Pavla Models

1/72 Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib [Car Door]

Kit Number: 72044

Reviewed by  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: $9.95 Website: Pavla Models Introduction The Hawker Typhoon was the first of the heavy fighters used by the Allies during World War II. After the Hurricane entered production, Hawker’s design team, headed by Sydney Camm, began work on a new design. Prototypes were tested using the Rolls Royce Vulture (Tornado) and the Napier Sabre (Typhoon) engines. The Sabre proved to be more suited to the fighter, and the Tornado was eventually canceled, while the Sabre-powered Typhoon were on to squadron service, and was eventually developed into the Tempest, Fury, and Sea Fury fighters, some of which soldiered on into the fifties. The first Typhoon flew in 1940, and initial versions, designated Mk. 1A, were armed with twelve .303 machine guns. Major production models, Mk. 1B, used four 20 mm cannons, which protruded from the wing leading edges. Many problems needed to be solved before the Typhoon was to become a really first class fighter. The first Typhoons entered squadron service in 1941 with No. 56 Squadron at RAF Duxford. The appearance of the Focke Wulf FW-190A, which outperformed the Spitfire Mk. V, forced the RAF to introduce the Typhoon as a countermeasure, as its performance equaled that of the Luftwaffe fighter. Soon, a new model, the Mk. 1B appeared, with a modified canopy for better rearward vision, and these retained the sideward opening doors, similar to those of a car. Later MK. 1B’s had regular sliding “bubble” canopies, as the “car door” arrangement must have made pilots wonder about surviving a bailout. The Typhoon was extremely fast, and proved to be a very effective fighter and ground attack airplane. About 3,300 were built. After the war, most were immediately scrapped. As far as I know, the only survivor is at the RAF Museum, Hendon, UK. References and Instructions Many reference works are available on the Typhoon and Tempest series. One of the best is the Squadron-Signal “In Action” series, No.102. For this model, you will need color information as well as a good three view drawing. The instruction sheet consists of 14 half-sized sheets, and provides a lot of information about the airplane and the model. The English translation of the history is worded rather strangely (a professional writer could have cleaned it up in just a few minutes), and a very good sprue diagram is included. Painting information is clear, and the exploded assembly drawings are basically well done. Painting and decal information is provided for three aircraft, that of Sqdn. Ldr. Beaumont, Sqdn. Ldr. Don “Butch” Taylor of No. 195 Sqdn., and Wg. Cdr. Denys E. Gillam. All information is credited to Osprey’s Aircraft of the Aces, No. 27-Typhoon and Tempest Aces of World War II. The Kit The kit is cast in 36 grey plastic pieces, 16 grey resin parts, and 4 vacuformed units, including two canopies and two landing light covers. The canopies are slightly different, not duplicates. The castings appear to be accurate in outline, but there are some glitches and some flash to be trimmed off, a thing to be expected with this type of kit. The resin parts are nicely done, although the wheels take a lot of work to get right. The fuselage right side has the door cut out of it, so if you are going to model the plane with the door closed, as I did, it takes a bit of doing to get the door in place. The door itself has the top framing provided, which would require cutting and mounting a piece of clear plastic inside the door frame, certainly not a job for beginners. I just cut the top of the door off and built it in closed position. The two canopies differ in the mirror attachment, depending on which version you are modeling. Interior detail is very nicely done, although the instructions are not too clear on the exact locations of such things as the instrument panel. Drawings of the completed units should be provided, but aren’t. The cockpit interior parts are a little too wide when assembled, and need to be filed down significantly for them to fit. The instrument panel is too far forward, if you follow the instructions. Move it back a bit to get it in the proper position. The interior side panel markings are a bit off, with the left side a little ahead of the right. The fuselage halves fit together well, although no mounting pegs or holes are provided. The main problem is the wing to fuselage fit, which is very poor. The wings, which actually need to be joined before attaching them to the fuselage, need to be trimmed down on the inside, and even then, the cannon mounting fairings do not mate properly, requiring some aggressive clamping to get them to stay in position. A lot of trimming is needed, and you might even try gluing the bottom wing section to the fuselage before attaching the upper wing panels, although that might make lining the cannot housing up very difficult. The assembled wing must be pushed up underneath the radiator, and fit here is poor. A lot of trimming is required to get it to fit properly, and heavy clamping is needed to get the rear portion to line up properly with the fuselage assembly. The horizontal stabilizer/elevator assemblies are butt joined to the rear fuselage, and these need some trimming to get them to fit correctly. Once the main airframe is assembled and lined up properly, a lot of putty is required to fill in the gaps and seams. The landing gear is accurate, but the castings are a bit crude, and some trimming will be required. There is no real receptacle for the gear legs to fit into in the wheel well, and this is a rather tedious process of getting the gear struts to line up properly. This is not even hinted at in the instructions. Once the gear is in place (I used superglue) the gear covers and inside doors can be attached, and small structural details, including two struts and two small oleo units on the wheel well doors, can be added. These, needless to say, should have been painted before assembly. The tailwheel is supposed to have been installed before joining the fuselage halves in two small holes provided, but this will present handling problems and is very easy to break off, so I installed it later, trimming off the small tabs for the mounting holes. The exhaust stacks are a particularly difficult item. The best way would be to install some kind of backing plate on the insides of the fuselage halves before joining them. Then the exhaust stacks can be trimmed to size and just pushed into the slot. There are some larger stacks (23-24), but I didn’t see how they would be useful, as they were too large to go through the slot, and they wouldn’t fit on the inside. Another problem is the cannon mounts, which are not really round. They need to be filed as round as possible, and then drilled out for the cannon muzzles to be mounted. The effect, however, is good, and the mounted guns shouldn’t be a problem in handling the model. The vacuform canopy can easily be trimmed to fit in place, but the landing light glass is another matter. This requires a lot of tedious trimming, and you might just want to take some clear plastic and trim it to shape, or bend some vacuform plastic to shape trimming it to size before using white glue to install it. I even thought of globbing in some white glue as we do on small windows, but I didn’t think that would work. The canopy, by the way, is very clear, but the location of the armor plate behind the cockpit is not described adequately in the instructions. The LF radio mast should be attached to the top of the canopy, but there is no indication in the instructions on exactly where this should be and how it would be supported inside, so you need to refer to other sources. The propeller consists of three individual blades, a hub, and a spinner. These need to be lined up by eyeball, but I didn’t have any problem with that. Then the prop merely glues to the front of the engine compartment, which is OK if you aren’t contemplating spinning the prop. Painting and Finishing The instructions provide three adequate color schemes, and these are easy to follow. Colors appear to be correct, and the decals are of very high quality. You’ll have enough decals left over to partially complete a couple of other Typhoon models. I used a setting solution, but I don’t think it was absolutely necessary. The extra “car door” canopy would also be useful in converting another kit, so hang on to that too. Recommendations I have mixed emotions about this model. It had a lot of problems that have to do with its limited run status. It was a lot more work than an Academy Typhoon kit, but it was better than the old Frog or Airfix kits. It has a lot more detail than the Hobby Boss kit, and looks like a Typhoon when completed. It is certainly worth getting one of these, but don’t expect to shake the box and come out with a high quality model. It will take a lot of work, and, besides, it is the only “car door” Typhoon kit available. Get one and try it. It will be a challenge, but then, isn’t that what serious modeling is all about? Thanks to Pavla Models for the review sample.