Enzo the Magnificent Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) To be accurate, there are only two sharks. There are only two aircraft flown by Clive "Killer" Caldwell as well. However, one of the killers is a shark - and it is also an old friend! I am fascinated with how things change over a period of time. That's one of the reasons that I like to build Spitfires. My entries for this groupbuild will be along similar lines. I will attempt to depict the evolution of the P-40 when used by the Desert Air Force. There will be four models, all in 1/72 scale, all in the desert scheme but all subtly different. They will be as follows: Tomahawk IIB, AK498 LD-C of 250 Sqn, flown by Flt Lt Clive Caldwell RAAF, November 1941. Kittyhawk I, AK772 GA-Y of 112 Sqn, flown by Sqn Ldr Clive Caldwell RAAF, March 1942. Kittyhawk III, FL242 OK-<> of 450 Sqn RAAF, flown by Flt Lt Frank Schaaf, July 1943 Kittyhawk IIIA, FR458 GA-C of 112 Sqn, 1944. The Tomahawk will be the current Airfix kit, using Xtradecal markings. The Kittyhawk I will be the Hasegawa kit. This has been in The Stash for over thirty years. It is a lovely little kit and really deserves to be built. I will be depicting it in the classic sharkmouth markings of the original Airfix kit from the 1960s which always looked as though it had YOGA emblazoned on the side! The Kittyhawk III is from the Sword "Kittyhawk short tail" kit using a marking scheme from the kit. The Kittyhawk IIIA is from the Sword "P-40K Warhawk long tail" kit, again using a marking scheme from the box. This is gonna be fun! Edited April 24, 2015 by Enzo Matrix 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 So here we go with the sprue shots. Firstly the Airfix Tomahawk There are some better shots in Paul AH's review of the first boxing of this kit. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/78213-curtiss-hawk-81-a-2/ Next, the Sword short tailed Kittyhawk. The long tailed Kittyhawk is the identical kit with an additional sprue featuring the longer fuselage. As you can see, Sword have removed one of the shorter fuselage halves from the original sprue. Why one and not both? I don't know. It doesn't affect the kit though. These Sword kits are excellent - fully up to their recent standard. This means very good detail and engraving with some possibly tricky assembly in various areas. Nothing to be concerned about and I recommend them very highly. Finally, the Old Friend. The elderly Hasegawa kit. As you can see, this one as had three decades of loving plastic fondlage. It bears comparison surprisingly well with the more modern kits. The panel lines are finely engraved - in fact they were state of the art when the kit was released. The cockpit is quite crude by today's standards and is comprised of a floor, combined bulkhead/armchair piece and a plain instrument panel with a decal. The wheel wells have no detail whatsoever. I will be adding a little detail to the cockpit but leaving the wheel wells as they stand. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Looking forward to this 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Hi Enzo Good to see you doing a build again ,looking forward to it Les 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Nice one Enzo! great to see these progress and a brilliant theme to the build,someone else mad enough to build four too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Enzo, you have been a good/terrible influence on me as I am also attempting a quadruple build for this one. I really like your Desert AF theme and can't wait to see it accomplished. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Enzo, you have been a terrible influence Not the first time that's been said about me, I have to admit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungo1974 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 All good stuff, I'm pleasantly surprised just how many 1/72 P-40's are being built for this GB,i expected the ever dominant 1/48 scale to be what everybody would choose. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamo11 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Really like the concept of this one, showing the development of the aircraft alongside each other 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Good afternoon Enzo I take a seat to follow your work on these 4 builts at a time ... Patrice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 Cockpits first. The Hasegawa Kittyhawk IA has an armchair rather than a pilot's seat! I stole a seat from the second Sword kit in the Kitthawk boxing. I added some cockpit sidewall detail from microstrip but the remainder, including the instrument panel, is just as it comes in the kit. I have added an Eduard superfabric seat harness. The Sword kits. These have a lot of excellent detail. Harnesses again by Eduard. The Airfix Tomahawk is somewhat different. The cockpit assembly fits onto the wing assembly and is inserted into the fuselage when the mainplane is fitted. The fuselages ready to be cleaned up. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 This is an excellent comparison build Enzo, they're looking great together! Thanks for providing this important public service. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Main assembly is complete on all airframes. A closer look. Airfix Tomahawk Hasegawa Kittyhawk I Sword Kittyhawk III Sword Kittyhawk IIIA As expected, the Sword kits needed a fair bit of fettling and filling around the wing roots. Nothing untoward though. The Airfix kit fitted nicely but still needed a bit of sanding and Mr Surfacer around the upper and lower cowling joints. One the other hand, the Hasegawa kit - over thirty years old - just fell together! Perfect fit! The Sword kits have no tabs for the tailplanes, so I shall be fitting them before painting. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caszerino Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I'm laughing at the pictures of the Airfix fuselage next to the other kits, because it's got such a huge amount of filler on it compared to the other ones. And all I could think of was, "Yep, that's the same experience I've had!" All told, though, and especially considering the price of the Airfix 1/72, I think it's a nice little kit. I need to push on and finish mine this week but just not feeling the modeling mojo today for some reason so I'm browsing the forums and relaxing instead of sanding CA filler off mine. Yours are coming along great! Can't wait to see all of them finished. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 I'm laughing at the pictures of the Airfix fuselage next to the other kits, because it's got such a huge amount of filler on it compared to the other ones. And all I could think of was, "Yep, that's the same experience I've had!" Actually, that's just field grey paint over the joints which were sanded. It went together quite nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caszerino Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Ah, ok. Well that's good to know, then. I actually had self-inflicted issues with both the upper and lower cowlings on mine. I tried to clip them off the sprues close to flush, couldn't see what I was doing very well, and ended up taking gouges out of both. Other than that, I felt like it was pretty decent. Mr. Surfacer 500 worked on the wing roots and fuselage seams easily enough but I had to use CA to fix the cowlings. *EDIT: Oh, I meant to ask ... what material are you using to cover your cockpits there? It doesn't look like foam or tissue. Just curious! Edited February 1, 2015 by caszerino 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Ah, ok. Well that's good to know, then. I actually had self-inflicted issues with both the upper and lower cowlings on mine. I tried to clip them off the sprues close to flush, couldn't see what I was doing very well, and ended up taking gouges out of both. nodnodnod I do that all the time! Oh, I meant to ask ... what material are you using to cover your cockpits there? It doesn't look like foam or tissue. Just curious! They are stuffed with tissue paper and sealed with Copydex. Copydex is a latex adhesive which is ideal for this sort of thing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copydex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caszerino Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thanks for the info, mate! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 If you can get hold of it, Copydex has lots of uses. I use it as a masking fluid for large areas. Although it can be quite expensive, it is still far cheaper than modelling masking fluid. I also use it to attach paper masks when I'm spraying camouflage. If you use it in the centre of the mask, the edges tend to vibrate in the spray, leaving a slightly soft edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caszerino Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Unsurprisingly, it's not available in the US. I can order it from the UK for ~$16-20 shipped for 125mL. I'm thinking "rubber cement" is the same thing, so I'll probably get some Best-Test or Elmer's rubber cement and try that out. If it doesn't work, no big deal. That's the beauty of rubber cement, it peels right off! And I do already have the Micro Scale liquid mask, and you're right, even Copydex from UK is cheaper than that by volume! Edited February 1, 2015 by caszerino 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Nice work Enzo I wouldn't dream of tackling 2 at once of the same kit let alone 4 different kits 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Good morning Enzo Great another serial builder and nice working 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Looking good ,and thanks foe all the tips Les 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 A minor catch-up. All models sprayed with Xtracrylix XA-1009 Middle Stone The Tomahawk is masked ready for spraying the Dark Earth. I took the instructions from the Xtradecal sheet and photocopied them so that they were the right size to be used as masks. The masks were stuck on with Copydex. More over the weekend. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Nice idea enzo couple of questions. 1 what do you thin your xtracrylix with ? 2 does copydex leave any residue or does it just peel off? Darren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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