Airfix 1/48 Curtiss P-40B Warhawk

[sheppsea]

Next update - first I sorted our the poor fitting nose by sanding back the step, much more satisfied with this now



I then started to fill the gaps and work on the seams but decided that it would be better to glue as much as possible in place and deal with everything at once. So the rudder and horizontal stabilisers are now in place, as well as a few other smaller parts



And another gap to fill...



I also noticed I previously missed a couple of ejector pin marks in the wheel wells, so I have filled those with sprue goo and will sand back once that has dried



The bay and doors for the rear wheel is also a separate piece in this kit - I glued it in place and then found that the doors have a PE replacement (I had even checked the PE instructions beforehand but forgot there was a second sheet!). I removed the doors with the piece glued in place as I couldn't prise it away.



I also remove a couple of parts from the rudder ready for PE; strangely the kit had the part to be removed on both the port and starboard side but the Eduard PE set only offers one part in replacement - I found this on the Stuka build too. I'm not sure if its an Airfix or Eduard issue (but I am inclined to think its Airfix!). I removed both sides anyway as it would have looked silly having a slimline PE part on one side and a lump of plastic on the other! - I forgot to take a photo of this

And finally, the parts holding the cowling guns were glued in place. I also removed the gun barrels ready for the Master brass replacments. I didn't completely clean up one side so that I have a reference when it comes to drilling the holes for the brass



Left it for the night now to make sure everything fully cures ready for next time

[sheppsea]

Well, after exactly 5 months I finally have an update!

There are a number of reasons for the delay - but the main one was a loss of mojo after starting to rivet it. I love the way the finished article looks when fully riveted but realistically I think this is not something I will continue doing. I hate it and plus getting blueprints that I trust as accurate is difficult.

The first thing I did was finish off the riveting; the picture below shows one of the wings but the whole plane has been riveted. Although I must admit that the fuselage and tail may be a little less accurate - I just wanted to get it done by that point!



In between the riveting I restored some of the raised panels lost in the sanding required in the post above. I did this by first putting down some HIQ guide tape around the outside edge. I then spread some sprue goo along the inside edge and waited a day or two for it to dry before removing the tape. I sanded back to the correct height. This is the first time I have tried doing it like this and I must admit it is the best method I have come across, it results in nice sharpe lines



I then added some rivets to the restored raised detail



And during this process a few parts of the troublesome nose came apart, so back out with the clamps and a lot of Tamiya Extra Thin. I will leave this to dry for a couple of days and will get on with preparing a few other parts and gluing some of the PE in place before priming

[sheppsea]

Very short update today - I had a defensive skills refresher and just felt slightly tired this evening (the training didn't feel to strenuous at the time but I suppose its one of those things where it takes more out of you than you thought). I am also on a bit which requires PE bending so I want to make sure I do that properly

Anyway, I got some PE into the two wheel wells - a huge improvement on the detail in the kit. There is also a little gear I tried to capture in the photos. I was considering whether to leave the gears off at first but I think the chances of them snapping are minimal as they don't come into contact with the bench even without the wheel on: I will just need to avoid touch that area!


(and I just noticed another gaps to fill

I then add a couple of pieces of PE to the fuselage



And finally drilled the holes where the Master brass gun barrels will go - not quite even but I think it should be okay



Tomorrow the plan is to get everything off sprues and together ready for paint - there isn't a lot to do, its just all a bit fiddly . With this build I was planning to get everything painted at the same time (i.e. the main model as well as all the antennas etc). Just to try to make the build a little less stop start

Once together and ready I will paint the PE parts with Mr Metal Primer and leave to cure for 24 hours. After that I will start priming; I am going to try using Mr Finishing Surfacer mixed with Mr Levelling Thinner this time to try something new

[sheppsea]

Another day without much time at the bench

Last night I found 45 odd minutes and took the time to work on the landing gears. The first thing I noticed is that the PE I put into the wheel wells the day before was too far forward so I couldn't fit the gears in their slots (should have test fitted first!). Luckily they were glued with PVA so they were easy to remove and re-position. I forgot to take a photo of this unfortunately

I then tidied up the landing gear and removed some plastic ready for their PE replacements. I went on to stick the PE in place. Although it doesn't look much it took quite a bit of time just because of the size of the PE pieces.

