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Found 20 results

  1. Hello everyone, Here is my 1/32 GWH Curtiss Hawk 81 with the markings of Flying Tigers AVG from 1st Pursuit. Built by OOB except for the Eduard seat belts, Barracudacast main wheels and Cutting Edge national insignias Paints are Gunze& Tamiya acrylics. Happy modelling
  2. 1/48 Airfix Curtiss P-40B Warhawk (A05130) Presented as Curtiss Hawk 81-A2 flown by Robert T Smith of Nebraska (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_T._Smith), Kunming, June 1942 Nice kit – purchased at Marks Models Cork. Easy enough build. Only problem with the kit really is the prop assembly fit a bit crappy, and the decals were very poor in many respects. The Curtiss Hawk 81-A2 was the export version of the P-40B. The first aircraft received by the A.V.G. were Hawk 81-A2 fighters originally intended for the RAF, and as such they were painted according to RAF guidelines. As the cammo pattern shows on the top wing, the original roundels were painted over – some aircraft even displayed both for some time on the upper wing. They were delivered to the AVG after a ferry voyage of epic proportions from West Africa, via the middle east and India to the legendary Flying Tigers - the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in China While Curtiss did not have actual RAF paint stocks on hand, they used DuPont paints that approximated the colour descriptions given to them by the RAF As I found the kit supplied decals to be quite incorrect, the roundels are incorrect, i.e. the are 1 point short – so I went with an aftermarket set from kits-world. In addition to being of far better detail and being accurate, they also were of far better quality. In addition to being quite incorrect, the Airfix supplied decals I found to be of very poor quality, with stencilling decals falling off while drying despite the careful use use of microsol and microset – In short, if doing this kit out of box, I would strongly recommend investing in aftermarket decals, the ones supplied are, frankly, doo-doo. The supplied decals are incorrect, with 11 rather than 12 points on the roundel and are of poor quality PAINT – Primer AK 177 surface primer white – I was ot best pleased with it, lifted very easily, this may have been me not allowing it to dry long enough, but it was a serious issue for me. Paint mask AML Hawk-81-A2 (ALAM 48 016) direct from AML web store. I must say the customer service was excellent, initially sent the wrong scale mask the mistake was rapidly resolved and the correct order sent without delay or hesitation. Lower surface XF-75 IJN grey Kure Arsenal Upper Cammo Tan – blend XF59 / XF78 blend Green XF26 deep green with XF-13 patches under flying tiger decals Cockpit / wheel well green a mix of acrylic green and XF4 yellow green Gear XF16 flat aluminium and XF85 tyre black AK9080 flexible airbrush stencil for patchy / salt weather effect Base gloss varnish – Pledge Restore-It (I believe this was known as Future Clear) Final Satin varnish - Galeria Weathering done with various oils and soft pastel based home brew pigments (Icon and Royal Langnickel - poundshop specials fixed with turpentine and hairspray) Acryl pencils, Faber Castell / Derwent / Staedtler and Conte AFTER MARKET Kitsworld 1/48 Scale Decal Sheet KW148058 https://www.kitsworld.co.uk/index.php?CATEGORY=4&SUB=14 Paint mask AML Hawk-81-A2 (ALAM 48 016) direct from AML web store. I must say again the customer service was excellent. Other P40 masks are available. https://eshop.aml.cz/en/camouflage-1-48/727-curtiss-hawk-81-a2-of-china-af-wwii-camouflage-painting-masks.html 1/48 YAHU #4842 P-40 B/C Tomahawk, 3D, colored instrument panels, worth the investment for once, from the highly recommended and always excellent trinitymews ebay shop https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/accurahobbykits
  3. Curtiss P-40B Tomahawk IIA/ Hawk 81-A-2 This is my build of the Airfix 1/72 kit first issue (#AO1003) with the Flying Tigers decals. No flash, no moulding defects, no fit issues save the rudder and side glazing, decals were good. Paints used were Hu.28 for the undersides , Hu.119 for the brown topside colour with Airfix M3 ( Yes, you read that right) for the green. Engraved detail was sharp and its depth appropriate. Nose inserts were slightly off needing some sanding to be rid of small steps. Similarly the wing/fuselage join had a small step which needs eliminating. Comments Assembly. a) The undercarriage legs in my kit were, surprisingly, a very loose fit to the wing. Thus, and contrary to the usual advice for