[MOC] Hawker Tempest Mk.V

[Juliusz D]

The story of the Hawker Tempest is very much a story of redemption, starting from the rather disastrous Hawker Typhoon. Designed to replace both Spitfire and Hurricane, the Typhoon failed in all accounts, lacking the necessary high-altitude performance due to excessively thick wings, and killing lots of its pilots through engine fires, leaking CO into the cockpit or simply breaking mid-air due to insufficiently strong tail section. Even after solving some of its most dangerous issues, it ended up as the RAF’s primary attack aircraft, a far cry from its intended fighter role, and was removed from the frontline immediately after the war. On the other hand, the Tempest turned out to be everything the Typhoon was promised, and more, and its developments were the last piston-engined fighters used by RAF and Royal Navy.

About the aircraft

After the Typhoon proved to be a disappointment in terms of performance, Hawker’s team led by Sydney Camm started to work on Typhoon II, which was to feature a much thinner, laminar flow wing, in the hope of enhancing the high-altitude qualities of the aircraft. The aircraft was also to feature an elongated fuselage and a number of other improvements. Last but not least, the designers were looking to a number of different alternatives for a powerful Napier Sabre engine, which at that point still suffered from a number of unresolved issues. In November 1941 an official contract was issued, and in February 1942 the aircraft was renamed to Tempest. In total, 6 prototypes were built, representing 5 different Marks: Mk.I (Napier Sabre Mk.IV engine), Mk.II (Bristol Centaurus Mk.IV engine), Mk.III (Rolls-Royce Griffon 85 engine), Mk.IV (never completed, Griffon 61 engine), and Mk.V (Napier Sabre Mk.II, the same as in Typhoon). As can be expected, the first to fly was the Mk.V prototype, which represented the most incremental improvement over Typhoon. The first flight took place on 2 September 1942, and the Tempest quickly proved to be superior to its predecessor in all respects. Due to this, even though some of the other variants possessed even better performance, the Mk.V was rushed into production, with the first coming off the production line in June 1943. However, it was not until April 1944, that the first Tempest Mk.V squadrons became operational. In units, the Tempest Mk.V was widely considered the best low-altitude fighter in Allied service, and its primary missions were low-level intercepts, armed reconnaissance, and ground attack missions over the continent. It excelled especially in shooting down V-1 flying bombs, scoring 638 of a total of 1846 destroyed by the aircraft. In total, Tempest Mk.V is credited with 239 air-to-air kills, including  11 Me 262. After the war, Tempest Mk.V continued service until its retirement in 1948. But it was not the end of Tempest’s history, as Tempest Mk.II and its carrier-based development, the Sea Fury, continued their service, with the latter taking part in the Korean War (even shooting down MiG-15), and ending up retired by the Burmese Air Force as late as 1968.

About the building process

I’ve always respected the Tempest, but it was never among my favorites. With only 1702 produced, it has never achieved the recognition of Mustang, Spitfire, or even Typhoon. But after finishing my P-51B, I was looking for the next subject, and it struck me that the nose of the Tempest should work really well with Lego. The initial results were very encouraging, so I decided to try to make it work. First off, the Tempest is enormous compared to Spitfire, Bf 109, or even Mustang. It simply dwarfs them, so it was a bit different building experience. The biggest challenge was to make it stiff enough, as on one hand it still utilizes the techniques similar to my other IIWW models, but on the other, every piece of it is significantly heavier. The next problematic part was the tear-drop canopy, it took me a moment to figure it out. The elliptical wings were also not an easy thing to get right, especially with a limited selection of wedge bricks in necessary colors, and lastly, the tapering of the fuselage required a lot of tinkering. After finishing the initial prototype, it turned out that the camouflage is also a bit of a headache, due to the limited availability of the necessary parts – I had to opt for the invasion stripes not because of the aesthetics, but simply because it was the only way to get it all right. I would say that the final result was worth it, as in terms of the pure shaping it might be my best IIWW model to date. 

About the plane

The model represents Hawker Tempest Mk.V series I, JN751/R-B in 1/33 scale, in camouflage from June 1944.  It was a personal mount of Wg. Cdr. Roland Prosper “Bee” Beamont, a British ace credited with 9 air-to-air kills. While flying in the cockpit of JN751, he shot down 1 Fw 190, and 31 V-1 flying bombs. He also served as an experimental pilot for Hawker and was responsible for introducing both Typhoon and Tempest into service, playing a vital role in pioneering the Typhoon’s ground attack capabilities, and anti-V-1 tactics. In October 1944 he was shot down by flak, and taken prisoner, returning home in May 1945. After the war he continued his flying career, ending up as flight operations director for BAC, and later Panavia. The JN751 here is represented with the invasion stripes, which were designed to reduce the risk of friendly fire during the Normandy Landings. The aircraft was also one of the first Tempests to feature longer barrel cannons and smaller main wheels. As usual, the model has a working landing gear (both main and rear), movable flaps, and a working horizontal tail. 
 

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[Yperio_Bricks]

Another great addition to the series! The camo scheme and invasion stripes looks so good I also really like that you always share some background information with us!

Did you ever think about building a P-47D bubbletop?

[Feuer Zug]

Wicked aircraft. Thanks for the history behind the Tempest Mk V. The moveable flying surfaces really bring it to life.

[incounter101]

amazing plen. I love how u made the landing gear

 

[apemax]

The Tempest Mk.V is one of my favorite WW2 Aircraft and you have done a brilliant job with this model of it. Love it, Well done.

[Shiva]

Ohh, nice airplane :)

[Israel Hands]

Very nice. 

[Grin]

Love the details U were able to achieve at this scale and the solution used to create those difficult parts (canopy, wings and overall color) 
Well done!