1/72 Tempest V - Airfix or KP?

[Herb]

Any consensus on the better kit? Both look nice from the photos I can find, although more 'parts' to the KP version. Both accurate?

 

thx

Herb

[MarkoZG]

I would still go with Heller/Smer with some refinements (engraving, basic extra details etc.)

[dogsbody]

What about the Academy Tempest?

 

 

 

Chris

[VMA131Marine]

I’d go with the Airfix kit. The separate nose on the KP kit makes it a more challenging build and the detail in the Airfix kit is crisper. The Academy kit was “inspired” by the Heller Tempest and looks undersized to me. I definitely would not pick the Heller kit over the new Airfix Tempest. 
I still have a lot of nostalgia for the Matchbox Tempest but it’s not competitive compared to the other options available. The Revell and Frog Tempest kits are little more than curiosities at this point. I suppose you could make something of them, but it would be a lot of work.

[Paul Thompson]

11 hours ago, VMA131Marine said:

I’d go with the Airfix kit. The separate nose on the KP kit makes it a more challenging build and the detail in the Airfix kit is crisper. The Academy kit was “inspired” by the Heller Tempest and looks undersized to me. I definitely would not pick the Heller kit over the new Airfix Tempest. 
I still have a lot of nostalgia for the Matchbox Tempest but it’s not competitive compared to the other options available. The Revell and Frog Tempest kits are little more than curiosities at this point. I suppose you could make something of them, but it would be a lot of work.

Wot 'e said. I recently built the Airfix and the KP kit, and although the KP would have been fine before the Airfix release, I really prefer the latter. Everything fits on the Airfix kit, with due attention to nub destruction, it has far better decals, covering one of the KP subjects without the errors, and under a coat of primer I find the surface detailing good enough. The only downside is the awful trailing edges of the wings, (there's a;ways something, isn't there?)  which really have to be carved out a bit on the inside, but that takes less time than fettling the KP kit to get the cowling section set up straight.

 

Haven't built the other kits mentioned in living memory, but did get a Matchbox kit recently, which is a piece of it's time, and should provide something to relax over and not obsess about and result in a nice object for the back of the cabinet.

 

Paul.

[charlie_c67]

Minor point, the Matchbox lets you builds either a Mark II or a Mark VI Tempest, not a Mark V like the Airfix one.

[warhawk]

On 9/3/2022 at 11:29 PM, dogsbody said:

What about the Academy Tempest?

 

Apart from the comically over-sized prop blades and rubbish decals, still a decent and well-detiled kit.

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by warhawk

[modelldoc]

Here is a build KP Tempest F 6:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/52335894534/in/dateposted/

 

modelldoc

 

[KRK4m]

22 hours ago, charlie_c67 said:

Minor point, the Matchbox lets you builds either a Mark II or a Mark VI Tempest, not a Mark V like the Airfix one.

You're probably right, but converting the MkVI to MkV is just a matter of shaving the wing leading edge off the additional air intakes.

As far as I remember, when I was building my MkV from the Matchbox kit 47 years ago, apart from the wing edges, I slightly modified the radiator.

A total of 15 minutes of work, and in the company of monsters from Frog and Revell, this one finally looked like Tempest.

Cheers

Michael

[tempestfan]

I am pretty certain the Matchbox kit was designed taking very long and hard looks at the Bentley drawings. The surface detail is Matchbox‘esque, but not as bad as others. I still consider this one of MB‘s best.

[stevehnz]

The Matchbox Tempest VI radiator is actually closer to a Tempest V radiator, having provision for the carb air intake, which on the VI was in the wing roots. That makes conversion to a V far easier, though with what is available nowadays, why would you?

Steve.

[fernandocouto]

On 13/11/2022 at 02:04, warhawk said:

 

Apart from the comically over-sized prop blades and rubbish decals, still a decent and well-detiled kit.

 

Did the Koreans "refer" Heller kit?

[warhawk]

7 hours ago, fernandocouto said:

Did the Koreans "refer" Heller kit?

 

I used to think so myself, but was corrected in my WIP thread: