HM HA6601, EF Typhoon, 3 Sqn RAF, Op Ellamy 2011
 

Morning all, re-posting some of my reviews from a certain other forum :D

Should be widely available now.

https://i.ibb.co/KwVBtLT/E1.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/qCBs27B/E2.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/WP9wk2C/E3.jpg

The Eurofighter Typhoon doesn't need much of an introduction, but it truly is an amazing aircraft. While it can hold its own very well in BVR, especially with the Meteor missile and the planned Captor-E radar, it is likely that fully stealth aircraft could shoot first in any such engagement. The Typhoon does have some tricks up its sleeve, like the decoy it can deploy, but it would need help from forward flying F35's in such cases. And while current missile kills are likely to be BVR, rules of engagement and an increasing focus on anti-stealth detection and targeting could mean WVR engagements will still occur.

It is in visual range, that the Typhoon is currently king of the hill, especially at high speeds and high altitude. While the Su 35S and F22 sport similarly impressive thrust-to-weight ratio's, crucially, the Typhoon is much smaller and lighter, making it more agile and a harder target. While thrust vectoring could allow a Su 35 to turn inside it post-merge, it could only do so by bleeding off huge amounts of energy, putting it in a very precarious position if it misses, especially considering one on one dogfights are extremely unlikely to occur anymore. The Typhoon can actually increase energy in a 9g sustained turn, meaning the limit now is no longer the aircraft, but how long our frail and squishy brains can keep us conscious. On top of this, most missile shots can be off bore-sight, while both the Typhoon and the ASRAAM are very fast, so the first shot is going to be almost impossible to dodge. Over time, Tranche 3 aircraft will see significant upgrades in capabilities, including possible thrust vectoring.

https://i.ibb.co/mq5mJYx/RAF-Eurofig...operations.jpg

This particular Typhoon is a Tranche 1 aircraft from RAF Coningsby that carried out the highest number of strikes on Libyan tanks and artillery during operation Ellamy. The intervention in Libya was a baptism of fire for the Typhoon. Most early strikes were still carried out by Tornadoes as they could already use Paveway IV's and Brimstone missiles at that point, but the Typhoons still seem to have done well enough with Paveway II's. Since then the Typhoon's air to ground capabilities have increased massively.

HM did a very good job with this, capturing the shape better than both Corgi and the Witty/JC releases. Panel lines are typical HM, but they are pretty accurate. Everything fits together well and was not too hard to remove, something HM has done really well lately. I would applaud the effort to create a new pilot figure for the release too, even if the head is swung a bit too far back. The colour is uniform, but I do think it should be a tiny bit more blue-ish, even if that can always vary due to lighting. The colour of the wheel hubs has been pointed out as have the movement on the canards and the weapon pylons. At least they avoided using the ASRAAM rails for the outboard Paveway's, but the ones they used are the same as the inboard ones, which unfortunately is still wrong. Apart from that, I think it's really good.

https://i.ibb.co/J5tkN2m/E4.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/jbLh97v/E5.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/VDPPXdQ/E6.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/TPDJ9vh/E7.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/q5rDjBB/E8.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/4PLQVw3/E9.jpg


Using the stand does mean removing the sniper pod, but it seems stable on this Witty Super Hornet stand (and probably on the EF stand).

https://i.ibb.co/dBGm7Qd/E19.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/dgjXxZn/E11.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/T2xJKLy/E13.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/8mpMFdK/E12.jpg


As for comparisons, I never liked Corgi's very much. The Witty mold was slightly better, especially the shape of the nose, but as you can see the intakes on HM's version are far better as well as the curved wing and canopy shape. And even though this was one of Witty's last molds that were really good, their usually superior surface detailing was lacking, as were many details especially compared to this Hasegawa kit I've been working on. HM have done much better and they also listen to the community, so they do many interesting operational schemes rather than just whatever looks pretty.

https://i.ibb.co/Vvwyncm/E15.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/dmxKfZP/E17.jpg


The only things HM didn't quite do as well is the tiny vent holes in front of the intakes, which they just left grey and the air brake can't be opened.

https://i.ibb.co/FJQRVBJ/E16.jpg

Here it is with the other NATO allies.

https://i.ibb.co/C6RLFtT/E18.jpg

Re: HM HA6601, EF Typhoon, 3 Sqn RAF, Op Ellamy 20
 

Pretty cool Esvees.
Does the distortion on the canopy really obfuscate the pilot and the seat or is the pilot and the seat already slanted anyways.

Re: HM HA6601, EF Typhoon, 3 Sqn RAF, Op Ellamy 20
 

The tooling looks pretty good but I wish they'd been able to get the canard rotation correct. Anyway, I'll wait for a correctly painted RAF release. With HM's paint record I'll not be holding my breath.

Re: HM HA6601, EF Typhoon, 3 Sqn RAF, Op Ellamy 20
 

Looks good but the only thing that still really gets me about HM is the deep grooved panel lines and also in the case of this Typhoon,where the root of the wing is attached to the body, it just looks so out've place! With all the technology now, surely they would've been on top of this by now??? And considering that HM's prices aren't exactly cheap,it's really no excuse imho!!

Re: HM HA6601, EF Typhoon, 3 Sqn RAF, Op Ellamy 20
 

The seat is slightly slanted back, but mostly ok. The pilot figure is a bit of a failure as they put the head way too far back. Might be worth taking it off, sanding the stub down a bit and moving it forward.

Actually I had already built one for a kit, it fits together much better. Might just use this if the kit doesn't work out.

https://i.ibb.co/2sc9bpy/EF2.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/YkWSnZ5/EF3.jpg

Re: HM HA6601, EF Typhoon, 3 Sqn RAF, Op Ellamy 20
 

Holy smokes. Now that's good pilot figure. What kit is that Is that a custom? I didn't even know a Eurofighter Typhoon pilot with the new helmet existed in 1/72. You should definitely use that and should take some pics after too

Nicely done Esvees and cool pictures.

I guess when making comparisons, one has to take into consideration the age of the Corgi tooling. I agree with everything you say but, in my view, a fair of amount of improvement should be expected with an updated tooling.

To often newer toolings don’t better older toolings. The Pooch P51D/K is a good example. It’s still not better than the old Dragon P51.

And it’s a reasonable argument to say HM’s F15C is not an improvement over Witty’s effort.

I think the upcoming Tornado maybe in that category if HM don’t fix the Canopy and tail. And so far William has made it quite clear they won’t fix these two issues.