Improving the Revell 1:48 P-40B (Complete)

I thought I'd get this next section out of the way now so as not to clutter up the next part of the build concerning the landing gear installation and canopy fit.

I chose to get some of this painting done so I can move onto the last few parts of construction.  Primarily, I needed the undersurface painted in order to remove the masking and work some of these fiddly bits.  For the underside of the aircraft I selected Tamiya JN Grey [XF-12] as a base coat.  I rarely use something straight out of the bottle, but in this instance I wanted more control of what I do when I come back to a color for later use. I used NATO Black [XF-69] for the panel line painting and I used it somewhat randomly and highly diluted.  The last color was Sky Grey [XF-19].  I'm looking to subdue the panel line painting as I agree with most that it's overdone to some extent.  I'll pick out some lines here and there with later weathering.

For the top surface, the base color is Olive Drab [XF-62] cut with Flat White [XF-2] about 2:1 to lighten this up a good bit.  It gives a nice warm brown tone.  I followed back over this with the NATO Black...randomly selecting lines...I meant to try this in a Dark Green, but as it happens it worked out rather well still.  Now for the top coat...it seems there is a considerable range of variation in the OD Green in the way in which it weathered.  Some stayed greener while others became more brown.  I don't want to make this particular thread about color so much as I do about construction, so to keep it simple I'll just describe what I decided to go with in this case.  My handy app I have for picking out colors didn't really serve too well this time around.  It had me picking Flat Brown [XF-10] 2:1 to OD but my gut figured it to be opposite.  I turned out to be right after mixing it the way the app began to suggest. So a mix of OD 2:1 to Flat Brown gave me a nice tone to put on top and really provides a nice start for whatever weathering one should decide to do later.  I sprayed this down quite heavily diluted so as to see the change happen subtly.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

by brittvallot, on Flickr

The top color was lightened up with some Flat White and used for the control surfaces as well.

I purchased a Montex Mask this time around to try out.  I don't think it gets any easier than this.  I spent a lot of time in the past making my own masks....drawing them out....patiently cutting them out...after a couple of tries...and I find it rewarding, but this gives great results in virtually no time at all.  For the -B variants, the US Air Corps switched the "US ARMY" label on the undersurface from Black to Insignia Blue some time in either '39 or '40.  I also elected to paint this now instead of later because any weathering I choose to do for the fuselage and wing will make the color appear different anyhow.  So I'm not too worried about continuity.  I used a 1:1 of Sea Blue [XF-17] and Flat Blue [XF-8]...well pretty much 1:1 =] and laid this down over the mask. For the insignia, I masked the red meatball first...toning the Flat Red down with some Hull Red, came back over the circle mask with Flat White and finally dropped the star shape mask on top of all of this to paint the Insignia Blue.  Red --> White --> Blue.   The Montex Masks are quite user friendly.  =]

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

Removed all the masking and found a couple of touch up areas that need some attention.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

I'll be getting to that and after which will lead me to tying up the landing gear parts to complete.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

More to come.  Questions...comments??  =]  

Thanks Joe.  Yeah, I may borrow your idea on grabbing a couple extra bottles just in case they ever do go out of business.  Couldn't hurt!

Ray, c'mon!! I know you're dying to rip back into it.  Let me be your devil's advocate here...you've already taken it out for a spin once now...it'd be like riding a bike.  I had a familiar territory joke about ex-girlfriends but I'll save it for another time.  =]

Looking good Britt!  I actually had the kit in hand a few days ago, thinking about starting it again.  I've got to many projects in front of it though.  It'll probably be later this year before I'll tackle it again, using this thread as a how to guide for sure.  Keep up the good work.  Raymond

Looking great Britt.  I agree, the detailer works great on Alclad.  

Joe

Here's another installment to wrap up all the work done to the body of the plane and begin tying up the landing gear.

I found I couldn't quite get over the kit molded fuel/oil caps.  They look fine of course, but I wanted just a bit more depth underneath to show their function coming on and off. So if you're anything like me and you just can't let it stand....here's how to go about fixing it.  =]

by brittvallot, on Flickr

I drilled a hole through each about 3/32 in and CAed an aluminum tube (again 3/32 in width) making sure to leave only the tiniest bit protruding through the top.  I cut out two circles (1/8 in) out of the thin .10 in plastic sheet I used to make the ribbing of the landing flap assembly.  I carefully sanded the circles to look more round as my cuts were not quite perfect.  A drop of CA later and my caps are back on and I think it's a bit of an improvement.  Do be careful not to allow the tube to stick out passed the original top or it will crowd the glass that goes on top.  

