China-Burma-India Theater GB 2006-2007

Scott, I agree with your suggestions marked on the assembly instructions.  I've built 3 of these kits.  The first, I followed Hasegawas' instructions, but the last two I did as you suggest.  I would add that it's best to sand down the rivets in the inserts D1 & D2 in order to get the rear windows to fit flush.

Regards,  Rick

Hasegawa 1/48 P-40E update.

Finished up the seams last night, just going to do some very very light sanding to make sure everything is smooth and move forward with the painting.  I scanned two pages of the instructions to point out a couple areas that needed seams cleaned up.  If I had to do it all over again I would have done things just a bit differently, and I noted that on the scans.  Just click on them to see a bigger view of them.  Sorry about the typo in the caption regarding the machine gun inserts.  fush = flush 

You can have it!  I'm so sick of winter right now, ugh...

sand... fill.... sand... check... fill... sand...... check...... 

I really want to try and up the ante on my P-40 so I'm trying to make all the seams perfect.  Just need to do a bit more sanding after work then I should be able to move forward with the paint job.

We got hit with a big snowstorm last night, 10 inches up at my house, in addition to the 6 inches we got on Sunday.  I love it! 

Scott, I use Tamiya Primer. I usually let it dry overnight and haven't had any problems.

Looks ready to go!!

I started painting the cokpit on my P-51. The base color is down, and I've strated the detail painting. I'll post pics when I'm finished with the 'pit.  

Looking good Scott.  I've never used Tamiya primer, so can't help with your question.

Regards,  Rick

Whew!  Been busy with my Hasegawa 1/48 P-40E today.  In theory all the seam work is done, cockpit and wheel wells masked and the primer has been sprayed.  Hmmm... just noticed in one of the photos I still have a bit more filling to do at the back of the left wing root. 

Anyone know how long you should wait with Tamiya Primer before doing more filling and sanding?

Here are two update photos.

You may like some of the AVG memoirs too. I just finished Tex Hill's memoirs. RT Smith and others have books out too. I had the pleasure of meeting Tex Hill a few years back, he signed a print of his P-40 flying over the Salween river, Burma for me. A really nice gentlemn, even still remembered some Chinese.

waikong wrote:

Scott, that's a great looking cockpit with the PE belts. I always use them now. I use to thread material through PE buckles, they look better than all PE, but was a killer on my eyes and patience. The Dan Ford book is great, controversal, but a great read. He's coming out with a revised edition soon.

I'm really enjoying the book.  I've always known the basics on the AVG, but this book is filling in all the blanks for me.  It's amazing how much the accomplished having started out with so little!   Their logistics were a nightmare!

Scott, that's a great looking cockpit with the PE belts. I always use them now. I use to thread material through PE buckles, they look better than all PE, but was a killer on my eyes and patience.

The Dan Ford book is great, controversal, but a great read. He's coming out with a revised edition soon.

Good progress Scott.  Won't be long & you'll be spitting paint on her .

Regards,  Rick

Thanks for the positive feedback Arki30.  I'm going to try to use PE seatbelts on every build from now on. 

P-40E update - It's starting to look like, well, a P-40E!  I have the wings taped up and glued, hopefully I got the dihedral correct.  There is a small gap on the left side where the wing attaches to the fuselage which is going to require a bit of filling and sanding. 

I love PE seatbelts.  They make a world of difference.  The really tiny PE levers and such, yeah not so much.  They always look two-dimensional and are just too fiddly.

By the way, yours look great.

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Nicely done Scott.  Once you start using PE, there's no turning back .  The cost of modeling just went up... Regards,  Rick

Aye laddy, that it did.  I must say, PE seatbelts really make a difference! 

Thanks for the comments guys.  I'm really trying to push myself and learn new things so I can improve and get my skills to the next level.  I learned a lot so far on this one!

Nicely done Scott.  Once you start using PE, there's no turning back .  The cost of modeling just went up...

Regards,  Rick

Looks great!

In other news I finally started on my project!!! It'll be good to finally build something OOB.  

I was on a roll, so I finished the cockpit, except for the gun sight.  That will be installed right before I attach the canopy.  I think this is my best cockpit yet!  I learned a lot on this one as it was the first time I'd used PE in a cockpit.  Hard work, but worth it!  I'm ready for a big glass of red wine....

Most of the other sub assemblies are finished so tomorrow insert the cockpit and radiator goodies, glue the fuselage together and attach the wings. 

Here are two shots of the seat with the belts.... what do you all think?

Nicely done Scott.

Regards,  Rick

Hey guys, here are two quick photos of just couple of the PE seatbelts I put together and painted.  Not bad for my first time, if I do say so myself.  The only thing I'd do different is paint the belts in a lighter color next time.

rjkplasticmod wrote:

The P-40E had it draped over the bar as shown on mine & incorrectly shown on the Hasegawa directions.  The P-40N did not.  Remember, P-40's came in different flavors . Regards,  Rick

Cool, thanks for the info Rick.  I'll drape mine over the back seat bracket bar.    I'm still at a loss as to where the lap belts attach...   I'll figure something out though.  Time to do a bit more research.

I've been reading a book called "Flying Tigers" by Daniel Ford.  Excellent book, I'm about halfway through it.  The original Hawk IIA (aka P-40B/C) aircraft that the AVG started off with were sent crated up without radios, gunsights, guns or seat belts.  So the AVG had to scrounge most of the equipment, which also explains so many different arrangements on the early ones.  

The P-40E had it draped over the bar as shown on mine & incorrectly shown on the Hasegawa directions.  The P-40N did not.  Remember, P-40's came in different flavors .

Regards,  Rick

I'm using the PE set that came in the box (Hasegawa 1/48 P-40E).  The PE fret is labeled "Dragon USA".  Interesting thing about the shoulder belt.  The directions call for it to be draped over the seat back.  I've seen several modelers post pics on other forums with the shoulder belts going over the bracket that is on the backside of the seat.  I checked all my references, and two Military Channel shows that I have saved on the DVR that are all about the P-40 and I've seen it done both ways.  I swear, the P-40 saga is almost as confusing as the Bf109 story...

Scott, I'm not sure what PE set you're using. The one pictured in my post is from Eduard.  If you're using the ones included in the Hasegawa Special Edition First Release kit, they may assemble differently.  Be careful, as I recall the Hasegawa directions were wrong for the shoulder harness placement.

Regards,  Rick

Scott, maybe this will help ?

Regards,  Rick

I sprayed the seatbelts last night using Tamiya Buff.  It's a little darker than I had hoped, I think Deck Tan would have been a better match. 

The instructions on where to attach the 4 lap belts are extremely vague.    I have no idea where they're supposed to attach.  I've only been able to find 2 photos of the completed seat with PE belts attached online, and both of them are semi-fuzzy shots so you can't really see where they attached them.... but both of them did them differently, so maybe nobody knows where they go. 

That cockpit is looking good. The color seems fine.  

Some PE parts are just meant to be left off anyway.