1/144 MiniHobby Hawker Tempest V

Gallery Article by S K Loh on June 20 2014

 

This is a 1/144 MiniHobby Model Hawker Tempest V. As I had expected after building the 1/144 Sepecat Jaguar from the same manufacturer which I wrote about in February, this kit has the following shortcomings:-

  • a.  The main wing was way too thick and panel lines were almost absent saved for the ailerons and flaps but were not accurately shown.

  • b.  The canopy was also too thick and there was no cockpit as it was molded flushed.

  • c.  The aircraft code and serial number on the decals provided bearing the markings for W2-X (EJ706) were incorrect. They were printed in dark green when the correct colour should have been “Sky”.  There markings were meant for a Hawker Tempest operating under 80 SQN, 2nd TAF RAF between 1944-1945.

 

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Did a search on Hawker Tempest V and came across one that was flown by French pilot, Pierre Clostermann when he was with 3 SQN operating out of Volkel Air Base, Netherlands sometime in April 1945. The following scratch-built enhancements were made to make it more accurate:-

  • a. Removed the original long barreled (supposedly 20mm Hispano guns) on the main wings and drilled out the gun ports to depict the short-barreled Hispano MkV guns used for this particular aircraft.

  • b.  Sand down the main wings and scribed out the panel lines.

  • c.   Improved the chin intake with scratch-built styrene parts.

  • d.   Added the whip radio antenna on the upper fuselage.

  • e.   Added the Rebecca transponder antenna on the underside port centre section of the fuselage.

  • f.    Added the L-shaped pitot on the underside of the port wing.

  • g.  Cut-out the cockpit and added the pilot and seat. Had the canopy thinned by sanding and polished and coated with Future.

  • h.  Self created the decals.

As I mix my own colours using basic Tamiya and Mr Hobby colours, I encountered some difficulty to create the correct shade of RAF dark green. I found several types of dark green shades used by other hobbyists from the net. I decided to stick to what I had mixed and airbrushed it on and touch up with fine brush to give it a tighter Dark Green/Dark Grey camo lines. (The photos somehow heighten the green shade). A gloss coat was airbrushed on prior to the decal application. I then applied a satin coat after one day to facilitate the weathering. Pretty heavy weathering was applied on the engine exhaust and fuselage. Smoke stains from the guns were applied on the upper wings as well as from the shell exhaust ports in the undersides.

Hawker Tempests with their performance at low to medium altitude were actively deployed to engage the Fiessler 103 V-1 Flying bombs and Me262s. It was more of a “What-if” consideration that I decided to depict the Tempest alongside a V-1 Flying bomb in a maneuver called “toppling” or “tipping” by the RAF. This is where the intercepting aircraft would fly close beneath the V-1 and using its main wing to throw the V-1 out of balance resulting in the V-1 veering off-course from its target. I have come across pictures of Spitfires executing such maneuvers but not of Tempest. Well the photo above says it all. 

Enjoy the photos!

S K Loh

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Photos and text © by S K Loh