recent Airfix kits, give them several coats of paint to try and tighten them up. b) The pitot tubes for AVG Tomahawks are of the kinked design, not the straight rod the instructions would have you use. c) I assumed the aerial wire was the usual rudder to both wing tips, a feature of the P-40/P-36 range. Again, references were unclear as to whether there was, additionally, a central wire from rudder to top of the fuselage. Some showed it, others didn’t. I left well alone as there was no definitive contemporary photo of the plane with it fitted. Decals and Colour Scheme The major error in the decals is the ‘Hells Angel’ figure. It should be depicted as walking to the rear on the starboard side and the legs are in a different position to the one on the port side. I didn’t know until too late and so it’s the Airfix decal unaltered. Similarly, the shark mouth should be coloured inside with a light blue on this particular aircraft. Stencils are included on the decal sheet but some are so small as to be, for me, impossible to work with. Consequently 2 are lost Colours on the Tomahawks of the AVG are extensively discussed on this site and elsewhere. a) For convenience, I’ve kept to the Airfix recommendations, on the assumption they are for an aircraft whose colours are weathered by the tropical sun but recognising that the underside grey should have a blue tint and the roundels on the underside should be in a much darker blue than the sun drenched roundels on the topside. b) Curtiss interior green was depicted by, ironically, Nakajima interior green from the Colourcoats range (ACJ04) as being the closest to the actual colour. c) I’d run out of my go-to Dark Green, Hu.116, but found, tucked away, an old, unopened tin of Airfix M3. I opened it, not expecting much, and to my surprise it was perfect. That tin must have been purchased in the mid ‘60’s and so is 55 years old. It’s followed me round the country with all my many house moves. Amazing. d) At the last minute,ie today, I found a contemporary photo showing one of the AVG planes where the rear of the propeller was natural metal. Investigating, it seems that factory fresh USAAF planes had props with natural metal and maroon on their rear sides but as these were delivered to the British where they were fitted out, I left mine as black and presumed the photo showed an exception to the rule 🤷🏻‍♂️. In short, an excellent kit with all the detail you could reasonably expect. There’s certainly no need for AM stuff save to get the right decals. All the other issues I’ve listed can be easily rectified. The only kit I can compare it to from my own experience is the Hasegawa P-40N, moulded decades ago .... and it shows. How Airfix make kits as good as this for the price is alchemy. Recommended to all without reservation
  4. Hello everyone... I present my build of the 1/48 Airfix Tomahawk in AVG Markings. It wears the white #21 of Gregory Boyington. The decals are a mix of Airfix, Academy, and Microscale. The ring & bead sight are left overs from the old Revellogram kit. Please feel free to ask questions, post comments, or visit the build thread. Dennis
  5. Hello Everyone... Id like to present my 1st build from the P-51 Mustang group build, and my 2nd build of the year. Its an F-6C That flew with the 118th TRS/23 FG China 1944. The kit is the old Monogram P-51B/C in 1/48th scale. I rescued this from a vendor table for $4.00 last November and it is pretty much an oob build. The only real modification’s were the drilling of holes in the lower fuselage, and lower port fuselage to accomodate the camera’s, and brass tubing for the .50 cal. barrels. The camera’s are just two pieces of sprue hollowed out. The markings other than the “597” and Stars & Bars are all masked and painted. There are two members that helped me with parts along the way so Thank you Gentleman. Questions, comments, and or thoughts ? I have added a link to the build in case anyone would like to take a look ? Dennis
