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Warhawk Wrangle - 1/48 Airfix P-40B Vs Hasegawa P-40E


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Hello ARC,

I've decided to join in the fun with 2 warhawks.

 

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The Airfix P-40B was released in 2016 while the Hasegawa P-40E is a little older, having been released in 2005.

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With a conventional breakdown, the Airfix kit is the simpler of the two .

 

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Hasegawa's tooling was planned to be shared among many versions. Multiple parts are required to achieve the desired fuselage and wings.

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Parts removed from trees and cleaned.

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The Airfix kit has an insert just above where the exhaust goes. Designed around existing panel lines, it virtually disappears when glued in place.
The separate square hatch in the aft fuselage also installs without fuss.
The Hasegawa fuselage on the other hand requires more work. The aft fuselage and the area surrounding the side windows are separate parts. There is also a small insert just forward of the exhaust pipes. None of the joints are along natural panel lines. I deviated from the assembly instructions and glued these together first hoping to minimise the amount of filling, sanding and rescribing I'll have to do.

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I plan to build the Airfix kit inflight and have glued in the landing gear strut doors.
The Hasegawa wing has two inserts (shell ejection panels) glued in place. The blemish is a result of removing a gun camera pod that was not installed in the planned subject.
I should've done more research before gluing stuff together.

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Both prop cones assemble with ugly seams. The Airfix cone being the worse offender of the two.

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Cutting the prop blades allows me to attach them after I clean up the seams. A small styrene disc makes up for the lost material.

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by!
-co

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Welcome to the Group build!

 

that is a great comparison of the kit parts, and about what I would expect, you can clearly see the Hasegawa design philosophy with the multi piece fuselage designed to accomodate different versions, and the P-40 looks like most new airfix single engine kits.

 

Nice work with the prop, I hate it when there is a big seam like that on the spinner.

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Very nice. Interesting to see the differences between the two kits. By the looks of it I would prefer to build the Airfix kit. I really hate those kinds of big panel-line seams as present on the Hasegawa. Can't wait to see the next update!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/28/2020 at 1:50 AM, Kurt H. said:

Welcome to the Group build!

 

that is a great comparison of the kit parts, and about what I would expect, you can clearly see the Hasegawa design philosophy with the multi piece fuselage designed to accomodate different versions, and the P-40 looks like most new airfix single engine kits.

 

Nice work with the prop, I hate it when there is a big seam like that on the spinner.


Thanks for hosting yet another group build Kurt!

 

 

On 5/30/2020 at 8:39 PM, Quailane said:

Very nice. Interesting to see the differences between the two kits. By the looks of it I would prefer to build the Airfix kit. I really hate those kinds of big panel-line seams as present on the Hasegawa. Can't wait to see the next update!


It is nice to have the option of many variants but gosh, it is a chore. 
 

On 5/30/2020 at 11:25 PM, WymanV said:

 An FYI-those shell ejection panels are actually bulges to make clearance for the M2 lower mounts.

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That's some great info! 

Thanks for stopping by guys!

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Small update.

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Since Hasegawa doesn't provide any figures in the box, I made some seatbelts to dress up the seat.
Airfix does provide a pilot and he'll get to occupy the seat inflight. He's not sharply detailed but since I don't have a suitable substitute, he'll have to do.

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Here're the 2 cockpits painted up. Mr Color's C351 Zinc Chromate Type 1 (FS34151) and Tamiya's Dark Brown Panel Line Accent Color were the main colors used.
Details were picked out using Citadel paints.
Airfix's instrument decal fit perfectly and settled down nicely.
Hasegawa also provides instrument decals but unfortunately, they shattered when I tried to apply them.
Some spare Airscale instrument decals were used instead.

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While the side panels on the Airfix are slightly more detailed, they come with some flash on the frames that need to be removed.
Airfix provides some cockpit placards while Hasegawa does not. I used some Airscale placards to dress up the Hasegawa side panels.
The pic also provides a good view of the parts that makeup the Hasegawa fuselage.

 

-co

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi folks,

 

A few pics of the cockpits before I close them up.

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Interior wise, I'm happy with the level of detail and fit of both kits.

 

Airfix pilot painted up.

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Basic construction done.
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I've done 2 rounds of puttying and sanding on the Airfix thus far

and only the first round on the Hasegawa with more to come.

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I found the level of work required on both kits to be similar.
Both needed care to minimise steps when gluing. Both had gaps in the wing roots that required some putty.
The worst area on both kits were the "knees" where the landing gear housing juts out in front of the wings.
These needed plenty of blending but sanding was tricky given the tight confines of the wing roots.


