Jump to content

Rod's modeling misadventures (Currently Airfix's P-40B)


Recommended Posts

Edit, I am going to start adding pictures of my completed projects to this top comment, they will start just below the original blurb from when I started this thread,

 

"Hi everyone. I am brand new to posting on the forum (I have been lurking for a while learning lots from all the great posts on here). I have just got back into modeling the last few three or four months after something like 15+ years away from the hobby. I grew up making lots of model airplanes, but always in a fairly limited capacity. As in red tube Revell glue and trying to brush paint everything by hand, limited capacity! Well after my long hiatus and watching modeling videos on YouTube for a year or so I finally decided to take the plunge and get back into things at a bit of a deeper level.

 

I bought myself an airbrush for the first time, as well as building myself a tiny little "paint booth" set up and a ventilation system for my basement. I then fell into a spending spree of glues, paints, thinners, cleaners and tools. As well I went back to my parents house where to my surprise my mom had a box of old modeling supplies sitting around in the basement. This included two very old Revell Bf-109G's.

 

These unfortunate Bf-109s had thus become my poor test subjects. As I had zero experience to start with airbrushing, scratch made details, weathering of any kind, hell, not even much filling and sanding experience, these kits turned out... lets say rough, haha. But I think I have managed two learn lots while butchering these two kits, enough that I am now willing to start to post my current progress on here in hopes of hearing from some of the knowledgeable people on this forum and to bombard those poor souls with questions.

 

So that brings me to where I am right now. I am currently working on Tamiya's P51-B. I am using the Don Gentile decal and paint scheme. I think as a modeler I am going to end up falling somewhere between somebody that will try to achieve a fair amount of realism (I like tracking down source material and working from that) but also somebody that will take some artistic liberties to create something I find visually appealing (I really love YZC wheel wells, and the thought of painting this kits wheel hubs red made my head hurt! haha)

 

I'm hoping to run this thread almost a bit like a blog. I will be posting updates of this kit as I move along but also intend to ask lots of questions here and ask for peoples opinions as well. I will likely also end up leaving myself notes in my step by step updates about things I think I did poorly/would like to focus on improving on my next build. Eventually I would like to use the same thread for future kits (changing the kit in the title as I go) so that I can keep all this collected info in one place. If this isn't allowed I totally get it and if a mod needs to have me make changes feel free to PM and I can do what needs to be done to make sure it lines up with the forum rules.

 

Anyways pictures will start in the next post, hopefully they aren't to much of an eye sore among all the great kits on this forum!"

 

Tamiya's P-51B "Shangri La"

 

PXo5MCo.jpg

 

 

KhA6CAr.jpg

 

 

Z9Iwt1D.jpg

Edited by R_harrison
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome! As you know, there’s  a lot of good info on this site and BMers are nearly always ready to help if you have any questions. I’m looking forward to seeing your Mustang build.

- Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alright so I am currently in the weathering stage of the build but I have been taking some pictures as I have moved along with the kit, this first post is just going to be the back log of what I have worked on so far but honestly the info in this one might be a little sparse (at the time I started the kit I wasn't sure if I would be confident enough in this one to start posting or not)

 

The first few pictures are of the cockpit and instrument panel. On the two 109's I had used decals on the instrument panel and really hated how they turned out, so for this kit I tried to hand paint the dials and then give them a glassy look with a drop of Tamiya X-22

 

spacer.png

 

I was actually pretty happy how this turned out for my first time. There is definitely some room for improvement though. I tried to paint in the white outline and red switch of the fuel tank selector, which really didn't turn out how I was hoping, the outline doesn't look too bad when viewed in real life, but next time I would like to get it looking a little sharper. I would also cut out a really small piece of spare plastic to create a raised handle to paint red vs just trying to paint a fake handle on the kit piece (for the tank selector). In general I want to take a little more time trying to scratch build a little more detail into the cockpit and instrument panel on my next kit.

 

Oh also I tried dry brushing those switches on the bottom left of the panel, note to self when you think the brush is dry enough, try to make it a little dryer (I think I might also need a softer brush for this)

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

Next up the only two shots I have of the cockpit area before I put it into the kit, I was pretty happy with how it turned out, I come from a smaller town and modeling supplies have been pretty scares here (and everywhere it seems) so the only colors I could get my hands on for the cockpit were RAF Interior Green and Yellow Zinc Chromate. I didn't really want to paint the interior either of these colors so I ended up putting a few drops of the YZC into the interior green to get this color. I was pretty happy with how it turned out with the supplies I had. I did a little bit of chipping with a dark grey on the edges of the radio to help highlight the edges in what would be a dark back end of the cockpit as well as a little bit more chipping with I believe Tamiya's flat aluminum color. I haven't added seat belts at this time but found a few good tutorials about how to hand make some that I think I will try out. But I intend on keeping the canopy open so that likely wont get added until near the end of the build. I also made a wash out of oil paints to help to outline the details in the cockpit and along the walls of the interior, which I unfortunately don't have pictures of.

 

Now we have a bit of a jump to the next set of pictures, As I unfortunately didn't really take any of the assembly or of any of filling and sanding (not that this kit needs much). In general this is an area I seem to struggle with. I can't seem to get rid of seam lines as well as I would like and in general I feel like my filling ends up looking kind of bulky and awkward. I think its because I am worried about sanding away details as I am also pretty bad at rescribing panel lines. Right now I am trying to use Mr Surfacer 500 for smaller areas that need to be filled (I saw this as a suggestion on youtube somewhere) and a thicker putty (I forget the brand off hand) if there is a larger gap or something that needs more shaping (looking at you crappy 109 kits), Any suggestions on these fronts would be appreciated! 

3 minutes ago, billn53 said:

Welcome! As you know, there’s  a lot of good info on this site and BMers are nearly always ready to help if you have any questions. I’m looking forward to seeing your Mustang build.

- Bill

Thanks Bill! You are right there is tons of amazing info here and it seems like a really supportive community!

Edited by R_harrison
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So after moving on from the build it was time for paint. The top half would be done in Tamiya's olive drab, the bottom in the natural grey and the front of the cowl and spinner in Tamiya's red and white (unfortunately no flat red to use), as well I decided to paint on the white striping instead of using the decals as I just couldn't imagine those decals would look great and I figured the stripes would be manageable for me. As well this was my first time using a black basing technique and I have to say I really liked the result! I had tried lining the panels on the 109's and didn't really like the effect (also I struggled with my paint accuracy at times) so I think black basing be my technique going forward, at least for my next few kits.

 

spacer.png

 

Overall I was pretty happy how this turned out! it definitely helps that the American paint schemes are simpler but overall this is my best effort yet and I am really surprised at how quickly I have moved along with the airbrush, as far as being able to recognize paint that is too thick or thin, or when I have too much or too little air pressure. Although I did mask off the stripes on the lowered flaps inline with the wing, next time I will cut out the decal I so that I can use it to get the angling on the stripes right. The only area I would really like to improve on is I need to get some thinner masking tape. You can see the green painters tape in the side of the image, I managed to find something a little thinner then that but I would really like to get some wider Tamiya tape, as right now I just have some that comes in thin strips. There isn't any at our one model shop and I don't want to pay shipping for just the one roll of tape, so I will have to remember to order some in my next mass order. Other then that I can't really remember much about the painting stage that stood out to me, except maybe being a little more careful well touching up the paint after, I had a little over spray get onto the leading edges. Actually in general I need to figure out a better way to mask off the leading edges to get a more consistent line. Next up I sprayed a layer of X-22 Clear and was on to decaling.

 

zGAEZ6C.jpg

 

njgeHYB.jpg

 

As well you can see some of the other painted parts added on here. I decided to go with the red and white spinner I had seen in a few of Gentiles pictures just because I thought it was a little bit more interesting of a colour scheme, and like I said, no red wheel hubs... I just couldn't do it. I used liquid mask for the first while painting the wheels and my god, what a revelation. A million times better then the wheels I tried to mask with tape or hand paint in the past.

 

For the exhausts I painted then black, then chrome silver and finally made a super thin mix of brown that I put down lightly to tint the exhaust, As well I added some highlights in I think Tamiya buff near the end of the pipes and then painted the ends themselves flat black, I think the end result looks pretty good. I was way more confident just painting the ends black then trying to drill them out and was a little worried it would be noticeable but over all I am pretty happy. (I did drill them out a little but just a shallow indent vs fully drilled out)

 

Overall I was pretty happy with the decals, I found Tamiya's were both a little thicker and yet also a little more brittle then the Revell ones I had used previously. The left wing insignia ripped a little over one raised part of the wing but it isn't super noticeable. It actually just kind of looks like weathering so I just let it to be. I used Micro Set for placing the decals, which I have used in a few kits now and have a good handle on, but this was my first time using Micro Sol and I don't think I was using it properly and really getting my decals down into my panel lines. Next time I will track down a few videos before that step to make sure I am using a better technique, this leads me to.

 

1AdAGUG.jpg

 

Grrrr silvering!! The rest of the decals went down pretty well but the fuel caps on both sides definitely did not. I really hate how these look in general haha. Next time I will paint the fuel caps red and then just cut the wording out of the decal sheet and place that down around where I have painted. This is the one part of the kit that really bugs me. But unfortunately I had already put down another layer of X-22 by the time I noticed them (the clear was to try to help tie the decals down to the plane as I felt like they looked a bit raised, and it did seem to help). I also don't know what that lighter green dot is, I hadn't even noticed it until looking at that picture right now, oh well. At this point I was on to weathering, another area that I don't have a lot of experience and am doing a lot of experimenting.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So far the only weathering techniques I have used are making a thin mix of oil paints and white spirits for the panel lines and doing some chipping. So I started off with my panel lines, the one step of weathering I actually feel like I have a handle on.

 

DceHmdV.jpg

 

qdl8uEe.jpg

 

oZIctrY.jpg

 

As well you can see some of the real basic scratch building I tried out in the wheel well. This is at best really loosely based on reality and was really more me just trying to get some practice in with these techniques vs trying to make this look like the actual wheel wells. The little bottle looking thing is made from just some plastic tubing with the ends filled with putty and the actuator just a few difference pieces of plastic and the piping with lead wire. Definitely not a master piece but it seemed like good experience and it was in a place I could hide it if it ended up looking silly. Also you can see on the bottom some of the areas where I lost details to filling/sanding, like I said I really need practice with rescribbing lines. I also added some break lines to the landing gear made from copper wire painted flat aluminum. The aren't really that visible but for some reason they are my favorite item I added to the kit haha.

 

Overall I was pretty happy with the panel lines, next time I might try using a lighter color of the grey surfaces so the contrast between the panel lines and panels themselves isn't as stark, but I also kind of like the dirty used look this seemed to give the model. I also used the same technique for the panel lines on the top half of the aircraft but then I watched a few videos on...

 

eD2cvw5.jpg

 

Oil dot filters! I wasn't really sure about this step, but hey, this is all experimenting at this stage so why not give it a try. And I felt like the decals contrasted a little too much against the paint so I thought I would try a filter of darker earthy colors to help blend everything together a little more. I believe I used burnt umber, olive drag (which seemed a little lighter then Tamiya's) and black. Things I learned 1) I definitely used to much paint 2) when you use to much paint you really have to clean your brush between strokes to keep it from becoming a mess 3) black seems really powerful when you do this technique 4) do your panel lines after this step.

 

Overall I didn't notice a huge difference from the oil dots, but I enjoyed doing it and it did seem to help tie in the decals a little more. But yeah that pretty much brings me up to where I am currently, here are a few pictures I took this morning of where the kit is right now

 

0seDRGJ.jpg

 

hsQEv0S.jpg

 

xccLDl7.jpg

 

V1sMXfd.jpg

 

Mmmmm tasty, tasty, brake lines.

 

Overall I am pretty happy with how things are turning out, I feel like I have improved in lots of areas with each kit I have done and I'm really enjoying the experimenting.

 

On the to do list

 

- Paint the canopies, which I currently have masked off... hopefully. I found what seem like solid techniques for making your own masks on line, but currently I don't feel super confident in them so we will see how that goes.

