Airfix Typhoon 1/24

[scvrobeson]

You've made a superb job of much of this, the engine especially looks fantastic, for me though, the preshading (I think that's what Drew means by patchwork) & riveting are a bit too obvious, imho of couse, I confess that I like my models relatively unweathered, I tend towards less is more, I'm also one of those 1/72 deviants so don't take too much notice of what I say. Regardless of my opinion, its an impressive model & the skills that you've used to achieve the effects you like are obvious to see.

Steve.

Thank you Steve. There actually isn't any pre-shading on this one, it was all done in the post-shading stages. I do agree that the pictures make the rivets look a bit too stark, but Airfix also molded them pretty deeply. It's a trade off for the rippled skin they molded onto the surface. If I did another one, it would be less weathered, to show one right after D-Day, not right at the end of the war.

Matt

[scvrobeson]

To the OP,

Your modelling skills, I feel, are beyond reproach or criticism. I honestly don't see how they can be improved upon. This is an exceptional piece of work IMHO. I believe that modelling at this level is truly art and as such, is very subjective. While your panel line weathering and rivet detail may be over the top for some, the overall effect is dramatic and very eye-catching. Again, it is all about personal taste at this point and, though I might prefer the weathering to be a bit more subtle, I certainly can't criticize what you have accomplished here. I want to see more!

Don

Thank you Don. I can see how my painting style isn't to everyone's taste, I understand that. My pictures don't show everything, and I will admit that I did go for heavy weathering on this plane. Model building is a very subjective hobby though, but we open ourselves up to the views of everyone when we post stuff online. I can also say that this Typhoon won the Model of the Month contest over on Aeroscale, so I'm very happy with it

Matt

[scvrobeson]

I think the weathering is spot on. Granted I like my builds dirty, but I sometimes struggle when people say that the "patchwork" preshading doesn't look realistic. There are a multitude of photos that show any aircraft in different stages of weathering. And the patchwork look happens just as much as the clean look. Example: note the panel lines of this F-16. Every panel line is almost uniformly weathered.

It's just a matter of when you decide to date your model. So for me, it looks extremely realistic and the weathering shows a heavily used aircraft before anyone has had a chance to wash or repaint it. The key here is the consistency in the overall weathering. Faded decals, and the same overall dirtiness display a consistent message.

Bravo Matt! Absolutely AWESOME build.

Thank you for your great comments, and that awesome picture! I've never seen an F-16 so beaten up, now I feel like I have to do one like that. The pylon outline I think is the coolest part of it.

I'm glad you like the painting and weathering on the Typhoon. It was meant to be a very used plane. The marking scheme on it was fully applied between September of 1944 and April of 1945, so it was active right in the last year of the war, when they would have flown a lot of missions from unpaved fields. Figured that would leave it pretty dirty and worn out. There aren't actually any decals except for the few stencils, everything else is masked and painted on.

Matt

[scvrobeson]

I agree on this one. There's no denying it's beautifully built and detailed, but to my eye too the panel shading and wash spoil the overall effect of a weathered aircraft.

The key here is to study the real aircraft very carefully. I'm yet to see a picture (or a real aircraft) that shows the area around every panel line shadowed in a darker colour (the patchwork quilt effect mentioned above,) nor every rivet/panel line visible. You're more likely to see random variations in paint tones, chipping and oil/fluid stains, but never every single panel standing out uniformly like this.

But, as others have said, it's each to their own and some will love this style of weathering, others not. At the end of the day it's up to the builder. There's no denying it makes for an eye-catching spectacle, but in my opinion not an very 'realistic' one :)/>

That's understandable Tommy. I know that this painting style won't appeal to everyone, but I like how it came out. Part of it is that the rivets are very pronounced on the plastic, but toning those down would have really toned down the rippled skin that Airfix had molded on. Most of the panels do not have a uniform shading on them, the ones on the inner wings are a bit more heavily weathered. If I do another one, it will be more subtle, but I'm happy with how the weathering works on this one. I've seen pictures of very heavily weathered Typhoons, so I tried to take my inspiration from those. In the last year of the war, the fighting moved quickly, and the planes mostly flew from dirty or muddy fields. That would seem to have taken a toll on them.

Thank you for sharing your opinion and offering your critiques. That's what this section of the forum is for.

Matt

[Don]

I just love the engine and the ammo belts/open gun panels ! The mud splatter is a nice and often forgotten weathering affect on WWII aircraft and I think you did a great job of it. Well done Sir!

Regards,

Don.