Here's the combined progress.
NpUgpBj.jpg

 

Thanks for dropping in. Happy Modelling!
-co

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi folks,

I hope everyone is well.

This will be a short update as most of the work done was just the tedious sanding, puttying and rescribing.
They could have done with a few more rounds but I decided to just move on.

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Primed in black and mottled.

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Bottom colors done. 
The Hasegawa was painted in Vallejo Model Color's Azure (70.902) and the Airfix covered in Mr Color's Gray (315).
Both were given a Tamiya X22 gloss coat.

-co

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On 6/27/2020 at 1:40 AM, Kurt H. said:

This is great work. I really like what you did with the cockpits, and the pilot. Very careful use of washes, and highlighting, and who know what else to make it look "just right"


Thanks Kurt!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi all,

I've been working on the P-40B's AVG scheme.

Research seem to point to a hard edged camouflage. So that's what I did.
 

Initially I tried sketching and cutting out the camouflage pattern. You can see that effort on the port wing.

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That took too much effort and I switched to using thin vinyl filled with bits of masking tape instead.

I find this method allows for easier adjustment of shapes.

It doesn't look like much but that took me a few tedious sessions of masking.

 

A few minutes of painting later,

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So satisfying. It almost makes up for the masking tedium. Almost...

 

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That's the scheme done and glossed up.

Colors used were Gunze's H72 Dark Earth and H73 Dark Green.

 

Thanks for stopping by folks!
-co

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/14/2020 at 5:12 PM, Kurt H. said:

Nice work with the masking and painting. What width tape did you use? 

 

Thanks Kurt. I sliced the 3mm tape in half as I found it hard to curve otherwise.

 

On 8/15/2020 at 7:43 PM, Thadeus said:

Wow. Nice work. I really dig P-40's. One of the nicest fighters of WWII. I know. I'm a bit weird 😉

 

Thanks Thadeus. I love the P-40's too!
In particular, I prefer the B variant with the smaller intakes. Makes for nicer lines.

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Hi all, 
Just a short update on the progress.

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Decals done. The airfix decals were very nice. Unfortunately, someone pointed out that the roundels should have 12 points instead of the 11 that Airfix printed.
After that, I just couldn't unsee the error and had them replaced with Kitsworld's version. Besides having the correct number of points, the replacements were not accurate either. The blue is a bit too dark and the roundel is just slightly too big. They did settle down nicely though. 
I sealed the decals with clear, then panel lined with Tamiya's accent liners. Finally, I gave it a matt coat in preparation for weathering.

The pictures I used as reference showed feathered camouflage so I free handed the colors.
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I used Gunze's H71 Middle Stone and H72 Dark Earth.

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Camo done and cleared. The Hasegawa decals were unusable. I tried to save them with Microscale's liquid decal film but they still broke up when I tried applying them.
I bought a masking set and will be painting on the markings next.

Thanks for stopping by.
-co

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all,
 

Another 2 weeks gone and time for an update.


I've been painting the markings with a masking set and this is how it turned out.

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This is my first time doing using masks and I'm not really sure if I prefer it to decals.
It was time consuming to line up the masks and to ensure they didn't distort during application.

And I still ended up with ridges even though care was taken to apply paint in thin layers. 

I protected the markings with some gloss, then sanded that to get rid of the ridges.
This was followed by some tamiya panel accent and a matt coat. 
The exhausts and stabilizers were also installed at this point
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I'm not sure how accurate the azure blue is but I do like the color.
gUlx1bg.jpg

-co

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all,
I hope that everyone is keeping well through these testing times.

On the positive side, I do find a bit more time for modelling. 
Here's the first one completed.
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Weathering was done with tamiya smoke and weathering pastels. Some chipping done with sponge and silver pencil.

One more to go. 
-co

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  • 2 weeks later...

Concluding with some of personal thoughts,
 

The Airfix kit is easier to build with great decals. 
However, the plastic is softer and the details less crisp compared to the Hasegawa.
Other minor cons include missing prominent panels and inaccurate roundels. 

The Hasegawa has nicer surface details and the harder plastic imparts sharper features. 
However, the fussy multi part fuselage and unusable decals are big negatives.

  O2zQQes.jpg

 

None of the negatives are show stoppers.

They both cost about the same and in the end, both kits build into good scale representations.
I'm fairly happy with how they turned out and can recommend them both.

However if I had to pick just one, it'll be the Hasegawa. Even though it requires more work, I like the finer details.

Thanks for coming along for the ride. 
A big hat tip to Kurt for organising this group build.
-co

Edited by CaptainObvious
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