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AMT P40 F


franky boy

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Hi everyone

I'd like to add this to the KUTA group build if I may. Hobbycrafts boxing of the AMT P40 F.

I put this one down about 18 months ago and it's now time it was finished.

As you can see from the pics the fit at the wing roots is'nt great and I also did a fair amount of work to try and make it look something like a Merlin engined P40 rather than the Allison engine out of the box. One thing I will say for the kit is that the surface detail is really nice and the cockpit is quite well detailed for a kit of it's age. Just a shame it doesnt fit in the fuselage!

It's going to be finished in desert colours of a machine that was based in Italy in 1944 which had to ditch in the sea due to sabotage and was raised in the mid/late 90's. I'll be using Microscale decals.

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So first jobs are to make some cowl flaps and mask the canopy then I can get some primer on and get the filler out.

Thanks for looking.

James

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Morning everyone

Not that much progress to show from the weekend but with a heavily pregnant wife and a a toddler who's already very excited about Christmas modelling time is a little thin on the ground at the moment.

Anyway, I managed to get the canopy masked, do some re scribing and get some primer onto the seams and other area's that I had re worked. In general there's not to much tidying up to do which is surprising especially considering how the area on the underside of the cowling was hacked about and the enormous gaps at the wing roots.

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I also made a mistake in the title. This is in fact a P40 L, not an F. The L is basically a lightened version of the F as the Merlin engine didnt give hoped for improvement in performance at altitude. The only exterior difference between the two as far as I'm aware was the removal of the outboard gun in each wing. But according to my references this was often added back in at squadron level. Just thought I'd come clean on that one in case a P40 officinado reads this and blows me out of the water!

Thanks for looking

James

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi everyone and a happy new year.

So not much time for modelling over the festive season but a little progress has been made.

I replaced the kit pitot with a piece of Albion Alloys brass tubing with a pin inserted in the end which I think is an improvement.

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Made some new cowl flaps for the re worked nose out of plastic card.

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And filled and sanded some sink marks on the wings.

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More updates soon hopefully.

Thanks for looking.

James

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Hi V-P

I know what you mean. The kit is'nt without it's issues, the underside of the rear cowling being the main problem for the merlin engined variant. But strangely enough I'd build another one to!

James

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H Everyone

Just a very short update.

So I've at last got the primer on. In this case Mr Surfacer 1500 black as I've been meaning to try black basing for a while now and thought it was time to take the plunge on something that to be honest if it goes wrong then it's not a disaster!

Pics below, sorry they're not great as usual.

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Comments welcome.

Thanks

James

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It is very black isnt' it!

So I've got the underside painted. In this case Azure Blue from Vallejo. I know they often get some chriticism for some of their colour matches but IMHO their Azure Blue is the closest of any of the paint manufacturers.

I was a bit afraid of trying to paint this relatively light colour over the black base but it worked ok with half an hour of squiggly passes of the airbrush. This is the first time in years that I've used Vallejo paints so was just pleased to get through this bit without any minor disasters! Pics below.

There is a bit more tonal variation than shows up in the photos.

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Now onto the upper surfaces and back to my favourite Gunze paints.

Thanks for looking, comments welcome.

James

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Evening all

So the paintings now finished, it was good to back to the Gunze paints after the Vallejo. The mid stone was sprayed on first after which I made masks from tracing paper and then applied the dark earth. I had to touch up some areas where the 2 colours meet as there was and still is a bit of black shadowing from the base coat. It's not perfect by any means but TBH I'd quite like to get this one on the shelf fairly soon.

Sorry the pics are even worse than usual, I had to use my phone as the screen on my i pad has been smashed!

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Thanks for looking, more updates after decaling.

James

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Hi Everyone

I've had a bit of time to get most of the decals on this weekend. My first try with Super Scale decals and very nice they were to.

This aircraft had another identity before being issued to the 86th Fighter Squadron. The surviving airframe shows the previous insignia just showing through the paint having been painted over.

This is where I'm at at the moment, most of the decals are on and the older markings having been given a light dusting of the camo colours in an attempt to 'almost' cover them up.

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So a coat of clear over these patched up areas next followed by the rest of the decals.

Thanks for looking

James

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Hi everyone

Decals are finished. I've just about managed to achieve the look I was after with the previous markings just visible underneath the new ones.

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She's turning out to be a colourful bird.

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Now for some weathering.

Thanks for looking, comments welcome.

James

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