for customers who complain about this.

I am not sure how long it takes styrene to cure though. I think it's a bit of truth, smoke and a couple of mirrors.

Still, despite this and the incorrect 20mm barrel I am so happy that at last the 1/24 kit has come of age with detail to rival 1/32 kits at last!

Despite a couple of drawbacks, flash and seam moulds etc (of which most, if not all kits are guilty of in some way) Airfix have done us proud. 11 out of 10 and a lot of brownie points.

Now let's have the car door version and then a ME-262!

Thanks for critique on this great kit guys!

My kit arrived from UK yesterday, wasn't expecting this until end Aug?

After reading this thread I delved into the box searching for the clear parts to inspect for the small issues noted.

Well, I can't find the Q sprue!!!!!!

Now I see the relevance of the missing sprue digram - what else am I missing?

I'm on to my supplier now...

NeedBeer

Check for a two small bags with what looks like paper towels inside, there should be two of them and they are about 5-6 inches square.

Phil

So the replacement arrived, after one day which is great -- problem is it has a "lens" in it too

So just about to send another message to Airfix and let them know. I wonder if I should mention FSM website and this thread, I wont as it would be unfair but they must know people have found this.

Phil

Believe me I've looked, opened the sealed bags, turned the kit upside down .... It's not there. Maybe they  gave to you Mitch P????

I've contacted Hornby but have only had automated response. I did mention the forum, they need to know what their customers are talking about, besides this is an expensive kit

Ok just checked my email. Hornby have responded with same standard  response re MP's previous post re quality issue, don't know if they read my email properly?

Anyway they Anticipate replacements arriving 4 August, I'm in no rush so wel'll see what happens

I'll have to admit that at first I wasn't too excited about these new large scale models but after building the 1/32 Tamiya corsair and currently working on the 1/32 HK B-25 Mitchell I am having a change of heart, these things are pretty fun. But, the detail on this kit is beautiful. Great work. I will definitely be watching this build.

John

My replacement Q sprue has exactly the same thing wrong. Also I have noticed that the windshield also has a lens issue.

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I have also noted that the undercart legs D43 & D44 are not formed properly and (on my kit at least) you won't get the wheels on

i353.photobucket.com/.../DSC_0562_zps2276efba.jpg

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You can clearly see where the correct line is and it is not too much extra work with a sharp 11 blade and some very, very fine (at least 1000 Grit) wet and dry to cure along with much test fitting. Still I can't work out if it is a casting or mould problem!

Onto the build update.

I decided to have a slight change in tactics ( this is a big kit and with various sections you can jump around a bit, so I moved to tackle the Napier Sabre engine block and supercharger.

I had no real problems putting the engine block together. There is provision to put a small electric engine in so you can have the prop turn, but you will need to purchase a stand to put the model on and cut some extra holes in the fuselage bottom to accommodate the stand fixing and the cable for the electric motor.

Long ago I came to the inevitable conclusion that model kits that have electric devices in are inherently dangerous to me after managing to electecute myself more then once with a R/C Boat. Ever since I have stuck to static stuff.

During my search around the net I noticed the Sabre engine block and some attachments were a glossy green colour. Every picture I saw showed me the green engine block. Some wartime colour photos of Tiffys undergoing maintainance show the Sabre engine as a dark colour, but to be fair these photos aren't close enough to actually make colours out in the engine bay as they are taken from a distance. Also these photos could have been colourised after the fact.

My first paint job which I didn't photo used Vallejo Model Air Pale Green 71095. After sitting for a while and looking at what was a good impression of a deformed Granny Smith Green Apple I rummaged around my paint stand and after some thought give it a coat of VMA Panzer Olive Green 1943. This gave the engine block and supercharger parts a much better and closer colour to the ones I have seen on the net.

i353.photobucket.com/.../DSC_0564_zps13455467.jpg

At this moment I am suffering from a problem that has stopped me taking photos until I can sort a claim out and get a new lens.

My Nephew accidentally knocked my best Nikon pro lens (£1500 quids worth!) onto the floor and while it takes photos, the zoom function etc is very wonky and the auto focus isn't very auto any more and the manual focus just doesn't work.

I am trying to do a work around at the moment.

Stay tuned for more adventures from the bench!

