Airfix 1/72 P40B Tomahawk

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sat Jun 08, 2013 4:58 pm

Hello all pictures will be along in a mo

Post by **bullgill67** » Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:05 pm

best of luck with the build

michael

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 2:14 pm

The kit... I shall post an inbox review video via YouTube so the thread isn't overly long

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 2:15 pm

The plane I shall be making

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 2:26 pm

History:
The plane I am building was flown by Lieutenant Aleksey Khlobystov from Febuary 1942 to May 1942. On the 8th April 1942 he led 2 Tomahawks and 4 Hurricanes to intercept a Schwarm of Ju87's (Stuka's) who were returning from a failed bombing raid on the nearby city and vital port of Murmansk.

The Stuka's were escorted by several Me110's and Bf109's and a dogfight ensued between the two sides. During the battle Khlobystov cut the tail off 1 Me110 which then crashed with no survivors. After that he then went on to severe half a wing of a Me109 which was destroyed. Some how he landed safely and his plane was only damaged lightly and was repaired quickly. The uninjured pilot was awarded 2000 roubles and went on to become a great ace gaining many medals and awards.

A month later on the 14th May he rammed another aircraft (Bf109) and destroyed it but he himself was injured in the arm and leg and ended up in hospital only alive because the collision had pushed him out of his aircraft. This was the end of this particular aircraft but once recovered Khlobystov flew a Kittyhawk until December 1943 when, on the 13th he and Lt.Kalegaev were pursuing a German reconnaissance aircraft over German held territory. He was shot down by the rear gunner on this plane and neither pilot returned to base.

This isn't the full thing so please check out the link at the bottom of the page

Personally I think this was a rather fascinating story and has really opened my eyes to aerial warfare on the Eastern Front which has never really appealed to me before.

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 3:11 pm

[youtube]fHU9uf50tbk[/youtube] This is my inbox review of this plane

Post by **DC87** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 3:25 pm

Wow great story, well done. Sound like Lieutenant Aleksey Khlobystov didn't need guns to destroy the enemy. Look forward to the build, i asume you will be modelling the aircraft before the dog fights rather than after

Post by **Paul** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 3:35 pm

Great stuff Henry, look forward to seeing you start it

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 3:45 pm

DC87 wrote:Wow great story, well done. Sound like Lieutenant Aleksey Khlobystov didn't need guns to destroy the enemy. Look forward to the build, i asume you will be modelling the aircraft before the dog fights rather than after

Well I was tempted to actually do it after the first 'incident' as the right wing was a little damaged but that's it however this is 1/72 scale and I don't want to risk too much

Thanks

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 5:10 pm

http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... f=91&t=483 This is a link to a more detailed history of the man in the cockpit who will be the focus of this build.

Post by **Lee** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 7:57 pm

Great stuff HM - Excellent info mate

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 8:30 pm

Lee wrote:Great stuff HM - Excellent info mate

Ah well I figured that people tend to concentrate on the plane and accuracy etc but personally I find the story of the men (or women!) who flew them just as intriguing. That's why I love to know who flew them so I can research because there's so many great real life stories

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Mon Jun 10, 2013 6:12 pm

The reference material and tips I shall be using for this build

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:03 pm

Looking good mate. The stories of the men and women who flew these planes are often very interesting.

I built the Hurricane out of that set, and later found that the very aircraft included (in terms of the markings) still exists today as a war memorial in Russia. She is mounted on effectively a big flying stand lol.

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:15 pm

Gav0909 wrote:Looking good mate. The stories of the men and women who flew these planes are often very interesting.

I built the Hurricane out of that set, and later found that the very aircraft included (in terms of the markings) still exists today as a war memorial in Russia. She is mounted on effectively a big flying stand lol.

Ahah must be a pretty big stand

I've built it too and I have to say it's a splendid kit

Thanks

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:11 pm

[youtube]Y6rBiae_7wc[/youtube]

This is my short biography of the pilot collected from internet sources

Post by **Lee** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:24 am

Excellent infovid HM - Top draw input for the GB mate

Post by **PhildaFish** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:50 am

A great story, really interested to see this Soviet legend's aircraft brought to life!

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 2:40 pm

Thanks for the support guys

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 3:29 pm

Nice work on the video mate. I might have to do something similar for my own entry when I get it up and running.

