Completed Review - Airfix Hawker Typhoon Ib (A02041)

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £9.99

The last time I'd written about this build was prior to starting the decals. I'd decided to opt for the option depicted on the box art, that of Typhoon MP126, in the markings it carried when flown by Squadron Leader Gerald Stapleton of No.247 Squadron.

In past builds I've found the quality of Airfix's decals to be very good but I had some real problems with those included in this kit. I had several break up on me, including one of the serial numbers, without which I could not complete the build. I don't know if this was a one off, lack of practice on my part or if they were bad decals, although I suspect it was more a case of the first two rather than the latter. Fortunately I had a spare set and they were applied without any further bother, indeed that could said for the rest of the build.

Weathering was once again mostly done by applying Flory Model washes. My previous builds had been very dirty, using the Dark Dirt wash. This time I wanted to refine the weathering. For the undersides I applied a Grey Wash and then for the upper sides I mixed the Grey Wash with Dark Dirt (about a 2:1 ratio) and this gave a more subtle look, which was exactly what I was aiming for.

For the first time I attempted to use oil paints to apply oil streaks but found at this scale I couldn't really get a noticeable, and realistic enough effect. Exhaust marks were airbrushed using Tamiya Smoke, X-19, and dirt was applied to the undersides in small quantities using Flory Models Sand wash.

Again this was another excellent kit from Airfix which I thoroughly enjoyed building. It looks accurate in terms of the detail and shape, and there are two notable decal options. Once I slowed down and started taking some care it went together without any real problems. Although I deviated from the instructions, I don't think that's absolutely necessary, just take care with the flexible lower wing part and you'll be fine.

And that was about it. On a personal note I think this is the best model I've built so far, surpassing my previous build, the Airfix Defiant in the same scale. I think I achieved a more realistic finish, it just took me much longer than I would have liked.

Overall Build Score: 4 out of 5, an excellent release from Airfix with the full options, in-flight or on the ground, open or closed cockpit and pilot figure. Fairly straight forward to build, accurate and with interesting decal options, what more could you ask for?

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History In Detail: Squadron Leader Basil Gerald 'Stampe' Stapleton

The first History in Detail feature is going to take a look at the man behind one of the options in the latest release of the Airfix 1:72 scale Typhoon Ib kit (A02041). Typhoon MP126, is depicted in the markings it carried during December 1944 when it was flown by Squadron Leader Basil Gerald 'Stampe' Stapleton of No.247 (Chino-British) Squadron (RAF).

Typhoon MP126
Source: Airfix

With his handlebar moustache and, described by fellow airman Richard Hillary as “over six feet tall, thick-set, with a mass of blond hair which he never brushed”[1], Stapleton must have been very much the quintessential, bold, adventurous RAF fighter pilot one imagines from that time.

By the time Stapleton was flying MP126, adorned with a Nazi swastika topped by a burning eagle and unofficially named "Excreta Thermo"[2], he had been at war for five years. For four of those years he’d been an Ace, gaining six kills and two shared while flying Spitfires with No.603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron during the Battle of Britain, an achievement which saw him awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.[3] One of those shared kills has long since been debated by writers and historians, many believing that it was the Messerschmitt Bf 109 of Oberleutnant Franz Von Werra, “the one that got away.” It even appears that, while remembering the combat itself, at the time, Stapleton wasn’t aware of the identity of the pilot of the aircraft. In fact the point when he exactly found out it was Von Werra also seems to be up for debate, with author Dilip Sarkar claiming he informed Stapleton of the pilot’s identity[4] and David Ross, who would later be Stapleton’s biographer, claiming Stapleton had learnt of Von Werra’s identity soon after the end of the war.[5]

Gerald Stapleton

While Aces tend to be associated with a certain invincibility his time in the Battle of Britain was not without incident. Shot down after believing he was out of range of the guns of an approaching Messerschmitt he recalled how he abruptly realised that this was not the case when a cannon shell suddenly stuck the starboard wing of his Spitfire between the two guns. As ammunition started spilling out of the wing and glycol from the punctured radiator started spraying into his cockpit he took the decision to make a forced landing in a field. The landing was by his account too fast, but successful, and after leaving his aircraft he encountered a family in their car who offered him a cup of tea before driving him, and another pilot who landed by parachute, to a nearby pub.[6]

