Little update: Those who are building the 1/48 Hasegawa P-40N please heed my warnings...the notorious "Hasegawa Plugs" are a really pain in the a on this kit.  It wouldn't be so bad if they actually fell on panel lines or even somewhat fit.  I had steps on pretty much all of them and the panel lines on the tail section don't meet very well .  I had to match up these panel lines and then use a strip of styrene to fill the resulting gap on the bottom of the fuselage.  Furthermore, no matter how much sanding I did around the machine guns (it appears those panel lines are not supposed to be there), I could not get the "shadow" of the line to disappear.  I'm hoping it goes away after its primed and painted.  Oh well, I suppose we need a challenging kit everyone in a while to keep us honest.  There were times I was having Monogram P-61 flashbacks during all the sanding.  On a positive note, the detail on this kit is fantastic as was the the fit of the wing to fuselage.  Here's where I'm at now. 

Joe

Joe - that cockpit looks fantastic! I've been doing some similar stuff with exterior painting of late...but need to turn it back to the cockpit work as well.

Bit behind on my P-40F...now that the B-25 is officially swarming all of both of my benches!

lawdog114,

Nice.  I'm putting that metallic silver Sharpie thing in the repertoire immediately ... (and probably the rest of it, eventually ).

Gamera

 

Well the cockpit should be painted as Lawdog did his, mostly USAAF interior green/green zinc chromate. And I think the well wheels should be painted the same. Most of the exterior paint I believe was taken from RAF stocks so it should match those more or less.

I'm sure some of the websites the RRB listed go into more about what colour everything should be painted.

Hello, thanks for all the positive feedback.  To answer Red Baron and Ninetails questions, I will walk you through "MY" process which I have pretty much standardized and hopefully you can adapt some of the techniques that work for you:

First I prime the cockpit pieces in flat black (I use Tamiya Acrylics which I seem to have good control with). Then spray the base color at low pressure and sort of fill it in slowly to create shadows in the crevices (there is no rush here).  I then tape off the boxes and such then spray them NATO black or something similar.  This can be tedious but I like the results.  I then use a metallic silver Sharpie and hit the little knobs and dials.  I find this easier than using a brush and it works on seat belt buckles too.  Some of these knobs are then picked out with Tamiya Flat Red and Yellow with a toothpick to add interest.  This is followed by a drybrush of "Enamel" Dark Grey on the boxes (any Model Master dark grey will work).  Once done, I shoot it with a coat of Testors Gloss Coat to cure overnight.  (NOTE:  I used to use Future for this, but for some reason their "new" formula sucks and won't cure for me.)  Its then washed with "The Detailer" which is a pre-made water soluable wash that I recently discovered.  I love it.  After a few hours, you can remove the excess with a damp paint brush.  Once I have the wash were I want it, its sealed with a dull coat (I use Testors Dull for this).  I then go back over the raised details, such as the seat corners, floor and rudder pedals, with a silver drybrush to simulate wear (I use Model Masters Chrome Silver or Floquil Old Silver).  Once done with all of this, use a very thin mix of Tamiya Red Brown and Nato Black and hit all the raised areas and crevices to add that extra dimension.  These are some other examples:

Reference the interior color on the P-40.  I was actually going for "Bronze green" in lieu of US interior green.  I read somewhere that Curtiss built P-40 birds had their cockpits painted in this color...of course I could be wrong.  Anyways, I used Tamiya Olive Green almost straight up with a wee bit Yellow green mixed in.  I will probably paint the ducting and wheel wells Tamiya Yellow Green or some variation of it. 

I hope some of this helps,

 Joe

I might go a little lighter than the RLM gray. The underside gray on the AVG P-40s was based on Dupont 'equivalents' to RAF colors. There was no match for the usual 'Sky' underside in the Dupont lineup, though, so a light gray was substituted. For the topside I might try Tamiya XF13 IJA Green and XF52 Earth. XF19 Sky Grey maybe? 

Thanks i found a close color Tamiya (my main supplier) RLM Grey it seems to match from the pic here is a pic of an example.

 this one is slightly darker then my pics.

Frightful6_7

I figured most of the colors based on the previous planes i have done from this era but if anyone knows what the green color on this plane's camo would be please tell. that is the one color i was wondering about.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here guys? But I believe it should be painted RAF topside green since these were painted with stocks of paint that were supposed to match the British shades. They may not have been exact matches though.

Cliff

I figured most of the colors based on the previous planes i have done from this era but if anyone knows what the green color on this plane's camo would be please tell. that is the one color i was wondering about.

Frightful6_7

I started my P-40 June second here the first in the states and when reading the instructions i noticed that there are no paints listed it is an academy P-40C 1/72 scale.

Well the cockpit should be painted as Lawdog did his, mostly USAAF interior green/green zinc chromate. And I think the well wheels should be painted the same. Most of the exterior paint I believe was taken from RAF stocks so it should match those more or less.

I'm sure some of the websites the RRB listed go into more about what colour everything should be painted.

Good to see things getting moving. I realized I never committed to one of the Airfix kits, so I will be doing the RAF one from starter set (sort of). I am going to try out the Kits-World decals to get an alternative 112 Squadron machine. No offense to Mr. Neville Duke, but I think his aircraft are starting to fall into the 'over modeled' category...

Also presented for your  interest is this link to a page on 112 Squadron - 

http://raf-112-squadron.org/index3.html

While it does not seem to be updated much these days and there are some broken links, there is lots of info there on pilots/planes/serial #s/personal stories/etc. 

Roster updated*.

