1/48 Airfix P-40B

The cockpit turned out great, especially the wear on the seats and floor. I have yet to attempt riveting - yours look straight and clean. Looking forward to the next installment!

Mike

Great work all round, really well done cockpit for stock! Fantastic hands on review of the build,  I have one of these in the stash waiting it's turn to be built and your description will come in handy.

OH Boy ! another P-40,my favorite.

I've been wanting to see how this Airfix kit plays out and I thank you for the WIP info. Your work is very good and doing justice to this fine kit as well.

Looking like a really great build. Love the finish on that cockpit

As others have commented, good work on the cockpit and I also appreciate the straight lines for your rivets!

When you cut up the IP decal did you use a sharp X-Acto knife or a small, sharp pair of scissors?

Thank you all very much for the kind words. 

It is a nice kit.  It doesn't fall together like a Tamiya offering.  It has more personality in that regard.  However, it's far from a bear.

I'm still enjoying my riveting.  Today I did the top of the wings, tail, and the left side of the fuselage.  The right side is all that's left.  Maybe I can get it done tomorrow.  Really, time flies when you get into riveting.  It hasn't been painfully tedius.  It's more tolerable than assembling a couple hundred pieces of track for a piece of armor.  I know my riveting isn't perfect, but I think it looks pretty darn OK.  I think it's a good feature to add to this one.  

20181006_234829 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

 20181006_234823 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

Cheers,

Chris

Looks great!  I need to get another P-40 kit, I built the Revell, but I can't say it turned out that great.  I'll consider the Airfix kit for the next one!

That looks fantastic! Nice work so far! So is Airfix like the new Revell now? I always assumed it was one of those cheap-o snap-tite kits. 

1943Mike

As others have commented, good work on the cockpit and I also appreciate the straight lines for your rivets!

When you cut up the IP decal did you use a sharp X-Acto knife or a small, sharp pair of scissors?

 

I used the old X-Acto knife.  It wasn't easy.  Those dial faces are close together.  

Keyda81

Looks great!  I need to get another P-40 kit, I built the Revell, but I can't say it turned out that great.  I'll consider the Airfix kit for the next one!

 

It's not too expensive.  I paid $30 at my local hobby shop, but it's probably less online.  

Airborne_Trooper11B

That looks fantastic! Nice work so far! So is Airfix like the new Revell now? I always assumed it was one of those cheap-o snap-tite kits. 

 

 

Apparently, you have to be careful.  Airfix's newer kits are pretty good, but their older kits aren't the best.  At least, that's what I've heard. 

I did hear that the Revell stuff was getting better before the HobbyCo bankrupcy.  I must be honest, my display case is filled with Academy, Tamiya, Trumpeter, Eduard, Hasegawa, Dragon, Italeri, and a couple of Monogram/Revell cars.  

ridleusmc

 

 

Airborne_Trooper11B

That looks fantastic! Nice work so far! So is Airfix like the new Revell now? I always assumed it was one of those cheap-o snap-tite kits. 

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently, you have to be careful.  Airfix's newer kits are pretty good, but their older kits aren't the best.  At least, that's what I've heard. 

I did hear that the Revell stuff was getting better before the HobbyCo bankrupcy.  I must be honest, my display case is filled with Academy, Tamiya, Trumpeter, Eduard, Hasegawa, Dragon, Italeri, and a couple of Monogram/Revell cars.  

 

Most of the stuff I've built is Revell/Monogram.  There are maybe half a dozen Italeri, a couple Hasegawa, half a dozen minicraft, and one Tamiya.  Most Revell kits really aren't that bad, I've even had a few "fall" together like Tamiya's. 

I grew up on original Airfix, Revell, Monogram, Frog, Airlines, etc. when I could walk up to the local Rexall Drug and pickup a kit for a buck. They were crude, really intended as toys to be flown and crashed until you had another buck burning a hole in your pocket. As time went on though, I started to perceive that some of those kits looked pretty good if I was more careful with assembly and actually put some paint on them, even the old Airfix with their pie plate rivets, movable control surfaces, and thick canopies looked good sitting on my shelves - then I needed more shelves as more got kept and fewer crashed. By the time I was in high school, the Airfix Stirling, SM-79, and Grief were the lusted after items that went on the Christmas list, and I was just discovering Heller and Italaeri.

Hasegawa and Tamiya set a new bar for quality, but also price. I'm so glad to see Airfix and Revell producing fine kits at reasonable prices. We need those if the hobby is going to continue to flourish.

I do have to mention a couple of the nice touches in this kit.  It comes with a nicely molded pilot figure, and it comes with the landing gear parts to model the plane in flight.  I won't be using these, but it's nice that they are in the kit. 

