The recently released Eduard Hawker Tempest Mk V really sets a high standard for all other 1/48 scale Tempest’s. While building this kit, I included the Eduard gun bay which took it to an even higher standard!

Gun bays are provided for both wings, but I decided to only use the right wing parts. Now I have a spare set for another build.

The set includes resin and photo etch (PE) parts. They are very nicely packaged in zip-lock bags, within a cardboard box and protected by soft foam.

All resin parts are attached to pour stubs or resin supportive framework. They were easily removed with careful use of a razor saw and gentle sanding. I managed to break a delicate cross member part beyond repair and replaced it with sheet plastic.

I first removed the right wing gun bay covers using a razor saw. Extreme care is needed not to damage the lovely surrounding wing details so I used Dymo Tape to outline the bay edges. Any slips went over the tape and not the wing. Sanding any rough cut areas completed this stage, and ensured a perfect fit of the resin gun bay walls.

The bay floor is PE and several support beams were added before super gluing this to the resin walls. There is a resin part (R15) that forms the trailing edge of the flap that I left this off until after I glued the finished bay in place and top and bottom wing halves joined. This aided in aligning it with the surrounding flap and trailing edge.

I found the edge of the gun bay interfered with a corner of the wheel well so I sliced a wedge out of the well wall. Unfortunately I took a bit too much off and had to repair that corner of the wheel well with plastic sheet. There was no mention of any need to remove the wheel well corner. From what I could see, everything had been cut and assembled correctly. The instructions did reference removing part of the landing light housing.

The instructions call for the bay to be painted silver, and I assume they are referring to British High Speed Silver. To my eyes it is closer to aluminum, so that’s what I used. When this was dry I super glued the bay into the right upper wing, making sure everything was seated correctly.

The guns and ammunition boxes and feeds were then painted, weathered and removed from their pour blocks. I left them out until the end of the build. To finish the bays PE cover fasteners and hinge frames were super glued around the edges.

The gun bay covers were razor sawed from the resin supports and painted aluminum on the inside and camouflage/invasion strip colors on the outside.

The only complaint, and it really is a very small one, is that there was no part number differentiation between the left and right side parts. All resin parts numbers start with “R” for resin. While it is not difficult to see which side a part goes, care is needed selecting which item to use. Had the left side items been labeled “L” for left and “R” for right there would be no guess work.

This set is a wonderful addition to an already great model, and really adds to the look of the finished model. I’d recommend it to more experienced modelers due to the work removing resin parts, and modifying kit parts.

I would like to thank Eduard and the IPMS for the opportunity to build and review this Gun Bay set.