1/32 Vintage Revell P-40 WIP (lots of Pics)

Sean,

That shark's mouth looks fantastic!  Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears you are airbrushing that marking?  Since I'm planning to do the same thing with a Cactus Air Force P-39 I'll be building later this year, how did you go about that?  Did you put down a good white primer and then cut out the teeth mask before tackling the rest of it?

Great work and masterful innovation! That magnetic panel trick is so elegant!

You guys are way too kind and funny. Sadly I never got to see chuk's marvel as for some reason my pc will not read his pictures. All I ever get is the dreaded red x or little monitor pic

I have been busy, thanks to everyone who has commented, I will address all of you at a later time. Here is a teasor of what I have been curently working on.

Still need to add the lips.

 Forget Chucks stuff, we got Sean and Aaron whipping these old monsters marvels into shape.

Sean, your attention to detail is fantastic my friend. You get a by, from homework for...err....3 days. cant be any more generous than that.

...Guy

Sean,

Nice work on the ol' girl so far.  Looking forward to more pics.

Roy - Thanks ! Go ahead and get one of these oldies. They sell pretty cheap on eb.  They are just like a Time Machine taking you back to your youth.

Frank - The canvas cover was quick and easy enough for anyone to do. I just dont have the fine soldering like some of the other posters here to have built a whole new set~up. But maybe someday...

mucker - This has been a blast for me, much more fun then just assembling..

Steven - Thank you for Commenting, I have always enjoyed your work. 

One of the things I really like about this P-40 is the removable engine panels. But finding a way to hold them in place has always been a challenge.  Small brass pins are fragile and get bent easily. 

I came up with this Idea yesterday and dove straight in. I had a leftover P/E fret from a Trumpeter kit. It is made of a stainless material I believe, not plated brass like many others. Using this and an advertising magnet of the Refrigerator I put this plan in motion.

I cut a 2mm wide strip off the P/E fret to overlay the inner lip I thinned back with a flat file and a chisel bladed x-acto knife. 

To make the inserts for the magnets I used a 3/32" drill bit. Placing a finger on the opposite side  to feel for the dimple - did not want to go all the way through. I twisted the bit back and forth using my fingers with little pressure. When I felt the plactic bulge I stopped.  I cut a strip off the Magnet and peeled the vinyl advertisment off. That still left a thin white backing. I used a small drop of  C/A in the dimpled out area to attach the magnets.

The green panel was a replacement robbed from another kit as the molded gray one was badly warped.

And the End Results - Sticky enough to hold the Panel in Position.

Next Up - New Guns

Sean-

This is awesome stuff!  Great idea on the canvas boot, fixes a kit shortcoming, is cheap, and more scale to boot- doesn't get any better than that!  PE flaps look MUCH better than the others, and the LG is shaping up beautifully.  I am really enjoying this thread!

Brad - Thank you , Nice to see your a Revell Master Modeler Club Member

gspatton44 - I plan on only using the Roundels as they are made by Scale Master for Revell.  I use decals that old all the time. Check them under a bright light for hairline cracks. If cracked spray them with a clear coat and you should be ok. pm me if you want more detail on this process. 

trexx - Thanks for stopping in, everytime I build one of these classics you come to mind. As I believe you have built them all 

Frank - More pics coming up..

Aaron - This has been one of my most " cant wait to work on projects" in a long time. Yeah a whole new collection I had sworn these real estate monsters off and now look

Time for the landing gear -

Revell supplies a pretty decent looking strut and inner wheel. Actually with a little work this has Great Pontential.

I opted not to use this as I like to make more work for myself it seems.  I found a set of white metal legs for the  Trumpeter kit. Not what you would call a drop in replacement but with some modifacation they would work.

The spindle was smaller then the kit supplied wheel so I made some bushings out of Brass tubing .

Bushings were also required for the upper strut also

And for the fun of it I wanted to shape the tires to a "loaded" look slightly flattened and bulged sidewalls.  Since I had never done this before I got tips from a sfcmac on how to do this with a household Iron. Well that was just too much fun and I had really flat tires. With the help of Squadron Green Putty I was able to re~inflate them.

By not using the Revell Strut I had no inner wheel or brake drum. I cut out some styrene disk to replicate these items.

The legs are fragile so they will be added as one of the last steps. To keep the P-40 off its belly I cut two pieces of brass tubing held in place with some white glue. 

