80 Years of Airfix GB

I know the feeling Das. My last couple of builds i have been doing 2 at the same time and i find that a challenge.

I shall add to my evilness by adding another Spit. This will be the Mk.I/II kit done as a prewar bird with the flat canopy and two bladed prop. Don't worry, I'll even it out with something other than a Spit (I think it's my last one in an Airfix boxing). I have an unbuilt 110C in the stash and have been looking for Stuka B.1. I know I had a canopy mask for the 110, but I'm not sure I put it in the kit box. I know if I find the Stuka I'll be ordering one.

May I join with Airfix Ju-87B-1 in 1/48?

Good to see all you guys under way. I'll be cheering y'all on from afar for a while.

I've only had a day or two since I got away from family and before I have to go back to school and travel for work, but I've been absolutely flying through my P-40 in that time. 

In three days, I've gone from a box with nothing more done than parts being cut off the sprue to already spraying the first base color. 

Control Panel. Decals on a flat surface. Guns are flat black with pencil lead gound up and rubbed on to simulate gunmetal. Rudder pedals have been painted, given a brown wash, and later chipping effects.

The sidewalls were dealt with in the same manner. This is them painted, detailed, and drybrushed with light grey,

and this is a sidewall after recieving a brown wash. 

This is the cockpit tub, again after painting/detailing but before a wash. I made the lap belt from a double layer of tamiya tape wish was then superglued into place at the ends and painted with various flesh tones. 

Post wash. The shoulder straps will be added after the fuselage is assempled and probably after it's painted, since the straps connect to the rear bulkhead. 

Last shot of the cockpit before I began working on the airframe. Scratching was just a silver paint with a small brush. I made a pigment with a few different shades of orange and yellow and brown. It's a bit too dark, but I couldn't find my Tamiya weathering sets so it'll have to do. You can't really see it anyway- the canopy cannot be posed open, so visibility is going to be fairly limited. 

Airframe before assembly. 

After assembly, SIGNIFICANT putty work around the nose and right wing root, rescribing, and primer, I hit it with some very shaky preshading. 

And those are all the pics I've got now. I've just finished painting the Sky underbelly and spinner among a whirlwind of painting which included a Tamiya f4f and spitfire, and two special hobbies projects. I've got to give my airbrush and my hand a break, sleep for a couple of hours this morning, and get back at it later. 

Hoping to have it gloss coated by the end of the day today. 

-TWA

Started the office tonight since I'm waiting to do paint work on the Windicator for the SSGB.

castelnuovo

May I join with Airfix Ju-87B-1 in 1/48?

 

You want to enter a Stuka and you think you have to ask . Alkways a pleasure castel.

Moving right along there TWA, looking good.

Sleep, who needs sleep.

Bish

Sleep, who needs sleep.

 

Hey, TWA! I've been wanting to add the Airfix P-40B to my stash and now I know why. It looks like a terrific kit. The work you are doing on it is top-notch. My cockpits never look that good, which is why I always close the canopy. BTW: When I did my AMT P-40N last year my research show equally the wheel wells painted green chromate or interior green. I did the wheel wells on mine with green chromate.

Y'all, I don't have any pictures today but I've closed up everything on my Boeing Clipper: the wings, the fuselage, the horizontals, and the sponsons. After Bondo-ing the seams that needed it, sanding and polishing the Bondo, I painted on some Tamiya surface primer. I'm taking the kit to our club's bi-monthly hobby shop build day tomorrow where I'll sand and polish the Tamiya primer. Which reminds me, I need to go by Sally Beauty and buy a bunch of emory boards. I've used mine all up. I'll have some more pictures next week when I have the wings and horizontals mated to the fuselage.

TheWaggishAmerican

 

On topic: Does anyone happen to know what the correct color for wheel wells is on the P-40B/Tomahawk? My basic interwebs scanning hasn't turned anything up and I haven't found any model pics showing or talking about the underside. In lieu of any other information, I was just going to assume they were kept the Curtiss factory interior green/zinc chromate thing. 

 

Thanks

-TWA

 

Here is an original color photo from Life magazine of P-40 B/C production in late 1941 or so. Inside the wheel well appears to be interior green, while adjacent areas are green zinc chromate and bare metal.

Another shot from the same series of photos

One more...

Looks like I'll be going with Zinc Chromate then. I assume the british would have no reason to repaint that section. 

Side note- It's really interesting how blue the aluminium part of those wings are. Was that some kind of protective coating, or just some funky lighting/coloring thing?

-TWA

The blue on the bare aluminum is likely due to lighting in the factory. As far as colors of paint go, theoretically, aircraft purchased by a foreign country would be painted to that country's specifications. Theoretically, again, RAF colors could be used in the cockpit and other interior areas. All the aircraft in this photo sequence appear to end up in OD and Neutral Gray, so this is not the last word on the RAF colors. Once Lend Lease kicked in that went out the window to speed up the production process and any changes were made by the user.

In my research on the P-40, the wheel wells of the B model were canvas lined, probably an olive green / tan color.  Later C models did not have the canvas lining anymore and were zinc chromate.

