Antb

Hi Everyone, I'm looking at one of my first projects of the New Year being Airfix's 1/40 P40B, but am wanting to do this in RAF Desert markings rather than the US OOB ones. Not being an expert on any aircraft i build, i've been doing some research and am a tad confused with differences between B's and C's- there are plenty of images of markings for a C (IIB. Im hoping someone can help point me in the right direction so i can get the markings for an RAF B (well, a IIA) I understand that the P40B was designated as the Tomahawk IIA in RAF service and that the P40C was the Tomahawk IIB- Wikipedia (that well trusted source) states the differences as added underbelly drop tank and bomb shackles, self-sealing fuel tanks and other minor revisions . Does that mean that there are no visual differences between the airframes. There are some great RAF Desert schemes out there for the C but is this more or less, visually, the same as the B? It also seems that there is a drop tank in the kit too, so can a C be made out of the B boxing? I know that this is probably showing how little i know about anything and i apologise if it's daft but im really confused as to what is what. I have seen some of the early temperate schemes of Dark Earth and Green, plus the Grey and Green but im after a Desert scheme so would really appreciate some input. Huge thanks for any pointers, guidance, feedback or comments telling me im an idiot 🙂 (well, maybe not for the latter)

Nice mate. Looking forward to seeing the progress as always. Working on one at the moment and really enjoying it. Nice little kit and you can't beat a phantom.

You've done very well to get that to fit iain, it looks awesome. I cant be doing with aires resin as I find it a royal pain, but it does look lovely. Its a shame really as detail wise its great. Whats the scheme you're going for with this one?

You'd think so wouldn't you, but no. I got an "oh yeh". Unbelievable 🤣

Hi folks Hope we continue to be keeping well. This build is something a little different and definitely one for those who have kids or grandkids and have seen the film. If you haven't seen the film this will probably mean nothing to you. I present to you "Skipper" the F4 Corsair from the animated film Disney Planes. For those who have seen the film skipper was part of the "Jolly Wrenches" and flew during the war from the aircraft carrier the Flysenhower. A quick Google search will show the details for those of you who have no idea what on the earth I'm talking about. The kit is the revell 32nd F4 that I purchased during black Friday last year. I had every intention of building this, adding some aftermarket and scratch building but, quite frankly, the kits a mess. With my little boy being a massive fan of the film I decided to have a little fun! It certainly was that. I made all markings myself and painted with Mr color aqueous. The base has had masked cut and sprayed. Painting eyes on a plane is actually great fun too, never done that before 🤣 Most certainly not my best work ever but it was never supposed to be about that. Its nice to kick back and do something completely different. Not one to critique, per se, but wanted to share and hopefully brighten someone's day.

Thanks all I had a look at the model the other day and for a fleeting moment considered finishing it off. I might take a look this week and see whether I can get her finished. @Icarus thanks for the suggestion in using Johnson clear. Sadly this isn't a product I use and I didn't want to use a cleer coat over the metal finish as didn't want to lose the lustre I had. However it might turn out I do need the clear coat after all so this will probably be happening. I seem to be having a bit of a tough time modelling at the moment. Working on a b25c in 72nd in North African markings and thats not going right either. Not sure whats happening with it all but I'm sure ill get past it and start enjoying building without daft things and mistakes happening. anyway, re the P51 watch this space

She's looking splendid iain. Just had this kit arrive myself, it does look nice so be good to see this one finished for some inspiration. No pressure 🤣

Thanks chaps.

Hi folks Since my last update I have been doing some more work to get the mustang finished. It hasn't been an enjoyable experience and have made the decision to put the build on hold for now. Whether I'll get around to it again or not I don't really know but its not enjoyable and I've lost patience with the kit. Issues I've had this week: The undercarriage. The rear wheel didn't fit so had to be drilled out to get it onto the "leg" The main gear fits in with a small triangle that slots into the wheel bay roof. These did not want to go in and when they did they did sit straight and were a nightmare. The main wheels didn't go together very well at all. Huge gaps between the tyres and the rims. The slot in from the legs to the wheels are too small so the wheels don't sit right. The front windscreen won't sit flush with the fuselage despite being sanded and scraped both on the clear part and the fuselage area. The NMF keeps wearing through from handling. I'm getting sick and tired of re painting. Decals. Dont want to settle down no matter what I try. Not wanting to make excuses for my skills, or lack of, but I don't think its just me to blame. Its a shame but I cant keep plodding on as it is. I've got another build lined up so hoping that one goes a bit better. I don't usually, well haven't ever, put a build to one side, but this one I just can't keep going at.

