Not a total lost weekend here. I did manage to add the rudder, stabilizers, and tail wheel bay to the fuselage. Fit of all of those was good. Still have not gotten to any of the filling/sanding. Want to join wings to fuselage before that.

Added the stick and the instrument panel decal to the wing/cockpit section. Also started to do some other miscellaneous work. I primered the spinner and backing plate, plus the prop with white. I then painted the prop with a couple coats of Humbrol 24 trainer yellow. Now to mask off the tips and get the black on. Humbrol 60 scarlet did not cover as well, and is probably too light. Back to the paint locker for the spinner, it seems.

I needed to do the pilot, as past experience has been they have been difficult to fit once everything is all assembled. So I whipped up the result in the picture. I am not a master figure painter by any means, but it should be adequate under a closed canopy. And I realize the life vest is pretty unlikely in the desert! Maybe our pilot here flies over the Med a lot, or is just afraid of water It is very much a typical Airfix pilot, right down to the hands clasped protecting the family jewels, and not really appropriate for the desert theatre. But again, under a closed canopy, it should be adequate.

Probably all for this weekend, as it is back to work soon. Hope to have it together and filled, ready for paint next weekend. Hope everyone else's projects are going well!

Thanks for the comments all.  My week vacation from work culminated last night in a nice relaxing painting session...of course after miscellanous home repairs and putting up my 5 year old daughter's new swingset (BTW...harder than any model I've ever built), which was a 5 day affair.  Anyways, I continue to experiment with Olive Drab shades.  On this one, which will be an 80th FG bird, I am going for a faded brownish hue. I started with standard Tamiya Olive Drab then added Khaki Drab until it took on the faded brownish-green color I was going for.  Once applied, I lightened this color with straight Khaki and streaked the finish with a technique I developed on accident a few years ago.  I tend to overdo it at this stage because the clear coat, decal, wash, and final dullcoat seem to tone it down considerably and render it "just" noticeable on completion.  The control surfaces were then sprayed a different variation of the shade.  Its been brought to my attention that fabric control surfaces don't fade faster than the rest.  With this information, I have since decided to just "change" it from the rest of the plane by adding more Khaki.  To my eye, OD over NG planes tend to be overly monochromatic and I like to look for ways to break this up and add interest.  To me, this is done effectively with the control surfces.  Heres the results...

Joe        

pssst.. for you OD over NG gray fellas.. ck this out..

I took this yesterday... :550:0]

:550:0]

[yours truly in this pic... lol     :550:0]

they also had a Corsair, P-51K, and a B-25 Gunship... got to meet to vets who were pilots.. one was a Corsair pilot,, Marine detachment on Okinawa.. and a B-25 driver.. shook their hands..

James: Nice work there! I too have wondered about the pose of pilots including I think more companies than Airfix of having him with his hands folded in his lap like taking a nap in the cockpit.

Joe: Great work on the streaking! Love the different shade on the control surfaces, I don't know if its right either but it sure looks good!

P-38: Super photos! Looks like you had a great time, I love air-shows!

i got a few more of the P-40.. and some of the other craft... if anymore peeps speak up.. I'll throw em in here..

Joe - excellent shading work! I'm tempted to say it looks a bit too pronounced, but in my experience subsequent weathering and clear coats and such always tends to knock down the contrast anyway.

Had a ton of spray work to do on the B-25 last night - dozens of exhaust bits, cowl flaps and frames, gear struts...but also found time to take a deep breath and start hacking into the P-40.

I would like to thank Dymo tape and my MDC razor saw for pulling this off cleanly, if not exactly easily.

I'm also now somewhat concerned as to how I'm going to get everything properly aligned up front. There's some warpage in my kit somewhere, and without that big ol' cowl to wrangle things into position, it could be interesting.

Of course, I still have a ways to go before that becomes an actual concern-needing-solution.

