1/48 Revell/Monogram P-40B Tiger Shark (AVG Flying Tigers "Hell's Angels")

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
21

Thanks Brandon! I"m building it like I always wanted to as a kid. Just right out of the box wih the cool Flying Tigers scheme. This is my third attempt, and my first as an adult lol.

I’d like to build it again with the Pearl Harbor scheme next. There are a few things I would like to change for that one though. Including a bit of scratch building to keep it more accurate and interesting. :slight_smile:

I really love the lines of this airframe! I’d love to build the P-36A as well. They were beautiful planes with lovely NMF and markings for their time.

22

Good to know. If I ever really screw some up I’ll have to contact them. :slight_smile:

23

Thanks a ton for the You Tube figure painting links Mike ! It really opened my eyes on how to do it and I’m anxious to try it. Now on to Hobby Lobby for some Velajo Paint which I never have used before.

24

It did the same for me, Jay. Dr Faust’s skin painting technique is time consuming but has the best results IMHO. I’ve seen the same results with oils as well, especially on larger figures where the technique really pays off in spades.

Don’t get dismayed with your first results as they may not turn out like you think they should, but keep practicing. Once you get a feel for how thin the paints need to be it gets easier. It still takes more time than any other method though. Dry brushing is quicker and can gain you similar results if done carefully, so weigh your options depending on the meterial you wish to reproduce. Faces and hands look best with the layered method, but sweaters and rough meterials look better dry brushed.

As far as the Vallejo paints are concerned, if you’ve never used them you may just end up loving them. Good coverage and they spray beautifully from an AB. I use the washes a lot to add to my custom paint mixes because they are already thin and strong. Just a drop or two can change the tone of a color completely.

I used a few drops in the mix for the Dark Green in the camouflage on the P-40. I started with Tamiya NATO Green, added a bit of Daler Rowney Black, and then brought the green tone back with a few drops of Vallejo Dark Green wash. Looks like the perfect Dark Green to me.

Practice. It gets easier as you go. :slight_smile:

25

Looking good, Mike. Its fortunate it was the eye you had problems with rather than the mouth.

26

I do have a minor problem with the mouth, but nothing as bad as the eye lol. It will all be sorted out though, and you’ll probably never even know I messed it up in the first place lol.

Thanks for commenting, Allan. :slight_smile:

27

awesome! well done! I can’t wait to see the finished product!

28

Thanks Mike for the valuable figure painting tips. As far as taking time to do it, I’m retired that’s all I have is time [;)]

29

I spent the better part of an hour last night (and another just before posting this) trying to find out who flew this plane. Closest thing I could find was the tail number “P-8127” which was P-8127/47, flown by several pilots before being assigned to R.T. Smith. First assigned to No. 2 squadron “Panda Bears” before being moved to the 3rd squadron.

I’m not sure if #14 ever existed as I can find no references to it except for this model kit. If anyone has more information, or just a web page that has more then the background history on the AVG itself I’d appreciate it grealty.

I can find the rosters and names of everyone involved, but not who was assigned where, to what, or when. Kinda frustrating as I’d like to know the history behind this plane.

I think I can change the the 14 to 47 easily enough, but curiosity demands I know about #14!

30

Great looking build! I love the AVG p-40’s (as you can tell from my avatar) and have built multipe P-40’s in AVG marking. A few years back I had the pleasure of meeting Tex Hill in a air show and a print autographed by him. Good inspiration to build some models. Looking forward to you putting on the final touches.

As for #14, I have a feeling that Revell just made that up. I have several references, and like you can’t find any plane assigned to #14. I agree with your understanding that p-8127 was #47 based on those references.

31

Stunning job on that old dinosaur of a kit. Its my understanding we will be getting a new tooled P-40 B from Airfix in August 2016. I may have to check out Vallejo for my figure painting. I don’t care for the Air stuff but I’ve heard the normal stuff is great for brushing.

32

Waikong; You got to meet “Tex”? NICE! I haven’t been to an airshow since I was 16.

As far as I can figure this unusual scheme out, my research suggests that this plane is an amalgamation of 12 year old boy dreams.

If I’m wrong about the following conclusions let me know.

First, the red nose. I haven’t found any evidence that the AVG ever painted the noses any colors at all.

