EXCELLENT!!  :D

I am very happy to see you continue this double build! :D

Just a quick update. I've pulled these off the "I need a break" shelf and have begun to work on getting these two kits completed. Today I finally began to install the windscreens and get the wings ready for final mounting. I'll be posting some more pics soon.

Special thanks to MrBrindos for motivating me to get back on these two turkeys.

BK

Looking great, Brandon. And I'm glad you have beensharing this - it made me realize I should paint my seat aluminum instead of interior green. What's annoying is I used the same Eduard set you've got, so it was already bare metal to begin with before I primed and painted it!

-BD-

What a crisp and clear looking cockpit...it looks fantastic.

Beautiful cockpit and the rest ain't bad either! 

Excellent! Just excellent! :D

Well, the progress continues. I have the offices closed and they look better than they did when I started. Most notibly the -B pit is fantastic compared to the Monogram kit parts. It is now correct for a -B and well detailed. The -E only received some PE upgrades but the seat really sets it off, I think anyway.

I have the two halves of both fuselages now joined and the body work on both kits will begin. The -B needs a great deal of love and the -E needs a suprising amount as well. Im not very happy with Hasegawa on the fit of the upper cowl on this kit; perhaps I just have a bad mold. The Monogram kit is so bad it's really not even funny. I know lots of folks have built this into a really nice plane, but my particular kit is a real piece of crap, top to bottom. I won't bother building another one, it's just not worth it. There are better kits coming. But, I shall press on with this one anyway.

Oh, and I also installed my UltraCast resin exhaust manifolds and pitched the kit parts in the garbage. They look really good.

I also added the nose piece with the air cooling intake ducting and screens along with the radiators, also with screens. They look far better in place than the open area the kit comes with. I still have some detail painting to do, but you get the idea. I am pretty happy with how this come out.

I thought long and hard about how I wanted to address the tail wheel and thinking I am building this as a fairly new plane that has seen little use, before the attack on PH, I decided to go with a tail wheel that included the canvess cover. I also found this way would lessen my work and I wouldn't commit myself to an institution for attempting the fine work Britt did on his. So, I cheated a bit and added some tissue soaked in white glue to make up the canvess and then used tubing and aluminum strip to reconstruct the gear. In using this method I have also made it possible to pivot the tail wheel as it slips inside of the brass tube. Once I paint this all up and install it I think it will look pretty decent. Certainly better than the kit parts.

That's pretty much it for now. I have a great deal of filling and sanding ahead of me, but I've made great progress lately, so I am pleased. 
Thanks for following me on my insane build. I need all the support I can get.

BK

Amazing what you have done with that old kit.  Always good to see some AVG stuff.

richs26

Brandon, here is more references:

http://www.boxartden.com/gallery/index.php/Profiles/Detail-Scale/61-Curtiss-P-40

 

BK

Brandon - great looking builds. I just started the Hasegawa kit you've got, and I'm going with Aleutian Tigers markings for mine. Thanks for sharing the pics - those references help.

As for the -B, I admire your grit taking on the Monogram kit. I remember building it as a kid, and it's definitely got the right lines, but I feel spoiled with the newer kits and didn't want to go to that one, even though I REALLY want an AVG Warhawk. I'm waiting on Airfix's 1/48 kit and hoping for the best, but I'm guessing it may behard to find initially. You are certainly doing that older kit proud, and it'll probably be hard to tell you didn't build a newer kit when you're done with it.

-BD-

Brandon, here is more references:

http://www.boxartden.com/gallery/index.php/Profiles/Detail-Scale/61-Curtiss-P-40

BrandonK

Thanks for this. I felt like there just wasn't much going on in the pit of the B and painted it up as best I could from the limited B references. 

BK

 

Brandon, I realize this may be a little late in regards to your cockpit for the -B, but Squadron makes a very detailed Walkaround for the P-40B. I saw it the other day at my LHS. The one I used is from Classic Warships. Here's a link: 

http://www.classicwarships.com/aircraft_pictorial/aircraft_pictorial.html

Prices for $18 if it's worth it to you.

Both booklets offer quite a few detailed views at all parts of the aircraft as well as changes made throughout its early development. You'll note weathering patterns on many of the photos also. =]  Hope it's of use.

Your PE seat is fantastic! Definitely worth doing. I may have to jump on one of those next time I do one. =] Great cockpits. Your painting has improved quite a bit. Looking forward to the rest.

Brandon,

This is kit building at its finest. I'm so grateful to be able to see how you detail, modify, add/subtract to and from a kit. It's really inspirational.

Thanks for the thoroughly enjoyable WIP and the invaluable learning experience.

That's because it used to be a P-36 lol.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I am still rather taken aback by the sparseness of the P-40's pit as compared to other fighters like the Corsair, which has much more in terms of bits and thingys scattered about. The P-40 is pretty bare bones.

Thanks again,

BK

richs26

Excellent job on both Hawks.  Compare your cockpit with that of the US Naval Aviation Museum's "restored, not preserved" P-40B here if you haven't seen it already.  It originally came from Russia.

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/nnam/virtualtour/?s=pano701

Yours is very well done.  Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks again for the source.

BK

Brandon,

. . . uh . . . 

Holy Crap that's awesome !  (please pardon my language)

Chris

Excellent job on both Hawks.  Compare your cockpit with that of the US Naval Aviation Museum's "restored, not preserved" P-40B here if you haven't seen it already.  It originally came from Russia.

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/nnam/virtualtour/?s=pano701

Yours is very well done.  Keep up the good work.

Beautiful work, Brandon. I'm not sure which one I like better yet. Both of those pits look great.

Alrighty then ! I've completed most of the work on the pits for the B and E models. I loosely tossed them together for the photos, more assembly is still to come. The B received a full "Legends" resin pit and was painted according to what references I could find for a B, not that many B pits available, most were E's.

The E model got the kit pit and some PE to spice it up. You can see the PE seat versus the kit seat. Big difference.! I went ahead and soldered the seat up and then used CA for the belts. The seat was much easier to work with after making it one with the solder gun. I am very happy with how it came out. 

Now that I have both pits ready for the two halves to be closed up I will turn my attention to the tail wheel on the B model and rig something up. I really want that kit to appear new just before Pearl Harbor, so I will attempt to put the canvas bag on it with a complete rebuild of the wheel and mount. This should be interesting.

Thanks for stopping by.

BK

The B...

And the E...

Somehow this one slipped by me but I'm glad I saw your post BK. To put it in the words of that famous attorney Vinnie Gambini, you took me back to my yute with this old Monogram P-40. Amazing attention to details and scratch work! Looks fantstic BK.

I suspect it will to, Shipwreck. lol

I can see you adding something like a small motor to this thing to make the prop spin and then we'll all be sitting with our lower jaws sitting at our desks gathering flies.

Incredible work!

Brandon, I am enjoying following your build. Especially so because the Revell P-40 was the first kit I built on my return to the hobby. I am satisfied with the results; but it comes no where near to the detail which you are putting into your P-40. I expect yours will fly!

OH MY WORD that's amazing scratch building.  To even figure out how to do it befudles me.

Nice job on shaping those intakes. =] I think it makes all the difference on the P-40B. That kit part is just not cutting it on it's own. You've done a real good job with bringing all these lines to scale especially with the carb intake...nice and thin! The first thing I do is look inside rad intakes on my -B. It feels so good to see that kit part vindicated. =D

Okay, so now the air intake ducting is complete. And believe me boys, that was a HUGE PITA. But, I think it really helps the nose of this bird tons. When it's all painted it will look great.

BK

Now that is an example to follow! Wow! I've never thought of doing that with this kit. 0.o