Apologies for the picture quality, unfortunately I was having a tough time getting my iPhone to focus

[sheppsea]

Another day, another small amount of time at the bench

The first thing I did was finish the landing gears, unfortunately this involved adding a tiny amount of PE to it and no matter what I tried I couldn't get the camera to focus properly, but it is basically a loop that goes through the PE part at the bottom of the landing gears in the photos above

I then worked on this piece - I am not sure what it is called but my original plan was to have this in the closed position and I couldn't figure out how to do that with the PE so I decided to abandon it and use the kits parts. However, I have subsequently found on photos that when on the ground this seems to have been open so I will revisit it next time



Finally, I worked on the wheel well doors, these come in two parts and one had to be bent into a curved shape, so I first anneled it and then bent it using the small shop tool



Last day of work today so hopefully I'll be able to get more done over the weekend

[alextheblue]

Some beautiful work with the PE. That's making my eyes water just looking at your pics!

It'll be worth it once it's done, it will look stunning!

[sheppsea]

Yet more PE work this evening - the end is in sight now though! I could of probably got all of it done today but mistakes started creeping in so I stepped away

First I completed the work on the part I mentioned in the previous post



There were then a few random pieces of PE to stick onto the model




I then started work on the remaining parts of the main undercarriage doors, this required two pieces of PE to be bent in two directions to for an S-shape



Finally, I started work on the tail wheel doors, I removed a bit more plastic ready for PE



Frustratingly Eduard incorrectly numbered the PE parts for the door on their instructions so I am not confident in what I'm doing. Two pieces of PE need to be glued together, but one needs to be bent into a curve beforehand. The issue with this is that one side is bent into a very tight curve, which I am struggling to do. I have already needed to debond the parts because of the numbering issue, but rather than get frustrated I have stepped away and will tackle it next time

[sheppsea]

I didn't get to the bench yesterday in the end, but found some time this evening. The first thing I did was put together the PE I was having trouble with yesterday, and got it done with virtually no problem whatsoever



The PE set also includes some cabling that goes on the landing gear, but I didn't like how that looked (as its flat!). I am also not a particularly big fan of lead wire so instead I decided to use some thin rods of sprue (0.25mm) and bend and manouver that into shape, and I'm very happy with the outcome

[sheppsea]

After a bit of a gap I got some more work done on this tonight. First thing was getting all of the Master brass barrels etc ready and then spraying all of the metal with Mr Metal Primer mixed with Mr Colour Levelling Thinner. I left some of the PE (such as the parts that go on the horizontal stabilisers and rudder) on the frames to avoid them bending out of shape etc. I am leaving them for a day to dry and will then decide whether I will give them a second coat. I forgot to take photo of the parts still on the frame unfortunately



I then removed the parts that make up the prop; the sprue gate on these were very thick so a bit of clean up was required. I also need to add a little sprue goo where a part got damaged taking them off. Will sand that back tomorrow



The issues with the nose struck again at the dry fitting of the prop didn't line up as straight as I would have liked. A little sanding back on the nose and the prop has made it align better though



Finally I took the resin exhausts off the casting block and sanding them back ready for paint



Now I'm nearly at the priming stage - just need to remove the resin wheel from the casting block and mask up the canopy

[alextheblue]

Very nice! This is going to look stunning when you get the primer down!

[Kevthemodeller]

Some nice work going on here, there seems to be a lot of fit issues but you're on top of them Not what I would expect from a later Airfix kit.

[sheppsea]

Indeed, the fit issues have been frustrating, although elsewhere someone said they didn’t find any so it may in fact be my (lack of) modelling skills

[sheppsea]

Got a bit more time than normal at the bench today, so made a little more progrss on the Warhawk

First I put down a second coat of Mr Metal Primer on the PE and brass part. I then masked the canopies, cockpit and the parts already painted

I also cut my finger in the process and ran out of normal plaster so had to take one of the children's plasters, hence Peppa Pig!






