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The Best Fighter of WW2...in the Best Scale *FINISHED!*


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Hi All,

 

Just thought I'd throw in a thread title which would get your blood pumping :lol:

 

But seriously, I followed three excellent builds this year by Dennis @spitfire, Steve @stevej60 and Andy @Col Walter E Kurtz with their 1/32 Tempests (1 PCM and two Special Hobby between them) and as a result of their efforts the Revell boxing of the Special Hobby kit fought its way to the top of my build list! 

tn_Tempest V (1)

I'll be building this alongside the 1/24 Hellcat in the Hellcat STGB which is still ongoing.

tn_Tempest V (8)

First job was to turn the box into a top-opener - I like Revell kits but those end opening boxes are not the best!

 

Like all their reboxes, the sprues are just packed loose into one bag:

tn_Tempest V (7)

 

It's the Special Hobby Tempest Mk V so it's well-documented as a beauty:

tn_Tempest V (4) tn_Tempest V (10) tn_Tempest V (11)

Excellent surface detail all round.

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The interior is no slouch either.

tn_Tempest V (2)

Some aftermarket - the Barracuda nose replacement, CMK pilot and early-style wheels, and HGW wet transfer stencils.

 

The Barracuda nose isn't necessarily a must-have, but it corrects the overall shape of the forward fuselage and air intake as well as the spinner shape and size. I have a Mk VI in the stash as well, so the kit nose shape is slightly better for that variant but I might invest in another Barracuda set if it fits okay.

 

tn_Tempest V (16)

I also have some paint masks - the camouflage ones are a generous hand-me-down from @spitfire who used them for his build.

 

Lastly the instructions and decals:

tn_Tempest V (5)

I'll be using the serials to try to replicate JN810 SA-P, an early Series 1 Mk V piloted by Flt Lt R J Cammock of 486 (NZ) Sqn in June 1944. He flew this aircraft shooting down four of his 20+1 V1 kills between 19 June and 23 August 1944.

 

Looks like it'll be a fun build, when I have time to work on it!

 

Alan

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Enjoy Alan,a timely reminder to finish mine I lost both wing tip light's right at the point of finishing which is all that is needed for a posting

in RFI,i'll follow to see how you progress.

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Well it's quite a fiddly start in the cockpit:

tn_Tempest V (3)

So many pieces!

tn_Tempest V (19)

Parts are quite well-moulded, all needs a bit of cleanup but the fit and detail is excellent. I'm going for the safe option of RAF Grey-Green interior with Night uppers - this early example may have had the Hawker aluminium framing, but I'm just going to go green!

tn_Tempest V (18)

It's a very nice kit to work with so far - hopefully will be a nice build.

 

Alan 

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2 minutes ago, stevej60 said:

Enjoy Alan,a timely reminder to finish mine I lost both wing tip light's right at the point of finishing which is all that is needed for a posting

in RFI,i'll follow to see how you progress.

Ah right, I wondered where your RFI was :lol: thanks for looking in, any help along the way would be appreciated, but your build thread is a great resource 👍

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Nooooooo, you can't make me build another Tempest, though it is very tempting as I still have another PCM and also the Special Hobby kit, in the stash and I am real fan of the aircraft so will tag along for the ride.

For more reference pop over to Large Scale Planes and see Chucks superb build, it's the kind of build that I aspire to.

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/84784-sh-tempest-mk-v-kicked-up-a-notch-january-1421-new-ebook/

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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The Tempest comes equal 2nd with the P-51 in my list of favourite piston fighters, so I’ll tag along if I may. I’m expecting a Special Hobby Mk II for my birthday next month and as they have about 75% of their  components in common I’m hoping to pick up some tips.

 

John

PS I also like your builds.

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4 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

The Tempest comes equal 2nd with the P-51 in my list of favourite piston fighters, so I’ll tag along if I may. I’m expecting a Special Hobby Mk II for my birthday next month and as they have about 75% of their  components in common I’m hoping to pick up some tips.

 

John

PS I also like your builds.

Very welcome aboard John 👍 I've just got the Mk VI as I like this one so much!

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11 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Although not my scale, how can I resist the siren call of a Kiwi tempest. I'll tag along if I may. :)  Did this one have the bulges over the early wing mounts? (ex Typhoon I think they were)

Steve.

Hi Steve, I don't have any evidence but based on the serial I expect it would have, looks like there are parts in the kit to replicate these.

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Thanks for looking in everyone, welcome one and all!

 

Well, I've only done two modelling sessions on this since the last update but it's really cracking along. This is a very buildable kit and I very impressed so far.

tn_Tempest V (20)

Although a bit fiddly, the cockpit goes together very well. The decals are from the kit, with a few Airscale placards added.

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Painted with MRP and Colourcoats, with an AK wash to bring up the shadows.

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I like a nice, clean finish, and this is working for me so far!

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Also finished the wheelwells - much has been written about these but they gave me no problems at all. 

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I completed as much of the construction as possible before paint to speed things up.

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Barracuda nose removed from casting block (:angrysoapbox.sml: less said about that, the better, I really hate resin parts for this reason) and cleaned up. Just preparing this took about as long as building the wheelwells!

