1:48 Hawker Typhoon - Airframe Stencil / Data Marking (Part 1)

Hawker Typhoon - airframe stencil and data markings, part 1, 1:48 - Aviaeology

This is a sheet of technical and servicing stencil markings for the airframe, that is, of the small notices and symbols printed on a real aircraft beside filler points, beside access and servicing doors, beside walkway and no-step areas or beside the jacking points. They are not national insignia, squadron codes or serial numbers; the manufacturer sells those in separate series and you will not find them on this sheet. The manufacturer labels it as part 1 of the series, so it need not cover the whole airframe. Check the extent of the sheet on the box.

The real subject

The Hawker Typhoon was a British single-engine fighter that made its name as a fighter-bomber attacking ground targets with rockets and bombs. It was powered by the liquid-cooled twenty-four-cylinder Napier Sabre with its cylinders arranged in an H, which was unreliable at first and called for a great deal of servicing work. That is exactly why period machines tended to carry a mass of stencil markings around the servicing points, which bring a model noticeably to life.

Application tips

The stencil markings are small, so cut them out one at a time and carry them on a damp brush or with tweezers. A gloss varnish base matters even more on tiny motifs than it does on roundels. A decal fixer applied in advance pulls the decal down, and a decal softener after seating draws it into the engraved lines. Seal with varnish once dry so that the edges of the film disappear.

Who the sheet is for

• builds of the Typhoon in 1:48 scale with demands on fidelity
• modelers whose stencil markings from the box are missing or illegible
• builds for competitions, where the small notices are judged
• adding to an already painted model before the final coat

This is an accessory for a model, not a kit. The base kit, glue and paints are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.