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

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.

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.

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

Good start Andy!

Thanks guys. As promised, what follows is a short summary of this aircraft's fate with 439 Squadron. References are the Squadron ORB and the book "Typhoon and Tempest: The Canadian Story" by Hugh Halliday.

JR500 first shows up on 439 Squadron operations on 19 July, 1944 when it was flown by Flying Officer R.A Johns, RCAF carrying 1000# bombs targeting troops in support of the allied advance in Normandy. Though not his personal aircraft, Johns was the most frequent pilot of JR500, carrying out dive bombing and strafing attacks on enemy vehicles and positions as was typical of Typhoon operations at the time.

After its first 439 Sqdn. op, JR500 doesn't show up again until July 29 when it was flown by F/O R.H. MacDonald RCAF on a dive bombing mission against buildings near St. Martin de Fontenay. After that, the aircraft sees extensive service through August, being flown by Johns, MacDonald, F/Os Stitt, Scharff, Hewson, and Squadron Leader K.J. Fiset, RCAF on occasion. A busy day on August 18 saw four missions flown in JR500, 3 by Johns and one by Hewson, all strafing vehicles in the infamous Falaise pocket.

Toward the end of August and early September, the squadron moved 3 times, ending up for a while at B.58 Melsbroek Belgium. It was here that on September 8, Johns led the squadron in JR500 for the first time into German air space on an armed reconnaissance near Venlo, eventually strafing barges on the Rhine.

September saw increasing activity over Holland, with yet more pilots taking JR500 to the skies in support of troop advances. In addition to Johns and Laurence, we have F/Os I.W. Smith, M.P. Laycock, and B.P. Swingler flying JR500.

On September 28, Johns took to the skies in JR500 on a fighter sweep over Holland but had to abort with radio trouble. On returning to base, Johns experienced further mechanical issues that caused him to make 4 passes at the field before setting down with no power on the engine. JR500 was then apparently sent off for repairs while the squadron moved to B.78 Eindhoven at the end of September.

With JR500 out of action, Johns took Typhoon MN765 to lead the squadron on a dive bombing attack on a railway in the afternoon of October 5. After bombing the railway and on the way back to base, Johns spotted enemy vehicles on a road and broke to attack with his wingman. After making a short burst, Johns' Typhoon was hit by flak and he lost control, colliding with a church steeple and dying in the ensuing crash.

October 7 sees the return of JR500 to ops when F/O C.L. Burgess takes it on an afternoon mission to strafe railway stock.

October sees MacDonald as the most frequent pilot of JR500 with the typical ground attack missions through the month in increasingly poor weather. Others to pilot the aircraft are F/Os R.A. Hiltz, J.G Martin, I.W. Smith, W.G. Davis, and W.L. Saunders.

On November 3, F/O Ralph Nelson MacDonald of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, a 41-sortie veteran, took off in JR500 to do an Airframe & Engine (A&E) test. F/O R.H. Laurence was out at the same time and they engaged in a mock dogfight near Eindhoven. On recovering from a tight turn, MacDonald's aircraft flicked into a spin and crashed into a house, killing him instantly and destroying the aircraft.

Seven weeks later, Laurence was ordered court martialed but was supported by his superiors and found not to have broken any rules. In February, 1945 he was awarded the DFC following air battles in which he destroyed 4 enemy aircraft.