  6. Curtiss Hawk H-81A-2 (P-40B) | 1/72 | Airfix American Volunteer Group, 3rd Pursuit Squadron -- Charles Older, Pilot -- 1942 I finished this on November 17th, 2019. This is the P-40B flown by Charles Older in the Flying Tigers (American Volunteer Group). I was very excited about this build as I'd never done a Flying Tiger before. When I was a kid, it seemed like most of my friends had P-40 Flying Tiger models, and I somehow never got around to it. The P-40 is one of my favorite fighters, but until a few years ago, I really didn't know much about the early B and C models. Reading about them in one of my Dad's aviation history magazines, I discovered that the P-40B/C is my favorite model of the P-40. I think it's the sleek looking nose. So this has been a fun build for me. Charles Older was a member of the 3rd Pursuit Squadron ("Hells Angels"), having earned his wings in the US Marine Corps and subsequently resigning his commission to join the Flying Tigers. He was the 3rd highest scoring ace in the Flying Tigers. After the AVG was disbanded, he flew P-51s as deputy commander of the 23rd fighter group. He left the Air Force a Lt. Colonel with 18 confirmed victories and 5 probables. He went on to become a lawyer and Judge in the state of California. His most famous trial as judge was that of mass-murderer Charles Manson. This kit was a terrific kit to put together. I had no fit problems to speak of, except that the piece with the guns and intake on top was slightly smaller than it should've been, requiring a little sanding and re-scribing. The decals are inaccurate: The roundels are a little too light and the starboard Hell's Angel is facing the wrong way and has the wrong leg positioning. WIP is here. Special thanks to @ArmouredSprue for the Academy decals which have the correct starboard Hell's Angel and to @Corsairfoxfouruncle for weathering advice and some info about P-40 gas cap colors! Finishing: Seams filled with CA (superglue) Paints: Mr. Surfacer 1500 black primer > Mr.Color 311 (FS36622) gray underside, and Mr. Color 310 (FS30219) Brown / 2 parts FS34092 and 1 part FS34079 (Model Master Enamel) topside Decals: Kit decals except for Hell's Angel on starboard side, wheel hubs and underside roundels from the Academy kit. Weathering/Wear: Tamiya weathering pastels (black) > white oil paint dot filtering and tan pastels for dust effects > oil staining and dirt streaks with Black and Burnt Umber watercolor Paints > Chips with Testors Chrome enamel applied with a spotter brush Thanks for looking! Questions, Comments and constructive criticism welcome!
  7. My next project is one I've been looking to for quite a long time (maybe even longer than my recently completed Rolf Berg Spitfire Mk. IXe). and the obligatory parts shot: I've been a huge fan of P-40s most of my life -- I don't know why exactly, maybe it was the mystique of the Flying Tigers or maybe it was because the first model I finished by myself was a snap together P-40. At any rate, I love P-40s. In spite of that, I was pretty ignorant about early P-40 B's and C's; I just knew the early ones looked a little different. Then 4-5 years ago, the cover of one of my dad's aviation history magazines had a refurbished P-40C on the cover. It was in-flight and all polished aluminum, and I realized how sleek and fast-looking the early P-40s were and started reading up on them. I think the B/C has become my favorite variant. Around that time I saw Airfix came out with this kit, and I read some pretty complimentary reviews so I pounced on it. I've done some research on the AVG's paint colors and found this fascinating and informative discussion: I also found a similarly thorough discussion on Rato Marczak's website here: http://www.ratomodeling.com/articles/AVG_cammo/ In the end, I've decided to go with Rato's FS recommendations as I found that easier to match to Mr. Color paints. I don't do Acrylics, and the Britmodeller discussion I linked to had Tamiya XF numbers that I found nearly impossible to cross reference to Mr. Color. They did a fabulous job of researching and testing, though, so if you are a Tamiya paint fan, you may want to check out their recommendations for AVG colors. I bought Mr.Color 311 (FS36622) gray, and 310 (FS30219) Brown. The green was recommended to be 2 parts FS34092 and 1 part FS34079, both of which I have in Model Master Enamel. I'm regretting that decision now, as I've had some terrible luck lately with Model master paints in regards to their performance in the airbrush and rough finish. I will give it a shot, though. I believe these recommendations are pretty close though, because Flying Heritage Collection in Everett, WA is meticulous in their research and their P-40B is painted in AVG colors which looked like a nearly perfect match to the recommendations at Rato's website. My picture is not well-lit, but going to the Flying Heritage Collection's website, they have lots of good photos of the P-40 flying in daylight. So, today I got started and painted the interior parts Zinc Chromate, followed by a Tamiya clear gloss coat for a wash: Looking at ArmouredSprue's WIP I linked above, I see that the seat is an incorrect shape and needs to be NMF, so I'm going down to correct that now.
