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1/18 Curtiss P40C


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thank you chaps :)

 

..back to the undersides and it was time to paint and sort the undercarriage... these had been made in brass months ago..

 

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all shot with alclad matt aluminium...

 

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..since then I added the pinions which I had 3D printed...

 

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..painted, assembled & weathered..

 

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..there are still many components to make, but a test fit in the airframe..

 

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TTFN

 

Peter

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Thank you everyone, much appreciated 🙂

 

On 2/22/2023 at 7:06 PM, fatalbert said:

What about the firefly?

 

thats a project I will go back to at some point, when I have more drawing data and have come to terms with painting my models :)

 

 

the next sub component was the prop...

 

..I started by cutting a brass sheet blank and adding telescoping tube to provide the mount and the strength..

 

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..this was then filled with P38 and primed & sanded multiple times to get one decent master..

 

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..that master was used to create an RTV mould - I only had a little bit of plasticine so really I made the mould too small so the castings were not great, plus they had parting lines & holes where there were bubbles..

 

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..these were then filled & sanded..

 

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.and then after about 4 sessions of filling, sanding & priming I had 3 good blades..

 

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..they were painted with a mix of alclad steel & aluminium after Waroff (a P40 expert on LSP) confirmed the early P40's had unpainted steel blades..

 

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..and on the airframe..

 

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..theey still need the data panel at the root, but I will do that when I get dry transfers made for the rest of the airfame notices..

 

TTFN

 

Peter

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On 01/03/2023 at 19:29, Dave Swindell said:

But subs have props as well :fool:

 

True!


Which makes it even more important to clear up any ambiguity. Some of our readers might not be as technically astute as you or I and might become confused. Luckily we are here to help these poor folks out.

 

🤣

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evening folks :)

 

Thanks for all your kind comments, they really inspire me to do my best :)

 

On 3/1/2023 at 11:29 AM, Dave Swindell said:

But subs have props as well :fool:

 

 

next up on my model submarine it was time for me to face my nemesis....

 

..transparencies - I hate them... they are just a gift wrapped opportunity to screw up in my experience.. thime for the rear vision glass on the fuselage..

 

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..the panels have a small bit of curvature so I made up a buck from profiles of the airframe I used to build it..

 

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..filled the gaps with foam and covered in P38..

 

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..I tried vacforming on this, but as usual got bubbles and distortion so in the end I just used a steaming kettle and pushed the buck into a bit of foam so get the side panels..

 

..the riveted former seen here needed to be made to get the right shape where the glass meets the canopy..

 

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..made a template and bent it from brass, then drilled & added the rivets..

 

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..then made the outer skins - I had made these in PE, but they were too stiff and slightly off colour so I remade them and painted the insides green..

 

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..also made the headrest from milliput and the mounting plate / brackets..

 

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..so the first step was to add the former - I cut a slot in the fuselage to take it - that way I knew the profile was right and the structure looks like it might do that anyway..

 

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..then the glass was added - the borders edged with a black sharpie as it 'thins' them..

 

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..then the top fuselage skin was added and here taped ready for glueing, the cockpit sills and lower window panels..

 

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..then the I spent 2 hours $hitting myself while outer skins and frames were added..

 

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..oddly, it went quite smoothly, but I have the windshield and canopy to go so I can promise you there will be a senior moment along the way

 

TTFN

Peter

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The Bearcat is a great there is no doubt about that.  Speaking of Grumman cats, is there any chance you'll be finishing the Firecat?  That is still one of my favourites!  So much of it is already done...

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Amazing work. A Bearcst would be wonderful.

 

On the resin casting side, have you tried Green Stuff blue stuff. It molds with hot water takes  very fine well and makes a nice stiff old  and is reusable as well. I find it’s really a game changer for one off resin casting.

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evening folks :)

 

On 3/2/2023 at 9:51 PM, Pastor Rich said:

The Bearcat is a great there is no doubt about that.  Speaking of Grumman cats, is there any chance you'll be finishing the Firecat?  That is still one of my favourites!  So much of it is already done...

 

 

Hi PR - no, its very unlikely I will go back to the F7F - it was my first skinned model and I see to many flaws in it now - plus I just can't bring myself to scratch another R2800...

 

 

On 3/2/2023 at 10:48 PM, rOEN911 said:

Awesome job as always 

 

 

Thanks Antonis - always a pleasure to see you drop in my friend :)

 

 

On 3/3/2023 at 11:24 AM, Marklo said:

Amazing work. A Bearcst would be wonderful.

 

On the resin casting side, have you tried Green Stuff blue stuff. It molds with hot water takes  very fine well and makes a nice stiff old  and is reusable as well. I find it’s really a game changer for one off resin casting.

 

I haven't Marklo, but I will look it up now as sounds like something I could really use :)

 

so, round two of the opportunity to screw up, otherwise known a transparencies..

 

..now I have done the windshield, I am two for two so far, so that means I WILL screw up the sliding hood..

 

I tried vacforming, that failed, then I realised that apart from the top cap of the windshield it is one linear wrap around sheet of perspex, so I tried clamping PETG to some sticks and holding it over a steaming kettle to then drape over the windshield mould...

 

..by keeping good pressure and pulling down and in, i got it to conform eventually..

 

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..I started to fettle it to fit the fuselage and built a card jig to ensure it is the right space from the seat bulkhead and at the right jaunty angle..

 

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..this is my bird, and thankfully it doesn't have the big slanted armoured glass, just two tie rods and a square gunsight thing...

 

..seing that makes me think I probably should have fitted the floor gunsight projector thing in the cockpit..

 

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..this is the sight thing mounted straight on the glass..

 

..also note the emergency hood release button (the black dot) on the cap of the windshield..

 

..you can also see the tie rods either side of the big glass plate I thankfully don't have to make..

 

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I added a vacformed cap to the windshield and the rear frame etch and set out where the sight plate went and took my life in my hands and drilled 4 holes in the glass..

 

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..I made up the sight from brass and a plate with the tie rods..

 

..the rubber grommets in the windshield were just blobs of paint pushed through the holes and cleaned off..

 

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..and all assembled with the emergency release cable hanging loose..

 

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..the winsdshield was then added to the airframe carefully with blobs of CA and a constatly running airbrush blowing air to prevent white fogging..

 

..the panels were also added, but I have no photos until I masked it up for the anti glare panel (painted MRP super matt black - just about my favourite paint - it's bulletptroof..)..

 

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..and having added the canopy rails & fairings its time for a little tour..

 

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..probably do the sliding part next...

 

TTFN
Peter

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