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Here is. my 1-48 P40E Kittyhawk. This is the Italeri kit out of the box and kit decals. It is a rebox of the AMT kit and is quite nice given its vintage. The engraved details are finely done, level of detail is acceptable and fit is pretty good except for the engine cowl panels. The moulds are quite old and as a result there is flash on almost all parts that requires clean up. Apparently these Kittyhawks were painted by Curtiss to RAF described colours but using American standard paints. The Sky was from Gunze Aqueous, The Green is Tamiya RAF Dark Green and the tan is Aeromaster enamel mid-brown. I'm not sure it's 100% correct but it suits me. What is most interesting to me is the 111 Squadron RCAF roundels and codes used while stationed in Alaska. The wing roundels have the blue extended inwards. The fuselage had the outer yellow portion painted black. Then the letter codes on this example were underlined. Additionally the codes and the serial numbers overlap the fuselage band. The Italeri decals worked very well, however, I think the letter codes are slightly too large. They were very thin and easy to apply as long as you used lots of water to place them. They settled down with Daco strong solution. The only issue was placing the fuselage band which comes in two parts and this is not shown in the instructions. The solution is to leave a small gap on the right lower side for the base of the letter "L" and the small piece of band fits on the bottom. It is important to do the band and the letter codes and the roundels all at the same time- as I said use lots of water and don't let them set until they are all in alignment. Well here she is....

I fear quarantine has finally caught up to me and left me fit for the madhouse. While I finish tracking down the paints for a 1/72 Texan in Brazilian Markings courtesy of Tim and finish painting a 1/72 Mustang in Guatemalan Markings courtesy of Herb, I've decided to crack into what I expect will be a years-long endeavor. Having recently done more reading on the later marks of the ever-beautiful P-40, I came across a few more photos of the TP-40 models, both K and N, and somehow decided making a TP-40N starting from the Academy kit didn't seem all that difficult. So then, of course, I chose to make it difficult. And expensive. And time consuming. As only a modeler could. I stumbled back across Super Model of Polands fine website and began to take inventory of just how much aftermarket I could work into the build, from flaps and gear doors to engines and radios, and even bomb racks and machine gun bays. With some wheels, stencils, and control surfaces for good measure, I've gotten to work. Now I just need new cockpit parts, exhaust pipes, pilot figures, and resin wheel bays from Aires. Perhaps a new pitot and gun barrels will even find their way to the bench. PART flaps were chosen because they're vastly more detailed (and easier to use) than the ones Verlinden provide. Seeing a Hasegawa P-40N for cheap, I picked it up to make use of some of the leftover parts from the Verlinden set that won't find their way into this build, as a dry run to get more experience with resin and PE. Expect to see that in an Olive / NG Brazilian Scheme eventually. Once the Academy kit arrives, I'll be able to make more visible progress than just cleaning resin parts and opening access panels. For now, the parts: Wish me luck! Stay Healthy, Tweener

Ok, on for something new. Or, to be a bit more precise: on with something old and start a new WIP thread here. As stated here I was not sure what to do next, and among the various options I felt like continuing with a 1/32 Trumpeter P40 is a good thing. So, @Corsairfoxfouruncle here's the invitation to follow this one. 😉 The topic of building Arvid Olsen's P40B, Leader of the 3rd Squadron of the AVG, named "Hell's Angels" came to me quite a while ago, when I read that it was him that suggested the name of the Motorcycle Club, based on the name of his Squadron, which then was named based on the famous Howard hughes Film. Not that I am in any way associated with the club, I found the topic interesting. And the early P40 with the slimmer and pointy shape, with the shark mouth and the Chinese marking has always been an iconic aircraft to me - and as I don't like this term in generell, here it seems just fitting. I started this some very long time ago, bought the kit way back then in 2013 and bought stuff, more stuff and some more on top. Stuff included various set of decals, Eduard inner and outer brass, and some metal gun rods. And, most importand, a good piece of literature: So, when I started this I'd say something around 2015, I felt prepared. Wasn't. When I did the engine, which went well together well until mounting the exhausts, I felt these are simply unbuildable. So, bought some exhausts from Graham at Noblekraft and these saved me from turning mad and this kit into trash. Then: went fine. Sometimes it's just the little parts that do the work. Here's some pics from my attempt, to build the exhausts provided with the kit: And here's the resin exhausts: Painted: And here's an early picture of the entire engine:

Hi all, So finished this build fairly quickly for my standards and I think its testament for what a nice little kit it is. There were a few minor issues mainly the tail to fuselage join (which in hindsight seems like it could be much more straightforward) but all in all a really enjoyable build. One thing I did do that's worth pointing out is swapping the target crosshair from just in front of the screen to a PE part off an old Eduard German gun sight, this gives for better scale. Some of the lights which I hope you will see on the tips of the wings were just the clear parts and before adding them on i touched them with red and green sharpies. This is the first time I have tried this effect and it works perfectly. Thanks for looking.

Hi All! Been some time since I last had time to build something, but here is my most recent attempt Let me know what you think! I'm quite happy with the weathering and finish overall, I don't normally build them "wheels up" however. Thanks in advance for any comments

After jumping in with my first 'Ready for Inspection' post, here's my first WIP. My enjoyment of the extra details and interior bits-and-bobs with the Tamiya 1/32 Corsair led to this, my second, 1/32nd scale build. It was a gift, and if I am honest - I have never been a lover of the P40 in any of its variants, and I really don't know why. It's an amazing looking aircraft, huge spinner, shoulder heavy, and so on... It's just never really grabbed me. But either way... Here goes. I will, as usual, be working with brush paints and rattle cans - as I do not (yet) own an airbrush. Sadly this means colours - both interior and exterior - are likely only vague approximations, and not mixed to historically accurate levels. As far as after-market add ons, I plan to use a mask for the canopy, and I have ordered the CMK resin undercarriage bays with canvas covers... This will be my first time using resin add-ons. So any advice regarding these particular items is welcome. From colouring (seems like a dark grey / green is best), to the fit and so on. Just seemed worth adding a bit of pazzazz to this kit. First up, I added some extra wire to the cockpit walls. This stuff is cast offs from by fuse-boxes on the pavement. I always see so much of it, and just pick it up and pop it in my bag. Anyway - stripped it down, and drilled some small holes to house the ends, then glued it down. Not sure how accurate, but at 1/32 I wanted to add some more visual detail. Then parts were primed with flat grey, as was the cockpit floor and rear cockpit wall. These were then sprayed lightly with aluminium silver before being lightly blotched with artists' watercolour masking fluid, which was left to dry (25 mins) before being sprayed at an angle with something close(ish) to an interior green. Then surfaces were brushed with an old toothbrush... (NB - A new fancy toothbrush with rubber nubbins seems to make this task significantly easier than doing it with a bristle-only brush). I then brush painted some details onto the side walls, added some spurious decals from past kits (once again - for visual effect at the expense of accuracy), did an oil wash of mixed black and brown, and finally made a mixed pigment from mainly 'mud green', with a touch of 'sand' and 'dark brown' which I splodged all over the foot-end of the floor. Next up is a matt varnish on it all, and then on to the instrument panel. Thanks for looking, and any comments most welcome.

Remembrance Sunday. A perfect day to finish this tribute build. When 24-year-old Flt Sgt Dennis Copping was forced to crash-land here in June 1942 he probably realised he stood no chance of survival. On June 28, 1942, Flt Sgt Dennis Copping of the RAF was flying a damaged P-40 Kittyhawk between two British airfields in Egypt for repairs and maintenance. But the aircraft never arrived at its destination, and for 70 years the Kittyhawk’s fate, and that of its 24-year-old pilot, remained a mystery. The Kittyhawk bearing the 260 Squadron “HS” squadron code and the aircraft letter “B” settled down over a wide and remote expanse of North African sand desert called Al Wadi al Jadid. Perhaps low on fuel, perhaps lost, or with mechanical problems, the RAF pilot chose to land in the vast North African Sahara. With his landing gear locked down, he flared low over the sand and settled onto it. The gear snapped off, the desert camouflaged P-40 collapsed onto its belly and slid for a hundred meters or more shedding its radiators and propeller hub. After coming to a stop, the pilot exited the aircraft, closed the canopy and disappeared into the sands of history. The aircraft itself would remain undiscovered for seven decades, perhaps for much of it covered by the sands of time. Build link Airfix 1/72 P40. Paints & Extras Tamiya Spray Aluminium Humbrol Aluminium Bare Metal Foil Dark Aluminium AK Dark Aluminium Metal Paste Flory sand wash. Link to WIP Here is the inspiration for the build And here is what I made

