Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Pend Oreille Model Kits, 704 Black Rd., Box 249, Usk, WA 99180. Available from Aviation Usk, 602 Front St., Usk, WA 99180, phone 509-445-1236.
Price: $50
Comments: Mixed media, 61 parts (42 resin, 17 white metal, 2 vacuum-formed plastic), decals.
Hawker’s Tempest was a development of its Typhoon, marrying the same Napier Sabre 24-cylinder engine with a new laminar-flow wing to produce a top speed of 427 mph. Armed with four Hispano 20mm cannons, the Tempest was used mainly as a medium-altitude fighter. It outclassed most Allied and Axis propeller-driven aircraft below 20,000 feet, and was able to catch and shoot down German V-1 buzz bombs and an occasional Me 262 jet.
Molded in a light tan resin, Pend Oreille has finely scribed recessed panel and rivet details. Two crystal-clear vacuum-formed canopies are included, as are the finely cast white-metal landing-gear struts, prop blades, control stick, rudder pedals, and other small parts. Although the box and instructions indicate the presence of photoetched harnesses, none was included in my sample or in a second FSM checked.
The beautiful thin-cast fuselage halves and wing were slightly warped, but I corrected them with hot water and carefully applied pressure. All resin and white-metal parts required minor cleanup of flash, but be careful as the small parts are delicate.
The instructions include an English/French parts list with numbers, diagrams of the parts (with numbers again), eight-step assembly drawings, camouflage patterns, a markings guide, and several side- and top-view sketches of the decal options. No interior and wheel-well painting instructions are provided. The interior should be night (flat black) and the gear wells, gear door interiors, and struts should be natural metal or painted aluminum. The radiator well interior is medium sea grey with the radiator the same or natural metal.
The decals are sharply printed and appear accurate, but some of the stenciling was missing.
Overall, the parts fit well. The cockpit tub is well detailed. I built the tub onto the fuselage side as instructed, but next time I’d assemble the tub outside the fuselage, making sure all is square, then slide it onto a fuselage from below before attaching the wing. I scratchbuilt a gunsight that uses the inside of the windscreen as its reflective surface.
The main wheel wells are a little confusing, and the white-metal struts are fragile. All the retraction struts and jacks should line up along the front edge of the main-gear wells.
The fuselage went together with no fit problems. I made a smooth joint with a little super glue and sanding.
Before I mated wing and fuselage, I added wing cannon barrels from stainless-steel tubing; the outer guns should protrude slightly (the decals depict series 2 aircraft with short-barrel cannons). The wing requires minor sanding for a snug fit.
My sample’s horizontal stabilizers were different thicknesses. Separate control surfaces are a nice touch, but I mounted them in the neutral position. My rudder was too thick, too, but I couldn’t thin it without ruining the simulated fabric-covered structure. All the movable surfaces have the correct spring tabs found only on series 2 aircraft.
You may want to make a simple assembly jig to help align the prop blades and produce the proper pitch.
No ordnance is included. You’ll have to provide an axle for the tail wheel plus tail-wheel-door actuating rods (connecting the doors to the strut) as shown in the drawings. Don’t forget the whip and lower antennas, plus the pilot’s entry step.
I painted my Tempest with Humbrol RAF dark green, ocean grey, and medium sea grey, plus sky for the tail band and spinner. You’ll have to paint the invasion stripes.
The kit’s Ministry of Small Aircraft Production decals responded to Solvaset and slowly snuggled down into the panel lines. The white on the roundels is slightly translucent, allowing the black invasion stripes to show through.
I’m happy with the finished Tempest. It’s not for beginners, but experienced modelers will be able to produce a model that will rival its injection-molded contemporaries. I spent about 25 hours on mine.
Compared with the dimensions in Francis K. Mason’s Typhoon and Tempest, the model scales out six scale inches too long in span and length, but I can live with that. I’ve waited a long time for a good Tempest in this scale, but I’m waiting no longer.
Ross Whitaker