  8. Are you talking to me? Here's my latest off the workbench - it took a little more than 9 months in the making, mostly because I'm slow. A short summary of the project first KIT: Italeri 1:72 A-10A/C Thunderbolt II N.1376 AIRFRAME: Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II 79-0196, 23rd TFW, 74th TFS Flying Tigers, while stationed at King Fahd Air Base in 1991, during Operation Desert Storm MARKINGS: kit decals, except for the blue fin edges. These were airbrushed, while the white lightnings with the squadron number were cut off the original decals. The Italeri proposed marking scheme isn’t entirely accurate, as it’s a mix up of two different airplanes. I had to adapt some of the kit decals to reproduce the correct serial numbers, use kill marks and crew names plate from a different scheme of the same sheet and just skip some of the decals/stencils which didn’t look to be there on the real AC PAINTS: mainly Lifecolor acrylics, airbrushed, with the addition of Model Master Metallizer Titanium and AK Interactive Extreme Metal Steel for the air refuelling receptacle and other metallic bits, such as the exhaust nozzles. WEATHERING: mostly with tempera washes, various hues. Some dot filtering with oil in selected areas Aftermarkets: - Aires resin/PE cockpit set - Quickboost air intakes (designed for the HASEGAWA kit, but they fit just good on this one too) - Master Gatling GAU-8 cannon and Pitot tube Scratchbuilding: - Nose and tail bulged antennae, using plunge moulded styrene - PAVE PENNY POD clear head and internal details, using clear PET, brass pipe and thin styrene bits - brake lines and cables on all the gear struts and inside the wheel wells, using various copper and solder wires - Ailerons/airbrakes inner details, using alu tape and copper wires Here's the WIP thread, in case you're interested in: Many thanks to everybody who followed the build, with lots of useful tips, insights and pointers; this aircraft is a type my friend and fellow BMer @Gene K flew in the second part of his career (he may have probably flown this specific airplane at some point), so this build is inspired by him - I hope I made it justice, despite of my inclination to weathering ... Enough blah-blah, here are the pics (I keep struggling in search of a decent setup for my RFI pics, so apologies for not being the best quality): This shot of the underside is an in-progress, RBF tags missing All comments welcome Ciao
  9. Hello friends, another old model is over. I am continuing in the spirit of old maketter times. Here's the picture, enjoy it.
