1/18 Curtiss P40C

[Pete in Lincs]

16 minutes ago, airscale said:

..now about 5,000 bits need to be made to go on them..

Is that all? Well, it'll keep you busy and us happy for a while then.

Nice, nay, lovely, update. Thanks. Pete

[Pastor Rich]

Peter,

 

Thank you and glad the info was useful!

 

Cheers!!

[airscale]

howdy folks

 

so, I started to complete the fuselage sidewalls with the remaining structural details and some of the components - including the canopy retraction wheel - this is a superb pic kindly supplied by Jennings Heilig..

 

..you can see not only the wheel, but the curved guard panel that covers the cables to it's right..

 

 

..I made this up from PE and other bits, also made the map case and got them ready for priming..

 

 

..the right side is structurally complete with mounts for various things, stringers, formers etc and that guard for the canpoy winder thing..

 

 

..and the other side, which has a guard for the elevator / rudder trim control cables...

 

 

..after priming with mr surfacer, it was all given a basecoat as soon I won't be able to get in all the nooks & crannies..

 

 

..temporarily mounted the wheel for the pic and added the map case - this seems to be in different positions on early models so I went with the one that gave most clearance with the seat..

 

 

 

..the green seems very olive drab in the pics, but i think its the lighting or blue background washing it out..

 

 

 

 

 

..still an awful lot left to do..

 

TTFN

Peter

[Pastor Rich]

Each part a kit unto itself.  Marvellous!  Looking back at the build again it strikes me just how cramped that cockpit must have been.  Crew weights at 180-lbs...I'm 205-lbs at 6'-3" and doubt I would fit!  It says something about the guys who flew these planes or should I say, "wore" these planes in combat and the course of duty.  (Not forgetting the young ladies who ferried these planes too!)  Salute!

Edited January 31, 2022 by Pastor Rich

[airscale]

afternoon all,

 

thanks for stopping by

 

been busy on some of the sidewall components, starting with this steampunk contraption that does nothing more complicated than control the cowl flaps..

 

..I am really not sure why the design needed to be quite so agricultural, but there we are - I build little aeroplanes, not big ones so what do I know..

 

 

..I cheated considerably by disecting the drawings at aircorps library and prepped most of the bits in PE, so it was like assembling a little kit..

 

 

..painted..

 

 

and dry fitted on the sidewall..

 

 

..then it was on to the other side, with an electrical control box (with all the switches), a fuse box below it, and a junction box to the right of it..

 

 

..I had also made this in PE but as I couldn't find any drawings of these parts (only the later P40's which were different), so I made what I could from photo's - unfortunately I scaled them badly so they were all too small..

 

..so I had to make them from scratch - not as clean as I would like, and the decals won't fit either so tried doing those by hand too - not the best but it will do..

 

..the bits..

 

 

..painted and assembled..

 

 

..I did have decals for the floor fuel gauges so I did those too..

 

 

..as a little montage..

 

 

..the final part was the throttle & prop controls - again, the early type and made from PE with the exception of the front face which had to be litho as it has a dome in it..

 

 

it is less than 1cm square, so very fiddly and required a jig to assemble it..

 

..the control handles are balls of solder, i found for every 10 I made, one was not only round enough, but the right size, the rest become spares...

 

..there are tiny pins on each of the handles, and I can tell you, drilling a 0.2mm hole in a 1mm ball is an excercise in concentration..

 

..again, this will be hugely enhanced by the decals when they arrive..

 

 

 

..it goes about here..

 

 

slowly, but surely, one bit at a time..

 

 

 

TTFN

 

Peter

[John_W]

Awesome.

[Pete in Lincs]

2 hours ago, airscale said:

not the best but it will do..

So you say. It looks darned good from here. And, I can't see a better one coming along anytime soon.

It's all looking rather splendid. Clever stuff.

[Biggles87]

Awesome indeed. Sorry to shower you with all the ‘likes’ in one go but I haven’t looked in on this for a few weeks.

 

John

[Jonners]

Blimey...

[airscale]

evening all

 

been a bit fraught in the day job, so not much bench time - but did a few bits..

 

first the rudder pedals, seen here - note the raised writing and toe treadplate - another opportunity to cheat with PE

 

 

..I used brass tube for the support frame and assembled more PE parts to make up the pedals and brake cams..

 

 

..times 2..

