Building the Eduard Hawker Tempest Mk.V Series 1 #82121, 1/48 scale English

Airplanes

Building the Eduard Hawker Tempest Mk.V Series 1 #82121, 1/48 scale

by Gary Wickham © Modeler Site

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Eduard has recently released a new tooled Hawker Tempest Mk.V family in 1:48 scale. I have the Mk.V Series 1 ProfiPACK (82121) kit as well as the Big SIN (64856) set which includes a full Brassin Cockpit, Exhausts, Wheels and Landing Flaps. I also have some of the Barracuda Studios correction sets including the spinner and radiator intake. I'll highlight all these goodies (and compare them to the kits parts) as I progress through the build.

This is a fantastic kit from Eduard, no two ways about it. Built straight from the box you really can't end up with anything but an excellent model. When you combine it with any of the extensive Brassin and third party accessories already available you have, what will be for a long time, the ultimate Tempest in any scale. Not only is it an accurate kit, perhaps even more importantly, it is an enjoyable kit to build.

At no point did I find the kit fighting me, instead all the parts are cleverly engineered to "just work". I don't use such a comparison lightly, but this kit is closing in on Tamiya. I can't wait for their P-51. I'll also be curious to see if Eduard extends the molds into a Mk.II Tempest with the radial engine. I think that would be a welcome addition to their range.

As with most of the modern Eduard new releases there is a mountain of add-on goodies from them and other manufacturers that, if you had the patience (and budget), would allow you to build the ultimate Tempest in this scale. A quick search on Hannants revealed no less than 34 related parts (decals, PE, resin etc) designed specifically for the Eduard kits. Whew !!

As I have the Profipack I'll be selecting one of the kit decal options, of which there are six. Xtradecal have reprinted their Tempest decal sheet (X48100) which would be an option if you don't particularly like any of the Cartograph printed schemes provided by Eduard.
In the box this looks to be a stunning kit with fully riveted surface detail. I expect this to be an easy and enjoyable build.

Building

Eduard provides a very decent plastic cockpit in the kit which is further supplemented in this ProfiPACK boxing with PE belts, rudder pedals and pre-painted instrument panel, consoles and assorted placards etc. If you want to build the ultimate 1/48 Tempest Mk.V you will want to get hold of the full Brassin cockpit (ED648416). Mine came as part of the Big SIN pack and after thoroughly examining the instructions and some planning I set to work.
Let me say upfront that I do not recommend this set for the faint of heart or beginners. Its an advanced resin set and you will need some experience (and steady hands) to construct and paint it properly. The first task (which is also the most nerve racking) is to separate the fragile resin parts from the cast blocks