1/48 Mono-cademy P-40 B "Pearl Harbor" (FINISHED)..

I can't wait to see this frankenstein come together! =]  And I couldn't agree more about the Hawk being underrepresented among modelers, but I suppose the "esplainin" should start with the manufactures just as you pointed out.  I seem to recall a site that outlines an approach like this.  If I can find it, I can drop it here if you'd like.

I did want to ask you about the dimensions of the two wings.  I realize the foreshortened nature of the picture makes the Revell/Monogram look smaller, but is there really much difference here other than the width and girth of the belly?  

Again...good luck!  Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.  =]

Cool project Joe!  I have another Revell P-40B in the stash that I really don't see building.  I might have to try the same thing you're doing, I just need to pick up the Academy kit.   Definitely adding this build to my favorites!

Seve

Thanks folks.  Frankenstein it is!.  I need a project once in a while to keep me honest.   With all this talk about Dremel tools, fate would have me in the tool isle at Wal-Mart this weekend. Knowing I would be doing much more sanding in this project.  I broke down and bought one. 

It was $40.00  well spent.  Since I would be adding a True Details pit, the kit side wall detail needed to be removed.  On the "Low" setting, with a sanding drum bit, this took maybe minute.  I experienced no melting of the plastic.  The trick is to use light pressure and keep the tool moving.  I also cut out the closed radiator flaps with the cutting bit.  It was a piece of cake.  I can't believe I waiting this long to buy one. 

I turned my attention to the TD pit.  It's and ex- KMC mold that was supposed to be designed for this kit. Its beautifully detailed and relatively cheap, but the instructions are horrible.    The hardest  part was removing the resin block from the floor.  I started with a razor saw (to keep the unhealthy resin dust down) but this was taking forever and the piece kept slipping out of my hand. I eventually whipped out the Dremel and sliced it off. 

I then started working on the pit.  I concocted my own Curtiss Bronze Green with one part XF-81 RAF Green, one part XF-5 Flat Green, and two parts XF-8 Flat Blue.  If you would like to see how do my cockpits, see the tutorial in my Dauntless build here:

 http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/160714.aspx

I'm not crazy about the TD instrument panel.  The dials are too deep and impossible to drybrush.  I decided to add 5 minute clear epoxy to simulate glass dials. I may paint up the kit part and compare the two.  I just didn't feel like buying a PE set along with a resin pit, nor should one have to. 

I hope to get this installed soon. 

Joe

That's some pretty nifty doctoring there Joe, and I see the painting & weathering in the 'pit is up to your usual high quality. Good stuff so far!

I'm so glad to see you tackling the P-40 again.  Glad to see this happening.  =]  That front office is coming along quite nicely too. That green looks pretty good. I really enjoyed fixing up the TD cockpit.  Happy to see you doing the same one.   Did the seat get left in NMF for the early Pearl Harbor P-40s as well?  I feel like I remember seeing that somewhere...  I ended up doing the same thing for the floor of my TD set...started with a razor saw to keep the dust down and eventually said "f!@k it." Picked up my dremel, changed the bit, and made quick work of it.  =D

Can't wait to see what you have in store next!

Nice project here Joe. Seems every time I use a TD pit I throw away the ip and use the kit one. I find them too overscale and poor dial detail.

Thanks Mike, Britt and Nathan.  

Britt, I've seen many pics of NMF P-40 seats, so I usually follow suit.  Besides, I like the contrast.  

Nathan, I wholeheartedly agree.  The TD IP's are horrible, but the seat and sidewalls shine in this set.  I probably will go ahead and use the kit IP.  I need to get a waldron punch so I can "install" my own dials.  In this case, the seat will be the most prominently seen once closed up.  Perhaps next time I'll try the Legends pit or grab an Eduard PE dash.  

Hey Britt, will this be easy to close up?  and issues to worry about?  Off to check out your WIP.....

Joe

Yeah, I was looking into those Waldron punches.....to steep for me.  I like the belt hole punch idea.  I saw that Micro Mark has cheaper versions too.  I'll have to check out the IP decals.  

Joe

Wow, that belly fix is way too ambitious for me!  I bought my dremel tool for the dogs nails but they sure do come in handy.  Looking great so far!