The next thing I wanted is to show is all of the parts I've drilled out/scribed on the surface of the plane.  This includes:

Drilling out the lift points towards the tail of the plane, scribing panels just below the cockpit, drilling out fuel drain locations underneath the cockpit near the cowl flaps, drilling a space for nav lights below the canopy [I'm just realizing I left off the grip handle--I'll go back and add it], machine gun chutes and various maintenance access points, grease gun access point along the wall of the landing gear bay for the main gear strut, and the landing light and parachute panels for water landing that was included in the -B variant. =]

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

Moving onto the landing gear, I thought it would be easy to recap a little without having anyone clicking back and forth.  I basically snipped off the retracting arm to redo...there ought to be two of them anyway.  I sanded down the seam.  I snipped off the nub opposite of the arm that holds the tire, and I also drilled out the hole for the retaining clip.  I built up the surface of the strut with some Tamiya tape and included the band holding down the brake line.  In the bottom right picture, I cut a thin selection of a 1/8 in. plastic tube for the gearing that allows the main strut to turn as it fits into the gear bay.  I sanded the top half to bevel it downwards and did the same for the bottom but to a lesser degree.  With an exacto blade, I made notches into the plastic by cutting slightly into the surface and wiggling the blade a bit. And by moving around the cylinder in this fashion I'm approximating the cogs.  This effect comes out better with the Detailer to bring it out.  This was cut into fourths and were placed appropriately on the main strut.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

I painted these in Alclad's Semi Flat Aluminum and washed them with black Detailer.  Great stuff to work with especially for Alclads.  It's water based which makes cleaning things up a breeze.  I painted on the placard for maintenance and sealed it with the Alclad Klear Koat.  

by brittvallot, on Flickr

For a final touch, I tried my hand at something different for the chromed portion. I cut a small length of Aluminum foil (regular household stuff) and with the Micro brand of glues for clear parts I glued the shiny side up to reflect this part of the strut.  [pun intended]  =D  I don't mind it so much for now.  I hope to improve on something like this in the future.  It still looks like a step up to me.  I do apologize about the pictures...they aren't the best when I try to get in closer.  This will all appear much better at the end.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

That's where I am for now.  Questions, comments, add on's...are all welcome.

What Brandon said....well done.  

Your attention to detail and scratch building skills just keep me in awe. This is another great piece of art. Can't wait to see the conclusion.

Problem solved! =]  

Made a quick stop to pick up some plastic strip for the canopy railing.  I selected the .5mm x .5mm square to use.  Two pros right off the bat are the plastic will weld better to the fuselage with some Tenax or Tamiya ETC instead of a brass piece getting knocked off on day down the road, and I can sand the shape to suit my needs better than filing down a piece of metal.  My previous attempt was pretty good.  I used the tiniest T strip to fit the C channel, but it turned out to be just a bit too wide causing the canopy to bow out a little.  Had I checked before, I could've carved in a notch to allow the brass piece to sit a little deeper.  With the plastic, I don't even need to really worry about the fit the same...just sand it down a smidge more.  =]

So, incase you're wondering what I'm talking about... on the Revell kit fuselage part there is a railing already molded on.  The problem is that you can only position it with the canopy closed.  If you wanted an open canopy, then you'd have to sand down a portion of this and replace the tracking that the canopy glides over.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here the strip is applied.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

by brittvallot, on Flickr

I used a first attempt Squadron canopy to provide an example of how this fits together.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

This strip actually fits the C channel brass strip I've cut for the sliding canopy much better.  It's a tighter fit I should say.

That's that.  Next, I'll be moving on to the landing gear and getting her ready for paint.  

Ha!  It's definitely unsightly. =P  If you don't overwork it, it's not too bad.  It certainly needs some love though.  

Excellent work so far.  That nose look like a nightmare fit-wise.  

Joe

Okay here's a brief update.  I apologize if some of this falls out of the usual realm of steps for building.  I don't like to jump around too much.  I only mean to address the big things that need attention first from a structural/aesthetic sense first before moving on to the smaller bits and add ons. 

So here we are.  After lots of careful painstaking sanding and more sanding, I've finally got this bird back where I want her to be.  I'll say it again, Milliput is a dream to work with and it makes this build a whole lot better looking afterwards.  

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

The fairings for the .50s and the cowl panels have been sanded back nice and smooth and since the cowl panels are removable I've sanded off the raised panel lines and scribed new lines to place a wash with later.  I have left all the other raised detail on this model as I think it's really nice to have.  Some can argue it's to high off the surface and they may be right, but I think it offers just enough visual weight to convince the eye of what it's seeing.  The darker olive drab color on top will subdue some of this as well.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

More seams corrected...

by brittvallot, on Flickr 

...also the kit's hole for the drop tank has been filled.

While I had the Milliput out and ready I also took care of the propeller.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

With just a few careful and judicious swipes I had everything just as pretty as the original.  One thing to note here is the line that the two kit parts makes is not the "panel line" for the cone of the spinner.  It's just the joint of the spinner that ought to be corrected.  Fill and sand. The actual line that can be seen sometimes is just forward of the prop blades.  I've also carefully carved out a small gap for the prop blades from the spinner with a dull exacto blade (no. 11--dull so as not to break the tip off a new one and also to not carve too deeply). The real thing has a space for the blades to fit through and since the kit blades are all one piece this isn't present.  Due to carving this gap out, it made a bit of a step that wasn't easy to sand.  I didn't want to risk breaking another blade again so instead I dropped the tiniest drop of Tamiya ETC to soften the plastic and with a blunt needle tool I smoothed the step down.  Here's a before and after.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

by brittvallot, on Flickr

I've also filled in this spot on the under side of the trim tabs.  The left side was originally only movable before take off and then it was later added in the cockpit to adjust with the B variant.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

That's a wrap for now.  I have one last thing to address before moving onto the landing gear and doors and I need to make a stop at my LHS for that.

Questions, critiques, or comments...all are welcomed.  =]

Thanks y'all.  Sorry that things are slow moving.  I've been on the road a lot with work, so it doesn't allow much for any bench time.  I'll be back with more soon enough.  I have a couple of issues to work out with seams and smoothing out some bumps, but I'll be moving on to the priming and painting before long.

=]

Wow Britt!  This is the first time I've been able to really sit down and get caught up, and I must say I'm impressed.  I really like how you've built up the wheal wells and that horrible gap Revell left in the flaps.  I guess I really need to figure out how to link this site to my page so I can use it as a guide later this year when I tackle Boyington's controlled crash.  Keep up the good work, Raymond

Holy Cow !  I am following your build with much depression.

Ahh, this is great. After much hemming and hawing, I just picked up the HobbyCraft P-40B to do up as an AVG plane. But you are making a great case for the Revell build! Thanks for sharing - I'll be eagerly following along!

Bv, you're doing some awesome scratch building!!  Those flaps look great!  Can't wait to see more!

Steve

Ha! Yeah, I noticed.  =]  I was thinking about doing the same thing as I already had a couple pair lying around...but they were just a little too big and slightly the wrong shape.  And I'm just too hardheaded to do it, so I went and found some a couple .30s real cheap on Ebay.  Had to do it!  But not to worry...I'll never tell. ;)

So things have been very slow moving lately with holiday business going on.  Very little bench time + very slow, tedious work = virtually no progress.

I have managed to finish the landing flaps...at least the top half of the assembly for now.  I want to move on and not get bogged down any more with this section.  I will come back to the lower half when it's time for all the fiddly bits to go on towards the end.

When it's all said and done concerning the flaps, All this can be achieved without the use of a PE kit.  In all honesty the only part I'm glad to have is the box cover over the upper flaps.  Nearly everything needed to be built up on its own.  It wasn't too terribly difficult, but it is time consuming.

Here goes:

Everything primed and ready to go.  The box cover is only just set as a reference of where it goes last.  It is not glued in yet.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

You can also make out my actuating rod for the lower flaps.  This is what you will see put together a little later down the road.

