Hawker Tempest Matchbox PK23 1-72

[Hairtrigger]

Hello bit of nostalgia for your perusal recent build.

Brush painted and out of the box.

Regret really not putting a magnet in it and doing landing gear up and in flight display.

 

[BerndM]

Very nice and this brings back some good old memories.

[keith in the uk]

Lovely job   those old Matchbox kits still scrub up well . Thanks for the memories as i remember building this one many moons ago.  

[IanC]

Wonderful. I never tire of seeing classic Matchbox builds! 😃 

[Wulfman]

Lovely to see these old Matchbox kits being built, great stuff !

 

Wulfman

[Hairtrigger]

19 hours ago, keith in the uk said:

Lovely job   those old Matchbox kits still scrub up well . Thanks for the memories as i remember building this one many moons ago.  

Considering the age of this kit it's surprisingly good ...  The decals dropped on faultlessly, I did though cut in close with them and letters cut out individually.

[Hairtrigger]

18 hours ago, IanC said:

Wonderful. I never tire of seeing classic Matchbox builds! 😃 

I never tire building them.   Generally they go together pretty well.   Some Millput used on this one underside of wings.  Matchbox kits  always my favourite back in the day.   Remember my dad thinking too toy like, but he changed his mind after he looked at the detail and quality of the plastic comparing with Airfix back in the 70s here.

[112 Squadron]

Nice to see an old classic! Up to until recently before the KP Tempest hit the market this was the only option to do a Tempest F.6 in 1/72 scale without using a conversion set. I can only agree with you about the quality of the plastic and the details of Matchbox aircraft kits which were far ahead of many contemporary competitors. 

[IanC]

24 minutes ago, Hairtrigger said:

I never tire building them.   Generally they go together pretty well.   Some Millput used on this one underside of wings.  Matchbox kits  always my favourite back in the day.   Remember my dad thinking too toy like, but he changed his mind after he looked at the detail and quality of the plastic comparing with Airfix back in the 70s here.

 

Well said. I'm building the brand new Airfix Tempest, and to be honest I'm not enjoying it that much. It'll be OK when sorted, but I have to admit my last 1/72 aircraft - the Matchbox P-47 for the GB - was so much more fun! Perhaps it's because there's no pressure to produce a 'proper' model. I think I prefer 1970's modelling (with 2020's equipment..) 😃

[112 Squadron]

4 hours ago, IanC said:

 

Well said. I'm building the brand new Airfix Tempest, and to be honest I'm not enjoying it that much. It'll be OK when sorted, but I have to admit my last 1/72 aircraft - the Matchbox P-47 for the GB - was so much more fun! Perhaps it's because there's no pressure to produce a 'proper' model. I think I prefer 1970's modelling (with 2020's equipment..) 😃

Another point is that the old Matchbox 1/72 Tempests, Mustangs and P-47s still look nice when you are putting them on the shelf right next to kits that were released much later whereas other aircraft models that were released only a few years earlier such as the Revell kits of these planes in the very same scale rather look poor and dated.  

[Graham Boak]

Sorry, but although this is true for selected examples (and the P-51 was and looked inferior to the Hasegawa P-51 of a similar age) it is not true of the entire Matchbox range, which has its fair share of horrors.  As do all companies' ranges.  I would further suggest that the quality of even the better Matchbox kits (with the stellar exceptions of Seafox, Heyford, and a few others) was rapidly overtaken by Heller, in much the same period.  Tempest, Gladiator, Texan, Ar,96, Bf.109K etc  from the black box range.  The Gladiator and Arado were available in the earlier yellow box range, but these were generally of a lower standard.

 

As for looking as good side-by side with later kits, this is much more in the skill of the modeller and the eye of the beholder.  I have much more sympathy with the ease of making kits with fewer parts, but I think you can move forward to the Hasegawa releases of the 90s without being browbeaten by unnecessarily excessive breakdown of parts and obsessions with super-detailed rudder-pedals.  After all, if on the shelf you cannot even see into the cockpit, super-detailed cockpits do not make the later kits look any better on the shelf.

 

I feel that the "looks as good or better" is generally based on comparisons with the earlier Airfix kits still widely available, rather than the better contemporary Airfix products such as their superb Spitfire Mk.I or Fw.190A, or Strikemaster/JP5, let alone the wider opportunities available if you looked a little wider - in the 70s Hasegawa kits could be bought cheaply in supermarkets, even if a dedicated model shop wasn't nearby.

[bissyboat]

Fine looking Tempest. ⚓👍