A tale of two P-40B and P-40E -- COMPLETED !!!!!

Gary,

Here are a few good shots of that area. Seeing it like this makes me think I may attempt this. It doesn't look all that hard.

BK

Thanks, Brandon!  Looks like I may have to redo my coolers a bit. 

Well, now that I have several GB's knocked out I can return to working on these kits and pull them from the neglected pile. I am looking forward to getting these done. 

BK

Well, it's nice to be back at these two kits. The Monogram kit is getting a major hack and slash treatment to hopefully make it a lot more detailed. My attempts at these upgrades are just that "attempts" and I feel fall short of the skills I've seen from others on here, but I am having fun with it so I shall press on.

I have begun reworking the fuselage to allow me to fit the AM resin cockpit, which was made for this kit but it really doesn't fall into place and has required more work to make fit than I expected. Oh well, it's a major improvement non the less.

Another area I wanted a "attempt" to correct is the slit in the belly that lies just behind the radiator air exit area. Why the kits don't have this is beyond me but I'm attempting to add it to the kit. Although not completely finished I think it is pretty close to what I had in mind. I feel now that I placed it a tad too far forward, but "too late now" to correct that. I'll just have to live with it. you can see the slit here in the photo below.

Anyway, that is mostly done and I am happy enough with it to move on. So, another area I wanted to address is the radiator air exit area located under the cowl flaps that directs the air out of the radiators. I began with plasitc tubing, glued them together and then cut it off at an angle and mounted it to the front of the wing at another angle. Once I get this fully fitted and shaped to my liking I will build the radiators just forward of that. I will also open up the from of the engine cowling and build the ducting "to" the radiators as will. This should all be visible upon finally assembly. I think it will be a nice improvement over the sparse kit parts. More updates to come.

BK

This is really good detailing, Brandon. I think I will be following your example the next time I pick up this kit. All of the rescribing, the details you've added, and the scratch building are better than you give yourself credit for.

I'm loving all of it.

Nice job Brandon. I wouldn't worry much about the vent along the belly. If you look more closely at other adjacent panel lines, you'll see you've got it right where it belongs. Clever solution for the air exit duct. That was the one thing I could not fit when I built the engine for mine. I waited too long to put it in and couldn't fashion it accurately and slip it in from underneath. =[ You looked to have done a good job here.

The detail that you are applying is just unbelievably amazing.  Everything you've done thus far is beyond my comprehension!  Such phenomenal technique.

Toshi

My insanity continues and I press on. I fabbed up a set of radiators and used my General shape tool to get the inside of the fuselage right and mounted the rads on that so they will sit right up against the exit duct. I needed something to use for the rads to give them the grille appearance I wanted and I found an old automotive AC orifice tube in my toolbox that I cut the screen off of. The mesh size is just right and the fit was within my needs. So, this is the end result. This will have to be installed after the two halves are closed from the nose. 

I also began fabbing up the intake duct work and the odd shape changing over to round inside the cowl presented some challenges to say the least. But, I think I got it figured out. Using heat on round tubing to shape the ends and then using sheet stock to make the rest I think I licked it. This will be mounted to the nose piece and installed with it when it's glued on. The duct will just contact the rads and the screens will/should be visible from the front. I still have some work to do fitting and trimming but you get the idea.

I also followed BV's example and removed the cowl mounted guns and drilled out the cowling and I will be installing brass rod. The size is the same as the moulded kit part but there will now be some gap at the barrels and give a tad more realism to them. I may ever try to find some resin or brass barrels and use them if they are much better than just stock rod. 

Thanks for looking.

BK

Now that is an example to follow! Wow! I've never thought of doing that with this kit. 0.o

Okay, so now the air intake ducting is complete. And believe me boys, that was a HUGE PITA. But, I think it really helps the nose of this bird tons. When it's all painted it will look great.

BK

Nice job on shaping those intakes. =] I think it makes all the difference on the P-40B. That kit part is just not cutting it on it's own. You've done a real good job with bringing all these lines to scale especially with the carb intake...nice and thin! The first thing I do is look inside rad intakes on my -B. It feels so good to see that kit part vindicated. =D

OH MY WORD that's amazing scratch building.  To even figure out how to do it befudles me.

Brandon, I am enjoying following your build. Especially so because the Revell P-40 was the first kit I built on my return to the hobby. I am satisfied with the results; but it comes no where near to the detail which you are putting into your P-40. I expect yours will fly!