A yellow-green zinc chromate color to go down

by brittvallot, on Flickr

Gloss coat, The Detailer for weathering, and a flat coat to seal.  Next, comes the rod, the anchors, and the control arms to the lower flaps.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

This was done from the outside in.  Since I've removed the upper ailerons from the top part of the wing, I am able to slip all this in.  It starts from the outside working in and one at a time I'll slip the mounts onto the rod. Again, I'm working with brass rod (I'll double check the size) and Albion aluminum tube.  The aluminum is a soft enough metal for me to drill a small hole into before assembling.  This will allow a better hold when I CA the lower flaps together.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

Completed! =D  All of this will get touched up accordingly.  I encountered a few knicks along the way.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

A little Tamiya Metallic Grey [XF-56] is thinly applied to rod.  The mounts themselves are left in Aluminum.

A detail of the upper flaps shows two cords/wires.  I have not been able to find out what they are or how they function...only how they look.  So...to represent them, I've used the very fine EZ line in black to string them up.  The tiniest drop of CA secures them perfectly.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

With that out of the way, I moved on to puttying up all the awful gaps that need some TLC.  As far as scratching out the .50s for the nose, I wanted something simple that would slip in after painting.  I settled for this.  I marked where the rod would insert and drilled two tiny holes that would accept a backing for the extended tube that slid onto the .50 cal MG.  This is what the tube will adhere to.  Simple.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

by brittvallot, on Flickr

I let this set and sanded it down the next morning.  Next, I'll check my seams and if all's well...it'll be the right time for prime time! =]

Impressive work Britt.  Loving the brass 30 cals.  I used Quickboost fifties for my P-40B(s).  I figured I would be the only one who could tell the size difference...lol.  I look forward to seeing more.

Joe

Thanks Ray. =]  I agree.  That was the one thing I wanted to fix most on this build.  None of this so far is too challenging...just takes some patience.

Back for an update.

So this last part may not be necessary for all, but as I mentioned before, I want to include some of the various ongoings that are visible any chance I get.  I couldn't find this specific to the P-40B/C for certain, but within the family of Hawks this was all pretty much the same.  So here are some of the hoses and fittings reaching through the gear bay.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

None of this is overly complicated.  Just some brass rods slid through an Albion tube and bent to shape.

Afterwards, I needed to secure the part of the box that runs perpendicular to the fuselage.  I Tenaxed the hell out of it and taped the wing edges up to ensure this fit.  I really wanted to have this extra piece connected to the fuselage as the wings don't provide much in the way of any attachment...especially considering the poor fit.

by brittvallot, on Flickr

This was allowed to set up the remainder of the day.  Once that was out of the way, the interior was primed and painted as I'm ready to close this up.  One last thing I saw I needed to do was to place a makeshift shelf for the .30 MGs.  I was originally going to drill tiny holes in the plastic kit parts, but they were just too flimsy to pull it off well enough.  So I'm opting for the Model Master .30 machine gun brass barrels. I've checked the distance they need to extend out of the wing and set my shelf in place.  Eye-balled the holes, drilled them, and closed these wings up with some Tamiya ETC. Now I have a means of gluing my MG barrels after painting so there's no need to mask them.   =]

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

by brittvallot, on Flickr

Next, I turned my attention to getting the flaps ready for installation.  This is another area that can be passed over for the most part.  I've almost never seen a P-40 parked with the flaps down unless it was under maintenance. The flaps I purchased off of Ebay were from 1992 by Eduard.  They require some minor tweaking to make this whole section look right.

The first thing I noticed was (on my particular kit at least) was that there was no room for the flaps to fit between the upper and lower wing joints.  I had noticed this before fitting the lower wings and decided to only CA the two main pins at the most forward point where the fuselage attaches to the wings.  That allowed some maneuvering on the back end to squeeze these flaps in.

I did come up with this as a solution

by brittvallot, on Flickr

With the plastic piece I scratched out (I'll be back with a picture later--I can't seem to find it at the moment) to fit under the flaps as there is a terrible gap on the kit...I used a few clips of the L brackets to act as spacers to provide the necessary room.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

This does little to throw off the shape or the join at the end of the belly near the fuel drain.  A few drops of CA and it's sitting right where it needs to be. =]

I didn't want to have ANY troubles with the PE coming up after gluing it, so I opted for a two-part epoxy to fix the upper portion to the wing.  I taped it down to better secure it and left it set for about 5 hours.  That SOB isn't going anywhere now! =D

by brittvallot, on Flickr

One trouble for me was that the Eduard PE didn't have any of the internal ribbing for the flaps.  So I had to build my own.  This is quite a time consuming task and a real PITA but great for a tutorial as it turns out.  So, I consulted my books and went to cutting.  Once I found my shape...I made a mask and sprayed out 22 of these bad boys to cut out.  I was mostly going for speed here and I'm not concerned about saving the plastic and making better thought out cuts.  I have plenty of this stuff anyway. =]  The plastic I'm working with here is about as thin as you're gonna get... about .01 in. 