Question:

I've got my kit on the bench, an HSG 1/48 P-40E (see in above post).  I bought the True Details P-40 diamond-tread tires, as I want to use some resin, however little, to see what that's like.  I also bought the Eduard canopy mask, as I am still not too good with those and want my P-40 to turn out nice for this GB.  I have some Eduard WWII USAAC and USN seat belts as well, and will use one of those in the build.  I will agree with some of your comments that the gun sight in front of the canopy is a little weak as it comes from the kit, but I'm not interested in the full Eduard cockpit PE. 

My question is:  Is there a PE fret for sale out there with just gunsights of the type?

Thanks for any help.

Matt: You might try getting some head-on photos or plan drawings and try to figure it out from there.

Ordie: Afraid I don't know of one, not sure how many aircraft had the old style sights in addition to the reflector ones. Hans would probably know.

Thanks, I'll ask him.  I was hoping for a fret full of optical sights, I guess, like you can get a fret full of seatbelts.  Not high hope, but hope ...  though, now that you mention it, I don't know what I'd do with the extras, LOL.  If I have to live with the kit sight, I can ... I guess ... if I have to... I guess ...

Thanks again!

Producing gunsights might be an idea for one of the companies out there that can work with clear resin and etched brass, perhaps.

As far as the wing dihedral angle on the P-40, I could not find any actual measurements of it. Using the 5 view plans in Detail & Scale, a very old protractor, and eyeball Mk.1, it looked to me to be about 6/7 degrees.

Got most of the major components stuck on, and took this picture before I started hitting my mistakes with putty and Mr. Surfacer. Still haven't decided how to tackle the poor wing root fit yet, though. In case anyone is wondering, the pilot did not fit very well into his seat, or the cockpit in general. Had to adjust the instrument panel to get everything more or less happy. 

MJames - looks great!

That's the same putty I use, have you used any others? How does it compare?

Here was my Airfix P-40.

Old Ordie

Thanks, I'll ask him.  I was hoping for a fret full of optical sights, I guess, like you can get a fret full of seatbelts.  Not high hope, but hope ...  though, now that you mention it, I don't know what I'd do with the extras, LOL.  If I have to live with the kit sight, I can ... I guess ... if I have to... I guess ...

Thanks again!

You talking about "Ring and Bead" open sights?  If so, I'lll be honest and tell ya that I ripped off the .50-cal ring-sights from the ProModeler B-24D and B-17G kits, since the diorams for both of those are of aircraft that have had the guns removed (One of a crash-site recovery team getting the gear down on bellied-in Fort, the other is a B-24 Assembly-Ship dio)...

However, all is not lost if you find some styrene or metal tubing, or my personal fav, Q-tip tubing (also the esaiest to slice).. You just "salami-slice" piece of the tube off, then creat the cross-hairs with your own hair.. A dad of paint, lay the hairs across the ring and then, when dry, trim the hair off the outside.. You can also use finely-stretched sprue for the toss-hairs...

OR: Get the molded-on cross-hairs offa the kit-sight, and add the scaled down cross-hairs to it..

MJames70

 Still haven't decided how to tackle the poor wing root fit yet, though. 

You could try using some styrene rod as a spreader inside the fuselage. Seems to be the most elegant solution for the Hasegawa kits, and I imagine it'd work the same here...

DoogsATX

MJames70:

 Still haven't decided how to tackle the poor wing root fit yet, though. 

 

You could try using some styrene rod as a spreader inside the fuselage. Seems to be the most elegant solution for the Hasegawa kits, and I imagine it'd work the same here...

If the wings are at a dihedral you're happy with, it looks like a job for some stretched sprue filler & liquid cement, followed-up with some wet-sanding..

Hans von Hammer

You talking about "Ring and Bead" open sights?  If so, I'lll be honest and tell ya that I ripped off the .50-cal ring-sights from the ProModeler B-24D and B-17G kits, since the diorams for both of those are of aircraft that have had the guns removed (One of a crash-site recovery team getting the gear down on bellied-in Fort, the other is a B-24 Assembly-Ship dio)...