  10. Hi, My latest model is the very nice kit from Airfix which is quite enjoyable to build. There are some panel lines that need to be filled in and a few things to be fixed here and there, but nothing major. This is a the aircraft of David Lee "Tex" HILL of the AVG for which the decals were sourced from a vintage Aeromaster sheet. Exhaust pipes are from QB. Pitot, gunsight and barrels from Master. Now that it is done, I must confess that I find the wheels ugly and that they would benefit from being replaced. All comments are appreciated. Thanks for looking Antoine
  11. Hi everyone A more accurate title would be Curtiss Hawk 81-A-2 which is the "Side B" option of the Airfix boxing A05130. Flown by Flight Leader Robert Smith, 3rd Squadron, Kunming, China, 1942. I thought this was a very nice kit and I would make another (in fact I definitely will as I initially goofed up the shark's mouth decal, so I bought another kit which I will use in conjunction with an Xtradecal sheet featuring some interesting foreign operator schemes (Turkish, Syrian). Researching the colours was a challenge. There are lots of opinions about DuPont's interpretation of RAF camo. In the end I went with Airfix's suggestion of 119 for Matt Earth (approx DuPont 71-009) but Tamiya XF-13 for DuPont 71-013. I felt that Airfix's suggestion of 116 just seemed too dark. The model is pretty much OOB - I just added some photo-etched seatbelts and a gunsight. Desert dust effect courtesy of some weathering powders. DSC_0001_small by Richard Coombe, on Flickr DSC_0003_small by Richard Coombe, on Flickr DSC_0002_small by Richard Coombe, on Flickr DSC_0005_small by Richard Coombe, on Flickr DSC_0006_small by Richard Coombe, on Flickr DSC_0007_small by Richard Coombe, on Flickr Cheers Richard C
  12. This was a short project to relax for a while! I finished the 1/72 Airfix Curtiss Hawk 81-A-2 as a P-40B AVG machine, basically out of the box. I only added break lines, PE iron sights, simulated the canvas interior of the wheel wells and opened the cockpit. Nice that the kit provides the correct pitot tube. I had some fitting issues around the cowl, but nothing really serious. I used the kit decals, correcting only the colors ans corners of the sharkmouth. I issued the camo patron on Tamiya masking tape from the excellent Osprey AVG publication. Hard camo edges make this task easier. The pilot figure comes from the Hasegawa WWII pilots set. Hope that you like it. Marco
  13. Another one of my recent builds, the 1/72 Airfix Curtiss Hawk, really enjoyable build, no fit problems and an interesting subject. I tried to capture the dusty look of the actual plane and did a few oil streaks on the fuselage. I used the dot filter technique as well as a few other oil washes and filters to get a grubby feel to it. It's some way off but it's been a great learning experience, taken about 3 weeks and again all from a kit that was under £6! Thanks for looking
  14. G'Day All Latest one of the bench is the Bronco 1/48 H-81. Not one of my better jobs. This one took longer than a 48 scale single engine fighter should. I think because I ended up adding a true Details resin cockpit to correct the kits undersized one. The only gaps were the wing roots. Apart from that it assembled OK. the kit comes with an engine, but I could not display it as I wanted to, as the firewall is forward of where it should be. Apart from that I also added a Ultracast seat, and modified the awful representations of fabric control surfaces Bronco give you to better represent the real things. Bronco has moulded pronounced troughs between the ribs so I smoothed milliput over them. With the forthcoming Airfix kit, I reckon this one will not be much of a seller DSC_7128 , DSC_7133 , DSC_7111 by ,
  15. 1/48 scale, OD/Neutral Grey. Mostly OOB. Comments welcome.
  16. Curtiss P-40B American Volunteer Group 'Flying Tigers' 3rd Pursuit Squadron 'Hells Angels' White 68 P1069 flow by Flt Ldr Charles Older, Burma 1942 Kit: Airfix 1:72 Pain:t Valajo, Weathering: Tamiya, Decals: Mix of kit and Kits World Build: HERE
