VT Red Sox Fan Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) Hello Friends, My next build will be Academy's 1/72 P-40E in the colors of "Squirt", a 72 Fighter Squadron assigned to defend Hawaii in early 1942. I came to select this aircraft in a relatively circular fashion which is important to the research that led me to this point. Initially, I wanted to use the kit decals and build an Aleutian Tiger, but quickly realized that I could not find exhaust shields and accurate placements for further cold weather modifications like anti-freeze caps etc. Tom Cleaver's excellent 1/32 build of an Aleutian Tiger based off of Hasegawa's 1/32 scale kit is a great place to start. As I delved into the Aleutian Tigers, I became fascinated with the early P-40Es which defended the Philippines, providing America with its first Ace, Lt Wagner. It was also interesting to note how P-40Ds and P-40Es rapidly went to defend Hawaii following Peral Harbor. These defending P-40Es all seemed to maintain a standardized early war factory fresh finish and had flush/recessed gun ports (I would imagine the P-40Es in the Philippines would have started looking worn as the campaign went from bad to worse for US forces as demonstrated by the aircraft captured by the Japanese, but the P-40E and B-17 in the link below seem to be in good shape). http://www.j-aircraft.com/captured/capturedby/p40warhawk/captured_p40.htm Armed with this info, I decided to go with the Hawaiian aircraft only requiring me to modify the gun ports to recessed--based on Tom Cleaver's build and pictures of the Hasegawa's early P-40E gun ports, this should be a simple manner of removing the leading edge gun tubes. As @Dana Bell has noted in other blogs (yes I have read a ton of your books and blogs--you are rightfully well respected around the globe on these technical matters) Based on advice from long time fellow britmodeller, @RidgeRunnerI reached out to @72modeler who provided a wealth of knowledge on how these P-40Es were finished. Regarding the wheel wells, I will use foil to create the canvas top--I can thank @rob Lyttle for that idea--as he knows I am a big fan of foil 🙂. Will likely paint these Tamiya Khaki Drab. The front part of the gear proved to be vexing--until I found this picture of later model P-40Es (maybe P-40E-1s?) being loaded on the USS Ranger for North Africa. As you can see, the roof, or more appropriately the underside of the wing which makes top of the strut well is the underside color. The interior of the "walls" appears to be Interior Green of YZC. I also have a period color photograph of a P-40E under going maintenance and the doors appear YZC. Based on this my initial plan is paint the forward strut well as follows-- YZC vertical surfaces/door--ceiling/wing/horizontal underside color--Tamiya Neutral Grey. I am not completely sold on the YZC finish and could be nudged to a Curtiss Interior Green--the color below looks really dark--maybe the doors are YZC and the walls are green--seems unlikely though. Any thoughts would be very welcomed Moving on to the cockpit--Curtis Cockpit Green--it vexes me--I now need @The Spadgent to call me son and for @giemme to bust out laughing. Mike and I went back and forth on this. I am about to do something not popular with the in-crowd, I settled on simple Testor Olive as the best match. For what its worth, have the outcomes of various greens and YZCs--I found the Testors YZC & Olive as best matches for the colors used by Curtiss. The photos I used to match the color were Life's photos of the P-40B/C production line in Buffalo NY. Mike and I reasoned that early war P-40Es likely matched these cockpit colors pretty closely. Cockpit photos of the recently discovered and unfortunately no longer pristine Warhawk IA discovered in Egypt bear this thought out with the exception of the armor plate--which is clearly not YZC nor Curtiss Cockpit Green. Based off the wreck and the color photo below, I will paint this distinctive feature Tamiya XF-5. As the overall fuselage color will be Tamiya XF-62/Tamiya XF-53 (I have read these are very close matches for early war USAAC/USAAF aircraft), XF-5 seem to be the correct Green Drab contrast with the Olive Drab. Top flap going going left to right (i.e. ->)--MM Interior Green/Model Master Med Green/Mr Hobby C-126/Testors YZC/Tamiya XF-4/Testors Olive/Tamiya XF-71/Tamiya XF-5/Tamiya Xf-62 Bottom Flap going left to right (i.e. ->) MM Interior Green/Testors YZC/Testors Olive/Tamiya XF-5/Tamiya XF-62--this is likely the color palate I will use Finally, bits & pieces. While Academy's 1/72 P-40E looks like an excellent kit in the box, I understand the cockpit is sparce (it is livable for most in 1/72 scale), the canopy is mishaped and the nose propellers are a little off. I decided to rectify these issues with CMK's cockpit update, Quick Boost's propellor/nose cone upgrade & a vacuum formed canopy (one day I will be like @billn53 and build/purchase my own vacuum former--honestly the canopy issue seems the most fraught with problems as the vac canopies are meant for Hasegawa's excellent P-40E--the dry fitting will be fun. I had purchased resin wheel wells but will save them for later as I am confident these early war Warhawks had their canvas covers. Thats about it--I cant wait to share this build with the usual crew while making new friends and learning something new along the way--best to all, Erwin Edited June 23, 2020 by VT Red Sox Fan Grammer 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntoineG Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Looks like very well documented and promising built. I take a seat if you may. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share Posted June 23, 2020 36 minutes ago, AntoineG said: Looks like very well documented and promising built. I take a seat if you may. Thank you AntoineG—really appreciated—hope you enjoy the build—please feel free to update my research—there are many on this forum who do circles around my P-40 knowledge—best & thanks again, Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Some great research and reference material already, Erwin. This will be good 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Nice one my son. 🤪😉 Tagging along, seems fun. 🤩 Johnny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Erwin, Looks like you've gotten the hard part out of the way- the research! Going to be downhill from here! Can't wait to see the finished product! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 Though not nearly the scratch work I have seen @giemme, @The Spadgent, @RidgeRunner and @rob Lyttle master, I have started on the wings (I am actually going to use Eduard's P-40E photo etch set to dress up the resin but that is in the mail. 1st, I wanted to share with everyone the best early P-40E flush photo I could find (I believe this is an early Kittyhawk 1A flown by the Australians given the lack of an underside U.S. ARMY stencil). This image is from Peter Ingram's P-40E vs A6M2 which is both a treasure trove of early P-40E images & history--Highly Recommended! As you can see from the period photo, the gun barrels can be seen just inside of the gun ports. The good news is Academy molded the gun tubes on the upper wing with the larger port on the bottom--my work was made easier. My next step was to remove the gun tubes and mount the fronts of the weapons in the wing just as the flat portion of the wing bottom turns up to the leading edge. I then evened out the top of the gun ports while creating room for the plastic gun tubes internally to ensure the wings closed tightly. The wings went together perfectly and I will post some photos soon. Folks will notice I have chosen not to remove Academy's wheel wells--after much deliberation I am going to go for the canvas wheel well look--I will actually use foil or masking tape to mimic the canvas roof--given that "Squirt" is a relatively new aircraft in Hawaii operating off prepared landing strips I believe the canvas wheel well boots were in place. In 1/72, I do not believe the often critiqued well depth will be an issue. That all said, I feel very guilty after the complexities of the P-51D's wheel wells! 😎 Next up will be foiling the NMF portions of the intakes and building the cockpit. Thank you all for your advice--if there are any P-40 experts out there, really look forward to any thoughts on what I can better. Best to everyone, Erwin 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 A thorough research and a nice surgery start - good doing Erwin! Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 That IS a really good shot for the gun port details, and others. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 On 7/6/2020 at 5:37 AM, gingerbob said: That IS a really good shot for the gun port details, and others. Thanks @gingerbob—I can’t believe how long it took to find that picture, but it was totally worth it—I am now moving forward with significantly more confidence—best, Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 On 7/5/2020 at 6:42 PM, giemme said: A thorough research and a nice surgery start - good doing Erwin! Ciao Thanks giemme—greatly appreciated best, Erwin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 On 7/5/2020 at 5:01 PM, VT Red Sox Fan said: the best early P-40E flush photo I could find Wow! Sure enough- flush gunports! I have filed this puppy away for future reference, Erwin. I have learned something new about P-40D's and early E's from you and Dana, that's for sure! Thanks for the education. Looking forward to seeing the RFI photos! Mike 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted July 8, 2020 Author Share Posted July 8, 2020 7 hours ago, 72modeler said: Wow! Sure enough- flush gunports! I have filed this puppy away for future reference, Erwin. I have learned something new about P-40D's and early E's from you and Dana, that's for sure! Thanks for the education. Looking forward to seeing the RFI photos! Mike Thanks Mike, means a lot coming from you given your awesome reputation! Thank you for being part of this build. Best, Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted July 19, 2020 Author Share Posted July 19, 2020 Quick update--its been crazy lately. I decided that the intakes of the P-40E will be done in NMF. The photos I used to come to this conclusion are pasted below I believe most are early P-40Es associated with the defense of Australia). In order to replicate this effect I used the dull side of kitchen foil for the "dividers" and fuselage. The "plate" with coolers was painted Tamiya aluminum-- based on an earlier photo I painted the cooler barrels interior green. If tackling the Academy P-40E, Eduard's photo etch set seems to work out well, as I was able to mount the radiator grills with no problem. Given the awesome progress of recent builds @The Spadgent & @giemme, I decided to dry fit the major parts to see if there were major