Also, it comes with two sets of tires.  One pair is weighted for a sitting display, and one pair is round for an in-flight display.  Additionally, the tires are molded as seperate parts from the wheel hubs.  That will make painting easy.    

Heh... Airfix has been banging out phenomenal kits in the last couple years. Old news here...

I like to write out my impressions of kits.  I like to read other people's impressions of kits.  It's helpful.  This one has some nice touches. I'm pleasantly suprised.     

Really like what you‘ve got there Chris. I’m gonna have to give it a try one day. 

Agre with you in order to attract new people as well as keep those in the hobby there has to be affordable kits. I think most of the people in this hobby are on a budget me included. I do have a couple $100 kits but there the exception  to my stash,  as well there has to be something said about building and learning how to overcome some of shortcomings of these less than stellar kits. Iam not going to say I enjoy all hurtles in some these kits but it teaches and the feeling of accomplishmeant when you get it right or what you perceive as right. most of us can point to a kit on the shelf that was a bear to build and may not be the sharpest looking but is one you are most proud of. 

I love your riveting details!  That really does add some depth to the kit detail.

As far as Airfix quality past and present goes, I'd be more solicitous than to say it used to be sub-par.  Rather, consider their previous kits as a product of their time.  Airfix produced an extensive catalog and they were pretty much the premier producer of 1/72 airplane kits.  It's not that they weren't good kits, but rather, our tastes have changed, and the demand for detail and quality has changed.  And yes, their new kits reflect our demands today.  This kit is an excellent example of the new Airfix standard.  Those of us who built the old kits as kids now look forward to seeing our favorite subjects get retooled and re-released today.

I look forward to seeing your progress on this build, and maybe some other of their new kits, too!

Best regards,

Brad

Nice work on it so far.  Ther rivits are a little more than I want to go on the one I have got a basic start on.

Keyda-  It can be had if you have a Hoby Lobby close by and the coupon for around $17-18 IIRC

Thank you everyone,

I've done some painting, pre-shading, and masking.  I decided not to prime.  I started with the underside color, XF-55 Deck tan.  Then I shaded panel lines, followed by more Deck Tan.  I'm happy with the underside, so I'll mask it off for the upper camouflage. 

20181016_182929 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr 

20181017_170546 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

20181021_165208 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

20181021_165220 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

20181021_165239 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

Thank you for looking,

Chris

Looking good.  I bought my first airfix kit (1/48 defiant) in years a couple months ago after reading so many good reviews of their new stuff.  Rivit detail looks great. Do you use a pounce wheel for that?

I applied the brown.  It's XF-52 Flat Earth.  I like the look of it.  I'll give it some green tomorrow or Tuesday.  

20181021_193543 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

20181021_193529 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

20181021_193524 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

20181021_193518 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

20181021_193513 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

keavdog

Looking good.  I bought my first airfix kit (1/48 defiant) in years a couple months ago after reading so many good reviews of their new stuff.  Rivit detail looks great. Do you use a pounce wheel for that?

 

Yes, it's a pounce wheel.  To be specific, it was a "Rosie the Riveter" 0.65mm single row.  I was suprised by how easy it was.  I just put down a strip of masking tape as a guide to follow.  Then I'd zip down the panel next to the tape.  Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy.  

Rory T

Agre with you in order to attract new people as well as keep those in the hobby there has to be affordable kits. I think most of the people in this hobby are on a budget me included. I do have a couple $100 kits but there the exception  to my stash,  as well there has to be something said about building and learning how to overcome some of shortcomings of these less than stellar kits. Iam not going to say I enjoy all hurtles in some these kits but it teaches and the feeling of accomplishmeant when you get it right or what you perceive as right. most of us can point to a kit on the shelf that was a bear to build and may not be the sharpest looking but is one you are most proud of. 

 

Several years ago I called Revell About a problem; ended up talking to someone about shake-bake kits verses the extra work required to put together the older kits. He called it modeling!

I got some green on it!

Honestly, the green doesn't look as faded and worn as the brown or the grey underside.  I may give it some post shading, or I may just let wash and weathering sort it out.  I blew the kit's painting instructions up to 250% and traced out much of the pattern onto Frisket Film.  I held down the edges of the film with Tamiya tape.  Removing the masking took some brown paint away near the left wing-tip, but that's easily fixed.  The underside is Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan.  The brown is XF-52 Flat Earth, and the green is XF-13 J.A. Green.  There are two spots on either side of the fuselage in Olive Drab (XF-62).  Those spots get a squadron marking decal. 

20181024_200506 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

20181024_200513 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr 

20181024_200520 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

20181024_200527 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr

Thanks for looking,

Chris

Looks great Chris.  Really nice seam work.  Colors looks good to me.  I airbrushed a MIG tint over my horrible KFir and it really blended the colors.  Just a thought. 

Great work Chris, very impressive.

Damian