The carefree attitude that typified pilots like Stapleton may seem strange to those of us living in the relative comfort of today's world. Looking back he declared those days as great fun in which each occasion was lived like it was the last.[7] Indeed his explanation as to how he and other pilots coped with the loss of so many fellow pilots in such a short space of time appears to show a certain amount of detachment, even a slight coldness, to what was happening around them. He explained:

“The Battle of Britain didn’t affect us... It’s a strange thing to look back on it and think, “Why didn’t we grieve more for the chaps that were missing?” And you never knew whether they’d been killed or whether they’d jumped out or crash-landed. And by the time the news came through that they had been killed, so much had happened in between that it had no effect on you whatsoever, none.”[8]

Following the conclusion of the Battle of Britain Stapleton went on to fly catapult Hurricanes with the Merchant Ship Fighter unit, standard Hurricanes and then Hawker Tempests with No.257 Squadron before acquiring his own command of a rocket Typhoon unit with No.247 Squadron, based at Eindhoven.[9] Compared to flying a small agile fighter such as a Hurricane or Spitfire the much larger Typhoon would prove to be an altogether different experience. As he recalled:

“The first thing that stuck me when I climbed into a Typhoon was that you had to get used to the height you were sitting at. On take-off the Typhoon swung the opposite way to the Hurricane and Spitfire, so we had to unlearn that which had become second nature to us.”[10]

The move to the Typhoon meant there would be very little of the dog fighting that had typified the earlier years of the war. While in the eyes of the public there might have been a certain glamour attached to those battles with the Luftwaffe fighters the growing Allied dominance of the skies over Europe meant a changing, but no less important role for many pilots like Stapleton. For them the focus would now be the important task of supporting the ground troops in a ground attack role took precedence as the Allies advanced through Normandy and North-West Europe. The rocket and strafing attacks carried out by the Typhoons left no room for error but were used to devastating effect and in his own words he described the Typhoon as “a tremendous ground attack aircraft.”[11]

Gerald Stapleton & MP126 "Excreta Thermo." MP126 was lost
in a forced landing on the 5th December 1944 after being borrowed
by Flg Off Wiersum (who was captured) [12]

Moving fast and low there was almost no chance of bailing out of a damaged aircraft. It was here that his luck would run out. On December the 23rd 1944 he attacked a train at low level, with rockets, and the shrapnel from the resulting explosion punctured his Typhoon’s radiator leaving him with no choice but to force land his aircraft. Certainly his previous experience of a forced landing during the Battle of Britain would have helped; but this time it was behind enemy lines. Looking back on the incident, possibly with a hint of self-deprecating humour, he said:

“I wasn’t shot down, I suppose I shot myself down when I flew through the debris.”[13]

Captured he would spend the rest of the war as a prisoner in Stalag Luft I until its liberation by the advancing Soviet Army in May 1945.[14] No doubt during this time he chance to reflect on his luck something which he felt decided every pilot’s fate:

“You thought it’s never going to happen to you. That’s what you live with… I was lucky enough to get away with it. And that’s absolute luck. If anybody tells you any different, they don’t know what they’re talking about… With hindsight, it becomes more apparent that it was luck rather than skill.”[15]

Later in life he became enthusiastic supporter of the Battle of Britain Memorial flight and in 2007 a Spitfire of the Memorial Flight wore the markings of one his wartime aircraft.[16] He died in 2010 at the age of 89.


