de Havilland Chipmunk T.10

Airfix, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by John Miller

Background:

The de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk is a tandem, two-seat, single-engined primary trainer aircraft designed and developed by Canadian aircraft manufacturer de Havilland Canada.

It was developed shortly after the Second World War and sold in large numbers during the immediate post-war years, being typically employed as a replacement for the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane.

(Edited from Wikipedia).

The surface details, both recessed and raised, are beautifully done. The fasteners, rendered in relief, along the fuselage side panels and wing root fillets will respond well to paint and a panel wash. Inscribed lines are crisply rendered and seem to be less wide versus previous efforts by this manufacture; very nice.

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Thumbnail panels:

The kits engineering and layout are conventional so assembly begins with the pilot’s office. All the internal cockpit components are nicely molded with little-to-no flash to contend with. A nice feature is the option of seat cushions with molded-in harnesses if you’re modeling a restored, civilian Chipmunk.

The cockpit side panels are nicely detailed and both the left and right halves are augmented with additional levers and decals (“Flaps” “Master Switch” etc).

As per the norm with Airfix kits, no seat harnesses are included save those that are molded onto the civilian seat cushions. Have no fear; I’m sure there will be multiple sources of accurate, after-market seat harnesses (and additional details) produced specifically for this kit in short order.

With the cockpit tub captured between the fuselage halves, the engine firewall is up next followed by the instrument panels; the details for which are provided by crisply printed decals.

What’s provided in the box alone will build up into a nicely detailed cockpit. That said, the super-detailers out there (and you know who you are) won’t be able to help themselves. The combination of the cockpit layout and the visibility afforded by the large (and very clear) canopy parts (below) just screams for some super detailing.

And speaking of super-detailing, a nice addition to the kit is the very detailed de Havilland Gipsey Major four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted, inline engine complete with induction manifold, exhausts, and engine mount. Here again, super detailers have been provided the basics for what could be an amazingly detailed engine compartment right out of the box. Well done, Airfix.

With the fuselage compete, next up is the wing which utilizes a conventional full span lower piece combined with left and right upper halves.

As with the fuselage side panels, the use of fasteners, rendered in relief, along the leading aspect of the wings will look great under paint and wash but care will have to be taken to not destroy these details during the filling/blending of the wing leading edge. The single-piece ailerons are nicely molded and poseable.

The horizontal stabilizer, composed of upper and lower halves, is up next followed by the single-piece and posable elevators and rudder. Dorsal fuselage strakes, applied to some airframes, are added next so be sure to note if the scheme you’re building had them or not. The single-piece main and tail gear are added next followed by the prop/spinner and nose cowls (posed open or closed).

The canopy parts are nicely molded and crystal clear with scale appropriate framing. To facilitate assembling the upper portion of the canopy (D1) to the side panels (D3 and D5), a two-piece jig is provided that will hold all of the aforementioned parts in the correct orientation for gluing. This is a very nice feature that will make a difficult assembly step much easier for beginner and experten, alike.

A sincere, Well Done! to the chaps at Airfix.

Markings

The decals, by Airfix, are crisply printed with good color density and hue.

Airframe stencil data and markings for 4 airframes are provided as follows:

• de Havilland Chipmunk T.10, WB585, (G-AOSY), restored in 2020.

• de Havilland Chipmunk T.10, WB549, Hampshire, England, 1949

• de Havilland Chipmunk T.10, Royal Navy Historic Flight, Somerset, England, 2009.

• de Havilland Chipmunk T.10, Army Aviation Centre Middle Wallop, Hampshire, England, 1968

What’s not to like? This is a simple, conventionally engineered kit with sufficient detail right out of the box. I suspect it will be a quick and easy build. The inclusion of a building jig for the canopy is a very nice feature. Add that to the colorful selection of schemes covered by the decals makes for a winner. Keep ‘em coming, Airfix:)

Highly recommended!

Now go paint something!

--John

Kit purchased by reviewer, again.

For more on this review visit Modelpaintsolutions.com

https://modelpaintsol.com/reviews/airfix-48th-chipmunk-t-10-ao4105

Review kit provided by my retirement fund, again.

Text and Images Copyright © 2021 by Model Paint Solutions
Page Created 5 November, 2021
Last updated 5 November, 2021

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