Shark Mouth Typhoon - 30/5 update + "Special Project"

[trickyrich]

It's been a while since I posted anything on here and this will be my first build thread.

This build is part of a GB on another site but figured it'd be appropriate here as well. The GB topic was "Sharks Mouth" and me being me wanted to build something a bit different and I just happened to come across a setoff very interesting decals for a Hawker Typhoon with Sharks Mouth. By pure chance I had MDC's resin 1/32nd Hawker Typhoon in the stash......what a perfect match.

I actually have 2 Typhoons along with 2 Ki-61 Hien's as well....... plus now another Fisher Model & Pat. Sea Fury and A-1E "Fat Face" conversion.

Some photos of bit for those who haven't seen one of these models before, a lot of these bits are available a AM Update parts.

Thin cast, almost like a plastic fuselage, though I much prefer the Fisher hollow cast stuff, but these are nice.

Solid cast wings with incredible wheel well detail, but one has real issues.....more later.

Really nicely cast and details bit, looks for all the world like a plastic model. Note there are no huge casting block like you get from a lot of other manufacturers.

The only AM bits for where will be plastic...usually it the other way around...

I've done just a wee bit of pre-start work before the actual start of the GB. 

Everything has been given a good wash and check over….there are a few issues with this model, the other one I have of her on checking is perfect. I really should build that one but where would the fun be!

 

A lot of the parts are slightly warped (if you’d seen the original box you’d understand! So a hot bath this time will be required for most of then.

The big issue is with the RH wing. The inner trailing edge is badly warped!

  

I have already tried the hot it up and straighten it, but not that successfully. It’s a solid cast wing and to get the heat needed to soften the thinker section I run a real risk of damaging the thin sections. This is as good as I could get it.

 

 To fix this I plan to laminate new sections of plastic card on the effected areas then re-sand it back into profile, this should work….if not I’ll re-case the rear section from the good wing then just cut out the bad section.

 Plus on both wings the main wheel well area ahs sagged near the fuselage join, they supply a resin part for the inner section of the wheel well, but I’ll replace this with brass to help reshape that area…….this will be explained a bit later

 Been looking forward to building this one for ages.

 Oh dear, just found another one of these and a Ar-234B on evilBay………must …….resist……..

 

 

 

 

 

[Martinnfb]

Looks like a great package Rich. I am pulling out my comfy chair.

Cheers

Martin

[GazzaS]

This could be an awesome looker!

 

Gaz

[Bomber_County]

I’m in do like Tiffies . Excuse my ignorance, is this the only 1/32 available?

[trickyrich]

Hi Phil, other than this you're pretty much left with only the Revell models which are all based on the original 1973 model!

I'm really amazed that this aircraft has pretty much been forgotten about in this scale, 1/24th you have the amazing Airfix model, and in 1/48th you have the Hasegawa and Eduard models. Maybe Zoukei-Mura will do one if we all ask nicely!

I so want to do one of the 3 "Car Door" ones the RAAF tested in the Middle East, may have to get one of these old Revell ones for parts!

 

[Bomber_County]

Thanks for the update, you’re right surprising no manufacturer has stepped in. How cool would it be if Tamiya did one.........hmmmmmmm salivating as we speak.......

[Clunkmeister]

Pulling up a chair for this one, Rich. Like you, I have two of three in the stash, and they keep talking to me.  

I think these are still being produced, so you may be able to contact MDC for a replacement wing...  FYI. 

[BlrwestSiR]

I had this very combination in the stash but decided to sell it a couple years ago. Just didn't think I'd get around to it. 

I believe that Special Hobby may be planning to do a bubble top Tiffie to go with their Tempest kits. 

Carl

[Clunkmeister]

On 5/4/2019 at 8:37 PM, BlrwestSiR said:

I had this very combination in the stash but decided to sell it a couple years ago. Just didn't think I'd get around to it. 

I believe that Special Hobby may be planning to do a bubble top Tiffie to go with their Tempest kits. 

Carl

This is a REALLY nice kit when done. Not as easy as a Fisher kit, but it really looks the part when done.