References

 1. Hillary, R. (2005) The Last Enemy. [Online] Available from: Project Gutenberg Australia [Accessed 18 February 2017]

 2. The Telegraph (2010) Squadron Leader 'Stapme' Stapleton. [Online] Available from: The Telegraph [Accessed 18 February 2017]

 3. The London Gazette (1944) Royal Airforce, 34993, p.6570.

 4. Sarkar, D (2013) Spitfire Voices. [Online] Available from: Google Books [Accessed 25 February 2017]

 5. Ross, D (2003) Richard Hillary: The Authorised Biography of a Battle of Britain Fighter Pilot and Author of The Last Enemy. [Online] Available from: Google Books [Accessed 1 March 2017]

 6. Davidson, M. and Taylor, J. (2004) Spitfire Ace: Flying the Battle Of Britain. Pan Macmillan: London, pp.169-70

 7. The Scotsman (2010) Obituary: 'Stapme' Stapleton DFC, RAF pilot during Second World War. [Online] Available from: The Scotsman [Accessed 28 February 2017]

 8. Davidson and Taylor, Spitfire Ace. p.175

 9. Thomas, C (1999) Typhoon and Tempest Aces of World War 2. Osprey Publishing: Oxford, p.62

 10. Rowley, C (2014) D-Day RAF: The RAF’s Part in the Great Invasion. Mortons: Horncastle, p.52

 11. Ibid.

   12. Thomas, C (2010) Typhoon Wings of 2nd TAF 1943-45. Osprey Publishing: Oxford, p.78

 13. Rowley, D-Day RAF: The RAF’s Part in the Great Invasion. p.52

 14. The Telegraph, Squadron Leader 'Stapme' Stapleton.

 15. Davidson and Taylor, Spitfire Ace. pp.180-1

 16. Air-Scene UK (2007) Happy Birthday BBMF! [Online] Available from: Air-Scene [Accessed 18 February 2017]

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Days #10 & #11

The last couple have days have seen me start one of the planned models on my 2017 wish list. The model is the Airfix 1:72 Bf 109E-7/Trop. I’ve had this model for some time, I picked up it last summer for just £2.99 before it was discontinued by Airfix.

I initially thought it was an older boxing and so had decided to sell it as I wanted to purchase and build the newer Bf 109E-4 kit, a kit which I’d owned and started before then destroying with a bit of overzealous conversion work. It was only after a quick look on the scalemates website that I realised the discontinued Bf 109E-7/Trop kit was actually exactly the same kit with an extra sprue for the external fuel tank and bomb load of the later variant. Presumably the similarities were the reason why it’s been discontinued as Airfix seem to be consolidating their range and getting rid of any duplicates.

So I’ve been here before, construction has started with the cockpit, I’ve even managed to salvage the instrument panel from my previous attempt. I won’t be using any of the other interior photo-etch as this cockpit will be occupied and the model will be portrayed in flight.

As for the colour scheme, I’m going to opt for the lesser known Bulgarian scheme, in the markings of an aircraft flown by Bulgaria’s highest scoring pilot, Stoyan Iliev Stoyanov. I’ve recently been reading about smaller WWII air forces and pilots, particularly those from the Balkans, and so this fits in nicely with my research.

Bf 109E-7 - Bulgarian Air Force - 1942
Source: Airfix

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #9

Day 9 and a book recommendation! It was time to continue with the Airfix 1:72 Typhoon. The topsides had been washed with Flory Models Dark wash, mixed with the grey wash, a slightly darker mix than I’d used for the undersides. It took a few hours of meticulous cleaning before I got it to a point in which I was happy with it.


The undersides I’m really happy with, I’ve not gone for heavily washed panel lines, rather a slightly weathered and dirty finish that you’d expect a used combat aircraft to have. Topsides, I honestly think there’s little you can do here, mostly just adding a tiny bit of contrast to the grey areas but again, trying to make sure it doesn’t look overdone.

I was about to seal it all in with a flat coat, but then, searching through my bookshelves (in an un-related clear-out) I found I book which I’d forgotten about, Osprey’s Painting and Finishing Techniques by Gary Edmundson. I’ve spent so long looking for articles on the internet that I forgot I have everything I need right here!

After a brief introduction to some fundamentals, the kits used in the book, paints and the tools used, it works through the various stages of painting and finishing. Focusing primarily on 3 model aircraft, (plus a couple vehicles and a small piece on figure painting towards the end) it works all the way through step by step, painting shading, camouflage, weathering, dirt, panel lines and more. Most of paints used are Tamiya, and there’s a preference towards using oil paints for panel lines and weathering, rather than clay washes etc. but it is well explained with plenty of photographs for each stage.