I then took the resin wheels off the casting block, cleaned them up and glued the spokes to the rest of the wheel (although I don't think these will be seen on the finished model as they get covered by some PE discs). The spokes can be seen on the wheel on the left in the photo below. I then put some of the metal primer down on the PE discs

The were also some small holes in the wheel, so I used Perfect Plastic Putty to fill them - will see tomorrow if it works The two tiny white dots in the third photo down show the filled holes





And finally I got some paint down! If only the the internal colour on the canopies




And finally, I glued the kit guns in place - the holes for the guns was too big for the Master brass gun barrels, so I glued the kit parts in place and will then remove the plastic barrels and drill the holes for the brass.

[sheppsea]

First thing I did tonight was cut the plastic gun barrels off and drill the holes ready for the brass barrels



And then, finally...




This was primed use Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 black mixed 50/50 with Mr Colour Levelling Thinner - I think this will be my primer of choice going forward

There are a coupe of panel lines to re-scribe and seems to fully get rid off, but overall I'm quite happy with how its turned out after priming

[sheppsea]

I have been doing bits and pieces on this over the last couple of weeks, but as often seems to be the case work is getting in the way!

Anyway, I realised that I had forgotten to mask up the gunsight, so the first job was that



I then started the joyous task of cleaning up imperfections etc, I really hate this part of the hobby - it just feels like you take one step forward and two steps back. I also despise re-scribing with a passion, especially anything more complex than a straight line




I noticed that some raised detail had been lost in the process of the build, they are small raised rivets so I took a cocktail stick and dipped it in some sprue goo and touched them in place. I am quite happy with the result but think I will use a needle next time



All done and primed again



Before this evening I got the first coat of paint down; this was XF-19 with Mr Levelling Thinner. I used black basing but avoided putting any of the marbling on the panel lines so a bit of panel line pre-shading came through too. I also painted the wheel bay doors etc so I don't have to worry about it later

I forgot to take a photo of the marbling before applying the base coat - apologies

[Twokidsnosleep]

Not modelling if you don't donate some blood to the cause
Keep after it, it is shaping up very nicely

[sheppsea]

A bit of progress made on my rest days

First a bit of masking on the undersides



And the brown colour went down. I was researching the colours that was actually used on these planes, and although I have lost the website now I think the colours were RAF Dark Green and Earth but in reality they were mixed wrongly in the US and as such are in fact slight different colours. There was a guy on a website that really went in depth in terms of researching the colours and came up with a mix using Tamiya paints, which I used here



When that dried I masked up ready for the green. I used the Aizu tape to mask for the first time, and then filled the gaps with Tamiya tape



And put down some black ready for getting some further black basing on the green.



And finally the green was put down.



And I should probably have waited to remove the masking but the temptation to do so as soon as I could was too strong The colours standout out a bit but hopefully that will start to tone down after decals and weathering

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking good, she's really coming together

[sheppsea]

First day on rest days and had a bit of a painting session

First up was re-painting parts of the underside after there was a bit of overspray. I then masked up around the wheel wells ready for paint those khaki



And here it is after paint



The instructions call out for the part of the wheel wells above the khaki to be the interior green colour, but looking at references it is the same colour as the underside so I left it at that.

I then painted all the other bits of pieces so everything should be ready to glue on now once I get to the final stages. Unfortunately it seems I forgot to press the button when taking the photo as I remember lining it all up but there isn't a photo in the camera roll! I did get a photo of the wheels though

[sheppsea]

Another quick update this morning - I realised I had forgotten to paint some Oliver Drab on the fuselage halves where the Flying Tiger decals go. I decided to do these free hand, but slightly regret that now at they have turned out as well as I would have liked (especially the one in the second photo).

I think I will go ahead and put the decals on and will then fix it with the main green and brown colours so I can use the decals as a guide

I just realised the overspray really shows up in the photos too! It doesn't look as bad to the naked eye!




