1/32 Special Hobby Hawker Tempest V - Fairbanks JJ+F

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!

 

I was able to wrap up lower flap #2 last night.

 

 

I still need to add the plastic rod to serve as the hinge axis for the flaps but you can see what the starboard side flaps will look like...

 

 

I don't know what it is about brass but unpainted PE assemblies always look super impressive to me. More so than when it is painted.

 

 

Here is one of the wing lights after painting.  I followed Chuck540z3's instruction closely on this one.  After the clear red and clear green are painted to the first recess and the silver is painted over the red and green to the second recess, there really is no need for the masks to be used prior to application of the interior green.

 

[monthebiff]

Very nice PE work John, super clean on a very tricky assembly.

 

Regards. Andy  

[LSP_Kevin]

Outstanding work on those flaps, John!

 

Kev

[Thunnus]

Thank you Andy and Kevin!

 

Do you ever feel like you added just one too man aftermarket items to a build?  Lots of issues have started to pop up.  Nothing huge but they're starting to take their toll!

I took a big step and cut off the kit lower flaps to make way for the brass replacements. Surprisingly, I was able to do it and keep the existing flaps intact!

 

 

After cutting the starboard side flaps off, I wanted to test the fit of the brass upper wing section and found I cut off a wee bit too much plastic. Not really fault because I simply followed the panel lines.

 

 

Well, maybe my fault... I think the Eduard instructions were warning me to leave a bit more plastic but I wasn't paying attention.

 

 

So I added a shim of sheet plastic and that seemed to work ok.

 

 

I made the correct cut on the port side.

 

 

However, it was difficult to get the port upper flap into place without a slight kink. See how the middle section droops a little lower than the ends?

 

 

 

I decided to separate the upper flaps into two sections like the lower flaps.

 

 

Once I was satisfied that the upper flaps would fit, I decided to glue the wheel walls into place.  As Chuck540Z3 and others have pointed out, it is much easier to glue the walls into the upper wing instead of the lower wing.  My copy of the instructions have already been corrected and the long front walls (H21 and H33) are correctly labelled (I think!).

 

 

The parts have been pre-drilled for wiring and numbered so I could keep track of them after cutting them off the sprue.

 

 

Like Chuck540Z3, I glued a couple of parts first and checked the fit by putting on the lower wings and made sure the walls fell into the correct grooves. I started with H21+J13 and H33+J14 since they seemed to have the most positive location aids. While the glue dried, I was able to slightly push and adjust the pieces so that the lower wing fit onto the upper wings.

 

Curiously, I was able to fit the fuselage into place without having to sand either the cockpit cage or the wheel wells. However, that positive result may have come at the cost of issues elsewhere. One is the starboard wing.  Snapping the upper wing into the lower wing and positively engaging the top walls of the wheels into all of the recesses of the upper wing shifts that upper wing slightly outward.  The weird thing is that the wing root joint is pretty good despite this shift.  But the wing cannon openings are now offset. The port side upper and lower wing fit ok but the wing root gap is bigger on this side.  I'll have to take a closer look to see if I can rectify this situation without ripping the starboard wheel well apart.

 

 

I slide the nose on just for kicks.  Like I said, the fuselage slide into place onto the wings without having to make any sanding adjustments.  It looks like the neutral dihedral of the bottom of the wing has been preserved and I don't see any indication that the cockpit is forcing the wings apart. Yes, the nose is a bit askew but it is just resting there without any tape.  If this is an issue later on, I may be binning this one!

 

 

The shims that I added to the fuselage, which also serve as a rest for the engine block, maybe a tad too high but that's an easy adjustment to make.

 

 

The fit on the bottom looks serviceable.

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Thunnus

[Scale32]

Do they test build these before they go into production?

 

I really like the Tempest and the job you're doing. 

 

Cheers Bevan 

[Troy Molitor]

The neutral dihedral on the bottom of the wing looks great.  Loving this build like all the rest John.  Keep them coning.  

[chuck540z3]

Really interesting progress John!  A few comments which might be helpful:

 

• Your brass flaps look gorgeous and as you mentioned, it's almost a shame to paint them.  Make sure you use some kind of metal primer, or they will be prone to chipping with handling.
• Your wheel well instructions are correct, so it's good to see that this was done on later versions of this kit.
• My issues with the wing not fitting against the fuselage without sanding wheel well parts, was because I got the top and bottom half of the wings to fit each other first, then dry fit them to the fuselage.  This involves cutting the recesses in the top of the wing so that the gear walls will fit.   As you noted, the the top of your wings now fit outward, as shown by the gun holes, and if they were aligned with the bottom of the wing, the wing would flex slightly anhedral. 
• No 2 modelers will glue the gear wells together the very same way since they fit so poorly, so I'm not surprised that you are having different issues than I had.  There's no real "correct" method, just lots dry fitting and tweaks to get everything to fit.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  And yes Chuck, I totally agree that no two builds of this kit will turn out exactly the same given the inexact tolerances in the fit of the parts, especially the house of cards type of assembly like the wheel well walls.  In my case, the fit of the fuselage/cockpit does not seem to result in the outward pushing of the wing tops, even if the upper wings are aligned so that the cannon holes are matched... there are gaps at the wing root that could accommodate this shift.  