Hi again folks, Lazy Sunday today so with the family all doing their own thing it was serious bench time day. Lots of pictures and, as has become customary, problems. First order of business was to fix the overspray problems and mark out for the black borders on the yellow outer wing bands. I cut 1mm strips of tape using the infini cutting mat and placed these on the inside edges of the yellow. Wasn't taking any chances woth overspray this time When all masked up the 1mm strips were removed and the black painted with tamiya lacquer nato black. Worked, sort of, some clean up was needed. I had sprayed a very light chipping fluid coat on the anti glare panel prior to painting so with the majority of the painting work completed I went at it with some water. Was very subtle but I like the effect. I also added a touch of tamiya buff to the olive green and added some fading. I've taken the risky decision not to flat or gloss coat the plane as I don't want to lose the shiny effect I have on the fuselage. The surface is really good for decals so it was time to crack them out and get the main ones laid down. This is where there was a problem. This happened to the first upper wing decal. Nightmare. And gutted at the same time. I did consider cutting masks for the stars and bars but raided one of the 2 royal class boxings I have. Luckily I had planned on doing one of the aircraft there as an RAF mustang so there was a spare decal. After some trepidation the rest of the decals behaved themselves and this is this evenings result. When these have dried it will be time for stencils and then some light weathering. The red Q and QP look pink in the photos and a bit in the flesh. The colours aren't very solid and they do show the underside colour somewhat. I'm not sure i like the decals in all honesty, they're not as good as I was expecting.

Thanks Dennis. Think I was just being a bit grumpy. All fixed this morning and it doesn't look too bad.

Hi everyone Been a busy week this week but have managed to move along with the build. I have to admit its been frustrating but this is due to my lack of skill as have had numerous scratches, blemishes and the such to sort as I've moved along. After what I thought was a good job dealing with seams etc it was on with the Mr Color GX2 gloss black. Never used this stuff before and was sort of happy with how it came out. However, there were loads of areas to sort. So out with the fillers and most of the issues were sorted. Although I still wasn't 100% happy. Next job was the NMF. For the fuselage I went for AK extreme metal polished aluminium. And my word this stuff is awesome. Doesnt look much when it goes on but it doesn't half end up shiny. The wings were given a coat, or three, of AK extreme white aluminium. It was at this point I was really frustrated. This stage showed up more areas that needed attention that the gloss hadn't shown up and there were so many bits in the paint it was ridiculous. I attended to the areas that needed it and gave the paint a rub back which improved the finish somewhat. I've come to the conclusion that NMF finishes are bloomin tricky and I feel a bit above my skill level. However we plow on. The tail was masked off ready to receive the yellow. This would be Mr Color orange yellow laquer. Now, I did give a fleeting thought to a white base for the yellow, however the original bird would have had the yellow on top of the NMF I believe so went down that road. Oh, the anti glare panel also got masked. Its dead easy masking a straight line. Erm.... nope. Took ages. Tamiya olive green. And with the tail painted. This needs a rub down as hasn't dried particularly smooth. A job for tomorrow I have painted the yellow bands on the wings this evening but there's loads of overspray to sort out and not going to take any photos of that for now. I'll get that sorted tomorrow, then paint the red band around the front of the nose and the spinner and then some different shades of aluminium to break up the tones. I guess the builds going alright, its something I've never really done before but I think mustangs in future might be olive drab 🤣

Hi Folks, Has been a bit of a strange week this week, got quite a bit of work done on the kit but lost a modelling friend yesterday which has been pretty devastating. Not a good end to the week. This update will be fairly lengthy and i apologise for the amount of photos and text but i dont particularly want to post small updates that arent very interesting. Fresh from joining the fuselage halves together it was time to tackle the wheelwell- the theme of this kit is tricky and fiddly. This is what Eduard will have you do, quite how this was supposed to align i have no idea: I decided to build it all onto the roof of the wheel well: More fiddly bits added- the internal "ribs" and then painted with AK extreme metal Dark Aluminium- washed with Flory Grime and a bit of Zinc Chromate- not weathered here though The fuselage hadnt gone together too badly and there wasnt much clean up required with the exception of the air scoop- this area was far from ideal, in fact it was bloomin awful! Along the top of the fuselage front section the panel line needed putting in- out with the Dymo tape: And a few areas needed filler: With that drying it was time to tackle the wing identification lights- now this bit is really clever- the clear part attaches to the wing on the inside, the rear of this is painted with Tamiya clear red, yellow and green and looks like this: And from the other side: This looked great (ignore the water on the wing) but with the top wing fitted it lost its vibrancy so a solution was to use some foil- this was stuck on with some PVA to prevent any issues and adds some really nice reflectivity behind the clear parts: So, it was time to bring the completed wing assembly to the fuselage- nice and simple- just a slot in- erm, nope: I initially thought this was the problem and that it stuck up too high: But it wasnt that- i dont have any photos of what it was as i was a bit miffed but basically when you install the cockpit you dont glue the bottom part (the sides of the floor)into the fuselage- this allows some movement of the rest of the cockpit to lift up and it fits in- instructions dont tell you that bit... The fit was much better but far from perfect: I didnt want to use a filler that was too destructive to the detail so opted to use a few layers of PPP- one lot down wipe it off, then re apply: Almost forgot, all the seams were sorted and the rivets added back in, as you can see from the picture above. Rudder installed, plus ailerons and tail section- some Mr Dissolved putty on the leading edges of the wings and here she sits as of this evening: Thoughts so far, is that the kit is actually quite hard work. Not sure whether its me or now, but its more tricky than i was expecting. Ive got 2 of the Royal Class boxings to build and frankly i dont think id rush and build another one quickly. I might change my mind but for now, theres my thoughts/ Anyway, feedback always appreciated. Cheers folks

