Revell 1/48 P-40B Tiger Shark

Lots of fit problems on this oldie.  Stock up on filler.

Regards,  Rick

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Lots of fit problems on this oldie.  Stock up on filler. Regards,  Rick

DOH!

DOH! What I have donE?

Could have been worse! You might have bought an old Airfix kit! 

Even worse, it could have been a.......oh my God.....a Starfix kit!  AAAAAAAHHHHHHH

Andy 

It builds up pretty nice, though you really need to test fit everything and be prepared to deal with some wing/fuselage issues. Still- it builds up into a nice kit, and is shaped nicely.

I wrote a build report of sorts on it here. 

I'm building Academy's P-40C right now, and even though it's a more modern kit with better engineering, the Revogram version is more accurate, I believe. 

If you want to stick with a P-40B or C derivative, I'd cut your losses, scrap the Revell kit and buy either of these manufacturers for that plane:

• Academy
• Trumpeter
• Hobbycraft

Plenty of aftermarket stuff for these kits as well.

Guys, thanks for your help!

Jon, your review is good and I think I'll go ahead, get myself a TON of putty and get to work on it.  I'm going to build OOB (since, I'm fairly new to aircraft, this will be a good practice run). 

I have few other aircraft kits that I need to build later on so, I'll practice with it and then move on to next ones. 

Again, thanks guys!

m1garand wrote:

Guys, thanks for your help! Jon, your review is good and I think I'll go ahead, get myself a TON of putty and get to work on it.  I'm going to build OOB (since, I'm fairly new to aircraft, this will be a good practice run).  I have few other aircraft kits that I need to build later on so, I'll practice with it and then move on to next ones.  Again, thanks guys!

Give wing root shims a try, or maybe attaching the upper wings to the fuselage first. Other than that, it's not a bad kit. 

Funny thing about the Revogram P-40B and Academy P-40C. The 40B comes with a drop tank- but B's didn't carry them. The 40C doesn't come with a drop tank- but could carry them. LOL Go figure. 

After having built both kits, and having read reviews of them as well as the Trumpeter kits, I think it's quite a shame that no one has come out with a truly well engineered AND accurate B/C model, given it's historical significance not only as an AVG bird, but also for it's overall contribution early in the war for other countries as well as the US. Plenty of decent E through N models available, but the B/C have just sorta been left out.

m1garand wrote:

Guys, thanks for your help! Jon, your review is good and I think I'll go ahead, get myself a TON of putty and get to work on it.  I'm going to build OOB (since, I'm fairly new to aircraft, this will be a good practice run).  I have few other aircraft kits that I need to build later on so, I'll practice with it and then move on to next ones.  Again, thanks guys!

The decals on that kit may be very delicate so spray the decal sheet with Future or decal sealer (Testors) 48 hrs. before using them. A couple coats may be necessary just to be safe. If the decal sheet is yellowed like mine was, putting it in the sunshine by taping it to a window will help bleach the yellow out. Do this before spraying (and let dry) with Future or decal sealer. Kinda like placing your old LPs between two plates of glass in the sun to get the warps out. Man I just aged myself a bit there.

Quagmyre,

Thanks for the heads up!  I did managed to get a bottle of Future not too long ago and the decal seems to be good.  Do I need to thin out future as well or can I just spray it on with my airbrush?

m1garand wrote:

Quagmyre, Thanks for the heads up!  I did managed to get a bottle of Future not too long ago and the decal seems to be good.  Do I need to thin out future as well or can I just spray it on with my airbrush?

No need to thin Future. Others have, but I feel it defeats the purpose thinning a protective clearcoat. I actually used two coats of Future on some Tally Ho aftermarket decals for my AVG P-40C. Still wasn't enough for a couple of the decals.

Quagmyre wrote:

Kinda like placing your old LPs between two plates of glass in the sun to get the warps out. Man I just aged myself a bit there.

LOL...... I always wondered how to get the warps outta them thangs. I still got some K-Tels that ain't quite right.... then again, were K-Tels ever right? LOL 

m1 the revell kit is a good one and does build up to a nice kit.  there are some things. 

-fit issues.  you will have to use filler in several places.  for the wing root if you glue the upper to the fuse first and then fit the lower you will save yourself some issues.  you will have gaps at the leading edge but nothing too serious.

-the ip is wrong for the "b" version but when completed it wont be very visable.  if you build oob you could darken the canopy and that would take care of the ip and the lack of detail in the pit.

-if possible get am decals.  the ones in the kit were much too thick for my liking.  they took many sessions with decal sol to get them to a point where i was satisfied.

i suggest having both a "weld" type glue and ca handy as both will be used on the kit.  enjoy the build.  this one can be as simple or difficult as you make it.  i love the kit as i can go nuts with detailing and get away rather cheap.

joe 

Thanks a lot guys!  I'll post up some photos as I build it. 

I finally have come out of the Dark side (armor) and hope that I'll be more active in building Aircraft models.  I have quite number of aircraft kits in my stash, including 1/48 P-51D mustang, 1/48 A-10 and 1/48 Blackwidow (all monogram kits) that I purchased from local Michael's (with 20% of coupon!!!).  

Well, I should get going and start prepare the kit for the build.  Once again, thanks and I'LL BE BAAAAACK for more questions later on. 

I've built it at least twice (suffering from CRS syndrome), and the only real problem that I can remember (not that I have exacting standards, mind you, so I probably gloss over many problem areas that weren't problems for me simply because I was rushing through it) - as I was saying before I interrupted myself, was that the only problem area I can recall is the landing gear doors - they were obviously molded with the expectation that they'd be used in the gears-up position, since the edges are beveled, and in the proper open position all that makes contact with the lower wing is the very corner of the edge of the door.  I could never get them to stay on.  And the prop spinner is in 3 pieces, iirc - I decided last time to paint the spinner red white and blue, an easy task considering I just had to paint each part a different color.  But the cone doesn't fit very well over the middle part, which incorporates the prop blades.  And the configuration makes it pretty hard to do any sanding after you've applied putty.

But I still have another one in my stash, and I'm looking forward to giving it another try.

Welcome to the world of aircrafts! I love the P-40 (can't you tell from my avatar?) - especially ones done up in AVG markings. I have that kit sitting in my stash with some aftermarket decals for a while, I'll be very interested to see your progress. The funny thing is that I just started doing 1/48 armor too.

Or even worse still, it could have been an old Matchbox or Frog kit. These relics are truly modeling nightmares pretty much across the board.

Heck, for that matter it could have been the 1/32nd Trumpeter P-40, needing a completely new, repositioned cockpit to make it presentable. I'm guility of buying into that project myself.

I'm working on a revell P-40B and the only problems I see on it are the fragile flaps and the poor decal guide other than that I think its a great kit.