The kit featured working landing gear with opening doors.  Again I did away with this option. The hinge valleys were filled with styrene scraps and skimmed over with Green Putty. P/E inserts were added to the inner doors.

The tail gear was one of the crudest pieces with the kit.  After looking at reference pics most of them had a canvas boot to keep out the grime.

I found a piece of tissue paper and tacked it into place with some white glue. Once I was happy with the shape I used thin C/A to wick the tissue and make it solid.

With a little trimming, the gear doors added and some paint problem solved.

Still needs the P/E linkage and brackets added. Again another last step so I dont have to keep attaching them...

As you seen in the earlier pictures the Cowl Flaps are very crude. I had P/E replacements but was not sure about using them.  Several days I would look at those flaps and chicken out. I finailly grabbed a razor saw and cut them off in one piece. (just in case)  Well after I had the plastic flaps off I took the nippers to them and made plastic confeti out of them. No turning Back now.  The P/E flap directions were vauge to say the least. But after the last of twelve pieces was in place I thought of a much easier method for assembling them. Oh well next time maybe..

More to come later.

Dang sweet improvements there, Summit.

...and your tutorial is top-drawer!

Wow, great job dressing this kit up!  You're giving it the respect and attention it deserves.

Regards,

Brad

(card-carrying member of the Revell Master Modeller's Club)

stikpusher - Thanks, A lot of us cut our teeth on these type of kits. But I dont remember spending as much time building one back then.

richs26- get that kit out and on the bench, 39 years has been long enough. Thanks for commenting.

Harv- You were not suppose to see this.. Thank you my Friend

Frank -  Im happy you like the sidewalls because I could always still put in the kit supplied ones.  I did decide on the markings as of yesterday. Thanks for looking in and the Great comment. You know how I like playing with P/E

rick - Thank You more pics coming up...

Roy -  Thank you Now about your P-40 ? 

Guy -  Could it be Aarons Fault this Time ?

gspatton44 - Fantastic, these older kits are a blast. I have been having great time on this project as I have rediscovered my modeling skills instead of my assembling skills.

Ok where did I leave off....

Eduard supplied a new IP, to use the kit supplied IP as a backing looked like too much work so once again .030" styrene was used for the upper and lower panel.  I did use the Kit panel to copy the angle.  I test fit this piece many times using Krystal Clear canopy cement to hold it in place.  

Starting to pick out the details on the completed panel. The scrap of sprue was C/A glued on the back for a handle .

The fit was very good due to all the care taken with test fitting. I sawed the sprue handle off leaving a stub so I could still have a holding spot with the tweezers.  It was still tricky to get in position .

Next up was wings and things, P/E was used for wheel enclosure. Looking at many references I noticed the shell ejector panels was lacking the bulge. Using the Squadron Books as reference I sketched out a pattern on paper then tranfered it to styrene.

Attaching the wing I discovered there would be gaps unless I wanted some extreme dihedral. Dry fitting using and masking tape to hold the wing I found the best fit was to attach the starboard side and fill the gap on the port. And what a gap it was

I even addes a styrene shim to  fill in a low area towards the leading edge.

After a little filler and shaping I also closed up the sliding canopy gap with a .020" styrene shim.

The kit featured hinged Ailerons and elevators. I did away with that option and narrowed up the gaps with styrene.

Left side Revell hinge , Right side no more hinge.

This is a rudder buillt OOB on an earlier 1/32 Revell P-40 E  build

I was not happy with the hinge setup or the gaps. Meet the players for the new Rudder hinge. Yeah It still works as It was really easy to do.

Two pieces of Brass tubing sleeved together, Scrap piece of Music wire, and a leftover hinge from the "dreaded" Trumpeter Corsair. 

 Parts in place

And the rudder attached. The control arm has been left off as I dont want to play the game of knocking it off and searching for it.

Next time around landing gear. 

Excellent work Sean, that Sarge, sure has a lot to answer to LOL.

...Guy

Very nice work on the pit .  Keep us posted as you progress.

Regards,  Rick

  Sean you ol` dog you! And 1/32 even Theres hope for you yet!! Your skills have climed quite abit, my friend. Looks truely amazing so far. Please post more. I like what I see!!..........Harv

  PS, I just scored a 1/32 F80C.