Curtiss P-40N, 73 F. S., Kweilin, China, 1944

[Old Man]

This is a bit off my usual 'wind in the wires' patch, but I do have an abiding interest in matters Chinese, and the successors to the old China Air Task Force certainly wedge in there. Airmen of the 14th Air Force attempted to vindicate Claire Chennault's view that U.S. air power alone would be sufficient to defeat the Japanese Army in China (a view that was very congenial to Gen. Chiang Kai-shek, as if true, it would mean no changes need be made in the practices or deployment of Chinese armies). While the 14th's airmen achieved a great deal, the Japanese ICHIGO offensive of 1944 proved Chennault badly mistaken, demonstrating that his air power could not even fend off a major advance by the Japanese, let alone defeat them in theater. By the end of the year, advanced bases like Kweilin were in Japanese hands.

The P-40N was the final production version of the P-40. Design of this variant concentrated on shaving weight from its structure and improving pilot visibility; it also received a slightly more power version of the Allison V-12. In clean condition its performance was improved, but in practice, equipment added for ground attack missions and long range operations ate up the improved performance margin. China, where the chief air opposition remained the Japanese Army's Type 1 Hayabusa ('Oscar' in U.S. parlance), was one theater where the P-40N was perfectly adequate as a front-line fighter, and a dangerous attack machine into the bargain.

This is the Academy P-40N kit, and it looks like a P-40N to me. By my standards the kit was a dream to assemble; everything fit, even the clear bits. I started it with the intention of completing it in a weekend, as a break from trickier projects with vintage kits, and almost managed to finish it on that schedule. It is also wholly 'out of box', with the only additions being tape seat-belts, so I have finally managed to build something that would meet the competition OOB standard (something of a change, even a break-through, for me...)...

I used some new techniques on this model, that I think worth describing for my fellow brush-painters here. I normally use acrylics (PollyScale or Model Master), cut heavily with Future, and applied over a base of white primer. It takes several coats to build up solid coverage, so I suppose technically this is a series of 'filter' coats. I decided to take advantage of this to try a sort of 'pre-shading'. I went over the panel lines with black before applying any color. I was not overly careful about it. I then hit the surface with a 3000 grit pad from an auto supply store, which feathered the excess a bit. I then applied a color coat, then ran a knife blade along the lines, lightly. This revealed the black already there. I then applied black again, and worked things with the pad again. I repeated this several times, only on the final color coat I did not re-apply black after opening the lines again with the knife.

When the decals were applied, I slit them along the lines, and hit them with the 3000 grit pad as well, before any sealing coat. I distressed the color a bit with very thin washes between sanding. The sealing coat of Future, and the matte coat of Tamiya flat base in Future, also received the pad treatment. I am very enamored of this routine now, as it gives a very smooth surface, without a trace of brush-mark, and allows for considerable variation within a color area. Opening down to previously applied black is, for me, at least, a pretty much trouble-free and simple means of enhancing a line. It is important, though, to use a light touch when doing this; you do not want to go all the way down to the white primer.

This one will be going up on display at my local hobby shop.

[Mike DeTorrice]

Beautifully done replica of this P-40 ! She looks exceptionally good on display here and will certainly be a fine attraction at the hobby shop.

P-40's done with this classic "flying tiger" type growling mouth full of teeth have always been a real favorite of mine ..... both as real craft and, as here, as models.

Mike

[stevej60]

Lovely build, big fan of these 1/72 academy kits

[Manipled Mutineer]

Excellent looking build, and very informative on the paint techniques.

[Old Man]

Beautifully done replica of this P-40 ! She looks exceptionally good on display here and will certainly be a fine attraction at the hobby shop.

P-40's done with this classic "flying tiger" type growling mouth full of teeth have always been a real favorite of mine ..... both as real craft and, as here, as models.

Mike

Thank you, Sir.

I think it is the law that every modeller must do at least one sharkmouth P-40....

[Old Man]

Lovely build, big fan of these 1/72 academy kits

Thank you, Sir.

I found this kit a real treat. Most of what I do is vintage or even scratch-build, and this made quite a change. I started just assuming things would fit, and they did....

[Old Man]

Excellent looking build, and very informative on the paint techniques.

Thank you, Sir.

Some of the technique may be old to others, but it is new to me, and I thought it might be helpful to others using 'the hairy stick' for finishing. I got the pad originally to help in shining up a damaged clear part, and it suddenly struck me it might be of some use of paint: they are sold, I believe, in the first place, for smoothing down paint on automobiles.

[jimbuna]

That's a fantastic looking P-40.

[Manipled Mutineer]

Thank you, Sir.

Some of the technique may be old to others, but it is new to me, and I thought it might be helpful to others using 'the hairy stick' for finishing. I got the pad originally to help in shining up a damaged clear part, and it suddenly struck me it might be of some use of paint: they are sold, I believe, in the first place, for smoothing down paint on automobiles.

Very interesting from my perspective, although I still have to master the basics! (And I agree that a Sharkmouth is a necessary rite of passage, I hope to do my first soon!)

[HOUSTON]

Old Man,

Sir that is fine modeling..

EXEMPLARY Build....

she does look SPLENDID...

[TEMPESTMK5]

Hello Old Man

Very nice looking P40 ..