Here's my progress

by brittvallot, on Flickr

I've got this side done now and put a coat of primer on it and let it set over night.  I'll be dressing up the rods and turnbuckles to operate the flaps next.  =]

Questions, comments, or anything else are always welcomed. 

Wow, she's looking great Britt!  For me, the most lacking area of this model is the wheel wells and the flap area.  It looks like you've done a great job taking care of the wheel wells.  I can't wait to see how you tackle the flaps.  I've got a couple of group build projects coming up, but I think after that (and once I get this Hornet completed) I'm going to try my hand at this one again...  You've given me some ideas to look forward too.  Raymond

Thanks guys!!  I'm hoping to get the flaps done this weekend and having her mostly closed up so I can start painting. Fingers crossed. =]

Really like how you did the light.  Gonna have to give that a try.

Joe

I learn something new everytime you do another kit. Very nicely done indeed!!

Holy crap!  

Killer work so far.  Your scratchbuilding is top notch.  I love what you did with those gear bays.  

Joe

Thanks Joe.  I'd love to see what you could do with one of these.  The closer I look at some of the subtleties, the more I realize how well they nailed this kit from 40 years ago.  Of course the obvious hang ups speak for themselves, but every now and then I see something that just wouldn't likely be present on a kit from the last 10 years.

Quick update:

Here I have ribbing present on the upper portion of the wings on the interior.  To save on material and time, I opted to just build what will be seen.  This also saves on something going wrong later and finding that parts will not fit anymore like they were supposed to.

To identify precisely where this would appear on the upper surface, I placed both wings together and lightly traced along the edges of the box I've built up...measured out my lengths of brass L strips (approximately 5/8 in.  this will vary some based on the dimensions of your box) and CAed them into place.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

Be sure to keep the inboard side matching up with the fuselage flush with the edge of the wing.  This will jam up against the fuselage otherwise.  You could drill holes into the side of the fuselage at the wing root to match up with....but don't do that to yourself.  This kit is troublesome enough!! =]

Next, I took care of the landing light.  To keep things simple, I left it up in the wing.  One thing I did different from before is I placed a plastic ring around the hole I've drilled to designate the border of the housing for the lamp.  It's the same plastic tube used to fashion the intakes (I believe it's about 1/4 in.)  This was primed and painted Tamiya Flat Aluminum [XF-16].  the .5 mm Albion tube was used as the bulb unit and three tiny brass rods ( 0.10 mm I believe) were used as the arms to hold it in place. CA to put this together ...very carefully I might add.  This was matched up to the hole and glued in place with Tamiya Extra Thin Cement [Tamiya ETC].  The reflective housing was from thin Brass sheet.  I cut a tiny square of it and made a small cut on one side and tucked the sides together making the curved dome shape. CA to glue it.  The square shape was matched to the wing underside area and it was here that I made use of the kit's wing internal rib for strength to hold my brass sheet in place.  I made two quick notches into the rib and cut them away leaving just enough gap for my sheet to fit into.  Voila! =]

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

by brittvallot, on Flickr

Detail of Landing Light

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

I'll have a better view once this entire wing is complete.  It's sort of difficult to view it like this for now.  This is by far the best I've done for representing the reflective quality of the lamp housing and all without paint.  A clear acetate circle will be cut and used as the lens cover once everything is wrapped up.

That's it for now.  Next up will be mating the wings to the fuselage and building the flaps.

Looks very very good with every update.  I may need to pull one of these out again and have some fun.  

Joe

Well Baron, this is the second one I've done.  The first one didn't really give me any problems. This time around I do seem to think the bottom portion needs a little attention to keep it flush with the fuselage.  From what I'm hearing around the forum, it sounds as if this particular kit is being reproduced somewhat haphazardly.  I've already had a lot more flash and such on this kit as opposed to the first one.