 

-Chip the aircraft, I am going to use a sponge technique this time. I intend to lean on the lighter side when it comes to chipping, trying to stick to areas you would expect to see it for more just general esthetic, As well I was thinking of doing some chips with a YZC and then fill them in with aluminum. I work as a pilot and the chipping on our aircraft, usually does paint -> primer -> aluminum on the more exposed areas where we lose paint. Actually a lot of time is usually just the top coat decretive paint coming off the white paint/primer underneath. Hmm have to decide on that. With that said I plan on doing some of the white chipping to show the red underneath such as seen here.

 

yGXmHoL.jpg

 

as well as trying to create a silver wash that will hopefully let me accent the screws on the access panels such as this.

 

l88Ph5R.jpg

 

Also looking at that picture it looks like there is some YZC peaking through, so maybe I will give that a try. 

 

As well I was hoping to try my hand at some oil and fuel staining such as this 

 

Jw0TY9r.jpg

 

9WFX7CY.jpg

 

Nothing super heavy handed but something to give the bottom half of the aircraft a little more flair, Plus from my time on older piston aircraft I can tell you those things are more leaked oil then oil in the engine at times haha. And it should be a fun experiment as well.

 

I was going to ask though, if I intend on doing these three steps what order should they be completed in. To me it seems like the best way forward would be chipping -> panel lines -> oil stains. I also am going to airbrush on some exhaust and gun smoke, I imagine that would be the final step but if that's a poor idea let me know.

 

I'll do my best to keep up with this as I move forward so it doesn't become such giant dumps of information in the future. I just got back from a four day pairing and have a bunch of time off so I am hoping to get able to do lots of work on this little kit over the next week or so.

 

Thanks for reading!

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alrighty, just put in a couple of hours doing chipping and working on trying a silver wash on screw heads. I did some chipping with a sponge first, using Tamiya Flat Aluminum and Mission Models YZC. I did this before the screwhead wash, I think next time I will do it the other way around screwheads and then the chipping. I think I would be able to space my out the effect more to my liking that way. Also I will do the chipping with an enamel paint next time so that I can clean it up with white spirits. Does anybody have any suggestions of how I could clean up the Tamiya Flat Aluminum in a way that wont effect the base paint underneath (also Tamiya)? I have a couple layers of X22 down if that helps as well.

 

I made the aluminum wash out of some old Model Master paints I had from decades ago and some white spirits . I picked out the areas that seemed to be effect like in the pictures above and quite liked how this effect turned out. Definitely something I will do again on future kits. I also added some red to the nose cone to show peeling paint, I did this with the sponge at first and did not like the look at all. I tried to fill it in a little by brush and it definitely looked a little better. If I try something like this again I think I will either use the brush right off the bat or maybe if I load the sponge with more paint I will be able to get a solid, but jagged looking bit of paint flacking off.

 

iVpjK0g.jpg

 

HDvznSn.jpg

 

FRU8sjL.jpg

 

The plan now is to let this dry out for a while. Then I think I am going to redo the panel lines on the olive drab parts of the model. I'm not sure if I really want to or not, but again, experimenting so I might as well try and see how I feel about it. Also I need to put a little bit of wash on the landing gear as I forgot when I did the washes previously and they look pretty starkly clean.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tonight I got a little time to redo the panel lines, I don't know if it really made much a difference as the olive drab is already pretty dark, but I find doing panel lines weirdly satisfying so I enjoyed myself!

 

9ffaXsY.jpg

 

yyKz278.jpg

 

2gx2C2Q.jpg

 

You can see in the first picture, the propeller dome doesn't want to sit quite flush to the cowling. Anybody have any suggestions on how to fix this other then push harder? I was thinking of trying to drill it out just a tiny bit, but then I am worried it would be easy to make the hole too big and then the propeller dome would look out of place and worse.

 

And as you can see in the back ground

 

vUG4waY.jpg

 

Canopy time! Like I said this is my first time making my own masks so we will see how it goes. I forgot to write down the ratio I used to mix the paint in the cockpit so hopefully after some wash these will be pretty close to the same colour. I am going with the open canopy. Half the sections I made masks for the inside and outside, so I will paint each side its respective colour. The other half I am going to try doing a layer of interior paint with the exterior paint over top and compare the two and see how I want to handle this in the future.

 

Tomorrow I am off again and the weather is supposed to be kind of crappy, so it will be onto finishing the canopy and then doing exhaust and fuel/oil stains and that will be about it I think.

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So this was my first attempt at adding exhaust or smoke effects, I am still struggling a little with creating really fine lines and "daggers" but I think its more just a need for practice then anything else. For the shell ejectors and engine exhaust I used Tamiya Deck Tan -> a Dark Grey I mixed -> Smoke. I am pretty happy how they turned out. The gun exhaust I just did the dark grey then smoke. I didn't mind this too much on the bottom of the plane but I really struggled to see it on the olive drag on top, so I ended up putting down more then I intended and it looks kind of chunky. I think in the future when I am putting these sort of effects on a dark color I'll put down a lighter color like the deck tan first just to help me see what I am doing.

 

zVpiegC.jpg

 

fclDjbP.jpg

 

JN6l1eY.jpg

 

I also sprayed a bit of the smoke on the bottom half of the plane in the areas that I intend on putting my oil streaks. It seemed to have a bit of a oily look too it, so I put down a real thin layer to kind of set up a base layer for the actual oil streaks.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys, just another update. I mixed up some oil paints to do some streaks on the bottom and near the fuel tanks. I was pretty happy how the oil streaks on the bottom turned out, along with the fuel streaks on the external tanks, The wing tanks didn't really work, The fuel stain on the wings aren't really visible, which is okay because I was trying to go real subtle with these anyways, but the white spirits I used to shape the fuel stain seemed to mess with the acrylic gloss coat I had on the plane. It looks like there is a bit of hazy film left behind where I used the white spirits around the fuel, everywhere else I didn't notice that effect.

 

aAlMp0q.jpg

 

You can kind of see this effect in this picture, maybe its because there was a decal in the area?

 

UMvO1ly.jpg

 

I am pretty happy how the bottom turned out, the inside doors are a little heavier then I intended but I was having trouble getting in there effectively so decided less messing with it is better.

 

I also added some fuel stains to the drop tanks, these I'm pretty happy with in general.

 

3rIYujv.jpg

 

And the last thing is I peeled off the masks from the canopy and did some touching up. Again these aren't perfect by any means but these are the best I have managed too do so far so we are on the right track I think.

 

Jd2mvLE.jpg

 

Any suggestions on how to get a cleaner edge on the windows would be great. Like I said they are getting better but I would really like to get these a little cleaner. Also they came out just a little lighter then the airframe color. I think probably because I did the basecoat over blackbasing. So I think I am going to make a black filter over the edges of the canopy to try to darken them to even it out.

 

Other then that I am thinking of coating everything in layer of semi gloss to take some of the sheen off. Anybody have any suggestions on if this is a good idea? I unfortunately don't have any flat clear right now. I also need to paint up the gun sight and install it along with a few secondary pieces (antenna, inner gear door actuator, etc) install the canopy and then I think that's it.

 

Overall pretty happy how this has been going. Hopefully it all ties together well.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Hello everyone. I haven't had the chance to do much modeling the last few weeks as I have been back to work and quite busy the last few weeks. I did manage to more of the less finish the P51, I couldn't quite get the frame of the canopy to match the aircraft itself, another lesson learned. I also realized that I accidently drilled out two holes for the antennas instead of just one, but I think I was kind of at the point with this kit that I just decided to stick in both antennas and call it a day haha. I also still haven't made any belts for it but I plan on leaving that until I am doing the cockpit on my next build and then just making two sets at the same time. Anyways here are some pictures of her all finished up.

 

KhA6CAr.jpeg

 

7CHfRPB.jpeg

 

Z9Iwt1D.jpeg

 

PXo5MCo.jpeg

 

Really nice little kit, much better then the awful 109's I was using before to learn spraying techniques and such, I definitely still learned lots while working on this kit but still think the final product turned out decent and definitely an improvement over my last effort.

 

Next up I am building Airfix's P-40B. I plan on doing the AVG color scheme, tomorrow I will try to post the few things I have done with the kit so far and as well try to compile a list of the dos and don'ts I learned from the P51.

 

Cheers.

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep brilliant job. I've always had a preference for the P-51B variant.

 

In terms of getting a straight edge for the canopy I'm sure a mask set will probably exist that you could use. That would be the fail safe option. Liquid mask, masking tape and or putty are options.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I actually splurged on a Cricut machine (the smaller one that's a lot cheaper, plus it was on sale, and my girlfriend might use it as well, there justified haha). So I am hoping to be able to use that to create some more effective masks. I was trying to do it by hand with masking tape and it worked pretty well but there was definitely room for improvement.

 

Anything else you guys spot that looks like an area that can be improved on please feel free to post. I might be making some silly error that I don't even see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quick question if anybody has an answer. Does anybody know what the level at the front right of this P40s cockpit is and if it would have been there on the P40B?

 

http://www.warbirdalley.com/images/cockpits/P40-cockpit-800.jpg

 

Also while we are at it any suggestions how how to get the polished/worn look that is noticeable in the center of the wear plates under the rudders?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay so working on the P40 tonight, first a list of some of things I want to improve on with this kit.

 

- Put in a few scratch built pieces in the cockpit (although the cockpit is pretty darn good out of the box)

- Possibly try cutting out the gauge dials from the instrument panel decal and putting them in individually, though from what I have seen from other peoples builds maybe this isn't really necessary.

- do a better job of dry brushing, I think last time I had to much paint still on the brush, or possibly try to thin the paint a little first then dabbing it off

- try my hand at making some belts, also for the P51 if I can figure it out

- add some dust/dirt effects to the bottom of the cockpit to make it look a little more lived in

- generally do a cleaner job of sanding and filling and just getting straighter/smoother transitions

- possibly take the plunge and do some riveting on this kit

- do black basing again but this time try mixing in some other colors for the molting underneath instead of just using white

- figure out how the Cricuts software works and make some spraying masks and do a lot more spraying instead of decaling, I would love to figure out how to spray on the roundels but I am not sure if the cutter I got will be that precise. I am also hoping I will be able to make some canopy masks.

- in general doing a better job of masking, I would really like to achieve a crisper transition between colors when required, the P51 I felt the transitions were a little ragged and almost looked a little out of scale

- flatten the wheels before assembly though I think that might be pre done in the kit

- I'll use the same exhaust technique as I really liked that, though hopefully be able to drill out these exhaust stacks

- do a better job decaling in general, this might have been the weakest part of my last kit, Ill try to avoid decals where I can on this kit, but when I use them I will do a better job of using Microsol to get them to really sink down (I don't think I really used it right on the last kit)

- I don't think I will do any oil dot filters on this kit, I want to do one without and see if I notice a difference, I would like to play with the technique more in general before I commit it to a kit anyways,

- I think I will do just a little bit of hair spray technique on this kit, basically just on wingroots, I would like to try setting up as metallics->YZC or what ever the primer should be -> top coat and see what happens. Ill probably do this on a paint mule first and then decide if I can make it work.

- Ill definitely do the silver wash again, I love how that looks on the riveting and screwheads

- I got some weather pencils so I want to give those a bit of a try, though I am not to sure where or how yet

- use a stippling technique to create more of an impression of a generally oily/dirty area and then do streaking within that area

- I got some enamel fuel and oil weathering supplies so probably try those as well

- figure out if there should be smoke residue from the machine guns and find a more elegant way to recreate it then what I did with the airbrush last time,

 

Okay, that's about all I can think of for now. Lots to chew on that's for sure! Now on to what I have managed so far on the P40

 

o5pMS6n.jpg

 

VQbgxnU.jpg

 

Wvr9yDV.jpg

 

So far, I have just taken the cockpit parts of the sprus and started to clean them up. I am feeling better about the attention I have paid to this process so far. I got a few little metal files last week and they have been really good at helping with the filling and sanding work in tight corners like this.

 

The cockpit detail seems really nice, And as somebody that doesnt have the cash for photo etch I like the idea of the decals for placards, radios and such for the side walls. I did find both the throttle and trim wheels pretty small and flat so I decided to try to scratch build some replacements,

 

I just punched a few different sized pieces of styrene for the trim wheels, glued them together and then tried to smooth out the difference with a little bit of PVA. For the throttle I shaped a piece of styrene to match the throttle from the kit and flatted some copper wire and glued to the back, added a few drops of PVA on the top to create the grips and then glued that whole assembly to the old throttle on the sidewall. Hopefully when they are painted they don't look gigantic.

 

I would also like to do something to make the MG's that can be seen in the cockpit a little more interesting but I am not really sure what I will be able to do at such a small scale. They are just kind of boring chunks right now. Hopefully if nothing out some dry brushing and such can make them a little more interesting. I also started to make a lever that appears in a few P40 cockpit pictures I have looked at, but I can't tell if they are from a 40B or not so I might just end up skipping this unless somebody here chimes in that's more knowledgeable than me.

 

Anyways, thanks for reading.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • R_harrison changed the title to Rod's modeling misadventures (Currently Airfix's P-40B)

KE14R2V.jpg

 

Tonight's progress on the flight deck. Pretty happy with how everything is going so far. I got some Vallejo paints to do my brush work with, they brush on so nicely. Pretty happy with how all the painting has gone, annoyingly a few flecks of the Flat Aluminum that I used on the seat show up in some of the interior green, you can kind of see it in the picture but in real life it isn't noticeable so I don't think I will have to touch anything up.

 

There are a few things left to paint that I can't really find references for. Does anybody know if the cables and the box on the cockpit floor were a different color? I might paint the box black just to break things up on the floor a little bit. I was also wondering if that the straps on the fuel tank should be colored at all? Other then that I think the painting is pretty much done. Next I think I will do dry brushing before putting the decals on. That seems to make the most sense to me but if that's a bad idea please let me know and spare me learning the lesson!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A question for everyone. Should the section inside the rear windows be painted the interior or exterior color of the aircraft? I have seen a few conflicting views and was hoping to get a more definitive answer before starting to put paint down. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, R_harrison said:

A question for everyone. Should the section inside the rear windows be painted the interior or exterior color of the aircraft? I have seen a few conflicting views and was hoping to get a more definitive answer before starting to put paint down. Thanks.

 

Exterior colour.

 

 

 

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Evening everybody. The last few sessions were still banging away at the cockpit. I did manage to finish it up tonight and get it all glued into place. I think since the last photo I added a small amount of post shading, added some dust and dirt to the bottom of the cockpit floor and added the decals. I also sprayed some flat varnish to the decals to settle them down, did a little more detail painting to the instrument panel and put a little X-22 into the gauges. Anyways here are some pics.

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

Overall quite happy with how everything turned out. Definitely my best effort yet. The decals for the sides makes such a huge difference. I bought a few sheets of generic radio and gauge decals to use in the future.

 

Tomorrow I will likely try to tackle some belts and then after that will have to get into the instruction manual and formulate a plan for the next few stages.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like I'll be tackling the intakes soon. I have seen references to them being interior green on the inside and other saying they are the same as the exterior paint of the underside of the aircraft. Anybody have thoughts on this?

 

I have also read that the underside paint had a bit of sky blue in the coloring instead of just a light grey. Are these rumors true? Any excuse to go to the paint shop right?

 

Thanks

 

Rod.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anybody know if the small holes on the side of the P40 are for lights? And if so are they white lights? I haven't been able to find a good reference for them at all. I have seen a few pictures of P40Bs where I can see there is something in the same spot but it looks like like a black hole then a light.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Long time no posts! The return of summer means the return of golf and slo pitch. a longer honey do list and lots of lost time to pints on the deck. Between building a few shelving units for the house, a retaining wall and refurbishing a tub modeling time has been limited. But I have been plugging away at the P-40, I have been spending quite a few sessions filling and sanding as the kit didn't go together quite as well as I expect from the reviews. As well I have just found out there are a bunch of misplace panel lines, so I have decided to fill the misplace lines, rescribe a bunch more and then do some riveting on this kit. I am a little frustrated with it at this point and have some what decided that it is to be a test bed to practice new filling, scribing and riveting techniques.

 

As well I got a little Cricut machine and used it to cut out my own masks for the canopy, they turned out great. Once I get to painting (in a year or two) Ill use it make as many masks as I can and paint on as many markings as I can.

 

Anyways here are a few pictures of where she currently stands.

 

5Hrf1tX.jpg

 

A1Z3nvk.jpg

 

wXUT5vZ.jpg

 

mgVpEcA.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...