1/72 Academy Hawker Tempest V

by Paul Ryle

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As an extension of my 'thing' for R.A.F. fighters of any time period, I decided to tackle the Academy Tempest that I've had in my stash for yonks. Essentially, this is a great kit, fitting well, and appears to be accurate.  A common thing with Academy kits is that they are often somehow less than the sum of their parts; engraved panel lines, good fit and so on, but just don't look right.  A good example of this is their Spitfire XIV.  Luckily tho', the Tempest is not one of these, and at £5.00 UK price is an absolute steal.  The only thing I added to this kit was some masking tape seat-belts, and Eagle Strike decals, because the kit decals are not so hot.  I decided to model the 80sqn example, complete with blue spinners, lightning bolt and "?" coding on the nose  simply because it looks rather smart, and because immediately post-war aircraft are rather thin in my collection.

Paints were Tamiya spraycans, masking with silly putty - great stuff!  Now to tackle my Heritage Aviation F2 conversion!

Paul 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

 

Photos and text © by Paul Ryle