  17. Hi, Just taking from shelf models which stand next to Thai Hawk 75N, which I posted few days ago.... Curtiss P 40 - this was my favourite fighter when I was about 10. This was because of the sharkmouth painted on almost each one. In my collection I have just three of them now - two of them I want to present today. One is Tomahawk, P 40 C (Academy, 1/72) in markings pilot R.T.Smith, 3rd Pursuit Squadron (Hell Angels), China Republic AF in winter 1941-42, operating over China-Burma border. The kit went serious surgery - fuselage was cut twice, in engine and behind the canopy. Perhaps the exhaust pipes were also moved - I do not remmeber it now very well. The coller inlet was also reshaped. From some days I was searching for plans which I was folowing when I was doing model, but I cannot find it now. It is about 20 years,,, Sorry. I know also, that I followed wrong profile, where it was suggested, that British B roundels on top were overpainted by Chinese olive green. I did it this way, but from this Forum I've learnt recently, that I was wrong. Perhaps one day I will correct this. The second one is P 40 E (Hasegawa, 1/72 - OOB except decals) in markings of 11 Sq. 343 Group of "Aleutian Tigers", USAF, Aleutian Islands, 1942. In those times there was no Aleutian Tiger in Hasegawa box, I loved this camo so I painted "tiger" directly on model (what a risk! - not on decal). I followed the profile in which US markings were in form of just white stars. Frankly speaking - I am not sure if it is right. If anybody can confirm or denide it - I will then correct it also. There is on my shelf the third one P 40 - an old Airfix model (rised lines and many rivets) which I converted into P 40 M when I was 16, and it is in markings of Col. Witold Urbanowcz - fameous Polish BoB ace from 303 Squadron RAF, the P40 M he used when he was fighting as volunteer at the end of WWII in China. If someone want to see it - please PM me. In stash I have next three P40...I want to do N from New Zealand, K from RAF (desert) and Merlin one (F/L) from US or FFAF Comments welcome Regards Jerzy-Wojtek And P 40 E:
  18. Hi here comes my first article, here on Britmodeller.The chosen subject is my Hasegawa P-40E.It is one of my favorite aircraft and like so much other WW II fighter types a must.The Hasegawa P-40 don t fall together, if you follow the instructions you run into very serious fit problems at the rear fuselage and aft of the canopy.I created completed fuselage halfs and close after this the fuselage, the gaps on the spine are better and easier to fill. There are also fit problems with the wing guns. After this it is a trouble free build and the completed kit look razor sharp like the real thing. For the markings i choose the plane from Robert L. Scott, commander of the 23rd FG in China. I found some interersting pictures on the net and the plane looks relative well maintained, for a combat aircraft. My preshading works only on the underside and i made a black wash only on the access panels. If you look at an aircraft in a “1/48 distance” you won t see much of the panel lines, so i left them untouched. The gun sight came from a PE sheet from Extra – Tech ( german gunsights !! ) The antennas are stretched sprues. The kit was done around spring 2014 and it is still my newest 1/48 plane. The decals came from a Sky Models sheet, printed by Cartograph. They worked very well, beside a fitting problem with the sharkmouth.There is also a picture with an earlier build Hasegawa P-40N, you can t have too much P-40s I hope the sizes of the pictures are o.K, hope you like it Bernd
  19. Click the photos to enlarge! This model represents the plane flown by Flight Leader Charles "Chuck" Older for the AVG in China 1941/42. To see the whole Work in Progress, click here: http://armouredsprue.blogspot.com.au/2014_07_27_archive.html That's all folks! For the WIP forum, click here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234965663-p40b-tomahawk-avg-flying-tigers-airfix-172/ Coments and critics are welcome!
  20. Hello everyone! Here I am again! This time I'll guide you through the whole building process that will end up in the completed model of a Curtiss 81A-2 or the famous P40B. I'm not sure about the site policy on using images from the internet, but if I broke any of the rules, please let me know ASAP and I'll remove them. History: This aircraft became a legend after being used by the American Volunteers Group (AVG) in China circa 1941-42, in combat against the Japanese forces. This group was later known as the Flying Tigers and the Disney Studios even designed a logo for them, but in most of the cases they displayed just the flying tiger, without the "V"and the circle. Flying Tigers emblem (internet) During this period, the China government gave a scarf for every pilot fighting in China called "Blood Chit" and was written in Chinese characters the following: "This foreign person has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should rescue and protect him". Blood Chit issued to AVG members (R. E. Baldwin Collection, via Wikipedia) I'll try to represent the aircraft flown by Flight Lieutenant Charles "Chuck" Older, squadron leader of the 3rd Squadron called "Hell Angels", his plane was the "white 68". 