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The Ghost Tiger Typhoon a little bigger (tackling the 1/48 Revell Eurofighter Typhoon as training for 1/32) - FINISHED!


bushande

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Many thanks, I sure hope I won't disappoint toomuch.

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 :D.

 

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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.

 

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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.

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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.

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It is interesting to compare this Eurofighter kit with their Rafale.  The Rafale is gorgeous (lacking only proper air intakes), but the Typhoon... it's almost like Revell couldn't be bothered trying.  I'm wondering if Revell decided to make a better kit of the Rafale than what Heller would do to steal their future sales, whereas they knew Heller wouldn't make a Typhoon...

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Might very well be that way, who knows. Yes, in many way it seems that this kit didn't and doesn't receive the much needed love it actually deserves. The shape of the kit is, appart from the misplaced canopy and some erronous details really almost spot on and it can turn into a lovely representation of the original but the lack of detail is really a chance wasted. It's the same with the old Italeri / Revell 1/48 Tornado. The shape of the old kit is pretty much dead on to the original. It is much more shape accurate than the current, more detailed Tornado kit Revell is offering, but the old kit has pretty much no notable details.

 

Anyways, as I often stated, I believe shape accuracy is at least for me the far more important feature of a model. A modeller with decent skills can always add details with a fair amount of effort. Rectifying a flaw in shape is much more labor intensive if at all possible.

 

Actually I confess I like the old kits over that new super detailed but mostly wrongly shaped stuff way more just because of that. As long as I know the model is close to the original in terms of shape, I actually enjoy looking up missed details and adding these to the kit. It's actually really the flavour in the hobby for me.

 

In that regard I am also not really sad that this kit doesn't get the deserved attention by any after market producers. it "forces" you to do modelling the old fashioned way, i.e. rummage around in the pile of old modelling remains and other "interesting trash" you have lying around and see if you can add details by using whatever you find hihi. I really do enjoy that build in that relation.

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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:

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It's actually not a big deal. It ultimately takes longer to see which rivets really make sense because they are immediately visible than to roll over the model two or three times with the Riveter. The top edge of the prominent avionics panel on the side of the cockpit is consequently still missing. This will be made up when the cockpit and the corresponding frame are set. What was very important to me is the correction of the line for the panel behind which the control for the canards is hidden. It is only a small change, but in my eyes it makes a big difference visually.

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About 80 percent of what I pinched and rolled in will almost completely disappear under the tiger stripes. And that's actually fine that way, because you can hardly see any of it in the original. Nevertheless, it was important to me to insert the details. It shouldn't have been my last Eurofighter and it is good to know what needs to be detailed on the model. In addition, a little something should be seen at the end after all. Even if it is only a little, at least it should remain correct. I also need the correct lines to adjust the decals properly later. In the end everything should be where it was due to the original:

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Edited by bushande
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