Matchbox Hawker Tempest Mk.II

I'm not going to fully document the whole build on this one. The kits is too simple to make it worthwhile! 

The u/c has sink marks on the covers. 

Takes you back, doesn't it? 

Lots of Mr Surfacer required. 

I'm sure I'll be adding more tomorrow night. And the next. And probably the night after that, too. 

Sanding the u/c covers reveals that there is still some more filling required. I'll do that with Mr Surfacer. 

After 24 hours, the putty has shrunk back and will need a second application. 

The central joint between the wings is the worst. You can either have a good joint there or have the wings properly aligned. I choose wing alignment every time. 

Mr Surfacer has been applied and left to dry for 24 hours. 

I was well into the second application when the phone rang. I can see I forgot to do the top surface of the tailplane joints. 

That central joint between the wings still needs more filler. 

Successively fine sanding sticks get the job done. I used Mr Surfacer for the final coat because it is much finer than the putty. This enables blending of the filler edge with the flat face of the plastic with greater ease than you can just using putty. 

The Mr Surfacer had been cut back with a cotton bud & Levelling Thinners. There are a couple of bubbles that need refilling, but nothing too bad. You could sand the putty, but it's so fine that it will clog up wharever you sand and the dust is very fine and fills up panel lines, holes, lungs, etc. 

That central joint may still need some work, though. Don't forget to do the leading edges of the wings and around the intakes. I also did the joints in the wheel wells. 

I've built up the lower side of the belly joint with Mr Surfacer and patched a few other places. Hopefully this should sort it! 

I think that should do it. Tomorrow, I'll give it a coat of primer and find all the faults. 

Still a bit more work to do on the landing gear doors. 

I't want toThe edge of the filler is a bit rough still. I'll try a cotton bud & IPA, rather than levelling thinners, as it's less effective and I don't want to take off too much. 

There are sink marks on the top surfaces of both wings, above the wheel wells. 

So, a bit more filling to do. 

The seam is still showing. More Mr Surfacer needed, followed by sanding this time, I think. 

Same story here. 

Attempt number 2. 

That's better. Can't see the filler at all now. 

Nearly there, I think. 

A bit of tidying up & careful rescribing to do. I think I'll skip the scribing tool as the panel lines on these old Matchbox kits are wide & shallow. 

Bits & pieces coming along. I'm going to redo the prop tips as I'm not happy with this at all. 

Underside painted & masking begun for topside colours. 

Grey coat done. 

Green coat done. 

A test fit of landing gear & prop. The masking of the sky band around the tail went 'orribly wrong. I swear I get better results freehanding it than masking it! 

Leading edges & prop tips done & walkways in progress. 

Walkways & cannons done. Tomorrow, I will fit the exhausts & get a semi-gloss coat on it. 

Semi-gloss coat done. Once that's cured fully, it's decal time. Assuming the decals are still okay, that is. 

I had to do a repair to the paint on top of the nose as the tack I'd mounted the plane on decided to pull the paint off down to the primer. It's not quite an invisible mend, but then I bet the real things got patched up occasionally too. 

Why is the underside always the best looking bit? Maybe I should build them upside down in future. 

The decals are not in good shape. I've got a new set on the way. 

It's starting to look a bit better now that it has its gloss coat on. 

I can weather the landing gear & wheel wells while I'm waiting for the new decals. 

The decals are on. A clear coat to seal them, then on with the weathering. A replacement decal set arrived today and, whilst they weren't perfect, I have managed to piece together a full set between the two sets. The new ones had a yellowish film on the back which showed up under the transparent parts, so I had to lay each decal face down on the back of my hand and scrape the film off before placing the decal. 

The decals have been sealed with a clear coat. 

Panel liner next, if it will stay in the panel lines! 

Then a little bit of chipping, but not too much. 

Undercarriage is on. I'm not very happy with the panel liner. As I suspected, the wide & shallow panel lines have almost vanished under the paint in places, so all the liner gets removed when going in with the cotton bud. Remove it, leave as is or...what? 

I'm thinking (hoping) a matt coat will tone down the panel liner a bit. I don't particularly want to lose it, even if it's not perfect. 

You can see where panel liner managed to get under the decal by the J on the side, despite plenty of Microsol/set and a clear coat. 

And it's done!