Eduard 1/48 Hawker Tempest V

www.bowemodels.com

One is not exactly spoilt for choice in 1/48 for a Tempest V. This particular kit I have been presented with is pretty much the only option and is one of the early "Profipack" releases from Eduard. The "goodies" offered inside are not quite so comprehensive as they have become since - no canopy mask for example. But I also have the Hi-Tech extras pack which provides new tail control surfaces, seat, exhausts and wheels which are all welcome enhancements, albeit in a particularly brittle and rough resin.

The kit itself provides a decent, if primitive plastic mould of the "short run" variety. Several of the parts (mainly in the cockpit) are replaced with some cast resin items which are of a good standard, although the crude seat looks like a wasted opportunity - fortunately replaced with a much better offering from the Hi-Tech set. The canopy is one piece, which is a shame as this aircraft really does need to be modelled with the canopy open. It can be cut, but is fairly thick and unconvincing in this configuration. I opted to replace it with the vac-form alternative provided in the Hi-Tech kit. The resin wheels are no improvement on the plastic ones, fortunately the Hi-Tech set comes to the rescue again. But the Eduard photo-etch is nice, if rather limited in scope.

Building the interior is a little fiddly. The instructions are small scale printed and indistinct, and there is a lack of obvious alignment and attachment points throughout so care and some trial and error is needed. Fitting the resin cockpit tub to the fuselage is particularly vague, you need to experiment and dry build the fuselage to make sure it is correct.

But otherwise the kit goes together fairly well - the plastic is soft but not too soft, although the panel line detail is (for a change) not deep enough and will be lost to washes after painting. I had to re-scribe most of it. Fitting the Hi-Tech tail control surfaces is also a little tricky. Take my advice, trim them along the join and glue them directly to the plastic. Don't try and get clever and sink them in to the body as they are theoretically designed to do, it's just too much work.

My customer was looking for the mount of the French ace Pierre Clostermann as seen late in the war. These decals are provided as a kit option. The decals in my kit were very fragile, maybe because of age but they are very thin anyway. I had a number of heart stopping moments applying them and had to patch them up and replace with my own in places.

But all that aside, I hope you will agree that I ended up with a fine looking model that rewarded the effort put in to it.

You can see the full progress photo set here.