HobbyBoss 1/72 Hawker Typhoon Mk.1b - Inbox Review

[Dave Ward]

HobbyBoss produce quite a large range of 'Easy Assembly' aircraft models in 1/72, and a few in 1/48. They may be overlooked by 'serious' modellers, but they do deserve a second chance.

Not a very inspiring boxart.................

Opening the box, all the parts are nestled in a vacform plastic support.

Sprue shot


That's all your plastic bits


And Instructions................

One sheet of A4, folded, on glossy paper - nicely printed. The BS numbers are quoted for the main camo colours :thumb2:
Part 2 for details & comments.

[Dave Ward]

Detail shots:


Note, no centreline seam to clean up!

The highly detailed cockpit interior (!!!)

Two propellers, but no clues as to which to use for which marking option!
As can be seen the parts are very cleanly moulded, no flash, and despite some thick sections ( like the single piece wing ), no sink marks. The panel lines may look overdone, but with a primer & topcoat they should be fine.
The cockpit is the worst part - luckily the Typhoon had a small cockpit opening, so not a lot will be seen - add a pilot & that will solve the problem!.
I haven't made the Typhoon ( yet! ), but I have made several others, and I can say the fit is near perfect - although they aren't advertised as 'click together' or 'no glue required' it is pretty close. Dry fitting the parts isn't a good idea, as once the parts are together, then it's a real problem to get them apart.
I would say these easy assembly models are ideal for beginners, they go together well & look the part. For more experienced modellers, they could be the basis for more advanced techniques.
Availability? pretty widely sold - prices around the £6 mark!, although you will pay more for the larger models - like the Stuka. Cheap enough to experiment on, or provide background models in a diorama.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

As a further comment of the Easy Build models, this is my 1/48 P-38 Lightning, out of the box.
The wings, booms tail etc are one single piece moulding.......................
No alignment problems there!

Finished article
Dave

[The Smythe Meister]

I like the look of both of those!
For someone who isn't vastly experienced in plane building, but wants to do some,(I.e.Me ),these are ideal... No horrendous seams, just whack em together and paint.... PERFECT!!
Nice one Dave.

[Dave Ward]

I like the look of both of those!
For someone who isn't vastly experienced in plane building, but wants to do some,(I.e.Me ),these are ideal... No horrendous seams, just whack em together and paint.... PERFECT!! :smiling3:
Nice one Dave.

Andy,
for those who like the painting side of models & not into complicated assembly, they're an ideal canvas - with some AM decals you could really make them stand out! - I've just looked in the stash, and I have a Mig-3, Dewoitine D-520, P-47D & the Typhoon. Aside from the 1/48 Lightning, I've made the F-86 Sabre, & the F-84 Thunderjet ( which is a really nice model ) - although I failed in both of those, to add noseweights & they were tail sitters.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

OOps I'd forgotten about this one - very nice little model - with added pilot

Mitsubishi A5M2 'Claude'
Dave

[Guest]

I’ve built a couple of these kits and am pretty impressed with them. The main area that’s lacking in them is the cockpit — it tends to be just a rectangular hole with a very rudimentary seat and a vertical pole for a stick. But in 1:72, if you close the canopy, what can you really see of it anyway?

[Dave Ward]

I’ve built a couple of these kits and am pretty impressed with them. The main area that’s lacking in them is the cockpit — it tends to be just a rectangular hole with a very rudimentary seat and a vertical pole for a stick. But in 1:72, if you close the canopy, what can you really see of it anyway?

Jakko,
very true, and if you add a pilot, even less!
Dave

[The Smythe Meister]

Dave,
I`ve taken the plunge after reading this......
.... just bought the 1/48th Mustang kit,for a VERY reasonable price on Ebay:nerd:,the fuselage is in the usual two halves but i`m looking forward to seeing what it`s like:thumb2:,
Andy

[Dave Ward]

Dave,
I`ve taken the plunge after reading this......
.... just bought the 1/48th Mustang kit,for a VERY reasonable price on Ebay:nerd:,the fuselage is in the usual two halves but i`m looking forward to seeing what it`s like:thumb2:,
Andy

Tim,
I reckon you'll enjoy that - is it the P-51D, or the Mustang IV version?, Hobbyboss did several boxings!
Dave

[The Smythe Meister]

It`s kit number 85806 Mustang P51D-IV Dave :thumb2: .
(And it`s Andy:tears-of-joy

[adt70hk]

Dave

Thanks for the review. Very helpful indeed. The do look nice for the price and as your say you won't see much on the cockpit at this scale.

ATB.

Andrew

[Dave Ward]

It`s kit number 85806 Mustang P51D-IV Dave :thumb2: .
(And it`s Andy:tears-of-joy

OOps, sorry Andy :sad: - I'm confused on 85806, Scalemates has two entries, one with USAF & SAAF marking, the other with SAAF & RAAF either way they're silver...............
Dave

[The Smythe Meister]

It`s the one with the USAF or SAAF versions....... i may just decide to do my own version and not do it Silver mind!!:astonished: .......
Heresy i know!!:nerd:

[Dave Ward]

It`s the one with the USAF or SAAF versions....... i may just decide to do my own version and not do it Silver mind!!:astonished: .......
Heresy i know!!:nerd:

There was another HB boxing (85802 ), which had the USAAF Olive drab uppers & grey underside, so whatever you fancy!
Dave