PK-23 Tempest built as the Tempest II prototype

[stevehnz]

I've been threatening this for a bit now & would've got onto it sooner but for 'puter problems.  The good old Matchbox Tempest II/VI built as the Tempest II prototype. 

The usual introductory sprue shots.

I'm shamelessly plagiarizing what Rabbit Leader is doing with his build while cutting corners fairly shamelessly too, so felt obliged to create a cockpit & some internal structure, of sorts. The tail fin cut down to the pre-production shape & wings stuck together.

Filling begins. & I thought this was a lot, yeah right.

Naah, this is a lot. I made a huge mistake by slathering Tippex all over the too deep panel lines, being too slack to fill & rescribe like Rabbit leader. Mistake! Next time I'll apply any Tippex with a fine brush rather than the sponge thing that comes with it.

& which brings us up to now, mainly rubbed down, tail feathers complete & just some final rubbing/polishing to be done before applying some paint.

I'm hoping the Tippex will leave some but not too much panel line, whatever will be will be I reckon.

Steve.

[Ventora3300]

Fantastic! A mass of work done already. Matchbox seem to have put in a fair amount of panel lines on the wings at least. How was the general fit of everything and are you going to do wheels up or down?

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good evening Steve

Very good job so far

Patrice

[Arniec]

Alreadyva great start Steve.

 

Cheers,

[tonyot]

Looking good Steve,

                           Great progress and I`m sure it will look great when it is done,...... Matchbox must have had shares n filler eh,.with all of those trench lines !

 

Cheers

         Tony 

[Rabbit Leader]

Wow - progress is swift on the Stevehnz workbench! I’ve never tried the tippex / whiteout technique so will be interested to see how it ends up looking under paint. I like the work you’ve done to the fin, looks like you’ve captured the shape spot on. 

 

Apologies for the late reply and lack of update of the Matchbox GB build list. I’m (sort of) holidaying with the family on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and the free wifi at the appartment that we’re staying at is awfully slow. I suppose it doesn’t help when you share a room with two of the biggest internet suckers known to man (my two kids)!!. 

 

Anyway - good to see this kit make it on here Steve and nice work on the cockpit 

 

Cheers.. Dave

 

[stevehnz]

I wish I could say it was fast progress but those 5 photos are spread over the thick end of a month, it hasn't been quick progress at all, hopefully it might pick up some pace, yeah right. . I'll be interested to see how the Tippex goes too,  its bloody hard work rubbing it down I know, just laughed at 600 grit, I had to buy some 400 grit & new emery sticks to make progress.

Steve.

[stevej60]

Progress is progress Steve whatever the speed! Great start on her looking forward to the rest don't think I've ever seen the prototype before.

[stevej60]

11 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

I’m (sort of) holidaying with the family on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast

Thank's for that Dave it's-3 here with a covering of Snow!

[stevehnz]

I might trade you some of that for the heat& dry we've had lately Steve, its shaping to be a long hot summer for us, & you can have too much of a good thing. All relative of course. I doubt our hot is a patch on where Dave is.

Steve.

[Rabbit Leader]

It’s surprisingly not as hot as you’d expect for this time of year, perhaps the daily afternoon storms which are always quite spectacular have kept the temps down a smidge. 

 

Now I make this five Tempests being built in this GB!! That’s quite a feat I’d say. We have the prototype, a couple of IAF Mk.II’s and two F.6’s.. should be a grand line up once complete.

 

Now as I was denied the privilege to pack the Airbrush, Compressor and smelly liquids in the family car, I was forced to leave the Tempest at home for a while.... however it would have been a sin not to bring a box of goodies on this trip. So with limited modelling tools I’ve now started my next build for this GB. Currently the ‘Blue Diamonds’ Hunter is getting a good dose of glue, sandpaper and the odd bit of plastic card improvements thrown in. I’ll post photos and progress in a few days time, however it’s coming along quite rapidly which (for me) I am most unaccustomed too. 

 

Anyway - agolgies for the thread creep and looking forward to seeing this Tempest get a good lick of paint. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[stevehnz]

Progress is as progress does, even if a lot of it has been in small bites of a few minutes each over the last few weeks, I've now got the underside MSG & topside OG on, using some Aeromaster 9070 Light grey & 9071 Dark Grey. They're from Aeromaster's  set of Russian colours & apparently they're not much good for that but they are very passable for what I'm using them for having comparing some sample cards with the MAP colour chips in the RAF Museum book. The weather is hot & muggy just now which hasn't helped drying but I'm hoping to get the DG (Hu116) on tomorrow & tidy it up by the end of the week, I kind of have to as I'm going to loose my modelling roost about then & might not get the new one back for months, if ever.

 

I'm a little concerned about the length of the U/C legs, I'm not sure if I've trimmed enough off them but am reluctant to trim too much more off. The little bits of U/C doors at the top might provide a clue when I come to fit that all up but that will be after decals are on.

Steve.

