1/48 Airfix P-40B AVG 1st Pursuit Squadron "Robert Neale" (FINISHED)

I know what you mean. I've been using Pb since '02 I think. Thousands of pictures I can't even access anymore. Pb is so badly broken and I'm wondering if anyone is doing anything about it. They've got to be losing massive amounts of revenue due to these problems And yet it's just getting worse.

Anyways, any yummy progress pictures to show us, Joe??

I haven't attempted to log-in in months. I'll give it a try later. Maybe it will let me log-in again.

Looking forward to your next installment with this one and the Hellcat, Joe. 

I need my eye candy fix for the day! Lol

Lawdog - Looking really nice.

The pit is pretty fine for a 1/48 kit, and you've done a great job on it - as well as with all the surface/seam cleanup.  Lookin good !

Chris

lawdog114

I'm back in the saddle with this turkey.  Maybe it's me, but this thing has been laughing at me a little.  I initially thought the nose inserts fit well.  I was wrong and had to sand flush, scribe and re-rivet them both. Perhaps it was operator error somehow, or maybe me being OCD.  The wing to fuselage joint was sort of lousy too.  Sand, scribe, repeat as needed, and its a curved line to complicate things.  I'm sort of scratching my head with the separate wing root fillets.  Alot can go wrong here and almost did.  The landing gear "knuckles" and nearby wingroot area (below) didnt fit well and needed putty.  Again, some of this may have been my doing but alot of it is certainly stupid design.

 

The prop two piece hub is somewhat dumb, so I grabbed a new ultracast replacement.  Perhaps this is why Ultracast made a new one?  Time to check seams.  I also drilled out the nose fifties (the wings will get Quickboost replacements as the kit's are atrocious).  

Not bad.  A few areas needed touched up.  Overall? Wow...it does look like a Hawk 81 to me.  I'm ready for paint.

I sprayed the white fuse band for the 1st Pursuit Squadron and taped it off.  AVG bound Tomahawks were done in American equivalent to the RAF colors of Dark Earth and Dark Green over....well.....some say the underside should be grey, others say sky.  I came up with my own mix of XF-19 Sky Grey and XF-2 Flat White.  I lightened the fabric control surfaces by adding more XF-2.  I then decided to mix some panel fading with streaking to experiment. I then went back with straight XF-19 and dusted it on, a reverse basing if you will.  After a postshading I was happy with the results.  I'll probably dirty it up more later.  

  Almost time for the camo....   

 

I can't believe I'm just now seeing this, but it's making my morning a lot less productive at work :)

Great job so far (and this is as far as I've gotten, so I'm looking forward to reading on after I post).

I didn't have any issues with the nose inserts, but I also installed them differently. I closed the fuselage halves and realized I'd forgotten the radiator, so I cut the tabs at the front of the intake area where they join the rest of the fuselage (and the inserts mate to), pried up the intake (thankfully soft plastic and it didn't break) and pushed the radiator into place. So that left me with a moveable fuselage piece at 12:00. I added the inserts one at a time and had no issues with fit on them.

As for the wing scallops, I added the before the fuselage was closed and only glued from the rear, which left them somewhat flexible. That allowed them to mate to the wings without any issues. I may have been lucky, and we will see when I build my next one, which will be a Tiger.

And yes, those knuckle pieces are the worst-fitting pieces of the kit.

-BD-

Thanks guys.  

Brandon, I'll try your method next time.  

I finally got some more paint work in. I started by spraying the upper surface Gunze Dark Earth.  I added some XF-2 Flat White and faded it a bit. I went even lighter for fabric control surfaces.

These originally had RAF Roundels (or at least spaces for them?) on the upper wings and I wanted to represent this.  I cut circles out of Tamiya using a circle template thusly.  This is the same way I paint RAF roundels.   

I used the profile in the instructions for R.T. Smith's #47 Hell's Angel's plane as a guide, as I was fairly certain they were all the same in regards to camo pattern.  I rolled up blue tac for feathered demarcation lines for I prefer a soft edge. I added XF-57 Buff to this and weathered this color as well.    

We are just about ready for decals. 

You've had quite the productive day, Joe. Can't say I'm upset about it either lol.

Fantastic! :D

Thats looking real sweet, be nice to see the markings on her.

