Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB Cockpit Instrument Decals

Airscale, 1/24 scale

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

Eduard BRASSIN WGr.21 for Bf 109 G will be available online from Squadron.com

The superbly executed detail of Airfix’s 1/24 Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB extends to the instrument panel, which consists of a beautifully moulded panel and a clear section with raised circles.  Instrument dials from the kit decal sheet are applied to these circles, and the clear section is then carefully inserted into the rear of the panel.  The dials sit flush behind the panel’s raised bezels and can be finished off with a drop of gloss varnish to simulate glass.

This is a simple, well-engineered assembly that delivers great results.  Can it be bettered?  UK aftermarket company airscale has tried, and in my view succeeded.

Airscale’s 1/24 Typhoon instrument decals set is deceptively simple.  It consists of a fold out instruction leaflet, a small decal sheet and an even smaller sheet of clear acetate film.  It’s only when you look at the set closely do you realise how comprehensive it is.

Airscale’s decals have been printed by Fantasy Printshop and – on the sheet at least – appear superior to their Airfix equivalents in two ways.  First, they are more finely printed, and detailed, than the Airfix dials. This is impressive because the Airfix sheet has been printed by Cartograf and is a lovely example of decal printing in its own right.

Secondly, airscale provides a more complete set of decals.  There are about 30 instrument decals on the Airfix sheet, and 56 on the airscale sheet.  The different is in the placards.  Airfix supplies only a few, while airscale claims its set “includes every cockpit instrument, placard and dataplate” – almost all of which will be visible if you finish your Typhoon with the cockpit open.

Airscale also gives modellers a couple of options for replicating the instrument panel.  I suspect most – myself included – will prefer to add the individually printed dials to their corresponding locations on Airfix’s clear rear section.  However airscale also supplies a complete instrument panel on three decals, which the instructions indicate should be mounted on carefully shaped sections of plastic card and then located behind the kit’s front panel.

For both options, airscale provides a sheet of clear acetate for glazing the instrument dials.  You’ll need a punch and die set to achieve this, but the results should be most convincing.

The instruction sheet is small but thorough.  Photographs are used to show the correct location for each decal, with separate illustrations for the placement of instrument dials, instrument placards, cockpit coaming and port and starboard sidewalls.  Each decal is numbered and named (ie ‘oil temperature gauge’ and ‘main cut-out switch’), which means that using airscale’s set will be educational as well as satisfying!

Many aftermarket sets have been released for Airfix’s big 1/24 Typhoon, some of them large and expensive.  This airscale set is not one of these.  Modest in size and price, it is nevertheless a very effective way of adding further authenticity to the already impressive kit cockpit.  Very highly recommended.

Thanks to Airscale for the review sample.

Thanks to airscale for the samples and images.

Review Text Copyright © 2015 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 27 November, 2015
Last updated 27 November, 2015

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page