Henry Talalla's Hawker Typhoon - July 1944

[AndrewR]

The elder of the two Talalla brothers serving in the RAF during the Normandy Campaign. His brother Jimmy flew the Mustang III, and I've already built his aircraft.

https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=22085

W.O. HCB "Henry" Talalla flew "car door" Typhoons with 182 Squadron RAF. Sadly, he was killed in action on July the 25th 1944, whilst attacking ground targets.

I'll be building the Typhoon he was lost in, JR300, using the Brengun kit, with decals sourced from Fantasy Printshop, Xtradecals and the spares box.

One of the first things I did was to check the squadron codes - it's easy to find that 182 squadron used XM, but the other letter was a bit tricky. I had to resort to the Squadron records from the National records Office, and reconcile two separate reports of the same raid, to get that information.



And, as luck would have it, the IWM has a photo of P/O Benn, RCAF, next to XM-S



182 Squadron specialized in rocket attacks, so it'll be loaded with rockets. Enter the Brengun kit:



I'm not entirely convinced about the colours on the kit decals. The red and blue look a bit too bright, so I'll use spares.









I'm told that the fit of the canopy is a bit iffy!

This build is part of the 80th Anniversary of D-Day GB, the first ever group build on the social network Blue Sky.

[PaulBradley]

Nice - this should be good!

What, pray tell, is Blue Sky?

[AndrewR]

Nice - this should be good!

What, pray tell, is Blue Sky?

Blue Sky is like Twitter, but without the Elongated Muskrat in charge.

[PaulBradley]

Aha!

[AndrewR]

Big sprue gates, a bit of flash and prominent mould lines. Fairly typical of a limited run kit.



I have had a go at fitting the upper wing sections to the lower piece, and the fit is fairly good, although the cut-outs for the wing lights do not align terribly well. I can also see that fitting the lower wing into the fuselage is going to be "interesting".

Looking online, there seems to be a serious issue with the "Car door" canopy, so I thought that I'd check it out.


Gappy! But that's not the major problem.



Uh-oh!



It doesn't sit straight on the centreline! I don't think I can fix this until the fuselage is stuck together. On the bright side, the fuselage halves seem to fit together pretty well.

[Lone Modeller]

Nothing beyond your ability to put right.

[AndrewR]

Nothing beyond your ability to put right.

No show stopping problems as far as I can see. Just a lot of sanding and fitting to do.

[AndrewR]

A bit of progress on the Typhoon wheel wells. They are nicely detailed, with lots of internal plumbing. Unfortunately the instructions seem to be for one of the other versions of the kit, and don't tell you the parts numbers on the sprue diagram. In fact, they don't show that sprue at all. I couldn't find the instructions on Scalemates either.



Anyhow, I have added the internal pressure bottles, and ignored the plumbing lines. It will all probably be invisible. Naturally, the wheel wells need some clamping to fit into the lower wing! The instructions would have you paint them Medium Sea Grey. I am dubious about this - I think it should be an aluminium or silver paint. I will not lose sleep over this detail, however.

Meanwhile cockpit assembly is underway. The instructions would have you construct the internal cage structure first. However the side pieces have no positive location positions, and the whole box looks like it would be very wobbly. It reminds me of the Arma Hurricane.

Executive decision time: fit the side bits in the fuselage halves first, add the rear bulkhead, then fit the rest after painting. Once again the "If you can't see it, don't worry about it" doctrine is in play. As long as the seat looks good, it will be fine. Brengun do provide PE seatbelts, which is a nice touch. Typhoon cockpit colour is another can of worms, but as an early model, I'm going for the usual cockpit green.

[X12A]

Nice one Andrew, I have one of these in the stash, so am watching with interest!

[AndrewR]

Nice one Andrew, I have one of these in the stash, so am watching with interest!

Basically, everything needs sanding and fitting to everything else! The plastic is very soft, which helps. I like the surface detail on the kit.

[X12A]

Nice one Andrew, I have one of these in the stash, so am watching with interest!

Basically, everything needs sanding and fitting to everything else! The plastic is very soft, which helps. I like the surface detail on the kit.

Cheers Andrew, unfortunately the prop came broken on mine so it might have to be in flight mode!

[AndrewR]

Nice one Andrew, I have one of these in the stash, so am watching with interest!

Basically, everything needs sanding and fitting to everything else! The plastic is very soft, which helps. I like the surface detail on the kit.

Cheers Andrew, unfortunately the prop came broken on mine so it might have to be in flight mode!

I have the spare 4 blade prop, if you want it.

[X12A]

Nice one Andrew, I have one of these in the stash, so am watching with interest!

Basically, everything needs sanding and fitting to everything else! The plastic is very soft, which helps. I like the surface detail on the kit.

Cheers Andrew, unfortunately the prop came broken on mine so it might have to be in flight mode!

I have the spare 4 blade prop, if you want it.

Thanks Andrew - Sod's Law thats the one that didn't break!

[AndrewR]

Moving along with the Typhoon interior.

I'm waiting for the paint to dry on the PE seatbelts, and then I can assemble the seat.



I've done a sepia wash, and that is it as far as the decorating goes on the interior. Most of this will not be visible.

And the other wing getting some serious clamping.



I'll need to do a bit of work on the cannon barrels once this is done.

[ShaunW]

Very interesting project, Andrew and you're making great progress. Limited run kits can be a bit more challenging but usually it's a case of just needing a bit more patience and filler than a more mainstream offering!