I'm doing a pilot figure for this build, looks a bit rough now but it's really early days:

tn_Tempest V (26)

For the purposes of this build, Flt Lt Cammock is a wiry Kiwi beanpole who will be wondering where his ground crew is because he really needs to get going after these pesky V-1s...

 

Today's progress coming up...

 

Alan

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tn_Tempest V (27)

Cockpit complete, it's pretty tight in there so poor Flt Lt Cammock has had to do a Dougie Bader for artistic purposes :cry:

tn_Tempest V (28)

As usual with detailed cockpits, most of this will be invisible to the casual observer...

 

So a bit of Tamiya tape and Mr Cement S later we have this:

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Word of warning here if you're making this kit - the interior space between the wheelwells is *just* too small to comfortably accommodate the cockpit frame - you'll need to shave off the sides of the frames to stop it pushing the wings into a slight anhedral.

 

So, I had to complete the main airframe elements:

tn_Tempest V (30)

This really is an excellent kit, pretty much painless fit and alignment. Also, I thought the Tempest was bigger than it is in this scale, length is about the same as a P-51D. Still a beast of an aircraft!

 

Anyway, I'm forging ahead on this because I still have the Hellcat to finish, and the Phantom STGB has already started!

 

All the best

Alan :cheers:

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Look Mum, no feet (or head)! That,s a very well painted pilot.

The cockpit looks good, did you apply the IP dials as supplied or cut them into individual pieces? 

The fit does look promising, I'm never sure with inserts like the ones in the leading edges wether to fit the parts individually before the main parts are glued or wait until later.

 

John

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4 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

The cockpit looks good, did you apply the IP dials as supplied or cut them into individual pieces? 

The fit does look promising, I'm never sure with inserts like the ones in the leading edges wether to fit the parts individually before the main parts are glued or wait until later.

 

John

Thanks John, the IP was done using the kit decals, they are produced in four separate clusters so they're easy to apply and position in place. As with all Revell recent decals, they were very good as long as you use warm-to-hot water and MicroSet/Sol (they react really well to MicroSol).

 

I'm with you on the inserts, in this case I opted to wait due to the Barracuda nose replacement...once that's on I'll adjust the leading edges to suit. The Mk VI has a slightly longer spinner/nose anyway so I hope the kit nose will be suitable and I'll apply the wing root radiator parts beforehand.

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Thanks @Dandie Dinmont and @bigbadbadge! Been busy this afternoon...

tn_Tempest V (33)

Barracuda nose fits very well! The leading edge inserts mentioned by John @Biggles87 needed a bit of shaving to fit correctly but no major surgery required.

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In fact the fit overall is excellent, not much filler required. I'd heard it was quite a tricky kit but it seems to have behaved itself.

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Even the underside fits very well, considering it's a multi-part juggling act. The internals of the radiator faces needed more drastic treatment, a good dremelling around the edges to fit the resin nose.

 

Canopy rails and whatever that bit behind the seat is usually called (? why don't I know that :hmmm:)

tn_Tempest V (32)

Again the fit was nigh on perfect, the rear rail needed thinning a bit to fit in the slot.

 

And finally the rudder went on:

tn_Tempest V (31)

This is a great looking aeroplane, I can finally see why WW2 makes such popular subjects, rarely used to touch them until the lockdown, so that's one good thing that came out of covid 🥲

tn_Tempest V (36)

 

10 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Crikey Alan I have only been away a few days and you've nearly finished it. 

Well, this has just fallen together, SH Tempest is going on my top ten kit list. Nothing not to like. Glad I got another one in last week (Mk VI):lol:

9 hours ago, Dandie Dinmont said:

This is looking great Alan and I'm following along for sure. But what about the Hellcat!!!?

Cheers Craig, I'm still cracking along with that but there's a just a LOT of green at the moment and it's a wee bit monotonous! Update coming soon.

 

Alan

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The words ‘ turtle deck ‘ sprang to mind for the area behind the seat, although I don’t know if it’s correct.

The replacement nose looks like a really good fit, but is there a noticeable difference in shape between it and the original kit part(s)? The big advantage I can see is not having to deal with a seam on top of the nose, something I’ve often had difficulty with in the past.

 

Stay safe

John

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1 hour ago, Biggles87 said:

The replacement nose looks like a really good fit, but is there a noticeable difference in shape between it and the original kit part(s)? The big advantage I can see is not having to deal with a seam on top of the nose, something I’ve often had difficulty with in the past.

The main improvement is the taper of the nose, as the kit's is too wide. This means the spinner is too big in diameter, so it ends up too long as well. I'm hoping it looks better on the Mk VI, which had a different shape and longer spinner.

 

The elimination of the seam is a big deal...also the fine surface detail is replicated on the resin part, which is good.

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Hope it's not too late, but I think you've glued parts H41 and H42 in upside down and in the wrong sides, mate...those are the inner gear door retraction struts and need to have the narrow end of the pistons sticking out of the well to make contact with the doors later. Look at the finished diagram bottom right of page 19 of the instructions..

 

Cheers,

Dean

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