Will be looking to get all of the decals on later today

[sheppsea]

Decals done

The flying tiger mark looks okay with the olive drab so I think I will leave that

This is the first sharks mouth I have done too, the decal was much more delicate than I was expecting and the top and bottom of the mouth were not connected with carrier film, so that took a bit of damage but I'm quite satisfied with the outcome

The decals in general went down very well and immediately started to go in the panel lines. I follow Pauls method of doing decals now and it works a treat

Just putting Solvaset down down now to try to get them to really conform to the rivet detail and around the nose. May move over to X-20A though if that doesn't work (the cap on my bottle is slightly damaged so I think it may it may be gradually loosing strength)

There is a red stripe behind the 47 that I will paint on later as the decal just wasn't going round. Next step is a satin coat and then a wash

There is also another decal on the tail now as I initially forgot that one, its just the plane number

[Kevthemodeller]

She's looking good mate

[sheppsea]

I got a few bits and pieces done over the last couple of days. The first thing I did was put a satin coat on to protect the decals. I didn't take a photo of this, but I did use Levelling Thinner and Tamiya X-35. I must say I'm not convinced Levelling Thinner that is the best option for this - it is looked too much of a gloss to me; I will try X-20A in future

While that was drying I detail painted a few pieces The wires on the landing gear being one (the photo really highlights how soft the detail on the gears are - not sure if that is a mistake I made or the kit):



Once the clear coat had dried I masked up where I wanted to paint - specifically the red strip and also part of the underside. The Airfix instructions had this part all green, but looking at reference that doesn't seem right




I also needed to move one of the drilled holes for the brass gun barrels as it was completely out of line with the others. That meant a bit of sanding etc.

I then put some black down on the masked parts to ensure a consistent colour, particularly where the red band would go.




I then painted, the finished results are below




There was one disaster however, part of one of the 47 decals pulled up with the masking, I forgot to take a photo of the damage, but below is the problem fixed with white paint



Will let the paint dry properly for a day and will them put a clay based wash on tomorrow and will try sanding it off for the first time. Hopefully that will cover the overspray on the white too!

[sheppsea]

Another period of rest days where I achieved less than I hoped

I noticed at the end of the previous session that one of the underside decals had smeared while I was putting the satin coat on - I must have got self levelling thinner on there or something, so I tried to fix that with Model Colour paints. I didn't quite get the right tone of blue but hopefully that will be blended in with the weathering I forgot to take a photo of the original damage



I then added some chipping - I used the sponge technique for the wing root (both silver and zinc chromate) and a very fine brush for the nose. A reference photo showed a lot of chipping to the zinc chromate primer so I used that. Not 100% happy with the results but I decided to push on. I used Tamiya XF-4 for Zinc Chromate and Model Color Silver for the metallics (I think Tamiya is the better option to be honest)





I then did a bit more detail painting I had previously forgotten. The use of red for the cap on the second photo involved a bit of artistic licence to be honest as I couldn't find references for it. All three were first painted white and then yellow or red using Vallejo Model Color




As I had added quite a bit more paint by now I decided to add another coat of Tamiya Semi Gloss, this time thinner with X-20A. This resulted in a much more satin finish



This morning I put down a Ultimate wash which I then removed with a damp tissue. I was happy with how this worked and it had really blended and dirtied the plane as it was on a satin coat. I did try to use a dark dirt, light first and rust colours, but to be honest I didn't get the different tones I hoped for so next time will just use one colour. I forgot to take a photo of the plane with all the wash on, but this is it after the wash was removed



I then added an oil wash to various bits and pieces with Abteilung Smoke. I think I made the wash too thin and it just wasn't covering anything, got there in the end though



I then removed the masks from the canopies and started to polish them with Tamiya compounds. Then this happened... luckily there is another canopy in the kit, which I think is for a closed canopy but I think it will work with it open. I have ordered some Eduard masks for it though. I know its a waste on money really but I just want the easy option!



Finally, I tried to add some streaking effects and oil leaks, below if what I came up with but have now removed it and will have another go next time as I really wasn't happy with the result.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Nothing wrong with an oily weathered beast, I like it

[sheppsea]

Nothing wrong with an oily weathered beast, I like it

Thanks

I like getting oils on there too. but I just wasn't happy with this one, but I will try again

[sheppsea]

On the final stretch now. Unfortunately whilst polishing the canopy I damaged it (this is in addition to the part I mentioned in the previous post!). I tried sanding it out but its beyond repair so I have got in touch with Airfix spare and I asked the to replace both.

