**** DONE: 1/48 Tempest MkV - Allied Advance and Defense of the Reich WWII.

[Crimea_River]

Thanks friends.

All remaining gear doors are now installed (all are PE provided with the kit). Actuators for the inner main doors are made of 16 ga copper wire with insulator stripped part way down and aluminum foil tape bands. Retraction links for the tail wheel and small outer main gear doors are just bits of stretched sprue. Paint is still needed in these areas. Also shown is the finished prop with a bit of leading edge chippeing added with a silver pencil.

I hope to finish this one off this week and return to the Ta152. Left to do is to paint the exhaust stubs, add whip antenna, pitot tube and, lastly, a bit of retro work to add the cannon muzzles, the outer ones of which protrude a bit from their openings. I'm toying with at least two options on how to install these securely into the open holes in the wing. Should have done a better job of planning for this before the wings were glued together but didn't realize the muzzles stick out.

 

[JKim]

Wheel wells look great Andy. I especially like the inner gear doors in PE... a big diff in thickness from plastic.

 

[Wurger]

 

[T Bolt]

Wonderful

 

[Airframes]

Looking better all the time Andy.

 

[rochie]

Really nice Andy

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks all. Tonight I slid in the cannon barrels. For this, I mixed up a dab of Milliput, stuffed it into the holes and pushed it deep. Then I squeezed in a drop of CA and, while it was still wet, pressed a length of brass tube into the holes to the desired depth. Once all is firm, I'll paint the barrels a steel colour.

 

[Airframes]

Clever !

 

[Crimea_River]

We'll see whether or not they end up rattling around inside the wing at some point.

 

[Airframes]

Should be OK if the 'Milliput' has stuck where it's supposed to.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Great work so far Andy!

 

[T Bolt]

Good thinking Andy

 

[Crimea_River]

Well, she's done. I'll throw out a few detail pics now just to show some of the finishing touches and put up some more later.

The canopy is now painted and installed. On the deck underneath you can see two silver placards representing the manufacturer's data plate and a possible modification plate. The stretched sprue whip antenna has also been added.

The port nose area showing the painted exhaust stacks, staining, and paint chipping, which I kept restrained since this aircraft would have only been in service for a few months as at May, 1945.

The kit pitot tube was fine and didn't need replacement in my view. Just a little detail painting. A nice little PE flange was provided for the landing light.

I had an accident with the tail wheel, having broke it when dropping the model a bit heavily. It was re-installed with a drilled metal pin and I turned it while I was at it. The PE doors also received some stretched sprue actuators.

I almost forgot to finish off the tail lights. The lenses were simply made by dabbing several layers of Testors Clear Parts Cement into the notch cut earlier.

The brass guns stayed in place so far and have been finish painted in a dark steel colour.

That's it for now. A few more to come and then I'll post the finished thread. Thanks for looking in.

 

[Wurger]

 

[le_steph40]

excellent Andy

 

[Airframes]

Like it !

 

[Wayne Little]

Done good man...

 

[rochie]

Those little extras make all the difference Andy, well done

 

[JKim]

Beautiful work Andy! The details really add to the build and I'm looking forward to seeing more pics. Happiness is a clean/clear bubble canopy!