miscmini  | 03 Apr 2008 4:28 p.m. PST |
I finally got around to finishing my True North 1/144 scale Typhoons. These are nice little white metal miniatures that were fun to work on and paint. The mini is one piece but I added some cannons made of wire. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. I marked the position and then cut a little notch in the leading edge. From there it was a simple matter of drilling out a small hole in which to place the wire. Here's a picture of the basic mini. I've already marked the position of the cannons. picture And here it is with the cannons and primer applied.
picture And here are some pictures of the finished minis. I tried to find some invasion stripe decals in 1/144 but couldn't…so I used the closest thing I could find, some I-94 decals. The largest set of invasion stripes on the 1/285 & 1/300 sheet was just a little too small for 1/144 scale but it was worth a try and they don't look too bad. The roundels are from True North (1/144 scale) and the squadron markings and fuselage bad are from Scale Specialties (n-scale).
picture picture All-in-all the True North 1/144 scale Typhoon is a nice little mini and I have no problem recommending it. Sticking with the theme of 4x20mm armed ground attack aircraft here's what's on my workbench now…. picture |
| hotleadsnewcomputer | 03 Apr 2008 7:59 p.m. PST |
I say, those are just spiffing old chap! I just hope mine turn out as nicely. |
Marc33594  | 04 Apr 2008 4:17 a.m. PST |
Outstanding paint job and the simple fact of adding the cannons really pays off. Nicely done! |
| Vosper | 04 Apr 2008 5:35 a.m. PST |
Very nice work. Will have to check the rest of their line out. |
| battlepack2001 | 04 Apr 2008 7:18 a.m. PST |
very nice. what's that fig on your workbench? Have you made another True North figs? I've been considering a flight of thier mosquitos. charonproductions.com |
| Top Gun Ace | 04 Apr 2008 9:23 a.m. PST |
Those look wonderful. Will have to order some soon. |
| Top Gun Ace | 04 Apr 2008 9:23 a.m. PST |
Now, if we can only get them to make a Tempest V…… |
 Doms Decals  | 04 Apr 2008 11:29 a.m. PST |
Very nice Tiffies, but the workbench looks even more interesting…. Dom, who loves Whirlibombers…. |
| Doms Decals | 04 Apr 2008 11:31 a.m. PST |
PS – Battlepack2001, they're Westland Whirlwinds, and hopefully someone else can tell who makes them…. |
| miscmini | 04 Apr 2008 2:22 p.m. PST |
Thanks for the kind remarks. Let me know if I don't answer all the questions above. Battlepack2001 – I've made (and don't mind recommending) several of the True North aircraft minis: Mosquito, IAR-80, I-15, I-153, I-16, Pe-2, 109E, Ju-87B, Hurricane, and the Razorback P-47. I have duplicates of most of them to make and several other TN minis that I haven't gotten to yet. The models on my workbench are 1/144 scale, resin, Westland Whirlwinds (the green spots on the minis is green stuff). Dom, the Whirlwinds (1/144 resin) are available from airalex link The Whirlwind kits consist of two resin pieces (wing and fuselage assemblies) and metal props and wheels. I don't recall if they came with a clear canopy or not. They are going to take some work but should turn out okay in the end. Their basic shape is nice but my kits had a good amount of thick flash and there were a number of air pockets and holes in the resin. It's nothing that can't be overcome but it's going to take me a while to get them done up nice. They do come with a choice of decals (for either the green-brown or grey-green camo schemes). …and now I have to pack my bags so I can get on a plane to go meet my grandson. |
| Whitesheets | 07 Apr 2008 2:01 p.m. PST |
Recently bought some delightful 1/144th scale fighters off ebay, think they are manufactured by a company called "sweet" but could be wrong! The box art does them no justice as the art is comical rather than realistic but once inside the box the kits are superb. 2 planes for less than £7.00 GBP cant be bad, oh and the amount of decals you get can go a long long way. Bob |
| Binhan Lin | 09 Apr 2008 12:06 p.m. PST |
The original Whirlwinds are from Don Schmenk, although his are just the basic plane – minimal landing gear, no props, no decals. AirAlex has taken them and added props, canopy and decals. Quite a few of the AirAlex planes are taken from Don Schmenk. In general, I have found the original Don Schmenk models to be free of air pockets and have minimal flash. Props can be purchased from Aeroclub or other manufacturers, although a plane in flight really only needs a prop spinner as the blades will not normally be visible. Prop spinners can be easily made from putty. Don's website can be found at:
bright.net/~dschmenk Examples of his 1/144th stuff are at the back of his gallery. You can request a catalog listing (no pictures) of the models that he does make. He makes mostly civilian aircraft although he does do a broad range of military ones. --Binhan |
