A tale of two P-40B and P-40E -- COMPLETED !!!!!

Oh, I see. No I haven't drilled the glass yet. I can do that still. Thanks.

BK

No the caps are raised and the kit got that right. what you are seeing in that picture is the holes in the plexiglass so they can be accessed. 

What I'm asking is if you've drilled the holes in the kit glass. They used to be there but they're not there anymore.

My kit has those two raised in detail. I haven't put the port side on yet. I was just gonna put a decal over them and call it done, but those appear recessed rather than raised. Which begs the question, now that the kit is closed up how might I recess those?

BK

Yeah that was my plan. If it works for you as planned then I'll be doing the same. The acetate idea has me thinking of building frames to get the curvature correct.

Did you remember to drill out the access holes for the fuel and glycol ports? I remember them already being there when I built this kit as a kid, but both modern releases I've dealt with didn't have them.

-Mike B

Thats a pretty good idea. I may give that a shot if the kit parts don't pan out. What I've done is bevel the inside edges and that lets them sink into the fuselage and flush mount. I've glued them in with Gorilla epoxy which is crazy clear when dry and filled the edges with Tamiya putty and sanded smooth. I've masked over the mask to protect the mask and not scratch the parts. So far so good. I'll know if this is gonna work this weekend when I can shoot some primer over the area. Thanks for all the tips.

BK

M. Brindos

That's a good idea as well. It could be difficult to get the slight curvature to them, but that might be the answer for me as well. 

Thanks!

 

You are welcome. Experiment first by making patterns out of paper or thin plastic sheet till you get a perfect fit then transfer the outline on to the acetate. Using thin plastic sheet lets you fine tune it by lightly sanding the outline for a good fit.  I like to use Aleenes on something like this because it dries invisible and will not leave any signs unlike CPC from Testors that you can actually see it if a little gets on where you don't want it to be.

That's a good idea as well. It could be difficult to get the slight curvature to them, but that might be the answer for me as well. 

Thanks!

Bk

regarding the windows, thin clear acetate cut to fit the opening and glued on with either Aleenes or Clear Parts Cement. I had a similar issue with another model a while back and it worked out fine.

My idea for the rear windows is to mask them first and set them with Vallejo clear gloss. Then putty the edges after the gloss dries nice and solid. 

I may have to make two sets of masks after I sand around the first set.

I'm hoping that will work. Same strategy I plan on using for the windscreen.

Maybe that can spark up an idea for you? :)

Great attention to detail and craftsmanship.

Like so many others above, I really like the cockpit.

I'm quite happy with the -E and I am progreessing toward the finish line with it. The -C is another story. I am not at all happy with the windscreen fit so I'm gonna have to reevaluate how I attack that, it has to be redone. The canopy I totally missed and so I will be borrowing the idea from M.Brindos and remove the canpoy part on the fuselage and add it to the sliding canopy so it looks correct as well. And then there is the windows in the cutouts. In the photos I'm looking at those are flush mount to the fuselage with NO gaps. So, that too needs fixed and I don't know how I'm gonna do it.

Well, all I can do is press on. With this much time invested I don't want to cut any corners now. What's few hundred more hours between friends?

BK

Outstanding BK, simply outstanding.

Well, I've hit a milestone. The -B has been smoothed till I can't stand it and the gaps have been closed up. I took it to the booth today and hit it with a layer of Tamiya grey primer. Now the hunt for problem spots, a good sanding with 3K grit and black basing. I may be able to have it in paint this weekend. 

BK

M. Brindos

What type of masking did you use for the camo?

I use Silly Putty. I find it works perfect and doesn't damage the paint.

BK

I really like the way the underside turned out with the black basing. What type of masking did you use for the camo? I really like the way you toned down the colors for the naturally faded effect. That's something I was thinking of with my Airfix P-40. But I will start with the base colors and lighten them as I go As I like the way it looks. 

This is really looking good BK. I am eagerly awaiting to see more soon.  :)

Ok, so I finally managed to get the -E to the paint stage. I decided on this one that I would try the black base technique. I have to say I really like it and it is way easier than I thought it would be. And best of all, it uses far less paint overall. Win-Win.

I also wanted to fade the paint a bit from the callouts which were Dark Earth and Dark Green. So, I used iModelkit to match up two RLM colors that are about 15% lighter than the callouts but a really good match for tone. I sprayed the underside in Neutral grey and the uppers in RLM 79 and 83 from Mr Color paints. I think the lighter tone hit the mark for what I was looking for. It's hard to see in the shots, but the lights and darks of the base just barely show through in the paint. The eye can see it, the camera doesn't catch it so much.

This kit is nearly ready for decals. The -C has some body work left and then primer. Whew, the end is in sight.

BK

I know what you're talking about. I avoided the cowl flaps on my build, but the canopy/Windscreen is still a step I am totally dreading. 

I know what has to be done, but it's just a tricky problem. I finally put some more work into my P-36 which I've been really putting off for that very reason You mention.

The fit of the parts is so awefull and its causing me a lot of trouble with putty and sanding. Lots of time being spent on corrections. Its still never going to be a show stopper. Too many things off about it And I'm not up for putting that much effort into correcting everything. A better kit is just a far better option, y'know?

The Monovell is worth it Though.  :)

Mr Brindos, I have really dreaded this part. But now that it's done I can move on with completion. There have been parts of this build that I just lost sleep over how to correct them and this was no exception. Thanks for looking.

BK

Thanks Toshi.

What a fantastic job you're doing on this build!

Toshi

Looks better than mine. :)

I've stuck with kit flaps, but sanded them down to make them appear thinner.

Since I've been busy at work I've made so very little progress on mine.

Seeing the progress you've made on yours brings a big smile to my face. It looks fabulous so far.  :D

I'm making slow progress on the -B. I attached the wings to the fuselage and closed the gap in the wing roots by widening the lower fuselage with a wedge shim that runs from the wing roots to the tail wheel. It closed the gaps perfectly, so I'm really happy with that.

I also decided to close the radiator flaps instead of showing them open for two reasons. One, I didn't like the look of the exit ducts I had made and I also decided to make a scratch built PE set of radiator flaps. I used scrap material from an old PE fret and measured and cut, shaped and glued what turned out to be 5 pieces together to make a set of better looking flaps. They fit really well and I think really help the look of the kit underneath. The kit parts is really dull and heavy. It just neve looked right. So, I used photos from my walk around book and scratched them up.

Now on to the tail.

BK

I had to raise mine up a mm to get it to match the slider. Now there is a large gap I have to fill in.  If I didn't raise it it would've looked funny. Lol

at least I don't have to rebuild the frames like I did on my Spitfire! 

M. Brindos

I've got the same issue with mine, Brandon. I'm going to fill with styrene strips before I putty, but I've got the same problem. It is a bit wide at the base of the windscreen. I don't remember that being a problem before. 

 

BK

I've got the same issue with mine, Brandon. I'm going to fill with styrene strips before I putty, but I've got the same problem. It is a bit wide at the base of the windscreen. I don't remember that being a problem before. 

Okay, so just a quick update. The windscreen is on, but it has a huge step to the fuselage and should not have any step at all. I tried to make two different types of windscreen fit better, but the kit part was the easiest to set down and now I have to work the filler in and make it all smooth. UGH!! I really dislike working with filler at the windscreen, it's a HUGE  PITA. But, the results will be worth the extra hours of work.

BK