1:72 Tempest Pilot, Dog and Mechanic with Accumulator Trolley

What the set contains

Three figures and one piece of airfield equipment: the pilot of a Tempest fighter, a mechanic, a dog and a wheeled accumulator trolley to go with them. Together they make a ready-made scene that you only have to stand by the wing of a model for the whole thing to make sense, without building a whole airfield.

The real subject of the scene

The Hawker Tempest was a British fighter from the end of the Second World War, known among other things as one of the few machines fast enough to chase flying bombs. An accumulator trolley belongs with it as naturally as the pilot does: the wheeled power source was connected to the aircraft before start-up so that the engine could be turned over without draining the onboard battery. And a dog is never missing from an airfield, because squadron mascots traveled everywhere with their crews and appear in almost every other period photograph.

Building and painting tips

Cut the excess material away with a sharp blade a little way from the part and sand the rest off carefully, because thin limbs break easily. Wash and degrease the parts before painting, or the paint will hold badly. Bond the joints with super glue and set the figures dry first, so that you know where each piece will stand. When painting in this scale the rule is that detail is suggested rather than drawn: a base coat, a darker shadow in the folds and a lighter tone on the raised areas do more than painting eyes.

Who it is for

For aircraft builders who feel their finished model lacks scale and a story, and for diorama makers. Figures make the size of an aircraft meaningful better than any caption.

Terms of supply

The aircraft model, paints and glue are not part of the delivery, unless stated otherwise.