Every modeler has some project he is working towards completing, or a favorite subject that he enjoys building. Some have an armoured diorama on the go, while others have an endless flight line of F-16s. One of my projects is building a series of aircraft that were flown by 439 “Sabre Tooth Tiger” Squadron. In their history, the squadron has used a number of aircraft since they stood up during World War II, and it was in this period that I chose to start. My subject would the Hawker Typhoon IB, and the kit would be the 1/48 offering from Monogram.

I started planning the build almost a year before I opened the glue bottle. At the time, Hasegawa had not released their 1/48 bubble top Typhoon, so I chose the older, but still very good, Monogram version. Because this kit had been around for so long, there were a number of after market details available for it. In the end I used a number of secondary pieces as well as some scratch-building. The kit itself is a mix of raised and recessed panel lines, with the raised panel limited in number and out of the way any seams, making it easy to preserve them during any sanding. All the rivet detail around the engine cowling was also raised, so these were re-scribed along with the cowl. The drill was taken to couple of other areas that needed attention, specifically the gun muzzles, exhaust stacks, cannon shell ejector shoots, and gun camera port.

Now it came time to use the after market stuff. The cockpit is made using a True Details photo etched set and some scratch-built plumbing. The gun sight is piece of clear overhead projector film. A number of resin pieces found their way on the kit, including the prop and hub, main wheels, and horizontal stabilizers. The latter was added because later marks of the Typhoon used the same tail plane as the Tempest. The other scratch-built details that were added were the navigation lights, which were carved from toothbrush handles, antenna, canopy track, cockpit and wheel well plumbing, and main gear door actuators.

One of the additions I was not able to incorporate at the time was a weapons load. Canadian Typhoons did their hunting for the most part using 500 pound bombs. The Monogram kit comes with rockets, and at the time bombs and bomb racks were not readily available. Now that the kit is built, Ultra Cast has released the ordnance. Murphy’s Law at work I guess.

Once built, the plane was finished with Model Master paints. I used Parafilm for masking to achieve the proper hard edge look to the camouflage scheme. Weathering was accomplished using artists paints, both thinned and straight from the tube, and chalk, which was done after I had applied decals from Arrow Graphics. When complete, I was able to compare it to a Hasegawa kit, and one of the differences between the two was that the Monogram kit stands taller. Whether this is right or wrong I do not know.

This was my first multi-media, super detailing attempt, and in the end it came out well. The Monogram kit has been around for some time, but it is still a highly buildable kit, and after market details are still available for it. My efforts were rewarded with a bronze medal at our 2000 model contest. With this first aircraft built, it’s now time to turn my attention towards 439 Squadron’s jet powered machines.