I think it's still the best suited for the job for now, but it's definitely going to take some measure of scratch-building skills to do her justice. I think any modeler with a grasp of the bare necessities can take it on though.  As far as the kit part goes, I'm going take a play out of your book to deal with it.  Any gap or step that pokes its ugly head out is going to have to contend with the Milliput.  =]  In fact, the entire cowling area is getting a bath in that stuff.  It is certainly a miracle worker!! =]    

And thank you for suggesting it.

Your detailing is outstanding!

Do you find that the front edge of the fuselage doesn't quite fit to the nose piece, that is, it could use a spacer to push the sides out and make the join more flush?

Okay!  Lots to show here.  Finally! 

I finally got this pieced together here in order to move on with some sort of continuity. =]  This next part shows the outboard ribbing for the wheel well of the landing gear.  You'll note the cut-away that includes the space for the tire.  If you feel like skipping that part, I suppose you could since most of this will be largely unseen.  But if you're anything like me...it just has to be there.  I carefully cut out a section of the plastic and used to cut out to make as a guide for cutting the actual piece I'll be using.  It'll need to be a little bigger since we're curving and bending it.  For more help why just ask Euclid. ;)  Once I completed this part, I used this piece as a template and cut a second one for the other wing. (I'll continue to do this for all parts with two of something.)  Once this is glued in place [Tamiya EThin Cement], I laid out two strips of tape across parallel to each other to set up the opposite hub on the fuselage adjoining part. In the picture you can see where I temporarily glued a strip of plastic to know exactly where that fuselage part was going to line up with the lower portion of the wing. This will get covered so it's no worry. 

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

Once I've lined up my marks on the fuselage parts, I make my cuts to remove the space for the wheel just like before.  A somewhat larger piece is required here since there is a gap underneath where the fuselage will join with the wing.  So this part just needs to be left taller....sand to fit once it's all done.  =]  We'll fix the gap next. You may also notice a similar curved section missing on your wing join on the fuselage part just behind what was just modified.  It may be meant as the wheel hub or could just be the by product of some mold...in any case it will not be seen so it's of no consequence.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

The next part that makes up the back of the gear bay and joins the ribbing...it gets a little tricky.  When cutting the side that is inboard and matching up to the fuselage, you'll have to cut it at an angle to accommodate the wing dihedral otherwise this part will be bunched up and block you from effectively creating it.  I'll let the reader decide how precise he or she wants to go about finding it, but if you use the picture below as a guide you'll be in the right neighborhood. ;) Each kit will be a little different as some of us are finding out and you'll need to cut yours specific to "your" model.  A little sanding here and there and it'll be fine. =]

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here you can see everything closed up and begin to imagine what it'll all look like once completed.  The inboard scratched piece I have placed just behind the fuselage part.  I plan to putty this gap later.  If you're inclined to try to measure out the length and the slope it sits at to make this one seamless piece on its own...by all means. =]  I don't think it's worth the time or effort.  My answer is:  It's not a real plane that I will climb into and fly...so...putty.  =]

Below is the difference with and without the fuselage present.

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

That about takes care of gear bay for now.  All the cables and hoses and what not will come shortly before closing this up.  Before moving onto the upper wing, I began to dress up the landing gear itself since I'll be posing this one on the ground for a change.  I first sanded down the slight seam that appears and removed the poor attempt at the arm that brings it up into the bay.  I've elected to place the brake line in now so I can attach the little retaining clips and have them primed and painted all in one step and not bother with making a mistake painting them later.  Also, I wanted to dress up the joint of the torque scissors. I drilled a hole with the smallest drill bit for my pin vise set and passed some Albion tube through it.  Found the length I wanted and pulled it out to make my cuts with my exacto blade.  A tip on cutting these: push your blade across it a little at a time and rotate the tube.  This will help prevent you from pinching the ends down. Took my length of tube and CAed it into place carefully.  A few strips of Tamiya tape and some primer and I'm on my way to making a more believable landing gear. =D

Untitled by brittvallot, on Flickr

It seems that there is some variation in the P-36/P-40 family of landing gear.  I went with this scheme as it's the one I saw most.  The nubs on the bottom that are opposite of where the wheel inserts are cut off and drilled out.  An eyelet clip will replace them.  I'll find a photo to put up to help you picture this.

That's that for now.  Next up will be the upper surface of the gear bay and the gear bay doors. =]

Comments and questions guys...just ask.