The Scorpion King. 1/48 AMT P-40K 64th FS/57th FG Tunisia 1943. Finished!

[modelling minion]

Completing my trio of P-40's for the GB, and last in line alphabetically, comes the K.

This is another internet purchase that came as a bag of bits mostly still attached to their sprues, except for the main parts, instructions and a set of decals that look about as reliable as anything that comes out of Putin's mouth. The bag of bits;

 

 

I thought this came as an E but should have read what is on the bag more clearly, E/K/M from the same kit? Now the front of the E/K/M and N are pretty much the same at the front of the fuselage being all Allison powered variants, but the rear of the fuselage is a different matter, the F/L/M and N all have a stretched rear fuselage. What I have in the bag is a stretched fuselage so that leaves it being an M as the canopy on an N is different and the F/L are Merlin powered so the front of their fuselage is different. There are however the parts for the tail of a K and all that is required to turn an M into a K is the correct tail and a little bit of surgery.

 

AMT got the most of their moulds by giving you different parts to add to the kits and also requiring a bit of surgery in some cases. A result of this is a slight mismatch where the tail joins the fuselage which can be tricky to clean up and keep the details depending on how bad your kit is (they vary from being a good match to an awful one) mine isn't brilliant but thats okay as I'm chopping it off anyway, this is the rear fuselage as it comes;

 

And here it is after surgery with the replacement K tail complete with the fin fillet usually associated with the variant, though they didn't all have this distinctive feature, the P-40 family can be a tricky subject!

 

The parts actually fit quite well and a bit of sprue goo will sort things out nicely.

 

Now onto the markings and the reason for the movie related title. In December 1942 the squadrons of the 57th FG began painting their unit badges on the noses of their aircraft and the badge for the 64th FS was a scorpion so a lot of their aircraft began to look like the one in the profile below;

 

That picture actually illustrates the difference in length of the rear fuselage between the E/K and the F/L/M/N. This is a different camo scheme from my other P-40's which appeals too me greatly, a bit of variety is a good thing. I have some decals for this aircraft by Superscale but they are way off on the size of the numbers and some other details too so I will have to look into sorting that out.

 

So that completes my P-40 triumvirate, all that remains now id to actually build them!

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

 

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Edited November 4, 2023 by modelling minion

[Dansk]

Wow the difference in length is considerable on the E/K and the F/L/M/N variants, they must handle quite differently.

Good luck with this one too craig. I think you'll handle that tail join with ease mate.

 

 

[81-er]

Am I right in thinking the rudder is the same height on both, but looks taller on the stretched fuselage versions?

 

James

[modelling minion]

14 hours ago, Dansk said:

Wow the difference in length is considerable on the E/K and the F/L/M/N variants, they must handle quite differently.

Good luck with this one too craig. I think you'll handle that tail join with ease mate.

 

 

Yes, when you see them side by side the difference is quite noticeable isn't it and I'm sure that the performance and handling characteristics would have been effected though I couldn't sat which would have been better.

5 hours ago, 81-er said:

Am I right in thinking the rudder is the same height on both, but looks taller on the stretched fuselage versions?

 

James

The rudder heights are the same James, I think its an optical illusion caused by the fin fillet.

 

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[Muchmirth]

I’ll tag along on this one… looks to be a great build. Good luck! 👍

Paul

[modelling minion]

1 hour ago, Muchmirth said:

I’ll tag along on this one… looks to be a great build. Good luck! 👍

Paul

Thanks Paul, happy to have you along.👍

 

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[stevej60]

Another fine choice Craig.

[modelling minion]

41 minutes ago, stevej60 said:

Another fine choice Craig.

Thanks mate.

 

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[IanC]

I love the marking option you've chosen. 

 

Scorpions, sharkmouths, snake on a Stuka - we've got some classic desert heraldry in this GB!

[modelling minion]

1 hour ago, IanC said:

I love the marking option you've chosen. 

 

Scorpions, sharkmouths, snake on a Stuka - we've got some classic desert heraldry in this GB!

Thanks Ian, and yes we have some great markings in the GB don't we.

 

A start has been made! First thing to do with this one was to turn it from an M to a K which involved the removal of the end of the tail and the grafting on of the shorter tail for the K which has gone quite well with the use of some sprue goo to fill tiny gaps at the join and blend in the fin fillet giving me this;

 

A couple of panel lines to tidy up but not bad.

 

Another feature of the AMT kits is the need to add a panel around the exhausts as there are differences between the different versions of the P-40 and their kits and designed to make the most of the moulds without needing to produce completely new fuselages, Hasegawa took a similar route with their P-40's too. I was a bit wary about how these panels would fit but I really didn't need to be a the fit is almost perfect;

 

Not bad at all.

And this leaves me with complete fuselage halves like this;

 

As well as this I have joined the wing parts together for both AMT kits, they go together very well and react nicely to Tamiya extra thin so that after the glue had set a little sanding of the joint left a nice smooth surface. After that was done I got the drills out and drilled out the end of the gun barrels on both sets of wings;

 

While they were out I took the opportunity to drill out the exhausts for all three kits, this pic shows one of the AMT sets and one of the Airfix ones;

 

Hopefully today I can make a start on painting the cockpits up.

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

 

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[Ray_W]

Hi Craig,

I'll also follow along with this one. Those drill holes are exceptionally clean.

Ray  

[modelling minion]

10 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

Hi Craig,

I'll also follow along with this one. Those drill holes are exceptionally clean.

Ray  

Thanks mate, always very happy to have you along for a build.

 

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[81-er]

You're off to a very nice start mate

 

James

[modelling minion]

4 minutes ago, 81-er said:

You're off to a very nice start mate

 

James

Thanks mate, its a decent kit to work on so far but if I was having the cockpit canopy open I would want a replacement interior.

 

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[modelling minion]

A bit later than promised but here is an update on how this this one is going.

I apologise in advance if you're following this one and my AMT F as I will be using the same pictures for the cockpit as they are identical in the two kits, when it comes to the main assembly then you will see differences.

 

The cockpit for these isn't bad OOTB but is a long way from what we would expect Eduard's new kits to look like when they come out, the only addition I have made is to use some generic Eduard seatbelts, especially as the cockpit canopies will be closed. So this is what the cockpit looks like;

 

 

 

 

The kit instrument panels have been painted up;

 

 

Next job will be closing up the fuselage halves, the cockpit assembly is fitted from below afterwards. The mouldings on the F are quite crisp and clean so shouldn't give too much trouble, the K on the other hand is a bit of a rough moulding so we shall see what happens.

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

 

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[coneheadff]

Off to a good start, Craig!!

[Dansk]

looking good mate 👍 the belts really add a great dimension.

[modelling minion]

58 minutes ago, coneheadff said:

Off to a good start, Craig!!

 

52 minutes ago, Dansk said:

looking good mate 👍 the belts really add a great dimension.

Thanks Alex and Paul, not super detailed kits by any standard but I am happy with how the AMT kits are going so far and the belts help them look busier. 

 

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[81-er]

That's looking smart, Craig. Once it's in the fuselage it'll have more than enough detail

 

James

[modelling minion]

6 minutes ago, 81-er said:

That's looking smart, Craig. Once it's in the fuselage it'll have more than enough detail

 

James

Thanks mate, with the cockpit closed I think it will look okay.

 

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[franky boy]

Nice start Craig. 
 

The cockpit looks quite decent oob. Especially as you’re closing the canopy. 

 

James 

[Andres Alvarado]

Your P-40s are looking great Craig !! and a very nice paint scheme you chose!!

 

Andrés

[modelling minion]

3 hours ago, franky boy said:

Nice start Craig. 
 

The cockpit looks quite decent oob. Especially as you’re closing the canopy. 

 

James 

Thanks James, I think it will do nicely.

30 minutes ago, Andres Alvarado said:

Your P-40s are looking great Craig !! and a very nice paint scheme you chose!!

 

Andrés

Thanks you Andres, I am glad that you like the scheme.

 

Time for a bit of an update on the Curtiss production line. All three kits now have their fuselages together although the Airfix one still needs tidying up;

 

The K is in the middle.

 

The AMT kits have both tidied up nicely although the K did take a bit more elbow grease, both the F and the K have had their tailplanes fitted and gaps filled and just need tidying up. Here is a closer look at the nose and tail of the K;

 

 

I offered up the wing assemblies to the fuselages on the F and K and shall we say there was a slight gap, this is the F but the K was the same;

 

Not the best is it, but I found a solution in the form of a piece of sprue used to spread the fuselage a bit, here it is fitted to the K (I have yet to do it to the F);

 

And the result on the K;

 

Works quite well doesn't it, should be much easier to deal with now.

 

I intend to paint the fuselage before adding the wings so that the area around the exhausts is complete before I fit them from inside, aluminium first and then the camo colours for future weathering.

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

 

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[franky boy]

Craig. That’s an enormous gap! That bit of sprue seems to have done the job in both cases. 
 

Was the gas there because the wings don’t have enough dihedral?

 

James

 

Edit. Have just your other post on the dihedral. Got it. 

[modelling minion]

8 minutes ago, franky boy said:

Was the gas there because the wings don’t have enough dihedral?

Oddly enough James the gap was the same on the K even with it having the correct dihedral.

 

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