GB-63 1/48 Hawker Typhoon 1B - Stormy Weather (2 Viewers)

[Crimea_River]

Username: Crimea River
First name: Andy
Category: Judge – Non-competing
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Hasegawa
Model Type: Typhoon Mk.Ib
Aftermarket addons: Aviaeology decals, Ultracast resin seat and exhausts.

I will see if I can squeeze in another build for this GB with my remaining Hasegawa Typhoon kit and parts. I built a late model Typhoon for GB 47 and used up my 4 blade prop and Tempest-style parts for that build. Having only a 3 blade prop and the smaller tail left, I searched for suitable subjects that fit the parts and decals that I had and came up with a rather plain scheme that will be the subject of this build. The aircraft to be depicted is Typhoon 1B s/n JR500 coded 5V-X of 439 Squadron RCAF as seen below:

The aircraft was flown by at least two different pilots in 439 Squadron but was lost in a non-combat accident in November of 1944. I'll post a bit more in the aircraft's relatively short service after I research it a bit more. The only distinctive feature of the scheme is the asymmetric white patch on the spinner that was sported by 439 Squadron aircraft. A portion of the patch can just be made out in the above picture which was taken from here: Intermission – Hawker Typhoon JR500.

 

[Crimea_River]

I made a quick start to this build on Friday. The first order of business was to attach the fuselage side inserts which distinguish Hasegawa's car door and bubble top versions.

It's important to make sure that all of the surfaces are flush rather than to try to align the upper seam lines. It's expected that doing so will result in a small gap at the fuselage seam but this is much easier to deal with than steps in the fuselage surface.

Next up was to assemble the wing halves after drilling out the holes for the bomb carriers and access step.

Then it was on to the cockpit. A few parts had been painted with leftover cockpit grey/green from a previous project. Rather than waste a cup of paint, I usually spray some out on parts in my stash of unbuilt kits that are to receive the same colour.

I had a left over Ultracast resin seat from my previous build that looks much better than the kit part so I used that. The armour plate in the kit was used but had some visible ejector pin marks that needed to be dealt with.

Fortunately, only the top one is visible and this was easily taken care of by filing the surface flat until the mark was no longer visible. The seat was then attached with CA glue.

I then assembled the remaining cockpit bits, which now await painting.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time detailing the cockpit as I plan on displaying the canopy closed for this build. Thanks for looking in and stay tuned for more on the fate of this airframe.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Jock Tamson]

Nice to see another Tiffie I'm liking the resin seat.

 

[Gnomey]

Good start Andy!