I like that one too. I think it’s an easy winner. No love for the shark?! lol. I thought I’d try a different looking badge that would stand apart some from the others. =] I’m not sure I’m settled on it either.
Well, I’m going to kickstart some things here. I just got my Revell/Monogram P-40B in the mail today. =] Also picked up the True Details cockpit and Ultracast exhausts to spruce things up a bit.
You can’t see it here completely but the floor is well detailed too. There is a slight curve to it also. Nothing extreme, but it’s enough to recognize.
There are some defects in the kit’s molding. They got the damn “Revell Inc 1964” stamped on the bottom. That will need to get filed down. Otherwise, I’m really impressed with this kit’s accuracy in it’s shape and lines and fine detail. I’ll be tinkering with certain aspects on it. So far I’m really excited to get to painting that cockpit!!
Yeah, I like that one too. I’d give it my vote. Somewhat fond of the shark, but that particular one doesn’t quite sell me. I do kinda like the 2nd tigershark nose that Theuns proposed.
Do y’all want to have two to pick from and post with?
Unless anyone votes otherwise…I’m fine with that one. =]
So I figured I’d carry on with the momentum of the excitement of getting everything in the mail and work up the cockpit to get the ball rolling. Since this is the first P-40 I’ve ever set out to do, I’ve been doing my research into the plane especially in regards to the AVG in China. I’ve come to learn as many of you already know that these P-40s were originally made for the British and naturally had their own paint schemes and particular brand of colors. I happened to find a site that really made finding this a lot easier.
Over the last two years, as I’ve gotten into modeling I’ve read thru various posts on The Flying Tigers and how all of this had come about but this site is really a one stop shop for modelers doing the P-40. I wanted to share in case you haven’t seen it yet. =]
Starting with the seat and floor…the seats were often left unpainted and the floor was made up of the upper wing surface. Both of these were painted with Alclad’s Gloss Black and Duraluminum. I also buffed the Duraluminum over where the pilot’s feet may rest. As far as painting the floor…I’ve seen on another site for a flight sim that accurately depicts the P-40B and on this site photos had shown the floor to be painted in the manner you see below. I can’t find if some were left bare or painted in the Cockpit Light Green, but I wanted to show both so this is what I settled for.
The interior color is said to have been originally a DuPont color and of course there’s been some talk of what FS color best describes it. This debate can actually get worse if you consider how color changes based on what it’s next to and the size of the color swab. So, smaller scaled cockpits like modelers do will still change the color to some extent on its own. The website below describes a green that doesn’t exactly have a FS equivalent. Or at least not one I’ve been able to find. 71-036 Cockpit Light Green seems to be a lighter Olive Green. That’s what I’ve gone with. I started by painting the cockpit surfaces Flat Black. I used Tamiya’s Olive Green[XF-58] and Olive Drab [XF-62] 2:1 respectively to build up the color and allow darker greens for shadows, and finished by adding Sky Grey [XF-19] to the mix in order to lighten this color up. This was painted on top. The IP and other misc boxes were done in my usual Medium Blue/Flat Black combo with very finely painted dots of Flat White to hint at the placards that would’ve have identified different panels. There are some inaccuracies here with the True Details cockpit side walls. So I’ll scratch build a couple of things like the canopy crank and what not, but for now this is a stopping point. I also gave up on drybrushing the IP. Instead, I’ll just use some decals I’ve been saving for something like this. =]
You can go ahead and scratch me in with a 1/48 Amtech P-40L, but I won’t be getting to it till probably June-ish. As for the badge debate, I personally like the one directly below the yellow spinner, with the red spinner/shark’s mouth in a climb. But the one with the yellow spinner would be my 2nd choice.
