Kovozávody Prostějov Hawker Tempest F.6 (KPM0223) 1:72

[Mike]

Hawker Tempest F.6 (KPM0223)

1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov

 

 

The Hawker Tempest was a development of the Typhoon, originally called the Typhoon II, it was envisioned to solve all of the issues that bothered its designer, Sir Sidney Camm.  The main difference was a much thinner wing which reduced drag and improved aerodynamics of the laminar airflow.  The wings could accommodate 20mm Hispano cannons that packed an enormous punch, and lent itself to the low-level attack role that it was designed for.  The engines intended to power the aircraft were the Centaurus, Griffon and Sabre IV, and initially the Rolls-Royce Vulture, which was terminated early in the design phase, leaving the three options going forward and necessitating substantially different cowlings to accommodate their differing shapes.

 

The Mark V was split into two series, with the Series 1 having the Sabre II that had a similar chin intake to the Typhoon and many Typhoon parts, while the later Series 2 used fewer Typhoon parts and had their cannon barrels shortened so they fitted flush with the leading edge on the wings.  The Mk.VI or F.6 was based upon the Mk.II but with a more powerful Napier V engine that required a bigger radiator that necessitated the removal of the carburettor and oil-cooler radiators to the leading edges of the wings, just to keep the beast of an engine cool.  Because of the impending entry into service of jet-engined fighters, the initial order was scaled back and the Mk.VI has the sad distinction of being the last piston-engined fighter aircraft to enter service with the RAF.  Unlike the Mk.Vs, the F.6 doesn’t seem to have been used as a target tug in its dotage, as no evidence has yet been found.

 

 

The Kit

This is a new 2021 line of toolings from KPM of the pinnacle of piston-engined fighters, the Hawker Tempest.  As is usual, they have produced a number of boxings that vary in decals and parts, giving the modeller plenty of choice which one(s) to get.  The kit arrives in a small end-opening box, and inside are three sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet and A5 instruction booklet, with the decal options printed in colour on the back of the box.  Detail is excellent for the scale, and clever engineering has resulted in a modular kit that can squeeze additional versions from the plastic just by swapping out some of the parts.

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, which is slightly simplified because the real one is a mass of tubular frames and no traditional floor to speak of.  The floor part as the foot trays moulded in along with the rudder pedals, to which the rear bulkhead is joined along with the seat and control column.  The seat supports are a little soft, but as they won’t be seen this doesn’t matter one bit.  The triple-faceted instrument panel is a single part with a stunning level of detail for the dials and instruments, and a separate gunsight to which you’ll need to add a small slip of clear acetate, with the sizes given alongside the instruction step.  The engine cowling as next, with an internal set of bulkheads supporting the visible intake grille, which again is well-detailed.  It is locked inside the nose cowling and put to one side until the fuselage has been mated, which is coming up.  The cockpit, instrument panel and tail wheel with bay are all trapped inside the cockpit, with the addition of a small trim-wheel on the port interior, and here the detail is a little soft too, but as it is painted black and in a very cramped cockpit with small aperture, it’s unlikely to matter much unless you have a very small endoscopic camera that you carry round with you for annoying your fellow modellers.  After the glue is set, the nose and fuselage are mated, and attention turns to the wings.

 

The wings have two inserts in the leading edges at the wing-root, which are made from separate parts with three making up the starboard side, and two the narrower port side.  The lower wing is full-width, and has two upper halves that trap the main gear bay walls, the three landing/recognition lights in the underside, and the twin cannons in the leading edges, which have slots already cut for them.  A small insert fits in the underside of the wing assembly as it is being joined to the fuselage, which is also the time to fix the elevators, both comprising a single part each.  The exhaust stubs are fixed into the slots in the sides of the engine cowling too, although these could be left of until main painting is complete to save having to mask them off.

 

The inner Landing gear bay doors are triangular in shape, and fix to the inner edges of the bays, while the retractable tail wheel bay has a pair of curved doors to the sides.  The main gear legs are a single part each, with a retraction mechanism added low-down on the leg, a captive gear bay door, and a single-part wheel with hub detail moulded-in.  The wheel detail is excellent, having block tread and sharp hub detail that defies the scale and moulding limitations to this modeller’s eye.  Outboard of the main gear legs are a pair of small additional doors, which can be posed correctly by referring to the scrap diagram nearby that shows how everything should look from in front.  In between the legs are a small ovoid panel, an antenna and the crew boarding stirrup, after which the four-bladed prop is made up from a one-part set of blades that are sandwiched between the back plate and spinner cap with a short moulded-in axle fitting through a hole in the nose to glue or leave loose at your whim.  The canopy is provided as two parts, with a separate windscreen glued to the front of the ‘pit, and the canopy opener either butted against it for a closed canopy, or pushed back to allow access and that wind-in-your-hair experience during flight.  Red marks on the diagrams show where the parts should fit against the fuselage, and there are a pair of optional bottles on the aft deck for you to use or lose after reference to your… errr, references.

 

The Tempest was a capable fighter-bomber, and often carried a war-load on sorties, or extra fuel if it was a long trip.  KP have supplied a set of eight rockets on their rails, two bombs on slim mounts, or a pair of fuel tanks for you to use if you wish.

 

 

Markings

There are three decal options in the box, and all are wearing the late war camo typical of the period after WWII.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

 

 

Decals are printed in-house and have good registration, colour density and sharpness, with a very thin carrier film that is a wee bit larger than required on some of the letter code decals.  It is very thin however, so should disappear quite well, even if you don’t cover them with coats of clear gloss varnish and sand them back to hide them.

 

 

Conclusion

Another cracking release from KP with excellent detail, plenty of choices of load-out, and other extras that rounds out the package.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[FalkeEins]

 

 

Thanks Mike. Certainly looks as neat as the new Airfix Tempest V offering - with a little more in the box

[Maginot]

Ooh! That's nice.