Thanks Patrice. A slow Sunday today after the excitement of yesterday, meant i was able to get quote a bit of work done on the build. First job of the day, sidewalls and tail wheel wells. Eduard have these as seperate parts that you have to attach to the sidewalls of the fuselage. Pretty straightforward but the framing is quite thin and there are seams running along the length of each part that you need to clean up. Also, there are areas to remove for attaching the PE but i made the decision not to use every piece of PE meant for the cockpit as, quite frankly, some of them were that small it would have been pointless. # The sidewalls have been painted with Aqueuous Interior Green and the rear wheel well Tamiya XF4 Some hours later, once the paint had dried the PE was attached. Starting to look really busy. There were a few really annoyingly placed ejector pin marks which would just about be visible so had to take care of them. Once the PE glue had dried it was on with another Flory Grime wash, and removed leaving slight weathering. The black parts, white and red buttons and switches were "painted" using POSCA pens which are great for detailing work. They are very similar to an acrylic marker and enable you to get some great results without having to worry about painting small bits and pieces. The instructions would have you paint the inside of the air scoop "fine silver" but with a dry fit you cant really see into this area at all, so ive opted to paint this when i paint the entire airframe. Im not too concerned about painting all the way up, it wont be seen so theres little point. With the sidewalls complete it was time to button her up. This wasnt as straightforward as you would like to think. The cockpit part i had previously made up sits right to the rear of the photo above where the little sticky out bit is (not very technical i know). This didnt want to sit properly and when it did it didnt want to sit against the other side when that came across. Because of the air scoop it wasnt a case of being able to get in there and push it into position either so there were some mumbled naughty words and a lot of trying, trying and trying again. Eventually though, we got to a point where it went together. Im really pleased i put all that effort into painting the battery etc....

Thanks Chaps!

Good Evening Everyone, Feels like ages since i opened the thread for the build! I have been working on the kit and finally have some progress to share with you all. First up, the cockpit- unsurprisingly! What can i say, except that its quite fiddly but with patience it actually builds up really nicely- below is the stage by stage process i have gone through. Stage 1 was to clean up the parts off the sprue, seperate them into what colour they needed to be painted. In the below you can see that i have painted the pit floor in a wooden colour- in this case i used Tamiya Buff. The seat was painted with AK Dark aluminium which would have a layer of chipping fluid applied prior to the interior green Interior green sprayed- this is Mr Hobby Aqueous AK chipping fluid sprayed over the wooden effect and Tamiya Lacquer Rubber Black sprayed over this to simulate the rubber flooring present on the pit floor. This is the first time i have used the Tamiya Lacquers and have to say they really are very good. They stink but they go down beautifully Water and a stiff brush brought me this. At first i wasnt very happy with the effect but having now weathered it it actually looks alright. Note the cracking, not sure how this happened. Seat chipped, batteries and other bits and pieces sprayed with Tamiya Lacquer Nato Black- went for an off black as never really use straight black as it doesnt always look right. An off black gives more of a subtle effect. I had also sprayed a flat coat of Tamiya XF86 to give the weathering stage something to grip onto Next it was time for a wash. Flory Models Grime. A front view of the pit- by this time i had also added the fiddly PE bits. The wear on the cockpit floor looks much better now Belts added and wash taken off using damp cotton buds. I have used a small amount of Flory Dark Dirt wash on the belts to weather them in so they arent as stark and clean. Cockpit sidewalls next- loads of PE to go on so should be fun but up until now it has been fun but patience is required.

Thanks mate, coming from you with the work that you pull off, I'm flattered.

Thanks ingo For this build I uses my H and S Infinity CR Plus

Thank you Patrice No pressure there then 🤣

Glad to hear you beat the virus. Thats a really great build! Well done

Thanks chaps!

Cheers Ozzy. Re the white undercoat, thats my plan but we know how plans often work out 🙂

Hi Folks, Shamefully i wasnt aware this GB was starting but am glad ive found it. I've something of an interest in the MTO during the second world war so this is perfect for me. Id like to contribute to this GB with the Eduard Chattanooga Choo Choo boxing of the P51D- i'll be building the mount of Capt Fredie F Ohr based in Madna, Italy in 1944. This is the first NMF ive ever properly attempted so hopefully its passable once its finished. Here are the pictures of the box contents and the option i have gone with: Excuse the light, the paper is very glossy! I think the build will be a challenge, particularly with the yellow tail and bands- we shall see what happens! Please feel free to chip in as i post my updates Cheers folks

Thanks again chaps Have to admit I'd probably build another one. But the other boxing of it. I do like the typhoon/ tempest family and could be swayed with a 48th one

Wowzers, so many nice comments. Thanks everyone the comments really are hugely appreciated.