James

James

I;ve not noticed an issue with the landing gear, I'll have a look later just so we can confirm if its a general issue or just yours. I am half hoping to see some after market items come out as I'm syill not sure the Airfix ones will take the weight.

I've noticed in the past a lot of engines blocks from that time where a deep green but not many paint charts show that, I did wonder a couple of times if it was a restorer getting it wrong

Your build is looking good, you may be the first perosn to finish a production run kit the way your going

Phil

So I've had another reply from Airfix see below

We are very sorry you have experienced problems with the product A19002.

The problem with the Q sprue, is not common to all the kits.

Problem was only found after the mould inspection when the clear sprue had been standing for several days.

The sprue feed was changed to eliminate this problem.

Would seem that some incorrect parts have slipped through.

We are awaiting shipment of these sprue’s we anticipate these arriving for despatch on Monday 4th of August no latter thane Wednesday the 6th

These will be checked and sent next day

Once again sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Regards

John Humphrys

Looks like the main thing they are admitting now is "These will be checked and sent next day" which I would have though they would have done to all of them anyway!!

So if anyone is looking for a replacement wait a couple of days and let them know. I have to say looking at a few forums they are taking a bit of a kicking for this and I dont believe them when they say "The problem with the Q sprue, is not common to all the kits." as everyone I've spoken to with the kit has an issue with that sprue, either cracking or the lens issue

Phil

I got that one today.

Now I have my posting ability here fixed I will see if I can get one of my lenses working and post and update and repost the photos from above!

James

This post is mainly for the US contingent who are following this.

A lot of UK purchases of this kit have noticed that there is a fault with the canopy.

It seems that it has not moulded properly and Airfix blame it on a faulty sprue feed which has been fixed. They also say in the email that it has been fixed and that they are sorry, but a few faulty sprues may have got through into kits.

However, on receiving a replacement, inspection shows that the same fault is there. In the photos below you can see where the fault is in the canopy hood and also the windscreen.

You can see this only at certain angles and only if you are looking for it. In most interior light where the kit would be displayed this fault would not really be noticed. It is there though and Airfix, bless them are trying to get fault free parts out to customers. They are expecting a batch of sprues in on Monday 4th August and I hope that they quality control guys are on the ball.

 

Moving on, As I have already noted the 20mm Hispano Mk II barrels are incorrect, but are fixable by using Air Master 20mm Hispano brass barrels. If you go down this road there are some changes that need to be made to other parts, but for the modeller who will build this kit then this is no problem at all.

Another problem which has come to light with my kit and another one that I know of is with the main landing gear struts D43 & D44. The area of the part that the wheels fit on are not cast properly, or the actual mould is faulty for these parts. Not sure which.

I notified Airfix and got a generic reply about sprue Q!!!

Here's the problem

Initially it looks like some flash until you get up close and you can see where the part is moulded and the rest is extra plastic.

Using where you can see the actual part as a starting area you can cut and sand away the surplus, using the tyre as a guide and try fitting constantly until the tyre fits properly. Again we shouldn't have to do this, but it's not much of a problem and easily dealt with.

SAC inform me that when this is released in the US they will do some metal legs. Let's hope they take care!

So far, this is all I have found that is wrong. It's not a major, but quality control at either the Factory or Airfix should have caught this!

Still, for what this kit represents which is a huge leap forwards in 1/24 scale detailing then it's brilliant, and shortcomings or not it should be welcomed by large scale modellers with open arms. It is a super subject to build. An iconic aircraft and should. I hope lead to the car door variant (provision has been made in the kit for this) and I hope Hawker Sea Fury and Tempest as well as others that came from this design.

Moving on, I should be back to photographing tomorrow, so expect an update soon.

 

James

 

Guinea Pig for Airfix, but loving it!

 

Right now there is a pathetic fat man crying in his hotel room for his present inability to obtain and savor such a fantastic kit. Yes it's me and yes some day soon I to will own one of these technological monsters. Thanks for smoothing out  some of the idiocincrasys of an Airfix kit. I'll check in more and keep this thread on hand for reference. insert small sniffle and alligator tears here .LOL

Just get onto the net and order one. I think that it has now been released in the US. Despite a couple of flaws this is one of those breakthough kits in 1/24 scale.

