Eduard Hawker Typhoon Build Report

The "Spiffy" Tiffy

Eduard 1/48th scale Hawker Typhoon

Kit: Hawker Typhoon

Mfg: Eduard

Scale: 1/48th

Despite all of my interest in WWII, the countless hours I've spent studying and exploring tons of WWII aircraft and my love of the hobby of model building, for some odd reason I have had very little experience building RAF airplanes. I can think of just two British subjects that have managed to make it on my bench, a Seafire Mk III and a Spitfire Mk IX, but even then the Mk IX was in american markings. Other than those two, RAF aircraft have otherwise eluded my build queue. 

So, when a fellow You Tuber, the International British Modeler invited me to a group build for the Hawker Typhoon, I had to say YES. I took it as a sign, it was time to build more RAF aircraft.

As luck would have it, I had an unopened, beautifully appointed, 1/48th scale Hawker Typhoon, just waiting to be built. Initially molded by Hasagawa and newly re-boxed by Eduard, there was just no excuses. I had to give this one a try, so I tossed my hat into the ring and started the build on July 15th, 2017. I must admit, it was a lot of fun.

Construction Report
This kit was a real beauty. The plastic was very well detailed, the decals were a dream and the instructions were nicely printed and very colorful. With the additions of the Resin and Photo Etched parts by Eduard, the kit was a slam dunk.

Fit issues were relatively non-extant. The were a few, but the only REAL fit problem was at the cockpit/fuselage inserts. However, Hasagawa is notorious for this practice, so that was to be expected.

The resin and P.E. parts added a wonderful extra level of detail and complimented the Hasegawa plastic nicely. That isn't to say that you couldn't have created a beautiful kit without those parts, but it was aces to have them available.

I choose to paint the cockpit black with subtle dry brushing to pop any extra details. The pre-painted P.E. really made my job a lot easier and the P.E. levers were a nice touch. I will admit that the levers gave me some trouble. Not only were they super small and very difficult to manipulate, they were just lost in the darkness of the cockpit. Based on those issues, I ended up only using a few and saved the rest for the spares box.

Even though the clear parts were very clean and transparent, a dip in Future really helped to improve their clarity. Once it was all finished up, the whole area looked fantastic.

The resin parts were beautifully cast and super smooth. I didn't notice any sink marks or imperfections and Eduard even gave us multiple versions of several parts. For example, there were two different sets of both tail wheels and main wheels, so now I have some lovely spares!

I finished the kit with a mixture of Tamiya, Gunze and Vallejo paints. The camo pattern, while not perfect was shot freehand through my Iwata HP-C airbrush. I think it turned out well enough. After the paint was cured, I applied a coat of Future in anticipation of the decals and after a few days to cure, I tackled all the markings and stenciles.

I decided to go with aircraft R8893 from No. 182 Squadron based at RAF Martlesham Heath air base, November 1942. The reason for this was because I loved the aircraft's white nose, yellow wing strips and black identification bands. I masked and painted all of the stripes and I loved how they came out. They might not be perfect, but they look the part.

The decals went on without any issues, although I did end up with a strange spacing issue on the fuselage letter codes. I used Micro Set and Micro Sol as my application solutions and the markings conformed well. Their color and thickness seemed perfect to my eyes. 

For my weathering, I used some AIM weathering powders, oil washes, colored pencils and some pastels to achieve a dirtier look. I normally don't go for a super dirty aircraft, but I decided to try and UP the dirt level a bit. I think I was able to achieve what I was going for. I could have probably gone a bit more, but I am happy with the end results.

Final Thoughts
Hasagawa is one of my favorite kit brands. Their plastics have never disappointed me and their fit is generally very good. They also produce some really interesting subjects. Now that doesn't mean that they are not without their quirks. For example, they very rarely give you much in the way of under wing stores. They will sometimes give you a few bombs or missiles, but that is about the extent of their generosity. They do sell weapon kits for those of you, who want to appoint your pylons with anything extra, but as a modeler with limited funds, that is slightly annoying.

Also, they do tend to produce molds and kits that allow a modeler to build a whole slew of different variations of the same subject. They are able to achieve this with the use of different inserts. For example, the Tiffy had two different cockpit entry systems. One was the "Car Door" version and the other was a more traditional "Bubbletop". This particular kit called for the "Car Door", so Hasagawa included the necessary inserts to build just that. That was the only area on the kit that gave me any real issue. It isn't a deal breaker as any isuues can be solved with filler and a quick rescribe, but it can take some extra time and care to get the results that you want.

Overall, I had a blast with this entire kit. I love Hasagawa plastics and the Eduard re-box was perfectly appointed with awesome goodies, resin updates and P.E. parts. Knowing the complexity of multimedia kits, I was skeptical at first, but after all was said and done, my Tiffy turned into a beautiful little gem. Plus, this was my very first completed group build, so that was a win-win. This kit is highly recommend.

For those interested, I have the full build series on my YouTube channel and the images of my progress are on my Facebook page, so feel free to check them out.

Until next time, I hope you enjoy the kit and thanks for stopping by.

~GB