As a development of the rugged Hawker Typhoon this version of their stormy series was just too late to see action in the European and subsequently also in the Pacific theaters of operation. It represents the pinnacle of propeller driven fighter aircraft and some have found their way in to the air race circus. This baby wasn't just a little breeze however. It's 18 cylinder Bristol Centaurus V air cooled radial engine pushed its top speed to 440mph (704kph) and gave it a service ceiling of 37.500ft (11430m). Hence I was keen to start building this "High Tech" kit of Special Hobby. It included PE parts, masks and even resin parts to enhance the already great detail. The build however was kind of a struggle.
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Unfortunately the kit features some serious fit problems and the provided resin parts were quite a struggle to position at times. And to add insult to injury the decals made me find new swear words to utter my frustrations. For the first time in a while I was happy to finally finish a kit. It wasn't all bad though. As mentioned before the kit has
superb detail. The panel lines and rivets e.g. are a treat for the eyes and the cockpit is a gem especially with the resin parts supplied readily in the box. Not all decals were a problem and with the right amount of
Micro Sol the snuggles neatly in to the panel lines. I also purchased a pilot to go with the kit. Building and painting it was a joy but it doesn't really seem to fit in the kit, however I positioned it. But since it gave me so much fun, I don't really mind.