The 3 aircraft are a WWI Albatross, a Bristol Beaufighter and fortunately, a Hawker Typhoon. After reading this it’s finally persuaded me to try using oil paints, so my Typhoon build will be taking a little more time to complete.

For me has been an extremely useful (re)discovery which I’d highly recommend. So much so I’ve included a link below should you wish to purchase it yourself. As I said, I’d forgotten what it was like to have all the information in one place, easily to hand. I think there’s a tendency for us, when using the internet, to pick up little bits here and there a lose sight of the complete process of painting and weathering a model from start to finish. Having said that I think book can allow you to pick and choose what to try so, in my opinion, it is book suited to all skill levels.

In the next few days I’ll pick up some oil paints, and with any hope, I’ll have some good daylight (which I think is essential for this stage of finishing a model) and I’ll show you how I got on.

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Looking Ahead: The Aircraft Wish List For 2017

Around this time of year you will no doubt be seeing plenty of "New Year Resolution" posts, this post is one and at the same time isn't one of those type of posts.

After last year in which I completed just one kit and suffered a significant loss of motivation I've taken some time to reflect on what I want to achieve this year and come up with an "ideal" world list (actually, it's 3 lists) which I'm hoping will give me a sense of direction but not be so strict as to become too much of a chore to complete.

I've decided to break down the builds into 3 categories, ideally if I can complete one build from each to a reasonably high (for me) standard then I'll consider 2017 a success. Realistically I need to tackle some of the kits I currently own before buying new ones, so some of listed won't become an option until I complete others.

Category 1: Out of the box builds

My, as of yet incomplete, Typhoon build showed me that I don't have to buy photo-etch and resin extras to actually have a build that is both enjoyable while providing a sense of achievement and progress at the same time.

We're very fortunate that these days we have a good choice when it comes to out of the box builds. As I want to build these models in flight, to keep things straight forward as possible, the Airfix range is ideal as they always seem to give you the option of both, something I wish all manufacturers would do.

• Airfix 1:72 Spitfire Mk.I/IIa (Owned)
• Airfix 1:72 Bf 109E-7/Trop (Owned)
• Airifx 1:72 Hurricane Mk.I (New Purchase)
• Airifx 1:72 P-51D Mustang (New Purchase)

Category 2: Detailed Builds

The next level of build involves a bit more detail, here I want to more work on the cockpit, either resin replacement work or photo-etch enhancement, or both. In such cases the canopy will be open so the aircraft will be modelled as it were on the ground and I will also consider building a display base.

• Eduard 1:72 Spitfire Mk.IXc (Owned)

There's only one aircraft in this list, however I own more than one of these kits so I could, if I excel myself, possibly build more than one of the same aircraft.

Category 3: Conversion builds

The final category is the most involved and challenging as it goes beyond the standard detailing and requires conversion work such as resin engines, super detailed interiors and so on. The kits I have in mind are:

• Tamiya Mosquito FB Mk.VI (Owned)
• Tamiya P-47D Thunderbolt converted to a P-47M (New Purchase)

As I've said this is an an "ideal" world list but I think it will be useful to look back after a year and see if this list helped me focus. Of course I won't just be building aircraft so there will still be builds that aren't on this list, and hopefully some miniature painting as well.

Time to get 2017 started then!

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #7

Day 7. I was happy enough with how the grey wash, that I tried on day 4, came out and so started washing the undersides of the Typhoon. Even though I'm still waiting for it to dry I can see a huge difference, it works really well on the panel lines, much more subtle than the dark wash that I've used previously.

I also got the Bandai Y-Wing started. Black undercoat to start with followed by several lighter shades of grey before a very light coat of white. And then, a coat of grey wash, which may or may not take it all the way back to being grey again. Guess I'll find out when it dries.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Days #5 & 6

My Christmas modelling challenge continued on day 5 with the completion of the Airfix Typhoon's decals, no pictures as there's only so many pictures of an unfinished model that a man can take...

