Enzo the Magnificent Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 After the visit from Hack and Slash (note the Reboot reference... ) I thought I should do something constructive. It is usual to start with the cockpit, but I was feeling quite contrary so I went with the wheel wells. My other build in this GB is a Hasegawa Typhoon. I bought the Aries wheel well set, but then found out that it would not fit the kit. Flippin' typical! I've been severely burned like that before in the Mustang STGB so I didn't even try to fit them. However, the Aires parts had some nice structural detail which I attempted to replicate here. Dunno if it is accurate for a Tempest, but it's too late now. So here you see a bit of detailing done with microstrip. And here are parts from the Eduard PE added. I have also taken the opportunity to put in two compressed gas bottles from the Aires resin set and a cable loom from twisted wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 It looks awful until the paint goes on, doesn't it? And I reckon it will be every bit as good as a resin set when you've done with it. Good start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 The wheel wells painted up... And installed in the wing. Also fitted are the leading edge intake assemblies. These needed a fair amount of filling and sanding to fit, so I will need to re-instate the panel lines. This is the rear fuselage, with the tailplane plinths roughly carved down to allow the Ultracast tailplanes to fit snugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Finally, a bit of movement on this one. These are the cockpit parts. They won't be fitted until I am happy with the fuselage. The MDC nose. I have rescribed the panel lines and fasteners and highlighted them with a pencil. This is a big chunk of resin. I hope the model isn't a nose sitter... But then again, the tail is also pure resin. This model is going to be heavy! The fuselage complete. Now for the Milliput and a fair bit of sanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 Hmmm... there seems to be a major problem with this kit. The resin cockpit fouls the wheel bays, making it impossible to fit the wings. I'm going to have to completely re-assess the cockpit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 So... this was how the cockpit it intended to be. The resin builds up into a lovely little self contained module that simply slots into the plastic fuselage. At least that's the plan. In reality, the cockpit floor and the lower parts of the walls foul the wheel wells. With the cockpit in place there is absolutely no way that the wing will fit. I found this out when I had the cockpit assembly superglued into place. So I put a brand new No 11 blade in my trusty scalpel and set to work. I managed to retrieve the cockpit assembly intact, which astonished me. What astonished me even more was that I did it without spilling any blood. As you will see from this thread that's a rare occurrence! Having retrieved the cockpit I then stripped it down again. I glued the sidewalls back in place seperately and then trimmed the lower parts so that they cleared the wheel wells. I also trimmed the cockpit floor so that it fitted. I glued the footrests in place over the floor and added the seat and rear bulkhead into the fuselage, again trimmed to allow a fit. I ignored the firewall, as you cannot see it. The missing portions of the sidewalls are not apparent as the Tempest cockpit opening is actually very small. after all that hassle, not too much can be seen. Which is probably a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 A lot of progress to report - but so there should be, 'cos it's been ages since my last update. The airframe assembled. Cockpit and gear bays masked. Primed and sprayed with Xtracrylix XA1004 Dark Sea Grey. The disruptive pattern was masked with paper stuck on with Copydex and the green sprayed on with Xtracrylix XA1001 Dark Green. Masks removed. The underside is Xtracrylix XA1008 PRU Blue. The decal instruction sheet shows a yellow leading edge to the wing, but I haven't found any evidence this was retained after the second world war, so I have omitted it. The panel around the exhausts is Alclad2 ALC-123 Exhaust Manifold. It looks black here, thanks to my pathetic photography skills, but it looks good on the model. Honest! Decals applied. I've since remembered to apply the red centres to the roundels. More at the weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 That is looking stunning, I'll be looking forward to seeing this one done, there is one in this scheme in my future somewhere I think. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 Up on its gear. The plastic gear legs are a little flimsy and the model wobbles around like a newborn foal. Hardly surprised. The parts may be fine for the kit built OOB, but there's a lot of resin in this one and it is quite weighty. I'm hoping that the undercarriage doors will add a bit of strength. Badly out of focus... The autofocus on the camera didn't like the gloss finish. I'll have to do something about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 Finished! And just in time. This has been an eventful build to say the least! The resin cockpit simply did not fit... there is so much resin in the fuselage that the undercarriage legs are extremely weak, the first coat of matt varnish went horribly, horribly wrong and to top it all off, the carper monster ate one of the gear doors, so I had to fabricate a new one from plastic card. But its finished and despite all the problems (or maybe because of them!) I have thoroughly enjoyed it. And here, next to the Typhoon which was my other build in this GB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Cracking build, the cleanliness really shows off the Tempest's lines well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 That's a beauty Enzo - this and the Hornet shows how we were capable of producing fast but elegant looking a/c after WWII 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 this and the Hornet shows how we were capable of producing fast but elegant looking a/c after WWII Ooh! Hornet! I have two Frog/Novo kits in the Deep Stash... Now there's a thought... although I don't think they are eligible for the Obsolete Kits GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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