bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 (edited) So .... how do I best start this? Some folks around her might know that the original design for the Ghost Tiger Typhoon grew on my pile. The bird won "Best Painted Aircraft" at 2018's edition of the Nato Tiger Meet exercise and flew as the Luftwaffe's official display bird on several occassions. I was happy that Revell released it in at least 1/72. However, I would have liked it in a larger size and, understandably, I am not entirely satisfied with the decals of the Revell edition in many details compared to the original. The plan to create my own decals on a larger scale is well over a year old, but as life always has a say in it, everything has been delayed tremendously again and the whole thing still presents me with one or two small challenges. I thought once I did the decals in 1/48 i could just upscale them to 1/32, however that won't work, as the Revell 1/32 kit is not just an upscale of the 1/48 version as many might think. The kits are very very similar but the full body Tigo camo made it apparent that there are some details that are different and would lead to the stripes not sitting where they should be on the 1/32 kit if I just scaled them up. Hence the 1/32 edition still might take longer than expected as well. Nevertheless, my "trial version" in 1/48 is finally finished after a rich year and at least I am not totally dissatisfied: Edited January 31, 2020 by bushande Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 But why yet another WIP?! After some research and various comparisons, I came to the same conclusion as most model builders, i.e. that the Revell kit represents the most shape accurate reproduction in every scale out of the few alternatives. However, this doesn't mean that, in addition to the typical weaknesses in the detailing, the kit does not have some flaws in my eyes that "sweeten" a modeller's life. It may sound a bit arrogant, but there might be the one or other aspect of the kit that might be of interest to other modellers and that I wanted to draw attention to. In addition, I can hopefully clarify a problem that still prevents me from forwarding the decal templates to Harald from HaHen and for which I have not yet found a proper solution. In this sense, let's fire away and please be gentle. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 (edited) I had a little brain fart with a little special effect, which I would have loved to see on the original and which would actually have been possible without any problems, but due to an advanced roll-out date because the former inspector general for the Luftwaffe wanted the bird to be ready for a display at the Berlin airshow, i.e. a month before the original roll out for the NTM exercise, there just wasn't enough time and let's be honest , it might not have been a smart move in the end. Anyways, if it's not on the original, I#ll try to incorporate my brain fart at least into the model and that's why I decided to stupidly illuminate things. The Eufi (as we call the thing in Germany; Tiffy for Typhoon sadly has a rather negative conotation over here due to the Taifun of WW2) is not a giant in 1/48 and so it doesn't need more than two / three LEDs and later a few light guides .... Edited January 8, 2020 by bushande Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Now it might get a little more interesting. As I said, the kit is really great. It may lack detail, but the shape is ALMOST! spot on. For me personally, shape accuracy is more important than detailing, because correcting the former usually costs a lot more effort, if at all possible, than to mitigate or correct any details. After "studying" the original I noticed the following to-dos on the fuselage halves in a first step ... (shouldn't be a big deal): Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Just to be safe (also for me) a comparison with the original: The images should be taken sufficiently enough in direct profile (black lines) so that they do not completely succumb to any perspective effect. What is noticeable are not only the lack of; and incorrect panels, but also and above all that the canopy of the kit is approx. 3mm (what is that in inch - about 0.12 or so?) too far back or more precisely the windshield is too long and the canopy itself is too short. Most won't care, but I'm a nitpicker I confess. Exactly this circumstance makes it a bit difficult for me with regard to the decals for such a "full body" foil, because you have to rebuild the kit at this point for a really correct reproduction and the decals should actually follow it. But what about the modeller who shies away from that this conversion???: (I actually ran into similar problems when i did the decalling for the Tiger Tornado a few years back: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Henceforth my chores for the port front of the jet: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Similar "finds" such as a missing field refuel access and one or two incorrectly drawn panels also result for the rest of the fuselage: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 If anyone wants to check the original just to make sure: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Note the position of the access panel for the wing lock on each side and the position of the pos. light and the panel line right aft of it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 The star side basically requires the diametrically same effort: overview: and in detail: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 must not forget! and that should be it for the moment regarding the top side (Not: The endless screw lines will be added later on!) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 The wings would also feature some details that would shine through the thick tiger foil eventually and which I would hence like to see on the model as well: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 The belly side has been rendered very nicely. Few panellines and details are wrong and some details are still missing. What's in the pics is by no means all, but the rest will follow once the screws are set: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Alright, that'll be it for the day. Next posts will see the intermediate result of my line scraping efforts. Till then gents ... 😬 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 The kit's details are nice but rudimentary. But basically I like this kit for precisely this reason. If you want to have something decent in the display case, you still have to exert yourself a bit in the classic way. The kit generally seems to be rather unpopular by all the aftermarket and add-on parts manufacturers, which surprises me ?! But that's exactly why the inclined model builder can really let off steam here and has to try and make something useful out of what's lying around. Model building in the traditional way hihihi . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 After I had roughly drawn everything out, it was time to actually engrave and plunge in. Not exactly the most pleasant modelling job, but "wat mut dat mut" as we say over here (roughly translates into: What needs to be done, has to be done" hihi)! In the pictures it all still looks very rough, but in the end there will be a lot of future in those trenches and it will be reworked with thin sandpaper, so that everything will be somewhat flat in the end. The formation lights are initially only roughly incised. If a stripe is wrong at the moment, it doesn't matter. The halves still need to get glued, then filled and sanded, and only then has the final engraving to be done properly. They now serve as a reference point for positioning the rudder hinge locks. The openings for the heat bleed off grids on the side of the tail were also drilled. At the very end I'll set some do-it-yourself grills. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 Most Tiffy-Modellers are familiar with the clearly visible grill with the rather prominent intake walls on the side of the inlets. The effect can only be represented if you take the trouble and carefully sand the grilles open on the back. The opening for the APU was also drilled out as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 The reinforcement around the air brake is rather subtle and it should be enough if you only mimic it with a little masking tape. The missing field refuel gap is slightly offset from its neighbor: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 Due to the incorrectly placed panellines on the froward fuselage, the grill for the air conditioning system is a little too far forward. Hence: fill in and drill again. And just to make sure, again the comparison with the original. If you have the kit, you can dryfit the parts and you will notice that the small hole is a little too far forward in relation to the upper intake lip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 The other side had the re-engaving done as well: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 The small push-through panel on the starboard side is also interesting and although Revell has captured almost all of the panels correctly here (apart from the large, prominent avionics panel, of course), the one or other panel line is not set correctly: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 As I said, everything looks a bit coarse, but should soon get better. In the next post, the first stage of the screw aria follows. Until then, thanks for hanging on... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 What a lot of work went into this, awesome! HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 Many thanks! Yes, the poor kit is labor intensive but I think it pays off. It's a pity, this kit didn't and doesn't get the attention it deserves. There are mistakes, sure, but it is still the best rendition of the original out there to my understanding and most importantly, the issues that are there are all manageable. There has to go a lot of work into detailing but I confess, that is actually what makes the hobby worthwhile for me. Just glueing parts together and paint them doesn't cut it for me, that would be just too boring hihihi. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 Many thanks. Yes, I confess I tend to be a nitpicker here. The bird meant quite a lot to me and I do want a representation that comes as close to the original as possible for me. But in general the aspect of additional detailing is what makes me enjoy the modelling at all. It's really the flavour in the soup for me so I really do enjoy the extra work on the kit. Here's a general overview first: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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