After that I started adding the missile racks under the wings which usually the kind of slow and fiddly task WWII modellers get to avoid, but not in this case.

While I was waiting for the glue to set I started test fitting another model, a Bandai 1:144 scale Y-Wing Star Wars fighter, that I'd recently received from Japan. In fact it went together so well that it turned into an accidental part-build!

What a kit! Just four small sprues (plus a sprue containing a stand) but the amount of fine detail packed into such a small scale is incredible

After a few months of modelling malaise I find, suddenly, in such a small kit, my motivation comes surging back. If this kit is anything to go by I can't wait to try out a few more Bandai Star Wars kits. As well as the detail the way the kit is engineered is simple brilliant. For example, the two engines on a Y-Wing, at first glance, look the same. But actually there are slight differences and the kit is engineered so that the internal clips, pegs etc are shaped and positioned in such a way that you can't get them the wrong way round.

I honestly can't see myself bothering with any of the Revell offerings now.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Days #1 & 2

To get started I decided to tackle some of the growing number of unfinished kits I have lying around. Airfix's 1:72 scale Hawker Typhoon is probably the best painted model I've done so far, yet despite this I hit a brick wall and to date it remains unfinished.

Painting was complete it was now time for decals. I really like models that come with not only markings but stencils and this kit packed in a large number of decals for it's size. This meant it would be very time consuming to apply them all, but worth it in the end.

Unusually for Airfix I had some problems with the decals. One I lost, probably stuck to a finger while handling, which is entirely my fault. However I had two decals break up on me. Fortunately I have a spare decal sheet so I'll have to get replacements from there. Otherwise that would have written off the model as one of these decals was not something that could easily be replaced, a unique ID number for the aircraft I'm building.

So after two afternoons work I'm about 80% of the way through the decals, just the replacement decals and the undersides to do.

12 Days of Christmas Painting & Modelling

It really not worth me doing a yearly review as my modelling output has been dismal this year, in fact I’ve not even sat at my modelling desk for several months now A total of one aircraft model complete and a couple of miniatures painted is all I’ve managed. OK, so the Airfix Defiant was probably the best model I’ve made to date, but that success seems a distant memory by now.

However as Christmas approaches, my workplace is closed for a couple of weeks so I can hopefully free up a bit of time to finish the year on a slightly higher note.

I’ve decided to try and devote a bit of time each day, for 12 days (not necessarily consecutively, as I have a few commitments over the holiday period), to painting some figures, finishing off a few unfinished kits and maybe starting something new so I can take some momentum into a new year and hopefully achieve a bit more in the way of modelling successes in 2017.

Day #1 to follow shortly.

Build Review - Airfix Hawker Typhoon Ib (A02041) – Part 2

For me one of the main objectives of this build was learning to paint late WWII RAF colours correctly. My initial attempt on an Airfix Spitfire had not gone according to plan. Having finally built a Typhoon to my satisfaction I was determined that this time I would get the painting right.

I started by undercoating in a light Tamiya Grey and by pre-shading the panel lines with a flat black. I'm still not 100% convinced that this is worth doing.

Pre-shading

While it seemed to have some effect on the lower, and lighter, surfaces of this particular model it didn't really seem to make much difference on the upper, camouflaged, surfaces. Also I felt that with effect could also be achieved by post-shading and by washes later in the build.

On to painting proper and the undersides. The actual colour for the undersides of RAF aircraft is called Medium Sea Grey. To achieve this I used the following:

1. A base coat of Vallejo MA (Model Air) Barley Grey (71.051). I tried to make sure some of the black panel lines showed through.
2. Vallejo MA Pale Blue Grey (71.046) to the centre of each panel.
3. A thin coat, sprayed at lower pressure, of Vallejo MA Medium Sea Grey (71.049) to selected panel lines to add a slight bit of variation.