You have made a great job painting this beautiful kit. I got the same box for Xmas and i was impressed of the new path in Airfix tooling, so i will follow with maximum attention!

bye

I finally sat down and finished this one.  It's the new tooled Airfix P-40B in the markings of leading AVG ace Robert Neale of the 1st pursuit group. Neale would be credited with 13 kills, to include 10 K-27 Nates.

This kit got PE lap belts and iron gun sights, an Ultracast prop and wheels, and I added Quickboost wing fifties (although thirties in reality).  The decals were a mix of Sky and the kit decals.  I also drilled out the exhausts and nose fifties.  

So what did I think of the kit?  It's by no means perfect.  Not unlike their Spitfire, I thought the landing gears were spindly and could have been done better.  The gear "knuckles" fit like st.  I also hated the cowl panel and wing fillet inserts which made zero sense.  They also forgot the iron gun sights which these variants need.  This said, It certain renders the Monogram and Hobbycaft B kits obsolete and I can't wait to build a Pearl Harbor version with this kit.........perhaps very soon!

Thanks for following...

Dang! Seems like I'm the one whose been hiding. You've been busy, huh?! Happy to see more of this kit. I guess I'll have to jump on one too some day. It looks like it's got some issues, but nothing that can't be fixed. =] 

Where'd you get the iron sights from? I've tried making my own before, but they're never quite as pretty.

Wow, you've taken a kit with some imperfections and turned it into perfection.  What s fantastic job!

Toshi

Just gorgeous. Looks very very nice.

BK

Someday I want to learn how to do an exterior finish like that. Beautiful model. As usual, you zoomed right through your difficulties.

Holy mackerel Lawdog! Another one!

That's just outstanding -

You need to get some sleep . Your having worked 20 hours a day on these projects will eventually lead to serious symptoms from lack of shuteye.

bvallot

Where'd you get the iron sights from? I've tried making my own before, but they're never quite as pretty.

 

Thanks bud.  Its a PE fret.  Eduard sells them.  It comes with all kinds on it.  

Excellent, Joe!

Thanks John

Lawdog, very nice piece of work on the P-40.  I especially like the circles where the British roundels were prior to conversion to the Chinese markings.  Just curious, where did you find that tidbit of info, as I've seen few pictures of the wing tops. 

John

Excellent work, LD.  You do such excellent work on all your builds.  I did find one little detail that is not quite right from looking at photos on CRAP though.  There is a photo of #7 and it shows that it did not have yellow tipped props.  Not all of the Tigers aircraft had yellow tipped props.  Sorry about mentioning it, as I have spent a lot of time this week on CRAP looking at several different types of aircraft.

Awesome job, the paint looks great!!

Joe Awesome

So what did I think of the kit?  It's by no means perfect.  Not unlike their Spitfire, I thought the landing gears were spindly and could have been done better.  The gear "knuckles" fit like st.  I also hated the cowl panel and wing fillet inserts which made zero sense.  They also forgot the iron gun sights which these variants need.  This said, It certain renders the Monogram and Hobbycaft B kits obsolete and I can't wait to build a Pearl Harbor version with this kit.........perhaps very soon!     

 

Yeah, there are some interesting assemblies, but despite those oddities the kit is still a gem in my opinion. Lol

You did a phenominal job on it, as you ALWAYS do. 

One question though. Do you have a drawer somewhere where you keep all these pilot figures? Lol! You never seem to run out of them lol.

richs26

I did find one little detail that is not quite right from looking at photos on CRAP though.  There is a photo of #7 and it shows that it did not have yellow tipped props.  Not all of the Tigers aircraft had yellow tipped props.  Sorry about mentioning it, as I have spent a lot of time this week on CRAP looking at several different types of aircraft.

 

No apology needed. Nice catch.  I couldn't find any pics of this plane, not that I would have caught that anyways. We'll say the prop was changed out by a bored crew chief.  I know some early hawks had NMF/black props too.

wolfhammer1

Just curious, where did you find that tidbit of info, as I've seen few pictures of the wing tops. 

John

 

Honestly I don't remember.  I believe one of my old Eagle Cal decal sheets explained it and suggested it be painted that way.  I've seen AVG planes that still had the RAF roundels which looked weird.  

M. Brindos

 

One question though. Do you have a drawer somewhere where you keep all these pilot figures? Lol! You never seem to run out of them lol.

 

It's actually a box..........lol.  Indeed I have a handful I use for photography.  I should paint up more but that's not really my area of expertise.