Looks great lawdog. What technique do you use?

Great cockpit Lawdog!
How did you highlight the cockpit inside? I mean, what technique do you use?

Frightful6_7
about your academy paint list, I just went for paint at my LHS for my Academy P-40, appearantly, the colors they put on their instructions are the color codes, so what you actually have to do is...
Look in paint raks and take the colors you think come the closest do the colors of your aircraft... 

With regards, Ninetalis. 

Joe,

My kit is the same as yours, hope she turns out half as well, great work so far

And yeah skulls are totally bad

Gamera

Hey, what are we doing back on the third page here??? I figured everyone would be up and running! I

Hello, well folks, I'm up and running on my 1/48 Hasegawa P-40 N.  I'm gonna do a 80th FG bird on top.  I've always thought the skulls were bad a looking and something different than a shark mouth.  I just finished the cockpit which is fantastic out of the box and no need for resin.  I only used Eduard seatbelts.  I used the kit decal for the instrument panel and cut a few extras out from the sheet to simulate the dials on floor (I think these are gas guages but not sure).  I then used 5 minute epoxy to simulate the glass on the dials. I'm pleased with the results.  Heres what I have so far... 

Joe

i watch this build with great interest and satisfaction. 

the p-40 is my favorite plane, well along with the b-17.

joe

YAY! Great guys, I don't feel so lonely now

Put me down for a 1/48 Hasegawa P-40E.  I forgot I had it, but found it when I was clearing the bench for a pair of Mustangs I'm about to start.  All the fuselage plugs are gonna make it a real PITA.  I think I'm gonna mark it up as the bird George Preddy flew when he was stationed in Australia.

.

I started my P-40 June second here the first in the states and when reading the instructions i noticed that there are no paints listed it is an academy P-40C 1/72 scale.

Gamera

... I pulled my P-40N out of the plastic bags and washed her off over the weekend, am looking forward to getting started on her.

Cliff

I'm with you, Gamera, pulling up under your starboard wing ...  I should have my 1/48 Hasegawa P-40E on the bench shortly.  Looking forward to following everyone's builds.

Ordie

Hey, what are we doing back on the third page here??? I figured everyone would be up and running! I pulled my P-40N out of the plastic bags and washed her off over the weekend, am looking forward to getting started on her.

Cliff

Been a while since I spouted off about anything here, so here goes - 

Back in my review of the Airfix P-40 starter set, I did make a small error. I mentioned the 4 tiny acrylic paint pots included weren't even equal to 1 regular tin of Humbrol. Well, they are, if you're talking acrylics. The Humbrol acrylic pots are 12ml; the enamels are 14ml. Forgot you get a bit less with the acrylics...

On to something the old timers may remember - a look at the AMT/Matchbox 1/72 P-40N. Most people probably don't remember now that there was a time in the mid 70s to the early 80s when Lesney, the parent of Matchbox, owned AMT also.

In the late 70s, there were some cobranded releases, like this P-40. It is an AMT box, but the side flaps have Matchbox logos and details. Inside this one was the kit, completely to Matchbox standards, all bagged up in one bag. Even down to the gaudy blue and light blue plastic! Think that's bad, I have a cream and red Buffalo tucked away too...

Note the two decal sheets. The one on the left was loose in the box and seemed to lack or have very faint whites. The one bagged up with the rest of the kit and covered with paper ironically appears to have intact whites. Go figure...

The less said about the kit, the better. It's not terribly accurate or detailed, and besides some of the famous Matchbox 'trenches', there is an odd pattern of unprototypical raised grid lines all over the exterior parts. There is a build review on Modeling Madness at http://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/us/cauthp40n.htm It pretty much speaks for itself. One thing the reviewer missed though, was his several mentions of the 'erroneous' extra frame on the port side of the windscreen. This is actually correct for most P-40s from the L to the end of end N production. There was a vent window like on cars there. Makes sense, as the P-40 operated mostly in hot climates like the Med or CBI theaters. A kit for collectors or pure nostalgia trips...

The partnership was very brief. This box was dated 1979; by 1982 or so Lesney had decided to get out of the kit business, and halted the Matchbox plastic models. AMT was sold to Ertl. Since then, there were authorized issues from the Matchbox molds made in China in the 90s, and now Revell holds the molds and occasionally issues some Matchbox kits. I almost said 'Revell Germany', but remember that Hobbico has now reunited the two companies. Would not expect to see this kit again though; it is not one of the better Matchbox releases. 

Sir,

Count me in, building a 1/48 Hasegawa P-40E Warhawk, China-style.  The kit is unstarted, unopened, and - at this point - unpurchased, but I'll have it in hand by the middle of June.  This is my first group build.  Thanks for having me along.

Just a heads up for everyone, I cant remember if its on all or some versions of the P-40, I will check later. 

I read in a review (which I cant find again) that there are injection marks on the Academy kit on the rear cockpit where the windows go. These ARE supposed to be there. I'll take a picture of what Im talking about later, I read the Detail and scale book on the P-40 and is points this out. 

That's fine, thought I'd ask though.

I'd prefer everyone to start on the official date.

Any chance I could be permitted to start a week early? I have a friend that moved back to her home and I bought her another Academy P-40 to build along side the one I'm doing for this GB.

thanks! i was wondering what that meant for awhile. 

nope, they are still in production. hase has the best p-40 around in my opinion. 

randypandy831

oop?

Out of production

oop?

I'm hoping to get a Hasegawa P-40E tonight on Ebay. Then I found a decal sheet I like. Is this particular kit OOP? 10 minutes to reply!