 

 

..these were then primed, painted and assembled - the beam at the top is hidden by the panel, so didn't bother making up the true parts and just used some plastic channel..

 

 

 

 

..next up my favourite part - the instrument panel - for me, this has always defined the quality of a model, I sort of look at the exterior, but evry time I look at models at shows, I go straight for the interior

 

..I made the panel from a few laminates - the rear backplate that holds the decal, a thin mid panel that has some of the dial interior bits & shapes on it (on the left) and the face panel on the right..

 

 

..obviously with PE, the detail can be as good as you are as an artist..

 

 

..the panels were painted - MRP supermatt blach for the face and rear, and NATO black for the mid-panel. Also seen here is the 'glass' which is cut from OHP acetate just like we supply in airscale sets and the decal..

 

..the decal is an interesting one as I am still waiting on the ones I am having printed, but Ray at Fantasy Printshop sent me a test sample from a new computer printer he has (vs silk screen printing) - while some of the stuff is a bit blobby for me, curiously the panel dials came out really well so I thought I would try them - I can always change them later..

 

 

..and with the laminates assembled and a few details added - when the proper decals for all the placards & labels arrive it will really pop..

 

..still some tidying up to do, but you get the idea..

 

 

 

 

..and thats it for a while - I am chancing some travel and going to the Carribean for a couple of weeks to get out of this damn $hitty weather

 

 

TTFN

Peter

[Pete in Lincs]

As always. Wow! In fact Wowwee!

Love the detail on the pedals. and that instrument panel. I can't wait until you select battery on and the needles all flicker and twitch.

Have a great holiday. Don't forget to bring us all some sunshine and a stick of rock.

 

[wellsprop]

This is just outstanding; a stunning mix of craftsmanship, art and engineering!

[Biggles87]

Come on, you can’t fool us, where did you get the P-40 instrument panel? 

[John_W]

Great work on the Panel. Just remember now that you have to have it pointing 33 degrees east on the shelf for total accuracy...

[salomon]

Can't find a word for this masterpiece, just Wow.

[BuNo02100]

Seriously?!?  I go from being inspired to depressed to motivated every time I receive a notification of an update on this build, just like your previous ones.  If I had a tenth of the talent you do, I would consider myself an artist and lucky beyond a doubt.  Just amazing 

 

BW

[Pastor Rich]

Looking forward to mini-LCD video screens to render your instruments Peter!  The next upgrade from Airscale?!!  Brilliant work as usual!!!

[Britman]

As usual Peter , magnificent model engineering, thank you for sharing them with us. I have a request as to the scale. Of course it is 1/18th , but could you put a coin or something for a reference point? Looking at the throttle box I was of course very impressed but wondering just what size it was.

 

Keith

[airscale]

well I can't believe I haven't updated this since February

 

been so busy - I did finish the P51C Lopes Hope and have launched 18 new airscale products in the last few months so have not had much time at the bench at all..

 

..that being said, I have done a few bits..

 

..sorted out the fin from being a big slap of perspex, but only took one pic..

 

 

..opened out the tailwheel well from the slot with a mounting tube in it that it was..

 

 

..to the correctly shaped aperture by using a template, but didn't take a pic of that either.. 🙃

 

 

so on to the nose - I had let in a bit of ali tube to provide the foundation of the carburettor intake atop the cowling..

 

 

..turned out this was waaay to small in diameter, plus having found the drawing of the casting, it is also a complicated shape and very definately not round..

 

 

..it has fluted fairings at the front, tucks up under itself and becomes squareish at the upper rear so is a bit of a handful to reproduce..

 

 

 

..in the end I made a 3D one, but I don't know enough to do all the fairings so just took the basic shape as defined in a few axes by the drawing and will let filler do the rest..

 

 

..chopped out the old one and after having airbrushed the insides interior green (should prolly be ZC but too late now) I masked the insides and let it into the fuselage..

 

 

..bit more fettling...

 

 

..and with the fairing built up, the basic shape is there - I still need to make the whole casting area stand proud so I can skin up to it so will do that with more filler up to a dyno tape seam..

 

 

..the next schoolboy error I needed to correct was the seat bulkhead...  I had intended to just sheet over the hole in the bulkhead as I had seen this in some cockpit pics, but it turns out it should be open with the fuselage fuel tank behind it..

 

..like this..

