1/32 Special Hobby Hawker Tempest II High Tech

Gallery Article by Klaasjan Schuuring on July 11 2019

 

      

As a development of the rugged Hawker Typhoon this version of their stormy series was just too late to see action in the European and subsequently also in the Pacific theaters of operation. It represents the pinnacle of propeller driven fighter aircraft and some have found their way in to the air race circus. This baby wasn't just a little breeze however. It's 18 cylinder Bristol Centaurus V air cooled radial engine pushed its top speed to 440mph (704kph) and gave it a service ceiling of 37.500ft (11430m). Hence I was keen to start building this "High Tech" kit of Special Hobby. It included PE parts, masks and even resin parts to enhance the already great detail. The build however was kind of a struggle. 

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Unfortunately the kit features some serious fit problems and the provided resin parts were quite a struggle to position at times. And to add insult to injury the decals made me find new swear words to utter my frustrations. For the first time in a while I was happy to finally finish a kit. It wasn't all bad though. As mentioned before the kit has superb detail. The panel lines and rivets e.g. are a treat for the eyes and the cockpit is a gem especially with the resin parts supplied readily in the box. Not all decals were a problem and with the right amount of Micro Sol the snuggles neatly in to the panel lines. I also purchased a pilot to go with the kit. Building and painting it was a joy but it doesn't really seem to fit in the kit, however I positioned it. But since it gave me so much fun, I don't really mind. 

Painting this bird was a lot of fun and the results gave me enough energy to continue until the end. I used MrColor paints which always stick very well even without any primer. I finished it off with a thorough wash and quite a bit of chipping, applied by brush and sponge. The end result is satisfying and now sits proudly on the shelf next to it's intended rival the Me262. 

Klaasjan Schuuring

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Photos and text © by Klaasjan Schuuring