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Hi folks! This will have to be a quick build. Luckily, with this kit, it should be quick. It is the old Revell P-40 kit. As shown in this screen grab from Scalemates, the moulds date from 50 years ago, when Canada turned 100, and about the time I built my very first model - not this one, though.

This kit is a 1996 reissue with new decals, but still the old moulds. I'm pretty sure it's the same basis as the dual-P-40 build already done in this GB.

UH3Q535.jpg

 

Progress soon.

ALF

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Martin H, I realized after I started this that I recently built a cousin of this P-40E; it was a Spitfire. The reason I figured it out is it has similar hinged control surfaces and retractable landing gear options. For 50 years ago, these are quite remarkable kits.

 

I bought this kit second-hand. It came with some extras, like the two tubes of Testors glue, some brushes, and a knife. The glue is long since dried out, but the other materials are quite usable.

NF2UJgF.jpg

 

Everything was pristine, though, packaged up in its original bags.

MYGGcr4.jpg

 

I quickly got to work painting some parts, and assembled the engine. I will not be displaying the engine with its removable panels. Being a pilot, I like aircraft that look serviceable, ready to fly, not ones that look like they need maintenance.

io90d2k.jpg

 

A poor picture showing the front of the engine, with the only visible parts, what look like three oil coolers (or some other type of heat exchangers).

1M3ZFD5.jpg

 

The cockpit is quite simple. Painted with Tamiya green primer, and assembled. I will make some seat belts out of medical tape later. There are no guides for the angle that the instrument panel will sit; I applied glue, then dry-fit the cockpit against the fuselage to get the right angle.

Iccmq7Y.jpg

 

vbsEvZ5.jpg

 

You can see here the "don't glue" symbols. They are to allow the rudder and tail wheel to move. I chose to glue them in a fixed position, because I don't plan to allow the gear to retract.

hTuRQ2E.jpg

 

Fuselage mated very nicely. Not too many large gaps, which is surprising for such an old kit.

StxbHxi.jpg

 

After the fuselage went together, the cockpit slid in nicely from the bottom. I had to push the instrument panel slightly to get it to sit in the right grooves, but it also fit fairly nicely. We're not talking modern Tamiya, but for the era it was an excellent kit.

iaXrvxr.jpg

 

The main wheels came with a folding mechanism. Very ingenious. There is a sleeve to allow the struts to rotate, because they rotate and fold to retract (the main gear sit fully trailed when up, not to the side like a Spitfire or P-51).

ylx7GBL.jpg

 

More soon.

ALF

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On 2017-6-5 at 1:55 PM, Grandboof said:

Nice work  

Martin H

Thanks!

 

I have been racing through this one. June is a busy month for me, given that I am cleaning up after winter, my son is moving apartments at the end of the month in Montreal, and we have had roof-top ventilators installed, are having our dead above-ground pool replaced, and I finally sold my VW Golf diesel back to VW and bought a new 2017 Corolla XSE. Phew. Now, for a bit of modelling progress (and excusing the lack of total effort to make this build perfect):

 

Main assembly happening. For WW II subjects, I never glue the wings together before attaching them to the fuselage. I glue in the lower wing section like this:

oqOHcUY.jpg

 

What's nice is the forward seam is hidden under the engine exhaust cowl flaps. The rear seam will need a bit of filler.

tBmQYNG.jpg

 

I then glue the upper wings to the wing roots, reducing their gaps to the smallest size possible. As the glue sets, I put tweezers under the wings to hold them up a bit.

aJKRnQz.jpg

 

Not a bad seam for 50 year-old moulds!

hjtTH0x.jpg

 

5qkJbBh.jpg

 

After the wing root set firmly, I did up the outboard wing seams.

udhXvm1.jpg

 

More soon.

ALF

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Wings are done, including the now-immobile ailerons.

cZXZj7T.jpg

 

I checked carefully, and found out that the engine exhausts did not need to be in place prior to gluing the cowls in place. I will not have this engine on display.

fnEeSiM.jpg

 

Starting to look like a P-40.

OHJDCM2.jpg

 

Using Tamiya putty and nail polish remover, I filled some seams.

vhptiAE.jpg

 

A coat of Tamiya primer, and not too bad. I think WW II aircraft have some slightly visible panel lines, especially in this scale.

nsvv69g.jpg

 

EtYIZHu.jpg

 

I then assembled the slightly complicated fuel tank cradle.

5VD11Lp.jpg

 

For painting, I used Tamiya medium blue for the underside, a custom mix with white. All Acrylic of course. After it dried, I free-handed the brown colour all over the top, and after it dried I did the green. No masking, just free-handing. The paint coverage is not quite perfect; this is intended for an aircraft that has weathered a bit in the Pacific sun.

0bmFGCs.jpg

 

I also dry-brushed some darker colours along the fuselage side for smoke, and some small aluminum chips here and there. Ready for final assembly, then Future and decals.

b4D7y2J.jpg

 

Thanks for stopping by.

ALF

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2017-6-11 at 8:18 AM, phantom said:

Great seam fixing!!!

Thanks Shawn. I did some work on this one, but did not try to go beyond putting lipstick on a pig.

 

Now, I have to admit that real life took over my time for the last 10 days. Our pool did not survive the winter; I had a new one installed, and then had to fix up the deck, which was a disaster. Work is still on-going. For that reason, I took fewer in-progress pics.

 

The pitot boom looked like this on the sprue. No, it is NOT supposed to be curved like that. I had to straighten it out. Luckily, it did not break.

APLt90q.jpg

 

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Turned out OK.

BJgEbLF.jpg

 

The kit decals were very fragile and flaking. In retrospect, I should have used a decal film on them first. Most did survive, but some didn't.

m79Oo1c.jpg

 

Calling this one done. It's a good 3-footer. For a classic kit, it was OK.

gdlZh8F.jpg

 

uy03jCV.jpg

 

Thanks for following along, folks.

ALF

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I remember you mentioning this build last weekend.  Too bad we were so busy and I never got to see it!  Given the limitations of and issues with this kit (ask me how I know!), I'd say you did a darn good job on it ALF.  Nice work, brother.

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