CMR Models - Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB Early Version: Model Review by Colin Pickett

1/72 kit: Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB
[Early Version]
Czech Master Resin (Model No.CMR-172)

Model built & reviewed by: Colin Pickett

The Kit
The Typhoon is one of the iconic aircraft of W.W.II and until now has been ignored by most manufacturers, however CMR's latest release goes along way to redress the balance. Unusually for CMR the Typhoon is moulded in White resin rather than their normal creamy resin which does prove useful if you choose to model the "white nosed" version depicted on the end opening cardboard box the kit come in. The finely engraved parts are accompanied with a choice of two styles of vacuum formed canopy with two of each provided to allow for those little accidents. The characteristic "Car Doors" of the Typhoon are provided as clear resin parts as are the large wing mounted landing lights. As is common with most CMR kits the Typhoon comes with a vast array of stores and weapons - I chose to fit the 90 Gallon drop tanks to mine but you could easily choose 1000lb, 500lb or 250lb bombs, Mk.1 rockets and rails or the 44 gallon long range tanks.

Construction

Predictably construction starts with the cockpit and this went in the fuselage with just a little trimming required before the fuselage halves were stuck together, this is a limited run kit so allowances must be made to test fit every part - common good practice really.

The substantial one-piece wings were then installed in the fuselage and were an excellent fit. At this point I used a small amount of filler to make good the joins in the fuselage and a little on the underside. I cleaned the excess filler away by using cellulose thinners on a "Cotton bud" as the resin is inert and not effected by the thinners, however don't go too mad or the thinners will effect the adhesive and result in your kit falling apart again. I use this method, as you don't have the problem of sanding away all the fine surface detail on the model.

In short the Typhoon went together with a little effort and was now ready for painting.

Painting

The kit comes with three decal options one for Wing Commander D.E Gillam's aircraft R7698/Z-Z based at Duxford in September 1942, one for Typhoon R8893 XM-M of 182 Squadron in late 1942 (with the white nose) and the version I chose R7752/PR-G of 609 Squadron, which was Wing Commander "Bea" Beaumont's Aircraft of November 1942. All of the aircraft are the standard Dark Green and Ocean Grey over Medium Sea Grey, the markings being given by the excellent Colour scheme sheet included in the kit.

After painting I choose to decal the Typhoon, the coating it with a coat of Klear/Future before toning down the paint with a very dilute coat of light grey to get a "Scale Effect" as I thought the Xtracylics paint I used were a little too heavy, the colours are given in the instructions as FS numbers so you can choose your favourite brand.

The decals went on with slight silvering (partly my fault as I did not coat with Klear first to give a decent finish for the decals to adhere too) that treatment with decal solutions cured - Another lesson learned!

At this point I decided to cut out the canopy, which took a little care before dunking it in a small tub of Klear to give a glass like finish to the already very thin transparency, on installation the canopy fitted perfectly and I'm pleased with the result as I'd dreaded installing it.

Once this was complete I added all of the fiddly/fragile bits like the very impressive undercarriage and the Typhoon started to look like a "Proper Aeroplane".

I then gave the Typhoon a wash coat with dilute black enamel to show off the fine surface detail before a general weathering with my favourite Tamiya weathering powders and some slight paint chipping with silver paint to give the Typhoon a "used feel".

Finally I added a stretched sprue aerial as shown in the diagrams in the instructions to complete the build.

Conclusion

I'm very pleased with the finished Typhoon and CMR are to be commended for producing a fine model. I would recommend this kit to anyone with a bit of experience looking to get into resin models as it throws up few problems and produces an accurate representation of this aggressive looking aeroplane, whilst also allowing scope for extra detailing if you want. This would make a great addition to any W.W.II aircraft collection.