Wolwe82 Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Hey, i was thinking with what kit could i join this group build and decided to use old (but still not so bad) P-40K kit from Kovozavody Semily (later Vista, repacked by Revell and these days by Smer) which i got realy realy cheap. And because i like to make conversions and something not so common around, i decided to make russian P-40E UTI (trainer/combat) version with Klimov M-105 engine. I was browsing web yesterday and got some picture and some a bit simplified blueprint , also there are plenty of photos of commercial aftermarket conversions so it might help a bit too. Here is pic of the kit (even in the original box like 18-20 years old, maybe even older ) and how it should look at end While i was searching for the training version of P-40K i found many interesting prototypes, ofc many training versions, but this one was the most interesting to me - TP40K used to teach aircraft mechanics to taxi planes. So i decided to build it along with the russian P-40, just had to order the long tail P-40K kit, so atm no pics of the box/kit, just pics of the real plane at first it looked like this ll be my sideproject but seems as soon as i finish my actual one, this is going to be on the main stage for me 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Excellent project will watch this one with interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 i m glad you like the choice atm i m waiting for the long tail P-40K, so hope i can begin soon, i wana build both together, it ll be a bit easier when making cockpit, wheel bays and so on btw if anyone around has any more photos, blueprints or so for these versions, i ll be happy if you can share it here thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Very similar to the Hurricane 3 seater taxiing trainer I had in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 so after all i decided to not wait for the P-40K long tail and went to shop to buy P-40 M/N from academy and that ll be the base for TP-40K. So i hope tomorrow after work i can begin to work on it. (i should not, i have few kits in the progress but i m quite excited about these multi-seater P-40s ) just the basic sprues from academy to Paul: i saw your 3seater hurri post and its pretty great too! and you should go for it, it doesnt matter if someone else built it already, i m pretty sure these P-40s were built already as well, but i m building it for fun and for my collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkmouth Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I thought I may the only one with one of these unbuilt in their stash! Watching with interest. This is a nice kit. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
English Electric Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I have one too! Bit of a filler queen though...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkmouth Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) I have one too! Bit of a filler queen though...! I thought that was because I had shoehorned a Latvian PE set which never mentioned for which kit it was designed! Regards, Edited January 10, 2014 by sharkmouth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 i did build the P-40K from Vista like 18-19 years ago and it was quite good kit back then. And during this build plastic cards and putty ll be the most busy stuff on my table anyway so dont mind the bit of filling needed on the original kit parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 (edited) I have this kit also, built-up, but I have never finished it. Great choice with the white-green trainer - that's one I'd love to do someday. Kora actually have this very aeroplane as a kit, but it's resin, and rather pricey. Regards, Jason Edited January 11, 2014 by Learstang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Hey, i was thinking with what kit could i join this group build and decided to use old (but still not so bad) P-40K kit from Kovozavody Semily (later Vista, repacked by Revell and these days by Smer) which i got realy realy cheap. And because i like to make conversions and something not so common around, i decided to make russian P-40E UTI (trainer/combat) version with Klimov M-105 engine. I was browsing web yesterday and got some picture and some a bit simplified blueprint , also there are plenty of photos of commercial aftermarket conversions so it might help a bit too. Here is pic of the kit (even in the original box like 18-20 years old, maybe even older ) and how it should look at end Hmm, interesting, Polish drawings, and what looks to be Czech profile. But, AFAIK, NO photo of a Klimov Engined UTI has surfaced...and this got discussed here http://sovietwarplanes.com/board/index.php?topic=900.0 As it goes it seems the only Klimov P-40 photo is this one I'd love to see the photo that the profile is drawn from!! Or any photo of klimov P-40 in which markings can be seen..... still that UTI would look rather good! HTH T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 Hey again, thanks troy for the photo, i could only find this one too. Its interesting, how the blueprint, the camo scheme and the photo(though its single seater) have each diferent propeller cone..as for the progress, so far i didnt have much time, hopefuly today i should get basic PE parts (mainly for front instrument panel, for the back instrument panel i ll have to invent one as there are no photos obviously) and also i ll have some time today so i ll be able to work on these Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 So today afternoon i did some shopping and got eduard zoom PE parts for P-40E(x2) from which i ll be using mainly the instrumental panels for front cockpits and probably some parts on the sides of cockpit too. Next i got some quickboost exhausts for the future TP-40K, new wheels (the wheels in old P-40K would fit maybe to some clowns car.. ) and all excited i was rushing to home to start work on these babies. First problem, the old P-40K kit is kinda slim at fuselage around cockpit (just by 1mm when comparing to blueprints) and i guess the P-40E from academy(for which the PE are designed) has to be like 1mm too wde around the cockpit.. long storry short, the instrumental panel is 1-2mm too big to fit to the old P-40K, so there ll be some fun with passing it to there.. cannt make the fuselage wider, bcs then the canopy would not fit there (not speaking about wings but that would be easier to fix). Anyway, the progress so far: its not going too fast, but at least a bit Added a bit of rivets to the academy fuselage (its not so good to see on the photos sadly) Also i did some cuts to the future russian P-40 (the lighter plastic) on the nose and behind cockpit, did cut the tail wheel bay on both kits, made basic relief of both of the front instrument panels(the back ones i ll cut from some scrapyard instrument panels) and started to work on the inner construction. The original plan was to use evergreens, but they did not have small enough size on stock and i dont want to wait, so i m going with sprues. Note to myself.. next trainer is going to have closed cockpit no matter what!!! next steps ll be to finish the cockpit sides, make cockpit floors (that ll be fun too, as the fuselage is quite wide down there and its shape is weird.. ), seats, radiator (mainly on the old P-40K i ll have to do new one from scrap), new tail gear bay, and so on.