I suspect it will to, Shipwreck. lol

I can see you adding something like a small motor to this thing to make the prop spin and then we'll all be sitting with our lower jaws sitting at our desks gathering flies.

Incredible work!

Somehow this one slipped by me but I'm glad I saw your post BK. To put it in the words of that famous attorney Vinnie Gambini, you took me back to my yute with this old Monogram P-40. Amazing attention to details and scratch work! Looks fantstic BK.

Alrighty then ! I've completed most of the work on the pits for the B and E models. I loosely tossed them together for the photos, more assembly is still to come. The B received a full "Legends" resin pit and was painted according to what references I could find for a B, not that many B pits available, most were E's.

The E model got the kit pit and some PE to spice it up. You can see the PE seat versus the kit seat. Big difference.! I went ahead and soldered the seat up and then used CA for the belts. The seat was much easier to work with after making it one with the solder gun. I am very happy with how it came out. 

Now that I have both pits ready for the two halves to be closed up I will turn my attention to the tail wheel on the B model and rig something up. I really want that kit to appear new just before Pearl Harbor, so I will attempt to put the canvas bag on it with a complete rebuild of the wheel and mount. This should be interesting.

Thanks for stopping by.

BK

The B...

And the E...

Beautiful work, Brandon. I'm not sure which one I like better yet. Both of those pits look great.

Excellent job on both Hawks.  Compare your cockpit with that of the US Naval Aviation Museum's "restored, not preserved" P-40B here if you haven't seen it already.  It originally came from Russia.

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/nnam/virtualtour/?s=pano701

Yours is very well done.  Keep up the good work.

Brandon,

. . . uh . . . 

Holy Crap that's awesome !  (please pardon my language)

Chris

richs26

Excellent job on both Hawks.  Compare your cockpit with that of the US Naval Aviation Museum's "restored, not preserved" P-40B here if you haven't seen it already.  It originally came from Russia.

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/nnam/virtualtour/?s=pano701

Yours is very well done.  Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks again for the source.

BK

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I am still rather taken aback by the sparseness of the P-40's pit as compared to other fighters like the Corsair, which has much more in terms of bits and thingys scattered about. The P-40 is pretty bare bones.

Thanks again,

BK

That's because it used to be a P-36 lol.

Brandon,

This is kit building at its finest. I'm so grateful to be able to see how you detail, modify, add/subtract to and from a kit. It's really inspirational.

Thanks for the thoroughly enjoyable WIP and the invaluable learning experience.

BrandonK

Thanks for this. I felt like there just wasn't much going on in the pit of the B and painted it up as best I could from the limited B references. 

BK

 

Brandon, I realize this may be a little late in regards to your cockpit for the -B, but Squadron makes a very detailed Walkaround for the P-40B. I saw it the other day at my LHS. The one I used is from Classic Warships. Here's a link: 

http://www.classicwarships.com/aircraft_pictorial/aircraft_pictorial.html

Prices for $18 if it's worth it to you.

Both booklets offer quite a few detailed views at all parts of the aircraft as well as changes made throughout its early development. You'll note weathering patterns on many of the photos also. =]  Hope it's of use.

Your PE seat is fantastic! Definitely worth doing. I may have to jump on one of those next time I do one. =] Great cockpits. Your painting has improved quite a bit. Looking forward to the rest.

Brandon, here is more references:

http://www.boxartden.com/gallery/index.php/Profiles/Detail-Scale/61-Curtiss-P-40

Brandon - great looking builds. I just started the Hasegawa kit you've got, and I'm going with Aleutian Tigers markings for mine. Thanks for sharing the pics - those references help.

As for the -B, I admire your grit taking on the Monogram kit. I remember building it as a kid, and it's definitely got the right lines, but I feel spoiled with the newer kits and didn't want to go to that one, even though I REALLY want an AVG Warhawk. I'm waiting on Airfix's 1/48 kit and hoping for the best, but I'm guessing it may behard to find initially. You are certainly doing that older kit proud, and it'll probably be hard to tell you didn't build a newer kit when you're done with it.

-BD-

richs26

Brandon, here is more references:

http://www.boxartden.com/gallery/index.php/Profiles/Detail-Scale/61-Curtiss-P-40

 

BK