Mike

Great job so far Joe!!!  I didn't even think about marrying the two together, though I did buy to Revell kits to fix some of the holes and made my own spars in the wheel well.  I think you have the right idea for sure.  I'm assuming you're going to use the Academy fuselage, which should make getting the cockpit in a lot easier.  And really, the only think I remember having any real issues with was the back plate.  But, a little sanding hear a little putty there and it fits rather nicely.  

By the way, I couldn't agree with you more on the underrepresentation of this bird.  For a plane that was so widely used at such a pivotal part of the war I guess the model mfgs would rather make Mustangs and 109s.  It's a shame to, they're such a beautiful bird.  Keep us posted!  Raymond

Here's a fuzzy example of the decals (from 8 years ago!!!!)

lawdog114

Hey Britt, will this be easy to close up?  and issues to worry about?  Off to check out your WIP.....

Joe

Yeah the TD cockpit fit fairly well into the Revell fuselage.  The floor was the only thing that needed some work to get it to play nice with the rest of it.  For the IP, I ended up using epoxy to fix it to the sides of the fuselage.  There was no other solution that came with the resin kit since it wasn't made for the RevelloGram.  I should imagine you getting away with little fuss over the TD cockpit if you're using the Academy fuselage.

Great work so far, I know you'll pull it off

I've got a quick question for you Joe.  How do the flaps match up between the two kits?  Are they of the same proportions?

Thanks everyone.  Britt, I can't answer the flap question because I spent half the night installing Eduard flaps.  The Academy kit doesn't allow for a flap up or down option. 

I spent last night putting it all together, to include installing the Eduard flaps.  All I can say is the Academcraft P-40B is an absolute pig and I now yearn for the Trumpeter version.  Now I know why I only paid 11 bones for it.  For starters, The panel lines are soft and I dont even know if they will hold a wash later. Perhaps the mold is too old.  Also, the Monogram kit has more surface detail and its 50 years old.  I even had to scribe panel lines into the horzontal stabilizers which they forgot .  Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't there be some ammo doors and such on the top of wings? 

I started my session by carving up the flap area thinning things out with the Dremel.  This made the PE wing detail sit better.  This was a nice set and should improve the area considerably, like putting lipstick on a pig.

I installed the pit, sealed up the fuselage then added the wings. At least the fit of everything was fairly painless, even with the flap detail.  I needed a smidge of putty on the port wing root.  I think the seat brace looks overscale and inaccurate. I may paint it green so it doesn't stick out so much. 

I made new radiator flaps out of styrene.  Of course I had issues with the fit of the chin (intake), which was sightly to narrow for the fuselage.  I used styrene to spread it out to reduce the sanding. 

I'm not sure I'm going to waste my good Pearl Harbor Defender decals on this turkey.  We'll see how it looks when painted up. 

On a side note, I got the Trumpeter kit cheap off ebay last week.  Depending how this goes, I may be trading out.    

Is it over yet????

Joe

I hear ya on that.  Maybe just check the length and the angle that the flaps would match up the wing root at with the other movable part...I'm curious to see if the Academy/Hobbycraft PE Eduard flaps will fit or not.  When I do that other Pearl Harbor P-40B, I will stick to the Revell kit again.  I really didn't mind it.

As for the surface detail on top...that's sucks to hear.  There are ammo doors on top to drop in ammo boxes as well as long access panels underneath for servicing.  I can snap a couple of pictures and put on here to show this if you'd like so you can scribe it in.

Nice work on the PE.  Stuff like that is still a bit hit or miss for me.  I either nail it right away or end up making a mess of it all.  =]

Looks good.  The only question I had is that Curtiss painted the rear cockpit bulkhead a yellow zinc chromate color as in this photo from an article on AVG schemes:

Ah...Britt, now I understand what your asking....  I was confused because the flaps on the Academy kit are molded closed.  I'll check it out.  I still have the Monogram flaps in the box.  From what I know so far in my quest for a decent Hawk 81, the Trumpy kit is the lesser of three evils should an aftermarket 'pit be found for it.  The problem is the kit is still quite expensive for as flawed as it is.  I found one on Ebay recently for 20 bones including shipping.  Unless I find another Cutting Edge pit, I'll have to bite the bullet and go Aries which is the only one available.  Should I ever try a Monogram kit, It will have to be vintage from when the molds were new (60's early 70's).  The current offering is comical at best. 

