Bryan

That is gorgeous! Beautiful build....the weathering and "patina" is perfect to my eye. One of the best Tempest builds I have seen.

Sorry, out of superlatives.... I have followed all your builds posted here Peter. You started at an incredibly high skill level, and yet you continue to improve beyond what I thought was possible. This stuff is simply incredible, as is the growing realization that there is clearly nothing you cannot build in terms of a scale replica. I just wish I could see more of these projects finished....

Totally agree....his work is beyond inspiring.

Great work! I have absolutely no place to put a 1/24 scale T-Bolt....but this thread is sure tempting me nonetheless.

I fear his attention span snapped and he is now devoted to the 1/18 Spitfire.....

I kind of think all Paul wanted to gauge was who would buy it and who wouldn't.....

Hahahah...a bit ago I was trying to talk Paul into doing a 1/12 scale 917/30..... Great Minds!

In general I like kits of small production or even one off-aircraft.... Having said that, this is not something I would build. In my case I am not really hugely interested in modern aircraft, and even less so in the F-16 or its variants. I hate to be negative but I thought an honest assessment is important to you here.

I wanted to thank the OP for mentioning this. Problems like this only become a huge annoying deal when they are not discovered until parts are painted, etc. My PCM Tempest is on the shelf of doom because I only realized the cockpit would not fit after it was finished and painted. More than curious though that the two Tempests have the identical problem.

That's my understanding. The naval planes powered by the R2800 were used strictly at low to medium altitudes. The P-47 served as an escort fighter so high altitude performance was designed into it from the beginning. I am sure the P-47 system could be "tweeked" to provide a huge boost in power at low altitude also, but I imagine the engines in normally aspirated form were already within the range of what the designers thought would be max reliable power. Sort of like today's pylon racers with Merlins and such. They make far more power than originally but they are also far from reliable.

Another thing to think about... I'm sure P-47 experts will correct me if I am wrong, but don't virtually all of the restored P-47s flying today have the turbocharger setup removed/disconnected and rely solely on a normally aspirated R-2800 for power? If so, if one wants to model a restored bird, I'm assuming all the exhaust staining would be behind the oil cooler outlets with none on the lower rear fuselage?

Honestly, the "no exhaust stains" claim is sort of silly. The plane runs on an internal combustion engine. Now some engines stain more than others (I cannot believe the extreme exhaust staining on Skyraiders, for example), but there is bound to be some degree of soot/discoloration on the aircraft where the exhaust exits....unless it is cleaned off after every flight...which on a combat aircraft is a silly notion. The only realistic question is "how much?" staining.

I have an issue with dropping models as well. It usually happens late in the build when I am handling it very gingerly to avoid damaging the paint/decals....thus it is all that much more maddening because of all the work potentially destroyed. Not sure what else to say, other than that I definitely feel your pain. I can only suggest keeping the model...for at least a year or so....on the chance you will decide it is worth fixing and moving forward.

Nice to hear...I have been seriously considering ordering that kit. Your assessment of it reminds me of the HPH Hornet I built a while back. Absolutely brilliant in most aspects...pretty rough and "half hearted" in a few others.

It is impossible, IMHO...to discern anything from those photos. Just being realistic, I would say it would be highly unlikely in any case that they would have stripped the wheel wells. Why would they? The paint serves an anti-corrosion function more than anything, particularly in recesses like the gear wells. Having said all that, since information is so sketchy, and no one can prove you "wrong"....paint them as you like them! I personally would probably leave them bare metal just because your work looks so good unpainted..

I think your result is brilliant. I would have liked it regardless, but the actual photo of a Corsair in very similar condition really sold it. Like some of the others, in general I tend to prefer the "rode hard put away wet" look, and you certainly achieved that. Congrats!

I kind of understand that....as similar as the planes are...the Typhoon has appeal in a way because it is so primitive....like a blunt instrument. Basically a Hurricane with a huge engine. Pilots flew them into harm's way not knowing if they would black out from CO....the engine would quit....or the tail would fall off. But they did it anyway.... It had guns that protruded three feet from the front of the wing...how can we not love that? The Tempest is so much more refined, more complete, more polished. It was a much more developed aircraft, more effective, but less ballsy and "in your face". They are both dang cool aircraft.

That is truly incredible....it certainly puts my pathetic efforts in perspective... At the beginning of the video, it states emphatically that no electric tools were used during construction, except an airbrush. I must say I find that difficult to believe....(no Dremel, no lathe, no drill?).....but even if it is true I wonder what the point is in not using such tools? I don't get why one would find value in omitting them....?

I too would like to see an SH Typhoon to follow on the Tempest.... I personally though would prefer the early car-door variant....at least as an option. By today's standards the Revell kit is more a rough starting point than a complete kit.

Kevin, Can you ban this guy so I feel a bit better about my own feeble efforts? Thanks.

Thanks for posting...! I re-scribe a lot, with mixed results. I will gladly try any tips I can get.

Pretty subjective question....but based on what I have seen I think it is. Keep in mind I have not started building it or anything yet though.

I have mine too, and agree that first impression is of an very comprehensive and detailed kit.... There are lots of rivets but they are indeed very restrained. Hopefully that will please both camps. The sample build that was linked earlier definitely exaggerated the rivet detail, I would say these are similar to the rivets on Tamiya's latest releases.

I have a PCM kit partly built up....to be honest my progress sort of stalled when I realized that the assembled cockpit was not going to fit into the fuselage without some significant sanding and fiddling. I guess not a major problem....but it led to procrastination and eventually the kit going back into the box....then onto the "shelf of doom". Like I said that issue is fixable....I guess I just didn't feel like fixing it at that point in time. I haven't touched it now for two or three years. I just received the SH kit today....my plan is to use a lot of the aftermarket stuff I got for the PCM one on it....and wind up with one complete Tempest....I hope.

Those pictures do look impressive... This kit might be enough to break the model car phase I am currently in.