Whilst waiting though I decided to get everything else done. The first job was attempting the oil weathering again; I'm much more satisfied with the results this time. I used a number of colours so won't list them all, but smoke was the most used





I also used a cream/brown colour to try to mimic condensation/rain marks on the prop



I then painted the landing lights by first use Vallejo Model Color silver and them the appropriate Tamiya clear paint




Before adding rust pigment to the exhaust and earth to the wheels



Before putting everything else in place (including gun barrels, exhausts, struts and Eduard PE control surfaces (three of which pinged into oblivion). For some reason I always find this bit amongst the most problematic, probably just subconsciously rushing things to get it done.




So this is the (nearly) finished model - just need to add the clear parts when they arrive

[sheppsea]

After posting the pictures yesterday I noticed that I had forgotten a few bits and pieces, so I quickly did those today. Firstly, I noticed that the smoke on the exhaust seems to have rubbed off, so I added them again



And then I realised I had completely forgotten the yellow tips on the prop, so I sprayed them on quickly too



I also knocked a few bits off and found one of the bits that I thought had disappeared into the ether yesterday, so I have put them somewhere safe ready to glue on next time (which will probably be on my next set of rest days, when I will also hopefully have the canopy)

[sheppsea]

Evening all, the replacement canopy arrived yesterday so I completed this build today.

I also bought the Eduard mask set, so putting those on was the first task - all I will say about the masks is that one of my biggest bug bears is when canopy masks are the wrong size, they are not cheap and literally the whole point of their existence is to be the right size to make canopy masking easier. I was planning to buy the He-111 set for my other build, but I won't bother now.

Anyway, once masked I painted them the interior colour, then black, then the exterior colour, before a wash to bring the weathering in line with the rest of the plane. And finally a satin coat. Below is a photo of the canopies in place

I do normally polish the clear parts with Tamiya compounds, but I didn't think it was necessary here, they look okay and its not as though one needs to look through them to see the cockpit



I then filled glass parts of the fuselage with PVA glue (there are clear parts for this, but I purposely left them as they are glue to the inside of the fuselage and I thought it would be easier to paint doing it this way



And finally I added a bit of silver to the front of the canopy to represent a mirror



I have looked whether this plane had an antennae wire as it isn't mentioned on the instructions, but I can't find a reference photo with one on for this variant - if I am mistaken could someone let me know? It is a Hawk 81-A-2 (which I think is largely the same as a P-40B)

I will put up final reveal photos once everything has completely dried and I have some time (which probably won't be until the end of next week when I have some rest days again

PS - apologies for the poor picture quality - they were taken in my living room where the lighting isn't as good

[sheppsea]

Final update - she's finally done!

I had intended one last job before final revel photos but then had a bit of disaster. I realised the tyres were not sitting right so I used a bit of super glue de-bonder to remove them, unfortunately it got everywhere and ruined the paint work, including the marking on the underside of the wing




I attempted a quick fix by laying some paint over it again as it had largely only gone down to primer, but that didn't even come close to working so I got the sanding stick out to smooth it all out



I then covered it with paint again and attempted to use Ultimate Dark Dirt to blend it in, unfortunately thats another thing that didn't work. The problem is that I didn't put a satin coat down before applying to wash so it was more difficult to remove. Lesson learnt for next time. You'll notice the bad paint job on the marking on the underside, but I think when fully weathered it won't look as bad.



So, another coat of paint later and I am happy with the results, it all seems to blent in more naturally now. The photo below also include the oil weathering I re-did



The wheels are now back in place too, and looking much more natural



And the final job is now complete - the antennae wires are in place (I have now found out this plane did have them, I thought it would have been odd if it didn't!)



Just letting everything dry fully and will then take the photos for the final reveal

[Twokidsnosleep]

SHite!!
Isn't it always the way..."just this one more thing" then disaster!!!
Good recovery, it will not be noticeable with the level of weathering you have added
Great build

[sheppsea]

Thanks Scott

To say it was a blow would be an understatement, but I got my wife to check and she couldn't see where the new paint is so it should be covered well enough

[Kevthemodeller]

Great save mate good end result

[sheppsea]

Reveal photos are here

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