[tonyot]

This is coming along really well Steve,.....just a heads up,.....although silver does make sense for the wheel well and inside of the u/c doors,.....as per the Hurricane,....believe it or not, but they were painted Interior Grey Green on this variant,..see below;

 

I`m not sure whether this is the aircraft that you are modelling,...but if it is,...note the longer cannon stubs, as seen on early Mk.V`s;

 

I will of course delete these pics if you like mate,

 

All the best wishes and keep up the great work,

Cheers

         Tony

[stevehnz]

Your pics are fine Tony, I'm Happy to have them. I've got some cannon stubs ready to go in, after decalling is done. As for the wheel well colour, it was largely because everyone elses seemed to be aluminium  afaics. I did hum & hah about it, the Airfix Typhoon kit called for grey green, but then I found a better photo of LA602 in her original form where the insides of the wheel doors seemed very shiny & bright. This photo comes from an interesting read on the Mk II Tempest on the Indian sub continent  Hopefully OK to share it here. I'm not seeing grey green on the doors anyway, I could maybe do the wheel wells Grey green?

Steve

[Rabbit Leader]

Looking great there Steve. I’ve just worked out what’s going on with those smaller lower gear doors. I recall seeing in the instructions the requirement to cut these out if not using the one piece for the retracted option.  

 

Now I realise that you’ve been modelling ever since Moses played Full Back for South Jerusalem and I hate sounding like a know it all - but wouldn’t it be best to cut these out and clean them up prior to painting? I suspect that you will need to touch up the edges once again, however doing the cut and sand first may illuminate the requirement to repaint. Once again I realise that we all do things differently (and long may it continue) however just thought I’d mention this as a kind tip from across the Tasman. 

 

To avoid the fiddly handling part, I place all small parts on a either a piece of blue tak or the sticky side up of some Tamiya tape. A photo may help explain my dribble, so here are my Hunter gear doors all primed in white waiting for a top coat of glossy blue which will hopefully match BS108. 

 

 

Those Tempest U/C bays?? - I also reckon Tony’s correct about Tempest (not Typhoon) Grey-Green bays and inner doors. These may have been repainted once they acquired a silver finish however for the period that your modelling I’d say the green shade would be a better option. 

 

Great to see progress with this build to add to the great display of Matchbox Tempests on show here. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

[stevehnz]

Hi Dave, thanks for the suggestions. Being a brush painter, I thought it better to paint them while I had something to hang on to & yes, there will be touch ups needed, no biggy. Re the inner door colour, I'm wondering if LA602 being a prototype & not on the RAFs strength, maybe Hawker left the doors in ali dope as per Hurricanes, bear in mind that at the time I'm modelling it, early 1943, it is quite a lot earlier than the Typhoon as modelled by Airfix or the Tempest Mk IIs time in squadron service. :unsure:

Steve.

[TEMPESTMK5]

19 hours ago, tonyot said:

This is coming along really well Steve,.....just a heads up,.....although silver does make sense for the wheel well and inside of the u/c doors,.....as per the Hurricane,....believe it or not, but they were painted Interior Grey Green on this variant,..see below;

 

I`m not sure whether this is the aircraft that you are modelling,...but if it is,...note the longer cannon stubs, as seen on early Mk.V`s;

 

I will of course delete these pics if you like mate,

 

All the best wishes and keep up the great work,

Cheers

         Tony

Good morning Tony

 Thank you for the pics and the info on the colour of the wheel well and inside of the u/c doors it will help me for my next Tempest in the forthcoming Hawker GB ...

Best regards

Patrice

[stevehnz]

Things have gone nicely the last day or two, some Humbrol 116 over the Aeromaster Russian Dark Grey & I was pleased with the effect.

 

Then tonight I got to with a mixture of decals to do the markings. The roundels & fin flashes are from an old Almark Tempest sheet I have & went on beautifully with my usual diluted Klear to bed them, snuggling nicely into the panel lines (Much reduced after all the rubbing back of twink.) The serial was from a Modeldecal sheet of pre-war serial numbers, not perfect but OK & the best I had, I bloody well hate doing serials from individual numbers & these were on quite thick film,  I really had to work them a bit but seem OK, time will tell when I varnish them. The prototype P was off a Xtradecal sheet, not exactly right for the ones Bristol used but close enough & also the best I had. These went on very well, very thin & conformed a treat.

I loose my modelling roost tomorrow so the last details will have to wait a bit & be done one a tray on the dining table I fear. On the last lap now.

Steve.

Edited January 5, 2018 by stevehnz

[stevej60]

She look's superb Steve,great job so far.

[Rabbit Leader]

Coming along very nicely there Steve.. colours and all decals look the goods as well.

Tis a nice little conversion to what's proving to be a popular kit. 

 

Cheers.. Dave  

[tonyot]

Lovely job Steve,.... the colours look spot on,

Cheers

          Tony

[stevehnz]

All done now, the eviction from my modelling roost wasn't as sudden or total as I'd been lead to believe. Just to remind all what I was striving for.

 

& what I've ended up with, I'm gently pleased with it, it looks a lot like the vision I had.

 

I'll put some more photos in the gallery . Thanks to all for the support & for making this Matchbox GB happen. It has been an enjoyable nostalgia trip.

Steve.

Edited January 16, 2018 by stevehnz
add link

[dude_gan_ainm]

I'd call that a succss Steve,it's the spit off the photo!Lovely build.

Jimbob. ..

[Rabbit Leader]

That just looks great Steve, 

If the final result reflects your original vision, then that's success in anyone's book. 

She most certainly looks like the Prototype Steve and is another fitting tribute to Matchbox's classic Hawker Tempest kit.

See - I told you you'd finish yours before I did mine! 

 

Cheers and well modelled.... Dave 

[Graeme H]

Oh goody, a finished Matchbox Tempest II, really love it