 

I'll be honest... thoughts of shelving this project have entered my mind.  The wheel well issue, having to cut one of the flaps in two to make it fit, questions of how I'm going to attach the nose to the fuselage, wing root gaps, etc started taking its toll on my psyche.  So last night before going to bed, I started trying to physically push the wheel well assembly into a position that allowed the wing halves to go together correctly.  Kept pushing and pushing until.... yep... snap! Glue bond broke on one of the pieces.  So... I wriggled loose ALL of the starboard wheel well parts, cleaned them up a tad and glued them in again, keeping in mind that I needed to slightly shift everything towards the  wing tips.  

Here's what the wheel wells look like now... no visible change but starboard well has been dismantled and reassembled.

 

 

And a look at the front showing the cannon openings lining up much better now. The starboard wing still shows a slight misalignment but I think it can be addressed at the gluing stage without an issue.

 

 

With the nose attached, there are some probable gaps that will need to be addressed but look fairly manageable.

 

 

It's still a ways off but I'm thinking about the resin engine.  It is supposed to be attached to a bulkhead first but I am thinking about possibly gluing the bulkhead into the fuselage and plopping in the engine afterwards.  This could possible ease painting but I would need to figure out a way that the engine can be securely attached in the right position.

 

[scvrobeson]

Great workarounds to the fit issues John. Great template for future builds of the Tempest

 

 

Matt 

[John Stambaugh]

Steady perseverance sir. You know in the end it will all be very well worth it. 

[Thunnus]

Thank you, Matt and John!  Trying to correct this wobbly build one variable at a time.

 

Trying to tie down another variable... adding one more contact point to secure the upper wing flap assemblies into place.

 

 

When the time comes, I can place these assemblies and use my free hands to seep CA glue into the edges to secure them into place.

 

 

Same idea on the other side but this one wanted an angled shelf.  You can also see another sliver of white shim that I used to repair an overzealous saw removal along the wing trailing edge.

 

 

The flaps have all been folded. I'm still waiting for the appropriate sized plastic rod to complete the lower flaps.  Once I add those rods, I can prime and maybe even paint the flap assemblies.

 

 

Most of today was spent on this little light cover.  The clear piece does not fit well at all and in the shaping and fitting process, I ended up putting a crack down the middle of it.  I immediately sent an email to Special Hobby but my brain started thinking about crafting a replacement in case I can't get another clear part.  I scanned the wing bottom and traced the outline of the light cover.  I then used my Silhouette Portrait cutter to cut a piece of thin sheet styrene.  I couldn't get the blade to cut all the way through the plastic but it was scored deep enough that I was able to snap out the shape.  A hole punch was used to create the circular opening and also a clear cover from a piece of acetate.  I think this will be acceptable.

 

 

Inching my way toward wiring the wheel wells.  I took a page out of Chuck540z3's Tempest build and created a base for the box that is to be installed in this position.  The base has a gap so that I can pass wiring through it.  The box itself was sanded down so that only the top remained and will be used as a cover after the wiring is placed.

 

[Guest Vincent]

Wow !

Just wow...

[Troy Molitor]

The flaps turned out so well its going to be a shame to paint them in the end. .  Have you decided on a final scheme for this one yet?  

Looking fantastic as always John.  

[Thunnus]

5 hours ago, Vincent said:

Wow !

Just wow...

Thank you Vincent!  Always a pleasure to see your comments!

 

 

 

5 hours ago, Troy Molitor said:

The flaps turned out so well its going to be a shame to paint them in the end. .  Have you decided on a final scheme for this one yet?  

Looking fantastic as always John.  

I know right?  Unpainted PE stuff always looks so cool!  I am planning on doing the Terror of Rheine, David Fairbanks DFC, Serial No. EJ762, "JJ+F" as depicted in this photograph...

 

 

I just wanted to report that I received an immediate reply from Special Hobby. They said that this is the first that they've heard of an issue with the clear light covers and that they'll be sending me a replacement clear sprue!  What great customer service!

 

[Troy Molitor]

My apologies. I did see this picture a few pages back.  What a battered looking Tempest.  What do you make of that stain on the inboard wing faring bulge?   

Looking forward to the magical painting process John.  A dirty /faded looking bird for sure.