Pacific Coast Models Hawker Tempest

[spitfire]

After a difficult start when I thought that this one would be a failure I am very pleased that I persevered as it has turned out really nice.

I bought this one when the kit first came out as the Tempest was one of my favourites meaning to build it straight away but I was seduced by an MDC Typhoon and never got back to the Tempest.

As I have quite a few PCM kits in the loft and have only ever built one (G55) I thought that this year I would build three of them, the Tempest, a fabric winged Hurricane and a Spitfire Mk.IX.

Despite my usual routine of reading other peoples builds and reviews I was taken by surprise by some of the problems I encountered and was close to shelving the build but I have never given up on a build in 1/32 scale so carried on and it got better and I started to enjoy myself.

The kit itself is a treasure trove of PE, Resin and a wonderful selection of decals, the instructions are also very good if a mite vague in parts, but it was the first 1/32 scale kit of a Tempest and PCM did made kits of subjects that other manufacturers have ignored to this day.

I took an early decision not to use too much in the way of aftermarket parts and use what was in the box but I did use some Barracuda parts, the main wheels and the Typhoon/Tempest air intake ring are from them,

Markings were painted on using Montex masks and Sovereign Colourcoats paints, the stencils were my first attempt at using HGW Wet Transfers and I was most impressed with them and have invested in quite a few sets from their range as I do not get on well with decals especially the tiny stencil ones.

The main paint scheme was done with Xtracolor paints and for the camouflage pattern I used AML masks which I have used before.

The main problem with the early part of the build was that I had just finished a run of three Hasegawa kits so I had been spoilt quite a bit and it took a while to get back to basics.

I wanted to build a Tempest without invasion stripes and came across this photo on which I based my build, this is the caption from the photo

"Budd Miller taxing his Tempest SD-R (EJ558) for another anti-diver patrol. Filmed at Bradwell Bay on 15 October 1944".

Further research found that Flight Officer Budd Miller (RCAF No. R-140790, USAAF No. T-190924) was an NCO pilot of the USAAF, flying attachment with the RAF

Here is the build thread.

And so on with the photos.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

[Vinnie]

Very nice work, Dennis

[spitfire]

3 hours ago, Vinnie said:

Very nice work, Dennis

Thank you Vinnie, glad you liked it.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[mick]

great work

[stevej60]

Well worth the effort Dennis,looks superb and must have presence in that scale too!

[RMCS]

Excellent skills 

[spitfire]

14 hours ago, mick said:

great work

 

14 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Well worth the effort Dennis,looks superb and must have presence in that scale too!

 

11 hours ago, RMCS said:

Excellent skills 

Thank you very much gents, it's very satisfying to look at it now that it's finished, and you are right Steve it is very impressive in this scale, I've just got to try and wedge it in between my two Typhoons in the display cabinet.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Alan P]

Beautifully done, and the build thread is a great reference for anyone else building this kit or its Revell reissue.

 

Funnily enough, I thought the pictures from the build thread turned out better than the RFI ones 🤔 but they still showcase the silky smooth finish 👍 great model and centrepiece 👏👏👏

[spitfire]

33 minutes ago, Alan P said:

Beautifully done, and the build thread is a great reference for anyone else building this kit or its Revell reissue.

 

Funnily enough, I thought the pictures from the build thread turned out better than the RFI ones 🤔 but they still showcase the silky smooth finish 👍 great model and centrepiece 👏👏👏

Thank you very much for that, I hope that I have passed on some information that may be useful to others as that is how I get most of my information, I always try to read other people's build threads when I start a new project.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Alan P]

4 hours ago, spitfire said:

Thank you very much for that, I hope that I have passed on some information that may be useful to others as that is how I get most of my information, I always try to read other people's build threads when I start a new project.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

I will certainly be looking it up when the time comes, but of course the Revell is the Special Hobby version, not the PCM one

[bigbadbadge]

It does look very nice, great job.

Chris

[spitfire]

On 6/28/2021 at 11:10 PM, Alan P said:

I will certainly be looking it up when the time comes, but of course the Revell is the Special Hobby version, not the PCM one

Not a problem, a lot of the stuff that I put into the build came from a superb build of the Special Hobby kit over on LSP, it is a treasure trove of Tempest information.

11 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

It does look very nice, great job.

Chris

Thank you Chris, glad that you enjoyed the build and the finished article.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

What a treat! Thanks for sending me the link Dennis. It looks a nice kit and the finish you've done is excellent! There is something very pleasing about the Tempest.. looks menacing! 

Andy

[spitfire]

1 hour ago, Col Walter E Kurtz said:

What a treat! Thanks for sending me the link Dennis. It looks a nice kit and the finish you've done is excellent! There is something very pleasing about the Tempest.. looks menacing! 

Andy

Thanks for the kind words Andy, I do have a thing for Typhoons and Tempests, they are so rugged looking and yet in the case of the Tempest it is also quite graceful.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

Yes I quite agree! My uncle flew Tempest Vs in March 1945 with 56 Squadron. He flew with the great Pierre Closterman and is mentioned several times in his book The Big Show. I did a 1:32 Tempest Tribute build of the last plane my uncle flew. He shot down a FW190-D of JG25 on his first sortie too! 

 

[spitfire]

6 hours ago, Col Walter E Kurtz said:

Yes I quite agree! My uncle flew Tempest Vs in March 1945 with 56 Squadron. He flew with the great Pierre Closterman and is mentioned several times in his book The Big Show. I did a 1:32 Tempest Tribute build of the last plane my uncle flew. He shot down a FW190-D of JG25 on his first sortie too! 

 

Hi Andy, I did pop in and follow yout Tempest build and I have it bookmarked for when I build my SH Tempest, hopefully it will help me with the build, the family connection in the build certailny added a lot of interest for me.

Strangely enough my Hurricane is also a No.56 Squadron subject but before they adopted the US codes

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Maginot]

Good result. Refreshing not to see panel lines emphasised. Looks so much better without the visual clutter of invasion stripes. Good decision.

[spitfire]

7 minutes ago, Maginot said:

Good result. Refreshing not to see panel lines emphasised. Looks so much better without the visual clutter of invasion stripes. Good decision.

Thank you, I do not go overboard on the weathering on my builds, less is more for me.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

33 minutes ago, spitfire said:

Hi Andy, I did pop in and follow yout Tempest build and I have it bookmarked for when I build my SH Tempest, hopefully it will help me with the build, the family connection in the build certailny added a lot of interest for me.

Strangely enough my Hurricane is also a No.56 Squadron subject but before they adopted the US codes

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

My apologies Dennis.. it's a senior moment I must have experienced! Of course you did se my Tempest before. Interestingly your Hurricane is 56 Squadron too. I recall that Lord Tenchard visited them in Holland the day after uncle joined them and was over heard saying "56 USED to be a good Squadron" lol..  I have to disagree with him !