SPA Modeler

That cockpit looks really good. Nice work.

it'll pay off, as I would imagine the pit in a P-40 it quite visable.

cheers

portman

Good looking pit! The bare metal seat looks very cool!

Thanks guys. I spent last night putting it all together, to include installing the Eduard flaps. All I can say is the Academcraft P-40B is an absolute pig and I now yearn for the Trumpeter version. Now I know why I only paid 11 bones for it. For starters, The panel lines are soft and I dont even know if they will hold a wash later. Perhaps the mold is too old. Also, the Monogram kit has more surface detail and its 50 years old. I even had to scribe panel lines into the horzontal stabilizers which they forgot . Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't there be some ammo doors and such on the top of wings?

I started my session by carving up the flap area thinning things out with the Dremel. This made the PE wing detail sit better. This was a nice set and should improve the area considerably, like putting lipstick on a pig.



I installed the pit, sealed up the fuselage then added the wings. At least the fit of everything was fairly painless, even with the flap detail. I needed a smidge of putty on the port wing root. I think the seat brace looks overscale and inaccurate. I may paint it green so it doesn't stick out so much.





I made new radiator flaps out of styrene. Of course I had issues with the fit of the chin (intake), which was sightly to narrow for the fuselage. I used styrene to spread it out to reduce the sanding.




I'm not sure I'm going to waste my good Pearl Harbor Defender decals on this turkey. We'll see how it looks when painted up.

On a side note, I got the Trumpeter kit cheap off ebay last week. Depending how this goes, I may be trading out.

Is it over yet????

Joe

So, this is what you do while i'm gone! Build another masterpiece....hruumpf.....Well done, sir.

Masterpiece? Surely you jest? Thanks anyways.....

In for an update....I sat down and got some quailty bench time in last night. I fixed a few things here and there, to include cleaning up the leading edge wing roots which were a mess. I added some semi-circular-shaped styrene stock and poked rivets in them with a sewing needle to leave the illusion they're supposed to be there. Probably not "correct" but it worked and looks passible to me. Here's the area primered and ready for paint. It's starting to look like a Hawk 81...




I preshaded all panel lines XF-1 Flat Black. I then sprayed the inner flaps, wheel wells and gear bays XF-4 Yellow Green, the perfect zinc chromate. After these were taped off, the bottom got XF-53 Neutral Grey. This was then cut with XF-2 Flat White and condensation streaks were added. I then added more XF-2 and lightened the control sufaces. After a post shade of diluted XF-69 and XF-64, here's where I'm at. Perhaps it could use more...




She was flipped over and Blue Tac was used to mask off the demarcation lines thusly...



Since the Academy P-40 is so lacking in the detail department, I needed to be creative with the paint. I started off with straight Gunze Aqueous Olive Drab 1. This is the perfect USAAC drab to my eye. Nice and brown. Too bad its so hard to get nowdays.



XF-57 Buff was added and condensation streaks were added. More XF-57 was added for the control surfaces. I then added the postshade to highlight the areas that were detailed, such as the engine area and control surfaces. I also added some minor exhaust streaks with diluted XF-1 then XF-53 over it to simulate heat.




I will add some minor chipping here and there, especially at the wing root, then a gloss coat.

Joe

That is some outstanding airbrush work. Maybe the kit it not that good but that is not noticable under this coat of paint.

Thanks Borg....

Model is looking sweet!!!!

With the Dremel...I think you will eventually find yourself wonder how you ever got along without it!
I've been using the 7300 model for some time now...indispensable!!! Most of it's use is as a paint stirrer (with a "T" made from sprue), but it does get other use on every single model! Also have a variable speed, corded model when more power is needed.



I like...

Heavy sanding "drum"...great for grinding down "overpour" on resin parts

Light grinding "cone".....lighter grinding duties

Small burr bit......good for grinding out small areas in tough places

Fabric polishing disc....great for polishing out very fine sanding marks (when new, this will shoot out a mess of fibers, but "breaks in" pretty quick. WAY better than the "puff ball" type polishers)

And of course...the sprue "T" paint stirrer.

Agreed.. I will be using this thing a lot now. The 7200 I got is perfect for my needs. I like the paint stirring idea and will try it. Thanks

Joe

Last night I got it decaled. I went wiith Welch's "160" machine. These were some of the best decals I've ever worked with. No issues whatsoever. I was worried about the "160" but they snuggles right down under Micro Sol.




The prop blades with this kit are comical. They are flat and mishaped, so I raided my spare parts box for replacements. I found some left over P-38 props which looked close. Not too bad eh? Probably not correct, but acceptable for this turkey. I also drilled out the exhaust stubs.



Shouldn't be long now...
Joe