Post by **Bagpiper** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 5:11 am

Great start. Looking forward to more of this build. Good luck

Cheers
Jim

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 8:03 pm

Some info on the machine...

The Curtiss P-40 was a 1 pilot single engine all metal fighter plane. The P-40 was in fact a modification of the P-36 Hawk an earlier production by the Curtiss aircraft company. The Hawk ended up in the hands of many different allied pilots in the Second World War because of the lend-lease program whereby the USA leant equipment to Great Britain, France, China, Australia, South Africa and in this case: Soviet Russia.

The 'Tomahawk nickname was given to the P-40B's and P-40C's by both the British/Commonwealth and Soviet airforces, later models were known as the Kittyhawk.

On the Eastern Front the P-40B Tomahawk was popular with most Soviet pilots, it's ruggedness, speed and manoeuvrability at low altitudes made it ideal for ground attack and they were easily repaired although the initial batches of Tomahawks did suffer engine problems due to the Russian climate. The Tomahawk also earnt the respect of the Germans who classed only the Bf109 and P-39 Airacobra above it (before 1943 and the advent of the Focke Wulf F190 and other better Soviet types). The bullet proof canopy, good visibilty and armoured cockpit were particular favourites of Soviet pilots however they disliked it's poor rate of climb and poor performance at high altitudes.

The Soviets used 2,097 'Hawks' during the war mainly during 1942-1943 on the Leningrad and northern fronts (where this one was based). It was a fantastic 'stop gap' fighter before Soviet industry produced some quality fighters and was definitely a heavy contributor to the air war over northern Russia.

Post by **schweinhund227** » Sun Jun 16, 2013 7:34 pm

interesting choice ! Keep up the good work !

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:39 pm

"Finally some build photo's" is what your all thinking... well voila the fuselage halves have been glued together with Humbrol liquid poly, the fit was perfect however the gun mantlet on top will need a tad bit of sanding and then rescribing so the panels look right ... more coming ASAP guys

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 3:41 pm

The cockpit walls were a quick job. Although the first batches of P-36 's (and other US aircraft) were painted Chrome Yellow on the interior the USAAF banned this quickly as it caused lots of glare leading to many accidents and deaths. The colour was either over painted or painted in factory with an interior green close to Humbrol No.226 which I've used. Details like the radio and throttle were picked out with flat back

Post by **Paul** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 3:42 pm

HobbyModeller wrote:

The cockpit walls were a quick job. Although the first batches of P-36 's (and other US aircraft) were painted Chrome Yellow on the interior the USAAF banned this quickly as it caused lots of glare leading to many accidents and deaths. The colour was either over painted or painted in factory with an interior green close to Humbrol No.226 which I've used. Details like the radio and throttle were picked out with flat back

Nice progress

Post by **Nige201980** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:14 pm

Looking good mate

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:20 pm

Mr Khlobystov is ready to go to war!! Only a slight bit of resculpting required, I got rid of most of the life jacket and evened the shoulders out so it doesn't look like he's wearing one. The camera makes the blue seem lighter than it is but otherwise that's soviet uniform

I used a Citadel Badab Black wash to dirty the uniform and acryclic flat black, leather, flesh and mid blue to paint him

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:22 pm

Nose completed, I did a rough coat of flat black on the propellors as it will be hard to access the nooks and crannies later, Airfix have engineered the kit so the propeller spins which is always a nice touch

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:23 pm

Tail assembled with no trouble, the fit on this model so far has been perfect with no filler required the assembly has also been extremely simple but there's still scope for detailing and super detailing (do Eduard have a zoom set for a 1/72 P-40B?) this makes the kit good for beginners and professionals

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:25 pm

The first seam line!!!! I knew this was coming as I've built this kit before. That area should be completely flat as it is armour (the hole is for the cushion). This will need a slight bit of putty/filler, sanding and repainting before the cushion goes on to get a slick look

Post by **Paul** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:29 pm

Nice progress,pilot looks good

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:31 pm

Now things are picking up the pace

the fusalage has gone onto the wings. The first time I built this kit the fit was fine but here a tad of filler shall be need just to give a nice finesse. However everything seems to be in working order so things should speed up a bit now (sorry for the lack of photos!) Anywho unfortunately I have mislaid the photo of the cockpit so I shall rummage and try to find it. Priming should be next up with a tutorial about it done by next week (fingers crossed). So far this kit has been almost flawless in its accuracy, assembly and presentation

