Gary's build of the Eduard 48th scale Tempest Mk.V Series I continues, with help from Eduard and Barracuda Studios extras, this kit is shaping up into something special. See it come along in part II of his construction guide...
Build Guide Pt II: Hawker Tempest Mk/V Series 1
From Eduard Model Accessories
1/48th scale
Kit No #82121
Plastic Injection moulded kit
Six decal options from Cartograf
Photo-Etched parts
painting mask included
Previously in this series:
Today: The build continues, Radiator, fuselage & flaps
One of the distinctive features of the Mk.V Tempest is the large chin housing the radiator. This need to be assembled and fitted into the front fuselage, just ahead of the cockpit. The radiator is quite visible from both the front and rear perspectives so it's well worth the effort of painting and weathering this properly.
Barracuda Studios have released a correction set (BR48401) designed to directly replace the front face (E43) of the kit intake. The set contains a new radiator front casting with the concentric ring type intake shroud that is missing from the new Eduard Tempest V kit. Tempests not fitted with dust filters would always be fitted with the shrouding to prevent hot radiator air from entering the carburettor intake. An alternate dust filter with "cuckoo clock" style doors is also included. These filters were fitted to Tempests operating from unimproved forward airfields on the European mainland. The master patterns have been done by Roy Sutherland himself so you know the quality is assured.
A side by side comparison of the Barracuda and kit parts show the extra detail provided with the interior of the ring intake shroud. The Barracuda part is designed to be a direct drop-in replacement so assembly is very easy.
The intake module sits snugly in the chin. The creamy resin of the Barracuda resin parts is obvious here and I glued it in place using two-part epoxy glue as this gives more working time to get the alignment right compared to super (CA) glue.
From my research, it seems the intake housing and radiator grill was left unpainted so I used Alclad ALC-101 Aluminium with a light wash of MiG Blue Black PLW. The rear housing was painted the interior grey-green colour which I'm not 100% sure is accurate but in the absence of any evidence seemed like a credible solution.
The Brassin cockpit and intake radiator sub-assemblies were now glued in place prior to closing up the fuselage.
Before you join the fuselage halves don't forget the tail wheel housing as well (I almost did in my haste). The kit fuselage halves have alignment pins provided which make for a clean fit when bought together.
Whilst holding the two fuselage halves together with my fingers I sparingly applied Tamiya Extra Thin liquid cement. Shown here is the newer "Quick Dry" variant which has a bright green lid. I find myself often using this newer type (compared to the "classic" Extra Thin cement) as it is way less aggressive and therefore more forgiving when applied along a seam from the outside like here.
The only part of the assembly that needed "help" as the glue dried was the lower part of the chin. For this, I have some cheap spring clamps on hand. Because the surface detail on this kit is very fine I needed to be extra careful when working on the seam. Strips of tape were used to protect the surface on either side of the seam work. Here I have applied a thin layer of Tamiya Basic Putty which was subsequently sanded off with 600-grade wet n dry. The tape is damaged in this process but that is the point, better the tape being sacrificed than the model surface.
The top of the engine cowling is covered in exquisite surface rivet detail and some of this needed to be replaced where I had damaged it across the join seam. For this, I used the 0.75mm wheel from the RB Productions Rivet-R MINI set. To ensure a straight line I like to lay down a thin strip of masking tape against which to run the wheel along.
The same 0.75mm wheel was used on the lower fuselage chin to replace all the rivet detail (which had all been sanded away). For the rivet runs along the kit panel lines, I did these freehand using the panel line as a visual guide. A tip is to lay down a coat of primer before doing your rivet work as it makes the rivets much easier to see as you apply them.
With the bulk of the fuselage work now complete I turned my attention to the wings. First cab off the rank was the main wheel wells. All the parts interlock reassuringly into the alignment slots on the wing upper surface parts.
I dry assembled all the main sidewall parts in place and then applied a few drops of liquid glue to lock things in place. For painting, I once again applied a coat of black primer followed by a couple of different shades (lighter and darker) of the BS283 RAF interior grey-green colour.
A series of light oil washes were applied (MiG Oilbrusher Starship Filth followed by Dark Mud) to the wheel wells to highlight all that nice raised detail and to give them a used appearance.
The optional Eduard Big SIN (64856) set includes the Tempest Mk.V Landing Flaps (48977) in brass photo-etch. Where practical I like to show control surfaces (things like flaps, elevators and rudders) in a dropped or relaxed pose as I think this gives the model a more realistic "look" about it.
The Hawker Typhoon/Tempest used a "split flap" system whereby only the lower portion of the wing moved when the landing flap was needed. This Tempest under restoration shows how the flap works and also gives us a good idea of the detail within.
The first step in installing the PE flap set requires some surgery. The lower portion of the kit's wing trailing edge needs to be removed. For jobs like this, I find the use of a PE razor saw is ideal. These are available from many manufacturers and the ones I use often are from Airwaves.
The top wing parts also need some attention as Eduard have moulded some of the lower wing onto the top wing (presumably to give a clean and sharp trailing edge. As we want to replace all this with photo-etch that small strip at the very rear (marked in red on the photo) also need to cut away. For this, I use a combination of a sharp blade to scrape and 360 grade wet n dry to sand smooth.
With the grunt work complete we can now bend up the first of the PE parts (the flap interior) and mate it onto the opening at the rear of the wing. To aid with the alignment of the PE to the kit plastic I added some "shims" of varying thickness onto which the PE would sit. This will make life much easier during the next step while applying glue.
The mostly complete flap interior is now dry fitted to check for gaps and any alignment problems. You can see how those plastic shims help to keep the PE in the perfect alignment with the rear of the wing. Once I'm happy I'll use two part epoxy glue to secure the PE in place.
More to come in the following weeks!
Gary Wickham
Stay tuned for more of this build int he coming weeks - You can order any of these items from the Eduard Store Directly - Thanks to Eduard for sending these to Gary to build.
Thanks also to Barracuda Studios for sending their Tempest improvement kits to us to try out in this build...