RAF Medium Sea Grey & Invasion Stripes

Another objective of this build had been the airbrushing of D-Day invasion stripes. Although this kit came with decals many don't so I thought this would be a good time to practice. The colours used were:

1. An mix of Vallejo MA White and Aged White (71.001 & 71.132). How much depends on how yellow you want it to look. This was applied over the whole area and then masked off in order for the black to be sprayed. It really pays to make sure the masking is tight here, especially in the numerous panel lines.
2. The black was Tamiya Nato Black (XF-69). I prefer using this shade of black at this scale as it's a muted black compared to the XF-1 Black which looks too bright to me.

And with that the lower surfaces were done. I hadn't done the rear invasion stripes yet, as they overlapped onto the upper camouflaged areas.

For the upper surfaces the RAF colours are Ocean Grey and Dark Green. I decided this time to use Tamiya's RAF colours as my starting point (XF81, 82 & 83). If you look the instructions for older Tamiya kits you will see they were all mixes. These are more recent paints which Tamiya brought out to be used with their 1:32 scale Spitfire kits

Starting with the Ocean Grey, this was applied all over and highlighted in the areas that wouldn't be covered with the Dark Green.

1. Tamiya Ocean Grey 2 (XF-82) was mixed with slight amount of Medium Sea Grey (XF-83). The main reason for adding the Meduim Sea Grey was that I felt the base surface with black pre-shade was a bit too dark. Without the pre-shade I would have probably used The Ocean Grey on it's own.
2. I then highlighted panel lines etc with Vallejo MA Barley Grey (71.051). Unfortunately the picture below was taken in bad light and doesn't really show this well.

RAF Ocean Grey

For the Dark Green:

1. I put down a coat of Tamiya Field Grey (XF-65) with a small amount of Dark Green 2 (XF-81). The reason for this was it muted the blue tones from the grey which I was spraying on top of. In previous attempts the green seemed a bit off if I just used XF-81 over the Ocean Grey.
2. I then highlighted the green by using Dark Green (XF-81) on it's own. Of course if you choose to spray each colour over the undercoat, rather than spray an all over Ocean Grey coat, you could probably use this colour on it's own.

RAF Dark Green & Invasion Stripes

The Sky coloured band was then added to the rear fuselage, this was simply Tamiya Sky (XF-21). The invasion stripes were painted the same as before. The one thing I will say is that I found the invasion stripes to the rear fuselage incredibly difficult to do. Getting them straight took numerous attempts due to the curvature of the surface I was applying them to and it used far too much masking tape. It was not helped by the fact that the whole model was masked at this point and fairly hard to judge their position when I had very little of the model exposed.

In the end I had to remove the excess paint with a wooden toothpick in order to get them straight. With hindsight I think would be better to do this first and then mask off the whole invasion band area and spray the camouflage around it.

Despite this last bit killing my enthusiasm for some time I have to say I'm satisfied with the result. I achieved the two things I wanted to, spraying accurate RAF colours and spraying the invasion stripes.

Now onto the decals.

Motivation and Me – How to keep on Modelling?

Recently I’ve noticed a steady slump in my modelling output, as you can tell, there’s not been much in the way of blog posts over the last few months.

This isn’t the first time, I tend to get moments where I lose the drive to build or paint models. Away from that I’m still enjoying looking at models, reading about them, maintaining my Pinterest and so on. I’m just not building or painting.

This time it seems to have been the slow and, if I’m honest, the somewhat tedious painting of my Airfix Typhoon combined with a few other aircraft builds that just aren’t capturing my imagination like Tamiya’s 1:72 scale A6M5 Zero. Don’t get me wrong, the Typhoon and Zero are a fantastic kits, just my desire to paint at the invasion stripes and markings on the Typhoon slowed the build right down to the point where it stopped and I’m just not that passionate about Japanese WWII aircraft.

So how do I get my motivation back

Looking on the internet and most suggestions (such as this from Dakka Dakka) suggest a structured and almost work like approach to working through a block. I’ve considered setting time aside and making myself do something each day, but that’s not working for me as I don’t like such a structured approach even at the best of times.

For me my approach has always been less structured, I like to try many things, my hobby output is often driven by my curiosity and desire to experiment with ideas. However this may actually be contributing to the loss of motivation as it inevitably leads to a large number of unfinished projects which can seem a bit overwhelming when deciding some of them need to be finished. I am pleased however that I’ve not continued buying many kits in the hope that one would spark my imagination as that leads to an overwhelming stash, a problem which I’ve written about before, and which leads me to a similar loss of motivation.

Skyrim
Source: Bethesda Softworks

Away from modelling I’m still finding time for, and enjoying, my other interests. I’ve read more books in the last few months than I normally would and last week I rediscovered the computer game Skyrim which can certainly consume a large amount of my hobby time. Interestingly enough even these non-modelling hobbies are managing to provide inspiration for future modelling projects.

Realistically I think the desire will come back at some point, and I suspect it’ll involve something new rather than forcing myself to complete one of the many unfinished projects. I just don’t want to leave it too long though as I feel I will start to unlearn some of the things I’ve spent so long learning in the first place. I just need to get curious about something hobby related or have a sudden flash of inspiration and then things should snowball from there.

Build Review - Airfix Hawker Typhoon Ib (A02041) – Part 1

As I'd mentioned at the end of a previous post I'd had a few issues when building Airfix's 1:72 Hawker Typhoon.

Source: (Lower Image) Hyperscale

The issues centered around the base of the wings, the flexible nature of this piece had meant that when it came to fitting the wheel covers, to depict the aircraft in flight, they wouldn't fit without considerable trimming and so looked quite untidy.

Out of curiosity I decided to open up another kit and see if they would actually fit prior to assembly and, as shown in the picture below, they clearly did.

This got me thinking, maybe there was a another way to build this kit, starting with the lower wings so I didn't make the same mistake again. And while I was at it, I'd photograph each step and share.

The Build

The first step was to attach the cockpit floor and the wheel wells to lower section of the wings. The wheel covers were then inserted from the other side. As I'd already established, the fit was perfect.

I then attached one side of the fuselage to lower wing piece and fixed the air intake into the correct position. From here on in I continuously test fitted the other side of the fuselage and the top side of a wing. In order to make sure the fuselage fitted there was a slight bit of filing required at the rear of the air intake and each time it snapped into place which meant care had to be take when removing it.

Next I assembled the cockpit on the half of the fuselage that wasn't attached to the wings. I remove the locating pins that would fix into other side as they weren't really need. This was because I continued test fitting to make sure everything was in place and that it hadn't moved from the correct position. Once the glue had set the cockpit was painted. If you're adding the pilot, as I was, then you will see next to nothing, especially given that Typhoon cockpits were painted black inside.


Once the pilot had been put in place, (I filled away his back and cut off his feet to make him fit cleaner), it was time to glue the second side into place. Just make sure the tail wheel and the clear light to the base of the aircraft have been put in place.

After allowing time for the glue to set I moved onto the wings. The gun bays were put in place, but as I was doing an in flight model these would be covered up by the top halves of the wings. I also made sure I drilled out the holes for the rockets launchers as there's no indication of their position of the exterior side of the wing.

And there we have it, both the top halves of the wings attached without any issues. I then added the flap to the base of the air intake just to finish things off. The instructions tell you to do this when joining the two halves of the fuselage but on both builds I found it to be far too awkward. It's much easier just to remove one the pins and slot it in later.

A minor bit of filling was required, the join at the base of the air intake is not the best. But after that it was all ready for some paint to be applied and that will be my next build post.

Too Many Shades Of Grey (And Green) - Late War RAF Camouflage

It now been a considerable time since I actually completed a model aircraft, 5 months in fact. One satisfying part of that particular build was that I finally managed to replicate the early WWII RAF camouflage scheme of dark earth and dark green.

So that just left the late war scheme, which replaced the dark earth, (brown), with ocean grey as the air battle moved out over the English Channel and beyond. Should be pretty straight forward you'd have thought, so with that in mind I decided to give it a try.

I decided I would try two kits at the same time, both built straight out of the box as the main objective was the colour scheme. The kits, Airfix's 1:72 Hawker Typhoon IIb (A02041) and the Sptifire MK.IXc (A02065A). I'd picked them both up at the Home Bargain Store in the UK which had been selling off Airfix kits for less than half price at £2.99 each.