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 a bit of progress on the left front cockpit sides i was making the ribs based on the rivets/panel lines outside for the old P-40K (lighter plastic), so thats why its in a bit diferent proportions.. but well, if the damn russians used closed canopy, i wouldnt do anything inside, so guess this ll have to do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 (edited) a bit of progress over night while watching ice hockey i tried to make some hose from wire and hair-like sprue wrapped around, the result could be better but still it looks better than pure wire and cockpit sides, for the front cockpits i used P-40E/K photos, for back cockpits it was just what i thought it could be like.. the US plane would be proly quite empty as it was just ment to be trainer to taxi planes around airfield, the russian plane i took inspiration from some other russian UTI versions now the worst part - making cockpit floor and trying to fit the instrument panels in.. Edited January 12, 2014 by Wolwe82 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 Working on the russian version first. Made some details to tail wheel bay (it seems quite empty but when i tried to close the fuselage, the area is so small it looks okish) + base construction which was holding the wheel (ll have to angle a bit the "wheel holder"). The second photo shows how it ll look inside. Also finished the floor to cockpit, tried to simulate the rod system. Sticks ll be made later. Added the ruder pedals under front instrument panel. Also i found some seats originaly for P-36, but after some changes these ll do the work for P-40 too i guess. Have to go to work now so hopefuly i ll continue tonight 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) Just basic paint done after i came back home from work, but i m too tired now to continue, so more tomorrow top pair is US version, bottom pair is russian (used same colour bcs i m in lazy mod ) Edited January 13, 2014 by Wolwe82 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 A great start Wolwe82 and an imaginative choice of subjects I'm puzzled by the tricycle undercarriage though. Has the C.o.G been changed so that the aircraft always sits on the nose wheel (the photo seems to suggest this), or is it simply a 'skid' to stop the aircraft nosing over during over-exuberant taxi manoeuvres? Cheers Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 thanks Cliff about the tricycle, i would guess so simple consctruction would not change the position of the plane on the ground, it probably was not heavy enough. So i think it was just to protect the propeller from being damaged. Thats all my guess ofc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 I didnt have much time yesterday and today so just a little progress. Floor for P-40K is finished too, the tail gear ll have the fabric cowerage so that ll be done after the fuselage joint. So for now i started to work on wheel bay. The academy P-40N has at least some details there but its too shallow so i decided to cut it off and make new ones. Noticed quite late i made it too wide, but it doesnt look so bad with completed wings so i ll leave it as it is . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deon Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 really nice work on these interesting projects, i will bookmark this build for my references in future! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) Today i had finaly some time again to work on this project. First i ll finish the TP-40K (tricycle). Sadly enough, i managed to accidentaly delete photos from yesterdays progress (mainly cockpit and radiator before closing fuselage and undercarriage indicators), well, i did add just few pipes to the radiator, decided not to do details to the "exit" side of radiator other than flaps (i got some nice photos of the exit side of radiator if anyone is interested, i can post it here, but i found these when it was a bit too late to prepare so big conversion for this kit). here is the radiator entrance, i found photo where it shows it was actualy shaped a bit diferent (the 3 round grids filled the whole "tunels") but for now i leave it as it is, so just added some pipes there (no idea why these are there but it was on photo so i did add them ). I ll first make the camo and make the tricycle as last (i m scared i would break it if i did it other way around). Thought i ll give a try to that "salt" weathering, so my next "for the first time" This is the result : (the tail is still wet a bit) its a bit more visible in real, dont have good enough light here right now, but i was quite surprised how much is it visible, as i was droping just little drop of white to the original grey which i did thinn a lot and then used it on whole surface, then i did drop a bit of dark grey to the original colour and used it here and there (followed salt weathering tutorial i did find here on BM earlier ). I think some gentle wash later ll give it a bit more of depth and it ll be fine. I hope so Hope you like it (though i know its hard to see it on this photo, but wasnt able to make it any more visible, as i said, in reality its quite good noticable even on longer distance), if you have any tips how to improve it for better results, i ll listen to you Edited January 18, 2014 by Wolwe82 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 i have a bit problems with airbrush, so started to work on the little parts meanwhile. The undercariage legs are slightly wrong in the academy kit (and better not to talk about the older kit ) so i thought i would reshape these a bit. first one is done, the rods i ll add after i fit the legs to the wing. now i need to get my sanity back before i begin to work on other one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 the airbrush is working somewhat now, so here i go, cooking the top camo sadly its time to go to job now, so more later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgbn Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Looking great so far, Looking forward to see that tricycle gear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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