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 ,

With RAF Tangmere just down the road from me and my local model club displaying on the Museums 'Bader Down Day' this August I thought that this model would certainly fit in as Neville Duke has such a history with RAF Tangmere when he broke the sound barrier in his Hawker Hunter. The Hasegawa kit is sublime, fitting extremely well with good detail for such a kit. Adding Eduards interior PE set rises the game to a new level. The only other extra that I did was to drill out the exhaust stacks and guns to add some depth. The build went smoothly and having lots of photos of the AF Air-wing in 1942 it was obvious that these P40s were heavily used and in by no means a pristine condition, so I set out to add a level of weathering through pre and post shading, Tamiya powders and a wash to get the right effect. As the build went on it became obvious that this bird needed to be shown its proper environment; the desert, so I found a resin RAF desert pilot and using a set of plastic from my local hobby store and other bits and pieces that I had lying around I built up a small diorama presenting Neville Duke with his aircraft. Painting was done using Vallejo Air paints, which I love to use, the pattern was free hand as the middle stone was added in theater and was not neat (Dukes aircraft had clear over-spray on the side fuselage roundels). Photographing this build was difficult for some reason. I don't have the best set up and usually use my phone camera as its as good as I have.

Hi everyone, I would love to try and do a 76SQN kittyhawk with the lightning flash, however there is no decent photos that I can find on the internet. Is anyone able to assist at all? Below is an image that I have cropped off another image.

I am a bit stuck as there seems to be a pattern used on the P-40's that went to China and those sent to North Africa. Although I always thought a batch meant for China landed up with 112 sqn. Lastly there seems to be a variation from the P-40E (Kittyhawk). I would be grateful for any help and accurate 3 view drawings.

Hi all sorry I seem to be taking over the RFI section this week! These are the last two of the quartet for the P40 STGB,this time with the trademark shark mouths we tend to associate with this aircraft,this has been a hoot building these cracking little kits even with the annoying wheel hubs and wheel leg joints thanks to a certain supermarket I got three of the four kits for £7:50! Thanks for looking.

Hi all,first for the year,part of a four plane build over on the P40 STGB,this one is the first completed a soviet machine based near Moscow in the winter of 1941,trials and tribulations here.http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234973974-airfix-tomahawkx4-raf-soviet-and-flying-tigers/

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!

Hello all, Here's the latest one of the bench. It's Academy's 1/72 P40M. I'm enjoying building straight from the box of late and this one is OOB save for the addition of the seat harness..... I have been trying for a while to effectively pre shade and I'm quite happy with how this one turned out. It seems that it's very easy to put too much paint on and loose the shading. This time I left it wanting, less is more it seems. The kit goes together very nicely and the build was going very well until... The decals, then oh dear what can I say... Very thick, they would not settle no matter what I tried. I should have thrown them in the bin when the 'shark mouth' wouldn't settle. I decided to paint the 'shark mouth' and I'm very happy with the result. So, lots of positives and one big lesson, be wary of Academy decals.... Comments & critique welcome. Thanks for looking. L.

Righto everyone. After some shocking builds I picked a simple one to practice. I'm building up to a particular Hurricane and need to put some work in! I managed to splurge and got myself a brilliant Iwata double action airbrush and I'm learning as much as I can as quickly as possible. I have to say it's brilliant to finally be able to afford my hobby! HA HA! On this build I was trying the new airbrush, tried polishing compounds to clear up an accident on the canopy, practiced a bit more weathering, tried some new glue (Tamiya Ultra thin....I'll never look back!) tried PVA glue on the canopy fix (that's a revelation for me) and generally tried to get a bit better before tackling a build that means a bit more to me. Here's some photos ...SteveJ60 has built another P40 just recently and he is a kind, regular and generous contributor to this page. It's cool to have an Academy P40 built and displayed at the same time as him. Cheers Winenut The sharp among you will note I did the wheels wells in grey being lazy but had the inside panels of wheels covers in a greeny colour!!! Oh well....put it down to a practice kit. Thanks for looking Cheers Winenut

Hi folks,this is another kit that has sat half finished since Christmas so a few days off work and got it done.Great kit,average decals especially that tiger! the photos have shown up the poor fit of the rear cockpit glazing which I have now sorted.Thanks for looking.

So after a few days I can finally say I've completed a model this year, or 3. All 3 in "flight" Apologies for the harsh light, it is our guaranteed "1 day of summer" 'oop North. P40 first, the right wing has let me down by flaking a bit. Luckily I can just shrug and say "Well they weren't bothered about keeping them clean" Side view, I couldn't decide how best to do the whitewash look. I thought about the hairspray method but after the "success" with Humbrol's black weathering powder/decalfix solution I though the white would work better. Spitfire I made a pigs ear of the props. Hurricane. And finally what I call the "Himmel" look, as that's what a German would think seeing this bearing down (and they were in a Commando comic) Final thoughts, my first few after returning to aircraft, and smaller scales. These were really an experiment to see what the weathering powders were capable of and also my first attempt to really "batter" an aircraft beyond running a brush around vents and putting a bit silver around the wings.