[trickyrich]

Well my first post for this build and a big one to start with, lots to go over…… plus it’s not quite going to be a straight forward build I had planned for.

I had a good look at the second model and unfortunately on close inspection it has issues as well. I have a sneaking suspicion that the second model is a later release and the original one is a very early release. There are quite a few differences between the models in the resin used, the original is a mix and match of different resins while the new one appears to be the one type of resin.

The second model comes with additional rockets (it was basically an unopened model) while the first doesn’t. I won't be using these as they have the earlier Mk.I mounts which were only used up until the end of 44 or very beginning of 45. My schemings is for a Mid 45 aircraft so these had the later Mk.III mounts. The older ones will be kept for my "Car Door" build.

And the original model has brass U/C legs while the second one has White Metal.

All the reviews I’ve read (and photos seen) match the second model. The quality of the moulds seem to point to this as well, the second may have been refined a wee bit. 

Anyway……. I’ve decided to used both models to build one good one, the leftovers will be used with a Revell donor model to build my RAAF “Car Door” version.

 Ok there’s some warping on some of the new bit’s but I’m not worried about that for now, the original bit is most cases will be fine.

 The fuselages, at first sight appeared to be ok...

..... but when compared!!!

 

 The new one had been held together in the box with rubber bands, which may or may not have attributed to the fuselage flattening out!!

   I though a quick bath in really hot water like the original would do the trick….well no!! It emerged like limp spaghetti!!   After a slight panic and mild heart attack I managed to recover it…….., it’s ok but I’ll be using the old fuselage.

 Similar issue with the wings….

 

 Ok the wings, the warped parts of the old RH wing, I managed to straighten them out further with hot water, but the end plates (for the wheel wells) still would fit correctly.

 

As can be seen I had to add some extra support as I began cracking parts of the wing stretching bit.

  

To help with the straightening I made a new end plate out of brass plate. It’s the exact size and as can be seen it doesn’t fit….

 

 

 So after another quite hot bath things are finally fitting.

 

Ok to fix the remaining unevenness in the wing, which is now very minor I’ll just fill and sand. I will do this slowly and with just light coats of filler to help prevent shrinkage.

 

 Because the trailing edge will become too thin in places I’ve added some 0.010 plastic strip on the inside of the flap area to make this up. If necessary I can easily add more to build it up.

 

 To this some filler is added, again light coats to prevent shrinkage. This is the simplest way to sort out the wing issues.

 

 The interior module is made up of the best bits from both models as a lot of parts were poorly moulded. MDC uses a different type of casting from what you’d normally find in resin model. There are no huge casting blocks only thin pins. They use 2 part moulds instead of the more common one part for all their smaller parts. It can have it’s benefits and issues. Unfortunately in this case for the cockpit more issues than anything else. The only good thing is that most of it will be hidden!

 

 For the “Car Door” version I’ll re-build the cockpit framework from scratch using plastic tubing.

 It will look good when finished.

  

One issue though with the cockpit that did need sorting out was the seat and the “spring” for the height adjustment??? Besides not being moulded correctly on both seats it seat too high and caused to seat to sit to one side in the cockpit opening.

 

The easiest way around this was to make a new spring assembly.

  

I managed to find a photo (spent ages trying to find a clear one) of the setup and built accordingly, it now looks much better…

 

….and fits!

  

I have paints arriving tomorrow so hopefully I can start painting the interior. I know the interior colour scheme can bit a bit controversial (quite a bit of disagreement on the actual colours used) but I’ll be going for (British) Interior Green for the framework and interior walls level to it, then Black for everything above.  

So far no real nasty surprises in the build, the wing is a simple job, the only concern in the build to come is the wing/fuselage join. I’ve done quite a bit of test fitting already and know where the issues are, but on the whole nothing dramatic. If I can get the interior painting done in the next couple of days she’ll be closed up and wings on by the end of the weekend.

 

[DocRob]

That's a good and busy start, Rich. I believe your Tiffy is bathing with greater regularity than me . I will follow through your build with pleasure.

Cheers Rob

[trickyrich]

thanks.

I was all excited at the thought of getting to start painting the cockpit today, but my postman didn't like me today.

So to try and be productive I started to sort out all the parts from the 2 models, keeping all the good ones (or ones that didn't require too mach extra work to clean up) and boxing up the other bits. I now have them all sorted and the second model I back on the shelf......a bit of a nasty surprise when I next get back to it!!!!

I spent a lot of time test fitting bits and pieces, and adjusting as required. The big thing for me with resin model and it's a sort of mantra I go through with each build, is to test fit, test fit and more test fitting until i'm happy with the final fit. You get really familiar with how it's all meant to go together and you see what work and what won't and how it will look afterwards. So when it comes time to use the dreaded CA cement you know it's all going to be fine, and with hopefully no nasty surprises!

Still the only issue I see with this build will be the wing joins and they're not that bad. To solve this I plan to join the wings to the fuselage is stages. This'll become super clear as I do it and you'll see the reasoning behind it. 

Hopefully the Postman will be nice to me tomorrow and the paint will  arrive tomorrow, then with luck I should have the fuselage and wings done by Sunday....maybe.

[GazzaS]

That's a nice start, Rich!  Love the seat spring!

 

Gaz

[trickyrich]

Ok things came to a real halt with this build namely due to me stuffing up a paint order!!! I ordered some paint that was currently not in stock at the same time as I ordered stuff that was……and the good supplier as they are will send the order once it’s complete!!!

So…..no painting for now….which is sort of lucky as I have found some stuff I wasn’t quite happy with!

Ok spent all that time getting that spring right with the seat but when looking closer at some of the photos I discovered that the seat sat too high….unless a midget was flying her! Plus the armour back plate wasn’t quite right and it was missing the guides for the harness, plus an extra plate.

So mod time….

Here the original seat in position, I’ll remove and replace the mount for it and also replace the “oval” support on the seat itself…

…ok that done, new brackets and support....

  

...how does she look now…

…. Much better, now for that armour plate….

 

 ..(these photo’s were only just taken as I forgot to earlier….)…

 …and all together it looks so much better, the seat is now at the correct height and the detailing for the armour plate backing is correct.

  

The sad bit is that once the fuselage is together and cockpit on you would see much of it!

 

 While I was in the mood for detailing I started on the wheel wells, I won’t go whole hog on them but they’ll at least look busy and interesting.

 

there's still some more to go. 

She sort of goes together…..

  

…she’ll need a bit of fettling to get everything in order but it should all work out ok.

 Ok distraction time…..another wee but important build!!! Just to prove I don’t only work on large models…

 

 This is an AAI RQ-7 Shadow UAV……well sort of! It’s completely scratch built from photos, it maybe 1/35^th….not to sure, will have to do the measurements, but it fit a cake.

 

And why you ask why (and probably not), well it’s my contribution to my son’s wedding cake! My wife is doing the main cakes for the wedding and I’m doing the second one (and yes I can cook and I do do old amazing old fashion fruit cake, my mums recipe ….loaded with Rum of course!!!  ). My son is in the Army and works on Drones so thought this would be a nice and fun extra cake! I’ll take photos of the finish model…and cake!

[harv]

on both !.......harv 

[Clunkmeister]

Looking good so far.

Were you able to find an aftermarket canopy or are you going to use the kit vac canopy?

[trickyrich]

I'll go with the kit Vacform one, it's super clear and should be a reasonably straightforward cutout job, unlike some. I may even try to cut it so I can fave the canopy open, again this'll depend o how easy they remove. If open I'll have to may some sort of frame work.....that'll be a fun job.......

[Clunkmeister]

6 hours ago, trickyrich said:

I'll go with the kit Vacform one, it's super clear and should be a reasonably straightforward cutout job, unlike some. I may even try to cut it so I can fave the canopy open, again this'll depend o how easy they remove. If open I'll have to may some sort of frame work.....that'll be a fun job.......

I’ll have to look, but I seem o recall the framing being very vague on the kit bubble. Not positive, just a feeling. But hey, we all knows where it goes anyway, so no biggie.