Second, the #14 on the nose. The only evidence I’ve found to support it being there is one single picture of #6, which had this feature.

Third, the tri-color hubcaps. No evidence to support this. This is a suggestion of the connection of all three squadrons I believe. Yellow for 1st squadron, white for 2nd, and red for 3rd.

Fourth, The “Hell’s Angels” logo on the right side of the nose should be painted on both sides.

Fifth, The number “14” and the yellow tail stripe suggest that this plane should be in the 1st Squadron. For the 3rd squadron the tail band should be red.

Sixth, already noted is the tail number, which belongs to number 47 of the 3rd squadron; J.T. Smith.

You bring all of this together and it makes for a fanciful presentation, but a historically incorrect aircraft. So my conclusion is that the markings for this plane are nothing but pure fantasy.

But who among us was not absolutely drawn to that boxart when we were just kids??

Lawdog; A new tooled P-40"B" from aifix?? Oh Sah-weet!! :smiley: I would like to get my hands on that for sure! Especially if they provide an AVG option with it!!!

The vallejo paints are a dream to work with on figures. The regular stuff works well in my AB too, so I’m not clear on why they have a specific “Model Air” line at all. But I haven’t tried the Model Air line yet. The regular stuff works great lol.

33

Okay, now for a little update.

I decided that since this is a fantasy aircraft that I would add the victory “V” to the sides of the fuselage as I’ve seen a few pictures that support that this was done on at least one plane.

I also fixed the decal flub on the nose

Decals done, I dulled the paint.

This plane looks huge sitting next to my 109. Just goes to show how freakishly small the 109 is. lol

I did some chipping and paint wear on it, but it doesn’t look very good at all. I need to get into the fine point of it and fix this. Most of the chipping ended up on the tail and not much on the nose where most of it actually should be. Somehow I got it backwards as I was trying to rush to completion.

I also need to paint the exhausts and finsih those up. I should have done it before I put on the decals, but when rushing mistakes are made. I had to wait for the layers of paints to cure before I attempted to use any masking tape over the decals. I have already had to repair the kill marks and add a tiger’s tail back onto his body because of my impatience.

Well. Almost done. I’d really like to do this one again, now that I have a better understanding about how I would approach the build a fourth time around.

34

Excellent build, Mike, but I didn’t catch you in time like I did with your E model. The glass area was painted with the regular external colors. You mentioned R.T. Smith’s plane. There are original color photos of his fighter available to check out if you want to do one of his. With all these Mono P-40’s around, I went ahead and bought one for myself to do as Welch or Taylor’s taking off at Haleiwa.

35

Yeah I wish you had too, lol. This is why I had painted them Int. Green on the “E”. I thought that was how they were painted because of this build lol.

I’d like to find out which plane Boyington was in. I already have his Corsair on the shelf.

36

Boyington was perhaps associated with “21”.

http://acesinaction.com/product/pappy-boyington-warhawk-map/

Can’t say for certain.

Gary

37

Here is another source to corroborate Gary’s find:

http://www.donhollway.com/blacksheep/

38

Good references! When I build this kit again I think I will have to build Pappy’s plane. :smiley:

Thank you , gentlemen. :slight_smile:

Edit: Looks like I need to make a few corrections to my previous observations. The yellow tail band is from the 2nd squadron and not the first. The tri color hubcaps look to be something Tex did in red/white/blue. And lastly, the numbers on the nose were infrequent, but used on some of the planes, as I can now see.

Just when you think you’ve done enough research…

39

A year and a half ago I wrapped up a kit Ive been tangling with for half a year. Was pretty proud of myself too. And then a friend told me the cockpit floor should be hull red. Oh well, you cant win em all.

But your P-40 is looking good, Mike.

40

Thank you Allen. I don’t mind so much that I got those rear window interior colors wrong. This is how I imagined this kit as a kid, based on the box art. Because honestly, the instructions are horrible when it comes to the painting guide. As most of you know, they only give you a couple of B/W pictures of the artists built-up model.

I really want to build this a second time, with a few scratch built details. But I also want to sand off all of the panel lines and rivets. I’ve seen these old Monovell kits built up clean as a whistle and smooth as a babies bottom and they make for a really pretty display piece.

I’m now torn between Boyington’s #21 or the pre-war Pearl Harbor scheme.