issues ahead. (as you can see I did air brush the fuselage scallops behind the canopy. The good news is all looks good with the test fit. I must say the reviews are correct, the CMK nose really does correct an issue with the Academy part which is appears to be too rounded--at least to my eye. While we are on dry fitting and thinking ahead, I do have a question for all the experts out there. While I think the shape of the vacuform canopy is spot on and fits Academy's P-40E well even though it was designed for Hasegawa's, this will be my first vacu-formed canopy painting. As to be expected, the framing is very hard to pick out, does anyone out there have any recommendations how to paint/mask the faint frames on vacuum formed canopy--my hope is to mask and air brush--but I know there are tons of folks out there who have concurred this challenge! Until next time, Best Erwin 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Nice progress on this, Erwin The metallics on the radiator area look spot on, a quick wash and Bob's you uncle 11 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said: does anyone out there have any recommendations how to paint/mask the faint frames on vacuum formed canopy I used a vacform canopy in my recent Eurofighter build, and here's what I did: I added some of the internal framing using thin plastic card strips, glue with Gator's Glue and/or Formula 560 (they both dry clear and clean very well with a wet brush). This provided a good solid edge for masking, but it only sorted the inside part; for the outside, I used the internal framing as reference and masked using Tamiya Tape for curves, see here This kind of tape is thick enough to simulate a frame effect after removal, you just need to spray a few more coats of paint - YMMV. One more thing: I normally seal the tape edges with a thin coat of Aqua Gloss by brush, to avoid any paint leaks. HTH Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 @VT Red Sox Fan, She's looking good! Found a neat set of photos of a P-40E being restored, (The usual caveat about not using a restored/museum airplane for color references still applies.) that shows some good modeling details, including the radiators/oil cooler. Having seen a few preserved examples with the cowlings off, the original radiators and oil coolers, being brass pretty much look like the ones in the photos, but some Warhawks have had more efficient aluminum units fitted, so would look different. IIRC, P-40N's switched to aluminum radiators/oil coolers to try to get the weight down, along with smaller 27" versus 30" wheels. Mike http://warbirdsnews.com/warbird-restorations/overhauling-a-kittyhawk-downunder.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Nice work. I agree with what @giemme said about masking canopies. But personally I have found even the faintest line or edge can be found with a cocktail stick and a few swishes with a brand new blade and you’re away. 👍🙌 Johnny. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 (edited) Thank you Mike, @72modeler, Giorgio @giemme & Johnny @The Spadgent-- @giemme will be digging into your build--Johnny, circling back to your cocktail stick--is the idea to mask the entire canopy and then cut out the frames--sorry if I am slow on the uptake... best to all, Erwin Edited July 22, 2020 by VT Red Sox Fan grammer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 7 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said: is the idea to mask the entire canopy and then cut out the frames--sorry if I am slow on the uptake... I think that's exactly what Johnny means. I sometimes do the same, or something like that. For instance in my current Lightning build I used Oramask masking film for both windshield and canopy, applying it so to exceed the frame edges, then scored along and cut with a sharp blade. however, this works good only with very defined frames; in your case, you'd better use a thinner masking medium, like Tamiya tape or the likes. There's also an interesting video on youtube about masking with BMF, see here HTH Ciao 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 (edited) Hello friends, first, thanks to @giemme, @72modeler & @The Spadgent for their canopy advice. 🙌 I plan on masking the entire canopy you guys recommended--it is actually not that far away. @RidgeRunner/Martin & gents, this will be my first air brush job in a while. 🤞 Any thoughts on how to thin Tamiya paints for an OD/Neutral Grey? I am trying to achieve a near factory finish without making it toy like. Given the simple paint scheme, I believe pre-shading and thin paint will be key--I am honestly a little out of my element, so any thoughts from the audience would be appreciated. Now on to the build! This portion will concentrate on combining Eduard's P-40E set & the CMK resin set. 1st a few reference photos--for those building a P-40E or F, I would highly recommend the YouTube video, "How to fly the P-40". Their are many period color photos in this training film (I know there are lots of color conversations on regarding WW2 Technicolor, but I believe the period photos are a great start). While, not a P-40 expert, I believe the aircraft in the training film is an F, but Detail & Scale, P-40 In Action and the Legends of Warfare P-40 book all indicate P-40E & F cockpits were painted similarly. Here are some key stills that I used in my build: For this build, I decided to use the metal floor of the Eduard kit and was please