3rd Squadron Hells Angels Squadron Leader, Flight Lieutenant Charles H. Older. Charles Older with his aircraft. 2nd aircraft in the row is #68 being refuelled. In this photo taken by R.T.Smith on the 28th May 1942 near Salween River Gorge, we can see: #68 flown by Arvid Olson, #46 flown by Bob Prescot, #49 flown by Tom Hayward, #24 flown by Ken Jernstedt, and #74 flown by Link Laughlin (B. Smith). This photograph was taken by Robert T. Smith in #77, on 28th May 1942. The shot includes: #68 flown by Arvid Olson, #46 flown by Bob Prescot and #24 flown by Ken Jernstedt (B. Smith). #68 showing the starboard side. Flight leader Robert "Duke" Hedman in Tomahawk #68 in 25th December 1941. He was accredited with destroying 4 x Ki-21 "Sallys" and 1x Ki-43 "Oscar" on this date, thus becoming America's first "Ace in a day". Cockpit detail of #68. For this project I'll use the excellent Airfix A01003 Curtis Hawk 81A-2 in 1/72nd scale. (All photos from now on are mine, except when noted). Box front. Box back and painting scheme. Decal sheet for one version only but lots os stencils provided. Clear parts for closed canopy only Instruction sheet #1/4 Instruction sheet #2/4 Instruction sheet #3/4 Instruction sheet #4/4 Sprue A Sprue B Detail under wings Nicely done engraved panel lines. The overall fit seems to be very good. Now, let's start! Beginning with the cockpit interior. I've painted all interior parts (cockpit, wheel's bays, etc) in Interior Green, since I use acrylics Tamiya Paints, I've mixed 2 parts XF3 (Yellow) + 1 part XF5 (Green) for my interior green. I airbrushed all the parts and after dry I brush painted details with XF1 (Flat Black) and let it completely dry before giving it a coat of Tamiya Panel Accent Wash (brown). Removed the excess after dried using Tamiya thinner X20 and a brush. Cockpit walls painted interior green (XF3:2+XF5:1) and details picked with XF1. Details of the decal for the instruments panel. I did change the manual hydraulic pump lever to suit the scale. This is the kit original seat, after reviewing my references I've noticed that the seat wasn't round but flat on top (see the photography showing the #68 cockpit detail above). Here is the seat corrected. The instruction calls for interior green for the seat, but all my references shows an aluminium colour instead. I've painted using XF16 (Flat Aluminium). I've done some weathering by dry brushing with aluminium. I've also picked the 2 front .50 machine guns stocks over the panel sides. I've added an Eduard PE seat belts. USAF WWII Eduard PE seat belts in place. Joined the fuselage halves and little was to put putty on. The exception is the gap just behind the seat and I still need to remove putty to place the head rest. Another view showing how good the joints are. Almost no putty was used. I've glued the wings in place. Very nice fit with not much filling needed. Next I moved to the spinner. It is missing the panel lines since this piece is made of three parts, the bottom and middle section connects to sandwich the propellers, and then the top. I've used a very simple technique, just place a micro saw between a book to the desired height and than move the part against the blade. Move the blade to another height and repeat the process. Simple like that! Here is the final part. I've added the cooling slats, the kit has the option of open or closed. I also installed the radiator cover. It required a little bit of putty, but nothing to scare! Here is the motor cover in place, a little bit of sanding to match the parts. I've also decided to open the exhausts. It is a very simple thing to do with micro drills and it really enhances the model appearance. On the left side is the part with the holes opened and on the right is the original part. I've worked on painting (Tamiya Matt Brown) some parts here the exhausts and the tires hub, I've just used the colour that was in the airbrush here since there is a decal covering everything. Painted the tires using Tamiya Rubber Tires. The propeller received a first cover of Tamiya Matt Yellow (XF3), then it will be masked off to paint with Matt Black. Corrected the rudder horn Another view of the horn Inserted the needles "machine guns" in the nose... ... and the wings Just a "mug" photo Pre-shade done, model is read for painting, underside ..... .... and upper side Landing gear painted, using Tamyia XF19 Sky Grey Painted the disc breaker in XF19 Sky Grey Propeller painted in XF1 matt Black Wheels centre come in a separated piece which helps to paint and detail, in this case the decals is in place Now I'll weather the sub-assemblies and start thinking about the painting.
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