Further progress:

The lighting makes the IP look glossy, but its flat black.  I separated the instrument face decals for each instrument for application and after dry, put a spot of epoxy for the lenses.

It may be hard to see it but I shaded the cockpit sides.  For some reason my shading and weathering doesnt show up in pictures very well.

Interior floor.

Fitting the pilot figure is next.  He was definitely not made for this model as he will need to be reposed.  He also looks like an RAF pilot, not a USAAF pilot.

Weren't Lend lease Warhawks/Tomahawks painted in British equivalent paints from Dupont?  Not exact matches, but some of the colours were very close as I understand.

Stik, nice factory photos there.

regards,

Jack

The blue tint to the metal panels is one of two things. One possibility is that it's a protective film to help prevent dings during fabrication. The other is that they've coated the panel in machinist dye.  This is normally a blue color and allows marks on where to do any machining to be easily seen. You just take an awl or a punch and make a scribe mark where you want the hole be drlled. The scribing tool scratches the metal underneath giving you a highly visible mark. If you look at pictures, you can see the contrast between the blue and the natural metal where they've laid out the rivet patterns.

Outstanding cockpit work, TWA and kensar.  Very nice!

lewbud

The blue tint to the metal panels is one of two things. One possibility is that it's a protective film to help prevent dings during fabrication. The other is that they've coated the panel in machinist dye.  This is normally a blue color and allows marks on where to do any machining to be easily seen. You just take an awl or a punch and make a scribe mark where you want the hole be drlled. The scribing tool scratches the metal underneath giving you a highly visible mark. If you look at pictures, you can see the contrast between the blue and the natural metal where they've laid out the rivet patterns.

 

Kensar - Outstanding work on that front office.

Man I'm really going to have to step up my game on my P-40 if I want it to look anywhere as near as nice!  Everyone is off to a great start!  I'm still plugging away at "Mini Whiskey 7"  If I need a break I'll start on the P-40, if I have the room that is! 

Some great info there on the colours.

That is looking very nice kensar. I would imagine Airfix just use a standard pilot figure.

I worked on the nose and learned some things. First, Airfix made the fuse in 4 parts to accommodate both the Mk.I nose and the Mk.IV nose. If I had looked closer to the trees I would have seen it right off the bat. Second, the instructions have you put in all of the office in the nose, which is fine, but then they want you to assemble the canopy prior to installing it on the rest of the fuse. I test fit the assembly prior to attaching any clear plastic and was glad I did. The fit wasn't quite right, and I had to do a little investigating, trimming and adjusting to get it to fit correctly. I glued the nose on the fuse and will attach the canopy later, this will also help in filling and sanding the join. Also, I just wasn't looking forward to masking that greenhouse, so I ordered some masks from Victory Models for half the price of Eduard. I hope I didn't do wrong by going less expensive.

Steve, if those are Montex Masks you should be good to go.  Your really making great time on this one!

I've established myself in my lodgings at the site for the night, so here's a quick update. 

Basically, I got done nothing I intended too. All I was able to finish today was the coat of earth on the upper surfaces. These came out alright, and the preshading is at least slightly visible, so I'm happy with this layer at least. Monday I'm planning on getting masking for the green, re-preshading for the green, and spraying the green all done. Maybe get the gloss coat on so that I can give it two days to dry and do decals before I've got to go work next weekend. 

Sadly, I'll be missing quiet a few weekends of bench time this winter, but the extra dough isn't anything to complain about.

(Sorry for subpar quality, it's a screenshot of the raw video. I don't have any normal pics today. This was the last part of painting the left wing, though, so imagine this pattern across the entire airframe.)

-TWA

Mopar Madness

Steve, if those are Montex Masks you should be good to go.

 

Oh good, yes they are.

Nice work on the 51 TWA

Sorry 40

Mopar Madness

 lewbud

The blue tint to the metal panels is one of two things. One possibility is that it's a protective film to help prevent dings during fabrication. The other is that they've coated the panel in machinist dye.  This is normally a blue color and allows marks on where to do any machining to be easily seen. You just take an awl or a punch and make a scribe mark where you want the hole be drlled. The scribing tool scratches the metal underneath giving you a highly visible mark. If you look at pictures, you can see the contrast between the blue and the natural metal where they've laid out the rivet patterns.

 

 

 

 

Buddy - I think you’re correct about the machinist die.

 

Kensar - Outstanding work on that front office.

 

It might be machinist's dye but that's not usually used on large aluminum panels.  It could be a chemical treatment for corrosion control such as alodining, or even an undyed chromate finish.

Steve:  the Blenheim looks like its building up nicely.  

Where was the fit problem with the nose?  In the cockpit tub or with the clear canopy parts?

I've got the same kit sitting around, so I'd like to be prepared.

Nice progress Steve, good job you spotted that when you did.

I have tried Montex masks, for the same reason, cheaper than Eduard, and was not to keen. I find the are a bit thick and especially have issues with curved panels. I can see a couple of panels on yours where it curves close to the edge, and thats where i found the mask kept coming away. I hope yours are ok but i won't be buying any more unless theres no option.