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My second
article for the ARC is an excellent kit in the form of Revells` 1/72nd
scale Eurofighter Typhoon Two Seater. Parts fit is mostly good, panel
lines are crisp and subtle, small items are well handled as is their
attachment to the sprue (if a little brittle in places), and the list goes
on. Even the graceful swooping camber of the wing is captured, a facet
often beyond other 72nd scale kits. This all comes at an exceptionally
reasonable price and is a good news story for the modeller.
However, if
every kit was perfect then where wo uld the challenge be?
Even this very good
kit from Revell has issues that need to be addressed and an article by Mr
Keith Peckover in the September 2005 issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling is
worth aquiring if possible. Without going into the same detail here, Mr
Peckovers` main points were as follows;
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1- The seats
require straps, pan handles, tab removed from headbox, tubes from
headbox that halt in mid-air must be continued down side of seat with
fusewire (whiles checking seat still fits into hub like I forgot to
do initially), plasticard `cushion` added.
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2-
Plasticard throttles to replace kit ones, fusewire struts added to canopy
and both HUD.
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3- Air
intake tunnels must be fashioned from scratch (I used a pair of sawn-off
Tornado fuel tanks) and added before fuselage assembly.
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4- Two vanes
added to cabin exhaust below the portside cockpit, APU exhaust fashioned
atop port inboard wing.
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5- Keith
added extended slats to his Typhoon.
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6- Hydraulic
lines added to main gear, forward gear strengthened.
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7- Addition
of rear facing MAWS `probe` at base of fin.
Click on
images below to see larger images
In addition to
Mr Peckovers` points I also added the small vane ahead of the canopy, rear
view mirrors for the pilot, and small radomes that appear on either side
of the nose and port and starboard fuselage near the front on the
flaps. I used Airfix ASRAAM and kit AMRAAM (although the kit also comes
with AIM-9L and the future Meteor BVRAAM), plus a couple of crew.
Good reference is needed as the Eurofighter continues to produce new bumps
and lumps as it evolves. I found the Eurofighter Typhoon magazine released
by AirForces Monthly and Air International was invaluable.
Colour is usually
quoted as the commonly used RAF Barley Grey and I weathered with heavily diluted
enamel wash and crushed pencil lead (particularly around the heavily stained APU
exhaust and portside just below the canopy where the access ladder is placed)
The radome is a slightly darker shade in RAF service although this may not be
the case for other Typhoon operators. Decals were from Model Alliance who have
updated their Typhoon set to keep pace with new developments such as 29(R)
Squadrons` latest markings seen here. I found the Model Alliance set superb to
work with and used Johnsons` Klear for the first time with nice results, thanks
to the ARC tipsters for that one!
This kit was a very
satisfying build and whetted my appetite for Revells` forthcoming single seater.
Cheers,
Ian
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