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


chuck540z3

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April 28/20

 

With my KH Harvard put away in my display case, it booted my poor Spitfire down to share a crowded shelf with my Eagle.  Oh well, that bright yellow sure looks good in there, but I really need to buy another display case, because I can’t just throw out the oldest model to make room like I used to.  These are all keepers from now on!

 

 

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My next project is the 1/32 Special Hobby Hawker Tempest Mk V kit, which comes with many extra bits like lots of resin, cloth seatbelts, masks and a few photo-etch parts.  For subject, I’m going with French Ace Pierre Clostermann’s “JF-E” of RAF No. 3 Squadron, Serial Number NV994, for a few reasons.  First, it has no black and white invasion stripes that I really don’t like and two, Pierre nick-named his ride “Le Grand Charles”, so I had no other choice!  There’s a good historical documentation of this aircraft here:

 

Hawker Tempest "Le Grand Charles"

 

And I think I will be doing this version of it post war with the red spinner, because it looks so cool.  Photo art courtesy of Eduard.

 

 

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I’ve read quite a few build threads about this kit and many have complained that a lot of the parts don’t fit properly, etc., but based upon so many absolutely beautiful Tempests created out there, it can’t be that bad.  Since I just built 2 Kitty Hawk models in a row, this kit can’t be any worse.

 

Here’s a pic of the resin that comes with this kit, which is extensive with two sets of wheels/tires.

 

DQqG1A.jpg

 

 

And here is what I’ll be adding, although I’m not sure all of it, since the kit seat looks very nice already:

 

#32234 Barracuda Nose Correction Set with Props

#32124 Barracuda 4 Slot Wheels set

#32141 Barracuda Intake Ring

#32142 Barracuda Seat with Backpad

#32239 CMK Exhaust Set

#32122 Maketar Paint Masks for all insignias and other markings

#232016 HGW Wet Transfer Decals (OOP!)

 

I have two Barracuda noses, because for some reason the first ones were faulty and Roy Sutherland replaced them, free of charge.  Great products, great prices and great service!  Having used the HGW Wet Transfer Decals very successfully on my Spitfire Mk IX (#232001), I wanted to use the same product on this Tempest.  Well, low and behold, not only are they no longer made, but neither are the Spitfire’s!  If you can find any like I did grab them while you can, because I found that they worked great with zero decal film to worry about.

 

 

dDkWzC.jpg

 

 

Like most aircraft the first step is the painting and assembly of the cockpit parts, starting with the front fuselage halves.  Checking out the big parts, there is lots of rivet and panel line detail, but the finish is rough and a bit lumpy, while panel lines are a bit too wide and the rivet detail is not consistent. 

 

 

hOgz42.jpg

 

 

Just like my Kitty Hawk kits, I decided to sand everything down, then re-scribe all panel lines and re-punch most of the rivets.  VERY time consuming, but I think it will be worth it in the end.  Here I have added a dark wash to show this new detail, which isn’t a fair comparison to the unaltered part on the right, but I think you can see how the panel lines in particular have tightened up and are much crisper.

 

 

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A few more angles.

 

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It looks like the big wings have similar issues, so I will be very busy and progress will be slow.  Summer is almost here as well, so this could be a very slooooow build, but as always, I’ll get ‘er done!

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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Hi Chuck

 

I am looking forward to following  this build as you always have an ability to take a kit to the next level.

 

I completed my Tempest  last year OOB and just have an observation which might help with frustrations on the build.  It seems as it all the location pins are exactly the size of the holes they are supposed to fit into. You have to force some parts into position. Opening the location holes slightly should make the build easier.

 

Regards

 

Nick   

 

 

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I hope both of your replacement noses are okay. My original one was purchased from UltraCast-it was defective. I contacted Roy and sent him pictures. He sent me a replacement which was also defective. Nice! I threw them both in the garbage and was done with it!

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