 

 

..you can just see the tank, much like the P51 one I did, it's covered in some rough material, perhaps the rubber self sealing stuff..

 

 

..so butchery ensued while I chopped out the hole and made up the tank blank from plan templates & hard foam..

 

 

..also refined the top of the spine a bit by adding a bent litho angle part each side to accept skinning & glass much later..

 

 

..bulkhead #5 prepared - the hole is painted green under the masking and with the tank in place you can't see anything about how rough it is inside..

 

 

..and the finished tank, made by covering the blank with tissue & diluted PVA glue..

 

 

..so a bit of a disordered update, but I should have a bit more time now so hope to be back soon

 

TTFN

Peter

[Pete in Lincs]

Good spots on the errors, and, that's a great looking fuel tank.

[Pastor Rich]

Disorderly yet in an orderly fashion.  Glad to hear all is well with you Peter and that the C is finished.  Congratulations on another triumphant completion!! 

 

Cheers,

 

PR

[airscale]

evening folks & thank you

 

got a bit more done, like finishing off the carb intake...

 

..this needs to be ever so slightly proud so that metal skins around it will sit flush with it - it will ultimately be painted as i can't really make it from metal and polish it (I did try..)

 

..this is done by marking the boundary with dyno tape and adding a very thin skim of P38 filler which is sanded down to the tape - hey presto, a great, proud edge to skin to..

 

 

 

..the gun covers either side of this intake are being 3D printed, so in an idle moment I started on the gun breeches...

 

..these are PE and stock and are the Browning M2..

 

 

..thankfully, very early in the build of the guns, I looked at my subject...

 

 

..now I did a couple of double takes, but there are no gun covers on that aircraft - just the central carb intake right?

 

this is with the covers..

 

 

..so that was news, and good news as skinning around all the humps & bumps would have been tricky.. it also meant I didn't need to make guns...

 

..as I wanted to get all the big ugly building on the fuselage done before I can start on the cockpit, I wanted to start the stabiliser..

 

..I used plans to make my own drawing which was stuck to 2mm plastic card..

 

..hopefully you can see the slots I need to cut in the leading edge to slide ribs onto..

 

 

..the ribs were cut from thinner card and slotted into place and all the borders done in black sharpie so I can see where to sand to..

 

 

..first gob of P38 filler..

 

 

..after the first rough sand down to the rib outlines.. they are really only a guide..

 

 

..final sand before final prime..

 

 

..and the finished stabiliser - the intention being to cut away the front and some of the fuselage so they slot together..

 

 

 

..working out the alignment...

 

 

..after dremelling away most of the 5 min epoxy in the joints..

 

 

 

..and just in case you sit there thinking I don't regularly screw things up, this is the second time I had to chop it all apart, this time after filling & blending it, I noticed I just had it in entirely the wrong place - as you can see above, the elevator hingline should be a couple of mm behind the rudder hingeline - I had it waaay behind..

 

..also notice the damaged tailwheel well walls where the CA impregnated foam is just too weak for handling..

 

 

..finally in place and blended in - the filler acts as a base for the complicated one-piece metal fairing that goes around the joint..

 

 

 

..also chopped away all the lower rear and rebuilt the tailwheel aperture with a sheet of formed plastic card..

 

 

..the next thing to do before starting getting the cockpit together is the scalloped panels behind the rear cockpit glass... these were made from drawings interpreted from photo's and tape templates from the model itself..

 

 

..I had read that these panels are NOT cockpit green, but olive drab (or camoflage colour if camo is used), so I painted them OD and added the pipe bases...

 

 

..and in place..

 

 

..a dry fit of some components, the next stage of the build is figuring out how to detail the cockpit in a sequence that will work - a particular problem being the instrument panel, rudder pedals etc will need to be a free standing assembly coming off the floor I think as it's gonna be tricky to mount a crossmember to the sidewall carrying it all..

 

 

 

..until next time..

 

TTFN
Peter

[Pete in Lincs]

More lovely and impressive stuff, Peter. Keep up the good work!

[Pastor Rich]

You are correct -- no M2's necessary...although they look fabulous!  It's fun to see flubs as well and how well you recover from them.  I'm sure it's a confidence builder to mess something up so and get it properly sorted out.  Well done!!!

[Dric]

So much things to learn. Thanks a lot for sharing a new inspiring build 👌