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:07 pm

I must admit it... I've been a tad naughty

As I have no filler at the moment yet I wanted to crack on with the build I decided to use some exterior polyfilla. Thankfully it has worked well so far and I shall upload a photo of the fully sanded and prepared model tomorrow or on Monday

Then it will be time for primer with a video tutorial on it

Post by **Lee** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:57 am

Nice work

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 4:42 pm

Its coming on nicely mate. I have built this plane as well, was a joy to build.

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 7:18 pm

I should have the priming video done tomorrow as well as photo's of the sanded model

Then we're into painting territory

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 11:52 pm

ATTENTION

This is an update just to keep you guys up to speed. I shall be going away too Wimbledon at the end of next week. The week after I will be away again on the Isles of Scilly and the week after in Norwich and Herts. Unfortunatly this means no modelling

apart from a few days in between each trip

However as I shall be visiting Herts and London that may mean model shops that stock all the stuff I can't get locally

I should still have plenty of time for the build though and a video should be up over the next couple of days, also once the Hawk is finished I shall upload 'A Builders Guide' to the kit which is basically everything I've shown sorted out into an article style PDF

Post by **DC87** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:01 am

Someones got a busy life. Good idea on the builders guide, may have to conveniently borrow it

... insert ninja smiley when it exists.

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:06 am

DC87 wrote:Someones got a busy life. Good idea on the builders guide, may have to conveniently borrow it ... insert ninja smiley when it exists.

Hahah it is quite, tomorrow is my last GCSE exam so I shall be glad when it's over but I'm still working out how I did more modelling in the exam season that out of it

I shall put the PDF at the end of this threat so anyone can take a copy

Thanks for the support

Post by **Bagpiper** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:22 pm

Good little update mate - enjoy your time away too.

Cheers
Jim

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:19 pm

The filler and sanding has really improved the model. Instead of looking like a piece stuck on the filter looks to be part of the aircraft. Thankfully very little effort was required so a beginner could still do this although if they chose not to the model would not look too bad

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:19 pm

Another shot of how the sanding has improved the surface finish of the model ... primer coming soon!

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:22 pm

The model is all masked up and ready to be primed! One mistake is that I shouldn't have masked where the windows will go behind the cockpit. On most P-40B's that area was painted with camouflage but a couple painted with interior green. This model used the former so I shall remove the masking tape for the second and third coats of primer as the first has been done at the time of uploading

Post by **bullgill67** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:57 pm

looking sweet hm

michael

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:57 pm

The model is all primed and ready for painting. Note that the rear window interior area shouldn't be green. This will be painted over when I do the camouflage. The Humbrol Spray Cans are great and are an inexpensive effective way of priming a model - highly recommended! I used a light grey as the underside of the Tomahawk is a light beige green and I didn't want anything showing through.

Post by **DC87** » Thu Jun 27, 2013 11:10 pm

HobbyModeller wrote:Hahah it is quite, tomorrow is my last GCSE exam so I shall be glad when it's over but I'm still working out how I did more modelling in the exam season that out of it

Ah yes the same thing happened to me during GCSE's and A levels, had to leave my models at home during the revision period for my final exams at uni to avoid the temptation. Hope you get the results you want

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 10:15 am

The underside of the plane was given two coats of Tamiya Deck Tan. It is disputed whether these Hawks had a beige green or medium grey underside but this shade seemed most accurate to me. The wheel wells will be painted later on in the build.

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 10:18 am

Now things are coming together ... all painted in a day. Firstly I painted 2 coats of Tamiya Dark Earth all over the top of the model. Then, once dry which was very quick I painted the dark green camouflage. I used Humbrol 116 US Dark Green for that. Although this was American built the camouflage is RAF pattern as that is who the plane was intended for originally.

Post by **HobbyModeller** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 4:00 pm

The other post of the primed model says the image was deleted although I don't remember doing so?! Anyway this is the primed model the painted version can be seen above. Humbrol Spray Can is a effective and inexpensive way of priming if you don't airbrush - highly recommended. Paint adheres well to it and its quick drying .