SH Tempest Mk V "Kicked Up A Notch". January 14/21 New eBook!

[Rocat]

Amazing work, so many crisp details to be seen, great painting and finishing.

[chuck540z3]

10 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

The cockpit looks very good all put together. I'll have to remember your tweaks when I get around to mine.

Are there not cockpit access doors on the side like on the Spitfire, Hurricane, and early Typhoons?

Matt 

 

 

Not that I'm aware of, but as usual, I could be wrong.  Maybe some other Mk's did, but for all the Mk V reference pics I have, there are no side doors.  This tells me that I need to really scuff up the cockpit sills due to boot marks, etc., accessing the cockpit from directly above, which is another reason my seat is so dirty.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[spyrosjzmichos]

Looking lovely!

You always seem to have magic touch when it comes to seatbelts!

[Chek]

13 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

Are there not cockpit access doors on the side like on the Spitfire, Hurricane, and early Typhoons?

 

Matt 

 

The Hurricane and Tempest did not have side access doors.

Your confusion may come from some modellers depicting the Hurricane's stbd side detachable service panel off to let more light into the area, but it was never for pilot access.

The Tempest and late Typhoon's similarly were canopy access only.

[Thunnus]

Great work on the cockpit Chuck!  The dilemma of working on details that will go unseen is compounded for me because I don't like open hatches and canopies.  It might seem like wasted effort to some but to me, my model is more about the process than just the end product. If that process is documented photographically and systematically as a build log here at LSP, I feel like that extra effort, while unseen at the end, is worthwhile. 

[chuck540z3]

5 hours ago, Thunnus said:

Great work on the cockpit Chuck!  The dilemma of working on details that will go unseen is compounded for me because I don't like open hatches and canopies.  It might seem like wasted effort to some but to me, my model is more about the process than just the end product. If that process is documented photographically and systematically as a build log here at LSP, I feel like that extra effort, while unseen at the end, is worthwhile. 

 

 

Totally agree John, to a point.  There is a little black tank at the bottom of the cockpit (Parts H28 and H29) that sits under the floor boards.  From the side you can see it, barely, as shown below.  It took me a long time to remove the seam and paint it, and now I can't see it from any angle, even with a flashlight.  To be honest if I ever built this kit again, I'd delete it, because to me it's a waste of time.

 

 

 

This reminds me of the Zoukei-Mura P-51D with all the fine internal detail that needs to be assembled, before the covers are put on the wings, etc., that completely covers everything up.  While I can see the interest in what is underneath, I can't see painting and detailing any of it if you can't see it through some open panels. etc.  To each their own, I guess!

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

 

[chuck540z3]

July 3/20

 

A bit of an update already, in order to document some challenges with this kit and how to fix them.

 

Step 17 and 18 have you install the cockpit cage assembly and the rear landing gear housing into the fuselage halves.  This wasn’t very straight forward.

 

 

 

 

First, the rear bulkhead part J6 is too wide, holding the fuselage halves apart at the bottom.  After many fine-tuning sessions with a sanding stick, I got the fuselage halves to fit together nice and tight at the bottom, without the need for clamps.

 

Chuck Tip:  Try avoid the need for clamps to glue large parts together.  This often leads to cracks later and other parts sometimes don’t fit due to swelling.  If parts don’t fit, there’s usually another solution like the examples below.

 

 

 

The windscreen isn’t installed in the instructions until Step 40, but I want to install it now to protect the gun-sight.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit very well either, due to a shallow front lip on the fuselage parts and a very thick front of the windscreen clear plastic.

 

 

 

 

And resultant fit.

 

 

 

 

As with the rear bulkhead, the solution is to sand the bottom of the windscreen, especially at the front.

 

 

 

 

Here it is installed after masking and painting the windscreen flat black on the inside, with the kit vinyl masks applied to the outside.  Near perfect fit now.

