South Pacific Group Build 7 August 2006 to 7 August 2007

Hey Bob, the reversed camo actually looks pretty cool! 

That's the one thing that makes me nervous..... our maid does a fantastic job, and really keeps the house clean.  But I always have so many WIP builds strewn about in my den that I worry everytime I know she's in there cleaning.  I'm beginning to suspect she's cleaning inside my model display case as I noticed some of them were out of position last time she was over.  I don't want anyone touching any of my model stuff.    My wife, kids and even the cats know better. 

So did your wife get some pledge get on it?  You may have to clean that off somehow as it will cause problems later.  If you can get it off, you can always just do some light touch up work where the spots are. 

Well, it's been an interesting few days.  Painted the tail white, then the Dark Earth and then mask and painted Field Green.  At least, in theory....first I reversed the camo pattern-earth where green should be, etc.  At least I got the tail white.  Then I 'lighted' the Field Green a bit much...but I can live with those two snafus.  Got home from work today and noticed some 'dark spots' on the plane.  I figured that I just continued my streak-overspray of Windex or something...then talking with the wife-she 'Pledged' the blinds on the window where I do my air brushing....sigh...oh bother.  Now I'm deciding whether to stay the course and Future, decal, Future, weather & flat coat or start over and go with a solid color paint scheme.  Anyway, thanks for letting me vent...

Any thoughts...stay the course or start over?

Jerry-thanks.

Sorry to hear of your problems.  I think all of us here can say "Been there...done that" and will continue to do so.  Hang in there.  There are countless times that I have to remind myself that it's only plastic & paint.  Looking forward to seeing pics.

Andy- I haven't seen many color pics of the two toned PB4Y's, but I bet they look good.

Bob- That P-40 is really looking sensational. I'll use your cockpit photos for reference.

To all- Wow is camoflauge painting ever a humbling experience.

The good news......I painted the dark earth over the upper surfaces and started appying the dark green over it.........*gulp*...now for.......

The bad news....I knocked the floor/seat assembly loose while added tissue as a masking material and will figure out how to re-glue it later. I had a horrid time trying to accomplish a soft edge camo.  I tried the paper mask, elevated approx 1/8 inch with rolled up blue tack and tried some free-hand spraying and neither look all that good.  The elevated paper has some areas of 'hard edged camo' and the free hand has way too much overspray.  I did some more experimenting afterward and was able to reduce air pressure a little more and that may do the trick....oh......partway thru I got the colors mixed up and applied dark green where the dark earth was supposed to be, so that has been re-painted.

My high hopes for this project have been steadily declining, but man, oh man, am I ever learning a lot to apply on future projects. This is my third plane so many more 'lessons' will be ahead of me, but then again, I am certain there will be many lessons on my 100th plane also.

Cheers, Jerry

Thanks Bob, I've already made a good start on my 72nd scale Tamiya P-47, so maybe I'll do the P-40 next.

The P-47 is a drop dead gorgeous kit btw which has an awesome level of detail for such a tiny plane.  The cockpit is almost complete (1 weekends work) and I just have a couple of details to paint before I take some in progress snaps.

Cheers

Thanks Scott-now my issue is that after some research on the 49th, I'm thinking about doing Landers' Texas Longhorn instead of Kinsley's white tail or Vought's 'Bob's Robin' (well, if my wife's name was Robin, it would be a 'no-brainer', now wouldn't it?).  Impressive story regarding Lander's 4th & 5th kills and being shot down in the process.

Darren-come on in-the water's fine.  I always enjoy seeing your work in progress and it will be good to get a first hand review on the Italeri (ex-AMT) kit.  Maybe we should consider extending this build for a year or so...I do have the P-38 and the Dauntless and the B-25 in the stash.....

darson wrote:

espins1 wrote: On the plus side, this was the build that taught me how to do seam work. Oh boy is that ever true, I don't think I've filled sanded, primed, re-filled, re-sanded... well you get the picture more times than I did on my Hase P-40. Cheers

I tell you though, I'm glad I had to go through all the seam work on the P-40E, as without that experience I would have really had a tough time with my Classic Airframes Bf109D 

Bob, the P-40 looks great from here!  Can't wait to see it with some camo! 

Darson,

Go with the RNZAF one!  The white ID stripes are very dramatic!

To one and all!

The work is fantastic, keep them coming!  If I have missed posting your work on the first page let me know and I will amend the problem.

espins1 wrote:

On the plus side, this was the build that taught me how to do seam work.

Oh boy is that ever true, I don't think I've filled sanded, primed, re-filled, re-sanded... well you get the picture more times than I did on my Hase P-40.