However, all is not lost if you find some styrene or metal tubing, or my personal fav, Q-tip tubing (also the esaiest to slice).. You just "salami-slice" piece of the tube off, then creat the cross-hairs with your own hair.. A dad of paint, lay the hairs across the ring and then, when dry, trim the hair off the outside.. You can also use finely-stretched sprue for the toss-hairs...

OR: Get the molded-on cross-hairs offa the kit-sight, and add the scaled down cross-hairs to it..

Yep, the ring 'n bead.  Thanks for the suggestions!  Think I'll try the q-tip deal, and/or the replacing of the molded hairs with my own ... were they grey? (LOL).

Yep, the ring 'n bead.  Thanks for the suggestions!  Think I'll try the q-tip deal, and/or the replacing of the molded hairs with my own ... were they grey?

Lol.. Call it "Steel-colored", lol..

Anyway..

This's the flip-down sight on the aircraft .50 cal flex-mount... 

But, here's the P-40E ring-sight, which is probably not much different than the B/C's..

Well, my two cents would be to fill the larger gaps with sheet plastic and/or sprue as has been suggested. Then if you have any Mister Surfacer you can lay it over the remaining gap, wait about ten minutes or so and then rub a cotton swab moistened with lacquer thinner over it and it will remove the excess Mister Surfacer without affecting any of the surrounding detail- no muss, no fuss.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the advice. I had considered the 'spreader bar' approach, but the opening is pretty small and the Airfix plastic is pretty thick and rigid. I have several bags of Plastruct styrene rod of different sizes; probably lay an appropriate size one in the gap, melt it in, and go from there.

Depending on mood and how lazy I am feeling, I have used Squadron green/white putties, Mr. Surfacer, and super glue as fillers. Squadron works okay when fresh, but tends to flake away if you have to scribe a line over a putty filled area. Super glue works better in that situation, but you don't have long before it becomes rock hard. I've found Mr. Surfacer good for small blemishes and such, but it 'sinks' a lot for general filling. Good though for reducing the size of panel lines, like on the Airfix P-40. There is no step where the lower intakes join the fuselage piece. It is right on a panel line, and Mr. Surfacer was perfect for blending in the slightly 'off' fit that left a little too big gap.

I've got a few days to think it over. It is the week for an infusion I have to have every 4 weeks, for 4 days. That and trying to get to work will keep things busy until next weekend. Hope everyone else is making good progress!

I have several bags of Plastruct styrene rod of different sizes; probably lay an appropriate size one in the gap, melt it in, and go from there.

Stretched-sprue's free.. Plus you can make it thinner than Plastruct or Evergreen rod.. IIRC, Plastruct is ABS, not polystyyrene, so you may have a hard time melting it, unless you're using Weld-On or straight MEK or something equally hot.. Be careful with it on the wings..  You might lose some of it, lol.

Hans von Hammer

 

Stretched-sprue's free.. Plus you can make it thinner than Plastruct or Evergreen rod.. IIRC, Plastruct is ABS, not polystyyrene, so you may have a hard time melting it, unless you're using Weld-On or straight MEK or something equally hot.. Be careful with it on the wings..  You might lose some of it, lol.

Thanks for the tip...don't know for how long, but several years Plastruct has offered regular styrene. One of my somehow still open local shops has the "Styrene Super Center' pictured on their homepage http://www.plastruct.com/

If anyone should need a cement for ABS plastic, Tamiya Extra Thin works also....but not the regular Tamiya Cement.

Hello all, its been a while since a post.  I've been busy with other family/summer time things.  Over the last few nights, I did manage to make some progress on my P-40.  I did get her decaled and the panel lines washed.  I used Sky Decals and they went on beautifully.  I must say, I've used several of these for various projects over the years and I have never had a problem.  I anticipated a problem with the skulls, but they snuggled right down under Micro Sol.  Since I can never get the wash to stay in panel lines that pass through decals, like the skull or insignias, theres a little trick I have discovered.   I use a VERY sharp #2 pencil and draw these in.  This also helps push the decal deep into the line, so you can go back with a wash on top of the pencil if so desired.  I find the graphite color is fine and works for me.   The lines were washed with Windsor Newton acrylics in the Payne's Grey range and a dullcoat of Testors to seal it all.  I just have to finish the final assembly and it should be finished soon.  Heres were I'm at.

Sorry I havn't had any updates recently.  We had a little accident here a week and half ago in which our  35x45 ft shed decided to relocate during a storm and my mind was taken off modeling.  A funnel cloud picked it up out of the ground and cartwheeled it 30 yards into our front yard.  We lost 3 cars that were parked in the driveway, yet nothing inside the shed was even scratched.  Thankfully it only clipped a small portion of the house.  We were the only ones in the area with any damage so the news crews were out all day and more people than usual drove by just to look.

Insurance took care of the cleanup and everything, but it still took us a bit to get over the initial shock because we were all still sleeping when it happened.

So now that I'm "back in the mood" I should have some pics sometime this week.  I got the wings on and am working on rescribing the fuselage.  The right wing root had a perfect fit but the left one had a sizable gap that I'm working on now, too.

*duplicate*

Matt: Gee that looks horrible! Glad to see no one was hurt but what a mess!

Lawdog: Love it!!! The skull did come out great and a nice change from a shark mouth. If I saw something like that coming at me I think I'd surrender right then and there!

First of all, Redraider, I'm terribly sorry to see what happened to your home.  I'm glad you and your family are ok. 

Well, I think I'm finished with my P-40N, which I wrapped up last night.  I built it in the markings of the 80th FG 89th FS, also known as the "Burma Banshees".  They were assigned to protect "the hump" supply operations over the high Himalayas from Japanese fighter attacks.  The 80FG is one of the lesser known units and didn't spawn many aces that I am aware of, but needless to say, they were just as important as the others.  Besides, the skulls are bad .  To recap, the Hasegawa kit was nicely detailed but challenging with all the inserts and plugs.  Its certainly not their best engineered kit by any means, but obviously not unbuildable either.  I built it pretty much out of the box except for the decals and the seat belts.  Heres the finished product and thanks for looking.

Joe

Amazingly good P-40 and base, Joe. I love the weathering. I might try a few of your techniques, I think.

I think the 'skull' markings might have been featured in the old Matchbox 1/72 kit, which I built eons ago.

I built the Hasegawa P-40E in desert markings a awhile back, I concur with your findings, I think they tried to squeeze to many variants out of one set of molds. Whilst its inconvenient, at least they're available I suppose.

Red Baron - I'll sign up with a TBD. I've got another Hasegawa 1/48 in the stash, but I'm thinking 1/72 at the moment.

Cheers

Tony

Congrats to Joe on being first to finish, and an impressive job, too! And yes, the old Matchbox P-40N I looked at a few pages back did have a 'skull' option. 'Miss Frances III' also had a pic in the old 1970s Squadron P-40 in Action title.

I filled my nasty wing root gaps with some 0.3mm Plastruct styrene rod and wrestled it into okay condition. Then moved off to painting Model Master Azure Blue, and Middlestone. Made a hash of that, though. Wasn't paying enough attention and got a sloppy spot, and managed to touch a wet spot and left a nice print :(. So had to let it dry and sand, try again.

This is the result. Sorry for the bad pic; my camera seems to want to focus on everything but the subject! Off to the Dark Earth to finish the camo up....

Joe: Looks great!!! If I may nitpick you might take some dirt colour pigments and work a little around on the gear, drop tank, and tail.

James: Coming along great!!! I have to concur- the stupid tail plug on the Hasegawa kit is really annoying, I'm sanding on it now.