Build Report: Eduard’s 1/48 Tempest Mk. V

This isn’t the first time I’ve built this kit, and for good reason: It’s a great kit. Despite its age, the kit assembles into a great looking model.

I’d previously built Eduard’s Tempest both as a Mk. II conversion, and as a Mk. V right out of the box. While the schemes for the Tempest are fairly boring, the kit itself really hooked me. (Plus, with Eduard releasing a new tool Tempest in 2017, I need to build the ones I have in my stash!)

This time around I used the resin cockpit from one of the early Profipack releases, kit no. 8025. The floor and sidewalls of the resin are a definite upgrade, while the seat is essentially a resin copy of the kit seat. So I did some mixing and matching to build the cockpit. Once built, it nestled nicely into place between the already glued together fuselage halves.

The wing to fuselage join was also no drama. A slight gap at the aft wing/fuselage join was easily dealt with using some CA and a sanding stick.

The panel lines on the kit are a bit shallow, so I grabbed my scribing tools and enhanced those a bit. If you’re not into panel line washes, it shouldn’t be a big deal, but I like my washes to stick.

The exterior was painted with Tamiya’s RAF “triplet”, XF-81, 82, and 83. I applied the XF-83 to the undersides, and then using tints and shades of that color, did some shading and fading. Masking that off, I did the same thing with the XF-81 and XF-82 on the upper sides.

Decals were “donated” from Eduard’s more recent Tempest Limited Edition boxing, as well as a few from the kit itself. After adding the decals, I applied a panel wash, and some more fading and shading, attempting a bit more of a “Spanish School” look. I sorta, kinda, halfway got there. 🙂

Adding the final dangly bits and a dull coat, I called it done.

While this kit is older, it is really a great build. The only criticism I can level, really, is the landing gear doors are a bit fiddly. I think next time I will drill out some small holes and use bits of wire to hold them in place better. But that is a really minor complaint!

I have one more in the stash that needs to be built- this one will be a Tempest Mk. VI conversion.