A last minute business trip delayed the completion until Saturday, but Lt. Vaught’s P-40E “Bob’s Robin” in out of the basement and on the display shelf! This was the 1/48 Hasegawa (JT86) offering and a very nice fitting, detailed kit. The only thing I really didn’t like about the kit was the gun sight and aiming post on the front cowl, as they were both very thick and I felt they’d take away from the otherwise nice panel lines. I decided not to include them and some day I will surely run across something useable on a PE fret. Polyscale acrylics were used all around (neutral gray, FS34102 green and clear flat) for the exterior.
This build was one of two I am making for the South Pacific GB in, which you’ll see some great work if you hop on over to the forum (the other is an A-20G). One of the requirements was that you learn about the plane/build, and one bit of information I came away from the build with is that Bob’s Robin was built from the remaining parts of several RAAF downed/wrecked aircraft. Kind of like a “hybird” in a way!
Here’s the pics…thanks for letting me share.
and leading a flight line of a few planes from the early stages of WWII…
brain44 and jwb: I did pre-shade, but it doesn’t show up very well in the photos. In the right lighting it does show nicely (yeah, right!). What has become my standard MO recently is a technique on post-shading in an older issue of Finescale using tempra paints (remember them from grade school?) for washing the panel lines. They’re cheap, easy to correct mistakes and easy to mix/create colors. And they last forever.
Actually those are the “B-side” decals from the kit supplied decals. The box art shows an AVG (or 23rd) Warhawk. Since I built a Trumpeter “B” version with AVG markings, I gave the other ones a shot this time. They grew on me as the build went along.
I’ve been following this build in the GB. I just want to say you are simply amazing with an Xacto knife in your hands.
Fantastic build. Great job. I hope my B-25 “Little Thumper” I’m building for the GB turns out half as nice. Yes if anyone cares to see the progress pics of this build hop on over to the South Pacific GB.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks, Keyworth. I have a P-35 (pictured below) built and the 1/48 Academy P-36 waiting to be built. I really want to do it as Rasmussen’s Pearl Harbor #86, but can’t locate the decals quite yet.
One of the early planes I loved building was the P-26, as well.
Actually thank you everyone for your kind comments. The knowledge, tips, encouragement and friendships gained from this forum is beyond words.
Yes, I used the tried and true “silver” (substitute your favorite silver colored paint) undercoat allowd to dry 48 hours. Then the topcoat, 20-30 minute wait and tape pull. This build was “can’t miss” because the P-35’s received a quick coat of OD in the field with no primer. Thus, they got ugly quickly. When my bird was satisfactorily ugly, I put the tape down.
Mark and Jerry: Thank you. Compliments from role models like you mean a lot.