As well as the RAF camouflage I also wanted to compare pre-shading and not, and I wanted to try airbrushing invasion stripes rather than using decals.

Before I could start on the exterior there was the small matter of the interiors, and there was quite a difference between the two. The Spitfire was absolutely basic, which was surprising for a kit released in 2009 and for a kit which actually had some nice exterior details and fine panel lines which couldn't be said for all Airfix kits at that time.

The Typhoon on the other hand seemed almost over engineered. The cockpit floor also consisted of the wheel wells. The instrument panel, rear panel, seat and air intake all had to be fitted between the two halves of the fuselage meaning it took several goes of adding a piece, letting it dry, adding another and so on. It certainly looks good, but it seemed like it required a little more effort that was perhaps necessary.

After that it was a case of assembling the wings. The lower part of the wings left awful joints at the sides of the air intake and a huge step at the rear which would require considerable filling.

So while all that filling and sanding was going on I decided to get on with painting the Spitfire (the Spitfire went together easily).

I started by pre-shading with Vallejo Model Air Black, 71.057 and then painted the undersides with Barley White 71.051 which was highlighted with thinned coat of Pale Blue Grey 71.046.

Moving onto the upper sides I couldn't really find a suitable shade for Ocean Grey so I mixed Tamiya XF-18, XF-21, XF-24 to a ratio of 1:2:2 and sprayed the whole topside. I then started on the green by using Vallejo Model Air 71.016 over sprayed with 71.017 as I'd used for my early war scheme. My reasoning was that RAF aircraft used the same green throughout the war so I could just re-use the previous colours.

But this didn't look right. Was it because I was spraying green over a grey base coat, rather than dark earth? Quite probably, so I tried to correct it and things then went from bad to worse. Then I realised actually my Ocean grey was too dark anyway. Time to get the paint stripper out.

How not to do RAF Camouflage

So once again, I'd failed with Vallejo Model Air colours and to be honest, I'm getting a bit tired of this. OK, so my Tamiya mix hadn't worked out either, I can probably correct that though. However I then realised Tamiya had extended their paint range and introduced three RAF late war colours, XF-81, 82, 83 so tomorrow I'm going to pick them up.

Still, at least I had the Typhoon to fall back on. Except there was a problem. It turns out that the lower wing piece I'd mentioned was quite flexible and so the wheel covers wouldn't fit without considerable trimming and I was planning on depicting the aircraft in flight.

Good thing I bought two Typhoons...

Completed Review - Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant (A02069)

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £8.99

This is probably the briefest review I've done; a few photos that I wanted to share with you followed by a quick summary.

This is fantastic kit, one of the best I've tried. Only issue I recall is for some reason the topside of the nose didn't quite line up. I've seen a few cases of this happening but it may just be down to how I fitted the cockpit. If you've had the same problem feel free to let me know.

The model was painted with Vallejo model air paints, I followed the steps I used in my Airifx Hurricane quick build. Panel lines and weathering were done with Flory Models' Dark Dirt and Sand washes.

The markings of this aircraft come from the dogfight double set (A50170) and are those of the highest scoring Defiant crew, Sergeants Ted Thorn (pilot) and Frederic Baker (gunner).

Eduard photo-etch was used for interior details and the gun barrels came from Master Models of Poland. That reminds me, the reason why I had to replace the guns was that the plastic ones are really difficult to remove from the sprue and in my case I snapped them. Montex masks were used during painting, I wouldn't recommend them for this kit as they don't really hold on the curved turret part (not too bad on the flat parts though).

As always you can keep up-to-date with all my builds on my Instagram page.

Overall Build Score: 4.5 out of 5, another excellent release from Airfix. The shape is finally correct and aside from slight fit issues and the poor turret guns the kit builds very well. The individual boxed version offers you the choice between the aircraft's two main roles, the early day and then the later night fighter. In addition the canopy, raised or lowered fairing, and landing gear options ensure you have all possible configurations available to build. The aircraft itself may have been considered a failure but this kit is a triumph!