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Hi all. I received the 1/48 Eduard Hawker Tempest Series 2 kit from my folks for Christmas last year along with the book “The Big Show’ by Pierre Clostermann. Rather than let it sit in the stash for an extended period of time I thought that it was best to get cracking on it before the year is out. From recommendations from mates who had read the book, I knew the book was a good read. They certainly weren’t wrong. I’m still undecided on doing Clostermann’s 3 squadron machine or the D-Day striped 3 squadron aircraft JF-Z. I’ll let you know what I decide when the time comes. The build has been slower paced than my recent builds due to the additional detail in the cockpit by way of photo-etch and nicely molded details which need care and attention when painting and assembly. I’ve chosen to grab a bunch of resin for the kit, the most noticeable is the replacement radiator face and the annular ring on its face. It’s a noticeable feature on the aircraft so one that was a necessity. Kit part on the left, resin replacement on the right. The gear bays have a wealth of detail which come to life with some paint. No additional details required here. Three options are provided for the instrument panel. I chose to paint the kit plastic with raised dials, switches and bezels with the kit decal for the IP. A few coats of mark softener and the decals settled nicely onto the raised instrument faces. This was the first time I’d used the Mr Mark Softer product and I think I’ll be making the switch to it from the Micro set/sol combo. Later in the assembly of the cockpit I found that application of a flat coat onto the etch parts almost eradicated the dot matrix appearance of the coloured printing. It was Mr Color Flat Clear that I used here. Cleaning seams in unnecessary places is my lease favourite part of a build. I think Eduard could have put a bit more thought into the location of this one. The seam that runs through the middle of the flap on the wing underside is one of those annoying ones. The wing parts were glues and left to dry for 24 hours. The following night I laid some tape along the join to minimise the amount of the CA/talc mix that I applied. Five minutes of sanding and polishing and voila. The lost rivet detail was reinstated with a rivet wheel. I’m happy with the result but I'll apply some primer on it to assess if any more tidy up is required. the line you see is a ghost mark of the CA and talc mix. I can't feel it when I run my finger nail across it. Since these parts were finished the cockpit could be installed and the fuselage closed up. Don’t forget the part for the tail wheel well roof and walls. Cheers, Mick