Snaps Airfix 1/24 Typhoon

[morrigan]

Progress thus far looks good Snaps.
Pity about the nephew and the camera.
Will be there enough change from the insurance claim do get one of these for your nephew when he's staying?

I'll do like morrigan, wait for metal legs, I have got them for almost all of my 24ers, with the exception of the nice working trumpeter struts...

Looks like its just hit the shelves in the US, Sprue Brothers has them in stock.
There's also a rumor Barracuda cast will be doing some goodies as they already have 1/48 Typhoon bits.
If true, a set of wheels will be must have going by the P-51, Corsair and Uhu wheels and other sundries I brought from them.

[snapdragon]

Don't need anything as sophisticated as that Morrigan.

Here in Yorkshire we solve problems much simpler and cheaper. Here are the items needed to keep nephew in check during next visit....





Easy, simple, effective and reusable!

Once the insurance has paid out then I will see if I can get the lens repaired first. There is nothing wrong with the lens glass, it's just the zoom mechanism. Then I shall see what's left and what I can do with it!

Maybe a few large ships into the stash, put on one side for Telford, Holiday to Ukraine..... Hmmmmmm!!!!

[chill]

Simpler solution is just to lock all your items away in a room .

[Gundog]

Must be something wrong with your keyboard Chill. You typed "items" not "nephews"

[chill]

No nephews. Snap has some really bad luck when it comes to his models. I do fear for his typhoon...considering his others models meet a grizzly end.

[chill]

Progress thus far looks good Snaps.
Pity about the nephew and the camera.
Will be there enough change from the insurance claim do get one of these for your nephew when he's staying?

I'll do like morrigan, wait for metal legs, I have got them for almost all of my 24ers, with the exception of the nice working trumpeter struts...

Looks like its just hit the shelves in the US, Sprue Brothers has them in stock.
There's also a rumor Barracuda cast will be doing some goodies as they already have 1/48 Typhoon bits.
If true, a set of wheels will be must have going by the P-51, Corsair and Uhu wheels and other sundries I brought from them.

Maybe snap could put his models inside of the cage in stead

[snapdragon]

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!









Lots of people on the net have seen an unpainted built version of this, but adding paint and colour certainly gives this section a whole new look and dimension!

James

[chill]

Nice update. .

Is is me or is your paint finish got chips in it ? Looks like there's not even coverage.

[steve131]

Great work Snapdragons well jell, k awarded. Saw on the Airfix tribute forum one guy thinks it made of very soft plastic which is easy to brake, any thoughts on this.

[snapdragon]

He is right. The plastic is very soft and I have broken a part.

In fact... at this moment I am not sure which part I've broken. All I know is that a bit of piping dropped off one of the parts whilst handling the sprue.

Now for an update.

I have resprayed the engine block and I was happy until I took photos under macro lens and flash. Needless to say that I am past the point of trying another colour on top of what's there now. It's stopping like it is! The pipework looks good under either steel or Aluminium paint and tonight I may put some of it together!







Now I have noted during a dry fit session that it may be not easy to fit the engine and supercharger when they are glued together. Noting that the plastic is soft and under the dry fit I noted that I did need quite a lot of force to fit the complete engine and supercharger onto the frame. I wasn't very happy, although when everything is in their proper locating holes it is a solid fit and won't be going anywhere, I am a bit concerned that the pipework fitting from the oil tank to the engine that comes through the firewall in one part may suffer from flexing it doesn't like, so I will be putting on the supercharger and then the engine block to the supercharger. I think it will be a better way.

[snapdragon]

Engine update chaps

This relates to stages 49-67 in the build Novel!

Mostly the parts go on well. Cosmetics count here and on my next I will probably use different metal shades. Some parts fit easily, some are a tight fit, some could go on earlier than they tell you to, some need wiggle to fit and some.... goes where??

At the moment I am concerned that I have messed up and missed C14 & C17 as they are still on the sprue, but I couldn't find any mention in the manual sections I just completed, and I checked more than once. Maybe they will turn up later in the build!

Still, now the engine is fixed onto the frame and most of the wiring done then I am happy and it actually looks like the real thing - but smaller!



















Now I have to flip this over and start on the underside and fit some more plumbing, supports and then the airscoop/radiator etc! More exciting stuff to come soon!


James

[number1]

Coming along a treat snaps, seemed to have stalled on mine at the moment. Did you have a fit problem with part A06? The part that the joystick joins to which runs back under the seat.

[snapdragon]

That's stage 13!

I didn't have a problem with the fit at all. It is best to do stage 13 before stage 12. This will give you more room to fit A06, A22 and B16. You may want to consider doing stages 21-27 before fitting the seat and armoured back (11-12, 14-19)

There is quite a few parts to go in and pretty soon the cockpit area becomes the tight cluttered space that cockpits are and you pretty much begin to loose space to work in. My advice would to be work front to back, bottom to top and leave the seat, seat mount and armoured back to the last. Prepare, build and paint them, but they should be the last in that area..... but that's only my opinion. When you have the actual build in front of you and things start going in you get to realise just how tight a space the cockpit is.


James

[morrigan]

The Sabre looks suitably busy, impressive amount of plumbing for OOB! Actually can't see much of the engine block under all those pipes and cables.
I'm glad I still have some braided line in the bits box as I can see I'm going to a have field day with the Sabre. Oh dear oh dear.

[snapdragon]

I need to visit NZ and take lessons of Morrigan!

[steve131]

Are you enjoying the build Snapdragons and how many Typhoons did you buy ?

[chill]

Two. Probably just in case his nephew strikes again .

[casper]

Looking good snaps, love the cockpit

[snapdragon]

Another update. Stages 68-87

Again another struggle to get piping into place. Some of these things could really do to go in much earlier! Once you finish stage 87 you have finished the engine!

I do believe that Airfix has managed to provide all the pipes etc that the Sabre had. There may be one or two wires to add here and there, but it produces a fantastically busy engine just OOB. I just have the armour shield to put at the front of the glycol tank, and that will go on a little later once it's been painted.

Getting parts around frames and into the right place has caused damage to paintwork but that can be repaired with a brush and time! No problem. When you get to the end of the engine build and you sit back and see it all painted up you get a sense of achievement.



























My apologies for some of the shots, but I am using a macro lens for something it's not really designed for!

On to the wings - time to drill some holes!

[steve131]

Very nice Snapdragons