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

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

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:

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.  =]

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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!

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!

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

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

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.  =]