to see it worked perfectly with the resin sides. I used the side panels and seat armor from the CMK resin seat--these look "right" compared to their photo etch cousins which seemed less "3d". The remainder of the build leveraged Eduards photo etch kit. In order to accommodate the pilot's seat armor painted Tamiya XF-5 Green, I had to modify the photo etched floor. My 1st step was to follow the instructions and bend the rest wall 90 degrees--this allowed me to space the seat rack. Once the seat rack was complete, I bent the wall back 45 degrees to assist in alining the floor with the seat armor. I understand the the seat rack is relatively inaccurate on the seat bottom to add strength, but I think the benefits of the metal Eduard seat in 1/72 scale will be well worth it (& the seat rails seem pretty accurate near the top). I think the biggest improvement that Eduard's photo etch brings to the build is the instrument panel--it turned out great despite my growing capabilities 😎 Once all this was dried I attached the control stick and manual hydraulic lever from the kit to the photo etch floor. The P-40E cockpit seems to go together differently than most WW2 fighter aircraft. 1st, I installed the instrument panel into the sealed up fuselage halves. Then I installed the back armor. Finally, I installed the floor--it fit perfectly! The last step was to glue the wing assembly--as promised, I took a nose shot of the cooling cans. One last follow up which will make @rob Lyttle happy, I used foil the metal intakes on the inside & I got photos to prove it even though you can't see it 🤣Thank you all for your help and encouragement--and for posting your builds--it has really grown my enjoyment of the hobby. Best to all, Erwin Edited July 25, 2020 by VT Red Sox Fan grammer 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 On 26/07/2020 at 01:24, VT Red Sox Fan said: Any thoughts on how to thin Tamiya paints for an OD/Neutral Grey? I am trying to achieve a near factory finish without making it toy like. Given the simple paint scheme, I believe pre-shading and thin paint will be key--I am honestly a little out of my element, so any thoughts from the audience would be appreciated. Pre-shading is a good idea, and you don't want too much of a contrast if you're planning on factory fresh finish; I would use a dark green for the OD surfaces and a dark grey (Tamiya German Grey if you have some) for the rest. As for thin paint, that to me is the rule for most of my paint jobs; I use cellulose thinner to thin Tamiya acrylics, because it gives a very smooth finish (I must say I've never tried Tamiya thinner, though) HTH Nice job on the interiors, BTW Ciao 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted August 29, 2020 Author Share Posted August 29, 2020 Thanks @giemme--new post to follow soon--sorry for the delay--best, Erwin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted August 29, 2020 Author Share Posted August 29, 2020 (edited) Hello everyone--sorry its been a while--things have been very busy, so I apologize for the long periods between posts, but hey, its a hobby without deadlines--just great friends. 😎 The pictures below will show how I used Detail & Scale's 1/72 drawing to complete a template out of masking tape for the underside light with a drill bit. Once complete, I used foil for the light reflector and crystal clear for the lens. (I am sure @rob Lyttle will appreciate given our full embracement of foil 😎) I had to take some pictures of the cockpit with the metal seat & gun sight before the canopy was assembly was mounted and pilot installed. I removed the kits rudder hinge bulge and replaced it with the much nicer Eduard photo etch. The Eduard set and CMK Resin kit are well worth the cost to bring out the best of Academy's kit--I did use the kit gun sight as I felt it better matched my references. Additionally, I used the instrument panel coaming vice leaving the back of the instruments showing--my research leads me to believe a portion of this coaming was canvas or removable and was frequently removed in operations--that said, this is a relatively new aircraft & I think the reference photo indicates the entire coaming was in place during early 1942. I would like to thank @giemme & the @The Spadgent for their help on how to mask a vac canopy🙌--I believe the effort to use the vacuum form canopy presents a better outline than the kit parts. Once asked, I airbrushed the frames with Testors olive green. The next step will be priming and the fun part, air brushing--really looking forward the improvements recommend by @RidgeRunner. Thank you all for being part of this community and all your awesome pointers! Best, Erwin Edited August 29, 2020 by VT Red Sox Fan Missed something 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 Lovely progress Erwin, good to see it buttoned up Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus999 Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 This looking terrific! You've done a lot of research and I'm learning a lot from this build. I'm glad you decided to use an aftermarket nose -- I did the Hobby Boss P-40M and the OOB nose still drives me crazy. I may have to take it out of the cabinet and replace it. I'm curious to see how the canvas in the wheel wells work out. I love P-40's and have a few in the stash, so I'm taking notes! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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