 

 

 

 

There are two arms on either side of the gunsight platform that apparently serve as braces attached to the sides of the windscreen frame.  I could not get them to touch the windscreen frame without the gunsight hitting the glass, leaving a gap.  To close the gap, I applied CA glue in layers until I achieved the correct thickness, which is a lot easier than applying shims.

 

 

 

 

After sanding the CA glue and painting it green, the arms now touch the windscreen frame.  I could have glued them as well, but the gun-sight platform is strong enough without the added risk of glue (and fogging).

 

 

 

 

 

With everything now glued into place, it’s time to set it aside and let it dry, before I cleanup all joins with CA glue and new scribing.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your continued interest in this build, which I am really enjoying right now.  It has the right balance of kit quality- and enough flaws to fix- to make it fun.

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

 

Edited February 23, 2021 by chuck540z3

[Brett M]

Nice work, as always, Chuck. Love the details you provide for the rest of us; learning something new every time.

[zaxos345]

Really love it Chuck!! 

John

[Thunnus]

I love the systematic way you attack all of the issues that come your way.  Entertaining and informative too.

 

4 hours ago, chuck540z3 said:

Totally agree John, to a point.  There is a little black tank at the bottom of the cockpit (Parts H28 and H29) that sits under the floor boards.  From the side you can see it, barely, as shown below.  It took me a long time to remove the seam and paint it, and now I can't see it from any angle, even with a flashlight.  To be honest if I ever built this kit again, I'd delete it, because to me it's a waste of time.

 

This reminds me of the Zoukei-Mura P-51D with all the fine internal detail that needs to be assembled, before the covers are put on the wings, etc., that completely covers everything up.  While I can see the interest in what is underneath, I can't see painting and detailing any of it if you can't see it through some open panels. etc.  To each their own, I guess!

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

 

 

No, I totally agree about the tank and would do the same.  I left out some internal parts from my Z-M Ta152 build because of the same reasoning.  But I also ended up painting the engine.  No added detail... just careful painting... with the hope that it might be possible to leave a panel as detachable.  Didn't work out and the painted engine is buried forever.

[dodgem37]

Great show, Chuck.  Nice problem-solving.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[John1]

No padding on that gunsight?  Yikes, I'd hate to be a pilot making a forced landing.   Gonna be wearing dentures after that.

 

Great work on the cockpit Chuck! 

[chuck540z3]

Thanks Guys!

 

I have closed and finished off the front fuselage halves, using my usual technique of using Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color in Black to check for flaws.  After sanding, every panel line was re-scribed and just about every rivet was re-punched, so there's a high chance of slip-ups that could be revealed after the first coat of paint.  By adding a dark wash now, these flaws can be seen and fixed easily, so I now hardly ever have to fix something after painting which can be a real pain.  After sealing up the front fuselage, I found plenty of little slip-ups here and there and for the most part, they are all fixed now.  I notice quite a few other modelers using this method recently, so maybe I started something? 

 

 

The dark wash would ooze into tiny cracks that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye.  There were a few, which I have now fixed.

 

 

Note there are no gaps around the rear landing gear well, due to the modifications I did above.

 

 

This kit has lots of fine rivet and panel line detail, but not all of it is very clear.  Re-doing much of it brings it back to life.

 

 

 

In a month or two, it should look a bit like my last model of the Kitty Hawk Harvard below, which had a very smooth and glossy yellow finish.  With a big investment in early flaw detection, it paid dividends later with yellow paint that was hard to touch-up.  With a weathered camo-finish, this model should be even easier to eliminate surface flaws.

 

 

 

 

I'll be gone again for a few weeks, so no more modeling until I return.  Thanks for checking in.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited July 5, 2020 by chuck540z3

[markiii]

Chuck I always enjoy following your builds where ever they may be. I always pick up a few tips even if the aircraft may not interest me. Enjoy your time away!

[MikeMaben]

7 hours ago, chuck540z3 said:

                           ..., using my usual technique of using Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color in Black to check for flaws. 

 

I can do the same thing after a few minutes with my grubby fingers. 

 

Have a good trip Chuck.