Rich, great link...thanks.  I especially dig that assembly line color photo.  The alcove behind the pit where the windows go should be Neutral grey on non AVG Hawks....I may try to repaint it.  If not, next time.  I won't sweat it on this pig...

Joe

I sat down and got some quailty bench time in last night.  I fixed a few things here and there, to include cleaning up the leading edge wing roots which were a mess.  I added some semi-circular-shaped styrene stock and poked rivets in them with a sewing needle to leave the illusion they're supposed to be there.  Probably not "correct" but it worked and looks passible to me.  Here's the area primered and ready for paint. It's starting to look like a Hawk 81...

I preshaded all panel lines XF-1 Flat Black.  I then sprayed the inner flaps, wheel wells and gear bays XF-4 Yellow Green, the perfect zinc chromate.  After these were taped off, the bottom got XF-53 Neutral Grey.  This was then cut with XF-2 Flat White and condensation streaks were added.  I then added more XF-2 and lightened the control sufaces.  After a post shade of diluted XF-69 and XF-64, here's where I'm at.  Perhaps it could use more... 

She was flipped over and Blue Tac was used to mask off the demarcation lines thusly...

Since the Academy P-40 is so lacking in the detail department, I needed to be creative with the paint.  started off with straight Gunze Aqueous Olive Drab 1.  This is the perfect USAAC drab to my eye.  Nice and brown.  Too bad its so hard to get nowdays.

Xf-57 Buff was added and condensation streaks were added.  More XF-57 was added for the control surfaces.  I then added the postshade to highlight the areas that were detailed, such as the engine area and control surfaces.  I also added some minor exhaust streaks with diluted XF-1 then XF-53 over it to simulate heat. 

I will add some minor chipping here and there, especially at the wing root, then a gloss coat.

Joe

Looking pretty sharp!!   =]  How are the props fitting in the spinner?  Will they just drop in?

Thanks Britt.  The prop blades are simplified and shaped wrong.  I'm going to steal three from the spare parts box that were from the Hasegawa P-38.  Hopefully they will just drop right in.

Joe

Looking good Joe!  I've very impressed.  I don't think we're talking Frankenstein here, rather his bride!  Keep up the good work, Raymond

I've got another one for you Joe.  I'm looking through cockpit stuff again for that other P-40B...I recall you mentioning that the cockpit was Bronze Green for those Hawks.  I've got a book that I've been using to reference everything with that tells it as Curtiss Green still for those in Pearl Harbor.  They call it resembling a Zinc Chromate color.

So which is more correct?  Was there a time where one was used, discontinued, then a new color selected? What do your sources say?

The ammo is loaded in from the bottom. They are the long skinny rectangles next to the shell ejection ports.

Good question Britt.  I never actually researched it.  On my AVG P-40 I built last year I used the Cutting Edge cockpit.  The instructions recommended "Bronze Green" so I figured they knew what they were talking about.  I found a recipe somewhere on line at that time and this is how it turned out.  Perhaps your references are right...who knows.  I've also been told early P-40s were destined for England, so the pits were grey green, in the likes of a Spitfire or Hurricane.  I have since discovered through photographi evidence the concave alcoves behind the pilot and rear bulkhead should be neutral grey on early B planes.     I decided to leave it as is.  This isn't no award winner anyways.

Anyways, last night I got it decaled.  I went wiith Welch's "160" machine. These were some of the best decals I've ever worked  with.   No issues whatsoever.  I was worried about the "160" but they snuggles right down under Micro Sol. 

As I said, the prop blades with this kit are comical.  They are flat and mishaped, so I raided my spare parts box for replacements.  I found some left over P-38 props which looked close.  Not too bad eh?  Probably not correct, but acceptable for a Frankestein.   I also drilled out the exhaust stubs. 

Flory wash soon.  This one shouldn't be much longer.  Did I mention I found the Trumpy kit on Ebay cheap?  

Joe 

Man, she is really starting to come to life. I need to build mine, but alas, this is not the time.

Man you crank through your builds! Even tough ones. This is looking great, your paint and shading is outstanding.

So... What's next? The Trumpeter P-40 you picked up for cheap?