Special Hobby Tempest V Upgrade Sets (for Special Hobby) 1:32

[Mike]

Tempest V Upgrade Sets (for Special Hobby)

1:32 CMK & Special Hobby

 

 

The Special Hobby 1:32 Tempest range of kits has been with us for a while now, and the Tempest V is in the middle of the current three, with a number of upgrades already available, and some figures too.  This latest batch complement the other sets by adding cowlings that can be shown stripped off the resin engine, a set of styrene moulded RP-3 rockets, and a handy mechanic figure in the appropriate garb and pose.

 

 

RP-3 60lb Rockets SAP/HE (SH32075)

Unusually for aftermarket, this set is injection moulded, and comes in a figure-style box with a single sprue of grey styrene inside that holds parts for eight rockets and their launch rails, plus decals and a short instruction sheet.  The rocket bodies are moulded as a single part with half of the warhead, to which you add the other half to avoid sink-marks by moulding them as single piece.  The fins are individual parts that wedge into recesses in the tail to ensure that they are held at 90 ^o to each other.  The completed rockets are then glued to their launch rails and can be installed under the wings of your model once painted and decaled according to the accompanying diagrams that use the Gunze codes for colour call-outs.  All you need to add yourself are the ignition wires that link the rear of the exhausts to the airframe.

 

 

 

 

Typhoon Resin Engine Cover Panels (5111)

The cowlings are often forgotten about with resin engines, and having more detailed, accurate ones really completes the picture for the modeller that is going for the highest fidelity they can.  This set contains ten resin parts of varying sizes, one of which is an almost complete monolithic casting of the chin cowling, complete with masses of internal details that begged a detail picture, which you can see below.  The side cowlings around the exhausts are present, as is the curved top cowling, plus the two small access hatches on the cheeks and the adjustable lower door in the chin scoop.  The detail is excellent throughout, and the casting blocks have been put in sensible places to reduce clean-up work.  The main chin part has been attached along the intake lip, so care needs to be taken here so that the shape of the lip isn't obliterated by careless removal, but the mould-gates have been spaced apart with just a thin film between them, easing your task.

 

 

Pic from Special Hobby's website to show the complete painted set with the kit.

 

 

British WWII Tempest Mechanic (F32340)

Another lovely sculpt to add detail and drama to your finished model, and this one will be particularly appropriate if you treat yourself to the cowling set above.  He arrives in a clear blister pack, with the resin parts safely cocooned inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the front and header card.  There are four parts in grey resin on two casting blocks, with the main body and legs forming just one part that has wafer-thin flash between his legs.  The head and arms are three parts, with small quantities of flash under his chin and in the cups of his hands to ensure correct filling of the moulds and to minimise the risk of bubbles getting caught there.  At 1:32 the features are readily visible and I'm happy to report that he has a full set of them, although on my example, the flare of his tie seems to have departed, possibly due to mould damage - It's nothing that can't be fixed with a little diamond of foil or thin styrene though.

 

 

When complete his pose is one of someone standing waiting to be photographed, with one arm reaching up to stabilise a big piece of cowling and the other by his size.  Parts 5, 6 or 7 from the above set would do the trick.  You can of course change this pose by adjusting his arm to be resting against the airframe elsewhere, but that's at your whim.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of