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Airfix 1/48 P-40B/Tomahawk dihedral issue. SOLVED!


quangster

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Hello all,

I’m currently building the 1/48 Tomahawk kit from Airfix. It’s a very good, enjoyable model despite some minor errors widely noted on the internet.

The building was pleasant and without issue until as I joined the wings to the fuselage. There is an obvious lack of dihedral if the kit was built as per the instructions. 

 

95406-EA1-20-ED-47-ED-B9-B6-7-AD909056-E
 

746-EDC28-CA7-C-4-EDC-9903-EAAA8-FEB8-E8


I’ve read almost anything published on the internet about the kit yet never found someone mentioning this rather obvious feature.

Did I made some error while building this kit? Do any of you building the Airfix kit encounter the same problem?

Please let me know.

Cheers,

Quang

 

 

Edited by quangster
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The bottom wing half is a very thin plastic part, but out of the box there is dihedral moulded in. 

So it's something (wing roots) that pushes the top halves down or out to a level - a misaligned cockpit part maybe?

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OK, haven't built it, but I just got the kit out and had a look to refresh my memory.

 

The "wheel-well liners" part also comprises a short spar.  I suspect that your trouble lies here- either the edges that meet the lower wing part weren't cleaned up enough, or the wing wasn't pressed firmly enough when joining the two parts.  I noticed that when I dropped the well part onto the inside of the lower wing it "fit" immediately, but when I put a bit of squeeze on either well/wing area the dihedral changed noticeably as the two parts really snuggled up to each other.  I also noticed that outboard of that, the lower wing seemed rather flimsy, but I assume (hope) that when the top halves are joined to the lower it'll straighten up and fly right.  (You might be able to tell by looking in the wheel wells whether the part is tight to the lower wing or there's a gap between them.)

 

IF you've already assembled the wing, and it slotted onto the fuselage without trouble, then I think the problem is there somewhere.  If, on the other hand, it took some work to get the wing to fit as expected with the fuselage, then there may be something forcing the fuselage halves apart- usually that's a cockpit bit that either isn't nested quite right or hasn't had the edge cleaned up enough where it meets the sides.  This kit also has separate parts for the wing root fillets, so they, too, could be ending up a bit wider/looser than CAD intended.

 

So, if you can, I'd examine the wing alone first, and see if the dihedral is right, and if so, then see whether a tight fit with the fuselage "forces it flat".

 

Good luck, and please report back.  Oh, and I couldn't see your photos.

 

bob

Edited by gingerbob
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I have the same kit - and there is a definite dihedral to the wings, and no gapping at all. I did pick it up when first released, so it's a few years old now, but I don't remember any problems building the kit, and came out rather nice (didn't even need filler at the wing roots, or need to do any sanding - just had a look at it and all the detail that was moulded in is still there). I would echo the comments above, If it the wings are flat like that, part B6 (the wheel well/spar) could be out of alignment, or C2 or C3 which are the wing to fuselage fillets could be out of alignment, again pushing on the top part of the wing, and forcing everything else out.

 

The only other thing to suggest, is to get a couple of long pieces of the 18mm wide Tamiya masking tape, double it up (one piece on top of the other) and as the glue is drying at the roots, stretch the tape across tip to tip to get the correct dihedral, and leave the tape in place while the glue dries. I find that by laminating the tape it gives it a little bit of extra strength to hold the wings taught as the glue dries, and less chance of it slipping off or slackening.

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Thank you all for your input.

Indeed there’s a dihedral imparted on the lower wing. The dihedral is further reinforced with a thick spar which joins the wheel wells. 
Nevertheless the dihedral Airfix provided is too flat (a mere 2° instead of the prescribed 6°).
This is what my assembled wing looks like:

1475756-E-392-D-4167-ACAE-C7-C8-F3-C63-A

 

Wing mated with the fuselage:
91913457-4-A5-F-4-D6-A-8556-D7-B559-C446


2-CB88-F0-F-E93-D-489-C-9012-1797-FFC265

 

The error is obviously in the wing, not the fuselage. 
Let’s look under the covers:

5863574-E-EF95-4-E6-B-AEAD-A33-D39-ADD11
B4-C8-EA51-F81-D-449-B-8106-5025-BD67399

 

In order to be able to flex the wing and achieve the right dihedral, we’ll need to saw off and remove a part of the bridge joining the wing wells and create a gap between the upper wings and the fuselage.

A7936-D6-E-AD22-4368-B891-8-A2-F0-C6364-

 

Wing and fuselage joined and glued with tube cement

293-F4737-8411-4-CBE-A25-B-F01227-F7-E39

 

Leave overnight. The result:

AB85015-D-76-D1-40-DD-BFE6-FBC940-BC1669
 

So far so good. The resulting wing joins need a little putty

A2-B3-C24-D-AFFB-4-DC7-83-B1-13-B7058087

 

BC9-D4-ABE-241-F-4-A12-9-BF7-ACE0074629-


BF6-DE167-3-A09-4-E3-F-83-FC-DA88-EEBFEE

 

The dihedral issue being resolved, I can go back to the rest of the build.

Thank you gentlemen for your help.🙏

Cheers,

Quang


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • quangster changed the title to Airfix 1/48 P-40B/Tomahawk dihedral issue. SOLVED!
1 hour ago, quangster said:

Thank you all for your input.

Indeed there’s a dihedral imparted on the lower wing. The dihedral is further reinforced with a thick spar which joins the wheel wells. 
Nevertheless the dihedral Airfix provided is too flat (a mere 2° instead of the prescribed 6°).
This is what my assembled wing looks like:

1475756-E-392-D-4167-ACAE-C7-C8-F3-C63-A

 

Don't agree with you that this is a fault of the kit!

 

In one of your pics where you show the wing spar, it looks as if the spar has a split in it. This should not be there, it should be a single, homogenous piece, this is what sets the dihedral for the wing. As I said, I have also built this kit, I am by no means an expert builder, I only returned to modelling in 2011 after a 20+ years break. So Whilst I have improved my skills, I am certainly not in the realms of being an expert builder.

 

spacer.png

 

No mods were made to the kit parts. I used no filler in the wing roots, this is all kit parts, and OOB.

 

(Best pic I could get at this time of night, and using a phone camera)

 

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18 minutes ago, treker_ed said:

 

In one of your pics where you show the wing spar, it looks as if the spar has a split in it. This should not be there, it should be a single, homogenous piece, this is what sets the dihedral for the wing.

I know that the spar was a ‘single, homogenous piece’.
When I found the wing was flat, I made the notch in the spar to try and flex the wing. It was made AFTER I found the wing was flat. I didn’t take the photo when I first glued the spar to the wing because I didn’t know there would be an issue.

Anyhow thank you for the head-on front view shot. it looks like your model has the correct dihedral. Congratulations 👏 

 

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