By the by I picked up a copy of the Italeri (ex AMT ERTL & AMTech) P-40M/N kit to do a review for a local Aus model mag.  It comes with a huge decal sheet covering a couple of very nice South Pacific aircraft, so if I get the energy up I might just build the one of the RAAF or RNZAF versions.

Cheers

Looking good, Bob.  Looks like I need to break my lego out as well!

I started our latest kitchen project at home on the weekend and am already pulling my hair out.  Looks like I'll be gainfully employed for the next couple of weekends...and probably evenings after work because the better half can't sit still!

Well, its been a good weekend.  Purchased, transported (15 at a time) and spread (with the help of my son) 64 bags of mulch, beat said son 2 out of 3 (he's 13, I'm approaching 51) playing one-on-one basketball & got the P-40 together & primed!  I'm happy...well, maybe not happy but content...with most of the 'filler work'.  My main area of concern is the insert behind the cockpit, but I'm not sure I want to tackle that task now.  With some luck, I should have either the white tail or the grey underside (depending on the camo scheme I choose) done mid week and then I'm out of town (and modeling) until Monday week.

Ya, the inserts all over the place were a bit of a pain, and I missed the boat on the front cowling inserts, too late to fix that problem. 

On the plus side, this was the build that taught me how to do seam work.

Looks great Bob!  I see you managed to successfully navigate around the trouble spots!  Sorry I didn't finish my write up before you got started, but it looks like you didn't need me. 

The only spot a really blew it on was the two square inserts that go just behind the spinner at the front of the cowling.  Next time I'll add some sheet styrene to help make those two inserts flush with the rest of the cowling.  I was so careful with everything else but somehow I totally missed the boat with those two pieces. 

Well, it's been a good week for the P-40E.  Although the Hasegawa kit has it's shortcomings ( I'm not crazy about the various inserts & the the seperate tail section create some challenges) the detail is fantastic.  And the fit is very good.  However, it seems that two types/grades of plastic are used-one appears to be softer than the other.

I failed to drill the holes to mount the underwing gun camera -however, it can be easily glued in place.  And I'll have to wait until priming to see how all my seam work did.  I applied Tamiya thin liquid cememt and then sanded with fine sandpaper and that appears to have filled most of the seams.  Another area of concern is in the cowling area-that insert, although lined up, doesn't seem to match at the rear-a little bit of a 'hump' as I run my finger from front to back.

did someone mention allied bomber GB?  if so  im in since i have monogram b17 "memphis belle" sitting on the selves and havent start on it for almost 10 years

and special annocment:  who live near western NY,  in july there will be airshows where they will be showing MOSTLY of ww2 and few ww1 aircrafts (fighters/transporters/bombers) heres the website

http://1941hag.org/

Always enjoyed the noseart on the PB4Ys, always very well painted!  Looks great with the two-tone blue etc.

Bob, always good to add to the stash!

I would be interested in joining a Bomber GB next year as I found some Zotz decals for the B-24 "Cocktail Hour" then bought the Minicraft B-24 "Dragon and its Tail" to use as the airframe for them.........and at the same time picked up the Minicraft PB4Y-1, "Easy Maid", the Navy version of the B-24. I want to build it first as a practice run to gain some experience.

Problem is, I've made such little progress on my P-40 for THIS build, what gives me the silly idea that I could build a bomber in the allotted time frame??

I hope to get some more painting done soon.

And guys, your planes really look great!!

aahhh..pics...probably not be posting any until the weekend when the cockpit is together-pace of life is picking up a bit.

As far as not doing the 'white tail', the orginial plan was to do Lt. Clyde Kinsley's 'Typhoon McGoon'....however, there is something about the P-40 that cries out for the 'shark teeth'.  That and the fact that 'Bob's Robin' is a single color top scheme, which would save some time....  I guess the thing to do would be build one of the two and pick up another kit for the stash for future builds....

Looking forward to see some pics, Bob.

Reversing the decision to build a white tail?!  Never!

Mucker-very nice build. There is something very eye appealing to a solid color scheme P-40.  Making me rethink my plan to do a "white tail" P-40 and do "Bob's Robin" instead.  Still thinking.

Got the interior bits painted, oil washed & dull coated.  Should be able to dry brush on Thur pm and assemble on weekend.  Spent a few minutes "matching" the tail section to the fuselage on the Hasegawa kit.  I can understand why they designed the molds that way....don't like it, but I understand the logic.  Fortunatly, others have advised on the better way to assemble the parts-placing one side on a flat surface and gluing, then using that section to assemble the opposite hand.  Work fairly well-still some sanding to be done.  Also used Tamiya thin cement for the first time-WOW! I'm really impressed-I've been using Ambroid & generic CA-but the Tamiya really made a positive first impression.

Joe, at your request, I'm re-posting the pictures from my submission: