Hawker Typhoon
Prototype / Mk.IA Car Door

CMR, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Glen Porter

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Although I love resin parts, I have never built a totally resin kit. So, when Brett showed me this and another CMR kit I almost snatched them out of his hands. Well, not quite, but you get the idea. This is certainly not a kit that I would try to build over a weekend, but this kit and the other one are genuinely gorgeous.

The first thing I noticed is that these kits now come in an end-opening box, giving the parts far better protection against breakage, which is part of the reason an earlier kit didn't impress. The fuselage halves are almost as thin as a conventional plastic fuselage with impressive detail both inside and out but there are some casting block attachments that will have to be removed from the mating surfaces plus some flash in the wing mounting slots. However, on my example, both fuselage halves are warped and this will have to be addressed before construction.

The wings are solid one-piece left and right affairs, beautifully cast with no warpage, but care will have to be taken when attaching to ensure correct dihedral. Both are attached to casting blocks and the surface detail and trailing edges are impressive. Again, a small amount of clean-up will be required.

All the small parts are in one plastic bag, and there are lots of them - parts not plastic bags - most being fixed to casting blocks of various shapes and sizes but none of them broken.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

This kit has a few optional parts included.

First, one of the aircraft which can be built is the first prototype, P5212, as it was at its first flight. This aircraft had three exhaust outlets per side instead of the six, a different shaped rudder and a canopy with a solid rear section, i.e. non-glazed. These parts are, of course, included but to use the rudder, first you will have to remove the standard one.

There are markings for a second prototype in the kit, P5216, but it uses the standard exhausts and rudder although it does use the prototype canopy. One of the squadron aircraft, UO-D also uses it.

Next come under-wing stores. Three sets of bombs are supplied, a pair of 1000 lb bombs along with 2 x 500 pounders and 2 x 250 pounders plus appropriate bomb racks. But that's not all. There are also two two-piece drop-tanks (90 gal) supplied and the mounts for them. Lastly, there are three canopies, as mentioned in the summary, the prototype one, standard and standard with a blister just above the wind screen. Only one is shown with this blister, OV-Z of 197 Squadron, March 1943 with black and white Typhoon stripes under the wings. Yum!

A few years ago, CMK released a 1B Tiffy and on the decal sheet for that kit there were markings for US-A, a Mk.1A. That decal sheet has been included in this kit so that US-A can be built. The rest of the decal sheet is surplus according to CMR. However, I don't agree. The red sectors in the 1A national markings are, I believe, too bright while those in the 1B markings are, like baby bear’s porridge, just right.

An oddity. The pilots seat is beautifully cast as are the rest of the resin items, which is the whole kit. Doh! It has the lap belts of the harness cast on but no shoulder straps. Now my preference would be to cast all of them on the seat and if for some reason that can't be done then they should have none and leave it up to the modeller. How will someone of my lack of skill or less make the scratch built shoulder belts match the excellent cast-on lap ones.

This kit, in case you hadn't noticed, has got me quite excited, so much so that I will have to put it near the top of my to-do-soon list. Trouble is, so many of the kits that I have reviewed lately have been put near the top of that list that it is beginning to look like a fifty year plan. Bother!

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to CMR for the review sample

CMR Models are available online from Hannants in the UK,
NKR Models in Australia and quality specialist model retailers worldwide.