This kit could follow in the footsteps of the Mossie and quickly disappear from their catalogue, so get a couple now while you have the opportunity. AM producers are already bringing things out for this beast.

I have a problem with my camera (broken lens) which has meant an Insurance claim. I have changed out the lens to my 70-300mm landscape lens. Not really ideal for close up photography but I will try to get some update pics tomorrow and post them. At this moment I have completed up to stage 38 which. apart from a couple of pipes sees the cockpit done.

I have not added the separate seatbelt parts as I am looking at some AM ones. These can be added at any stage of the build, so I am not worried about it.

James

Well, here I go with another update.

I have reached stage 38 (I do have got further in bits and bats, but they are waiting to be put on and painted). This marks the end of the cockpit and frame build.

During these stages I have noted that it is better to put some parts in earlier than in the instructions mainly for ease of access. Also when putting dials etc onto the instrument panel It would make things lots easier to actually put the dials on to the clear part (painting it black first. No point in messing with it as it is all going to be covered over!) before putting that into the instrument panel front. I am saying this because the dials etc are actually a fraction bigger than the place where they should fit and doing it as just described will save a lot of time, fix the dials in place and give builders chance to do the old drop of Klear to represent glass trick. In actual fact, the instrument panel stage just shows the parts going together. You have to hunt for the decal placement which is amongst the painting section at the back of the book.

From cockpit reference photos I have seen there seems to be quite a bit of equipment missing in the kit. It's no real drawback, but chance for an AM company to jump in and provide what is missing, such as the RP (rocket projectile) control/selector panel etc.

I am not sure what package Airscale are planning to produce for this, I have yet to hear from them, although I have registered with them for their Tiffy package, but with luck it should add much comprehensive detail to an already fantastic OOB cockpit.

Now, the photos are not up to my usual standard as I am having to use my 70-300mm landscape lens and can't really get wide angle close ups that I usually do until the insurance get's its act together!

I apologise for this and will try and get some decent cockpit pics later in the build once that has all been sorted. There is some paint patching to be done and the kit seat harness has not been put on as I am looking at an alternative. This can be put in at any time during the build!

 

 

There may be some more little bits to add on later in the build, but for now it's time to move on to the Naper Sabre Engine.

 

Comments & Questions welcome

 

James

 

 

 

I am now working on this kit and their are lots more pluming ,wiring ,and scratch building to be done throughout the model to make it near like the real thing.In the future it will be featured at Scale Aviation Scale Modeler,and at the nationals next year.A cutaway version is also in the works.Its a great model.

Perhaps I should point out that there were three possible positions for the recoil springs on the Hispano cannon; Airfix have moulded it as the Mk.I with the no.2 spring, which is entirely possible. In Scale Models, June 1979, Arthur Bentley showed the three different types, and included the short-barrelled  Mk.5 Hispano, which went into the Tempest and Spitfire 24.

The canopy has a slight correctable flaw.But;it can be buffed out or vac/ form it.I have already notified Airfix England of this flaw.It barely noticeable only to a Judges flashlight.Anyway modelers don't build models for Judges.

This I am more than aware of, However, like the Mossie, All variants of the Tiffy 1B, Early (car door) Mid and Late (bubbletop, 3 or 4 blade prop) had the Mk II version of the Hispano.

While Airfix's Hispano is correct for the MK1 Cannon, it's not correct for this kit! Like everything, there are exceptions to the rule, but the Tiffy had the Mk II 20mm fitted. There may have been test aircraft fitted with the Mk 1 Hispano.

Besides, correcting this with Master's MkII cannon barrels give the display option of leaving off a fairing as Airfix's Cannon are a bit soft in detail.

On to the Engine.

While this is a bone of contention, and probably a can of worms, I have noticed that all surviving Napier Sabre's engine block was painted a dark green colour. I have tried to replicate this colour with this kit and building is in progress.

At first I tried Vallejo Model Air 095 light green, but it reminded me too much of a deformed Apple, so I then painted with Vallejo Panzer Olive 1943.

I still wasn't happy and so went back to the paint stand. I decided that looking at the photos of the web and taking into account that most of the photos hadn't been colour corrected from flash etc that I needed a dark green.

Tomorrow I will put up photos of the block built up etc.... stay tuned