I always feel guilty about posting my models after looking at the incredible work others are doing by going the extra mile. Lawdog’s recent P-47 comes to mind not to exclude others, so I always apologize for my clean standard build that meets the requirements for Max’s Comparitive 1/48 Aircraft Museum. [:$]
I needed a P-40 for a slot and purchased this guy for about $10 at HL. After opening the box and looking at it I placed it in the trash can. Max’s Museum deserves better. A couple of days later I saw the shark grin in the trash and accepted the challenge at least for fun. Not much time spent but I do like camoing things as you can tell!
A standard build to fill the niche. I even did the goofy pilot who looked to be sleeping in the cockpit. Maybe the wing will be better. All for fun, that’s what modeling is all about!
Check it out (don’t look too close.) Actually since joining the Forum, I do have a good time presenting my examples and photographing them. Not many visitors to the museum–You’re a good audience Gang, Thanks!
I built this last year as the third kit for me. I recently donated the build to a young modeler. Mrs. Toshi just repurchased this kit for me. You did a great job on this build! Excellent! Love the camoflauge!
Good you rescued this from the trash, good looking model and a nice, clean build.
Your figure piqued my interest (I mean the little pilot, not your physique) because I am in the process of painting my first 1/48th figure (as an adult). It’s a pilot too. Spend a couple hours ‘blocking him out’ (and secretly wishing M Brindos or some other fig painter expert was there looking over my shoulder). I was thrilled, a modeling task that held my interest for over 7 minutes, regardless that I had no clue what I was doing.
Your guy looks just fine, and thanks for giving me some sort of sense of direction on the yellow vest, which I presume is a life-jacket.
That’s a beeyutifous P-40, perfectly finished. I build clean as well, I was in the airline business and our company was insistent on maintaining a clean fleet.
The saying was, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” If the airplane appeared in poor condition, customers would likely think it was in questionable mechanical condition as well.
At most I might do a little exhaust tracking, never mud or weathering. Old habits are hard to lose. Clean machines for me.
Hey Patrick, I am always envious of the oil, mud and ding guys and I’m actually building a very slightly used Stuka to ease into all of this. Wow, this is harder than it looks. Lots to learn to keep up with those guys! I’m old and fixed in my ways but I can experiment. Thanks for your opinion!
Hey Max, I don’t see anything wrong with her from the photos. You might try picking out the panel lines, but assuming this is an older kit with the raised lines I don’t think a simple sludge wash will work, I’m sure someone would have some ideas here.
Don’t sweat the pilot, figures are a PITA. I’ve been doing them for decades and still can’t get them the way I want them.
Well if you were anywhere near the Seattle/Tacoma area here in Washington, I’d be more than willing to help you with that.
As to your pilot, Max, a simple application of eyes and eyebrows with a fine tip marker or pencil will help him out a lot. Trust me.
I did mine clean too. I added some chipping and exhaust staining, but I didn’t dirty it up at all. I liked the way it turned out and I’d love to build it again! The kit is really showing its age and the pieces no longer line up the way they used to, but with a lot of TLC (a TON) the old bird can look really amazing.
Not that mine turned out amazing, lol. But there are things I would do different the next time around.
So no worries about a clean build, Max. I started off building things dirty because I’m an Armor guy at heart and there’s no such thing as a “clean” tank lol. So I’m learning how to build clean birds. Still working on it lol!
I think you did the right thing by pulling that one out of the bin and just building it up for fun. Sometimes you just have to let your hair down and let the m.ojo flow.
It looks great and there’s no reason you shouldn’t display that one along with the other beautiful builds you’ve done. Yes, Max, they are beautiful builds. Every one of them.
I like mine clean, too, but I do just a little weathering sometimes. For all the years its been around, this kit still captures the shape of the P-40B better than any other in 1/48. Looks like the new Airfix P-40B in 1/72 is real good for shape too.
Great looking model. Don’t feel bad about not weathering your model. I’ve been building for 20 years and my last kit was the first one I attempted to weather. It was a lot easier though as it was an artillary piece. I didn’t have to worry about exhaust or panel lines. Nothing wrong with that pilot. I did my very first one with the kit I’m building now. I used to have a huge stash of 1/48 pilots and air crew because I’d just throw the figures in a box and not mess with it. P-40 is one of my favorite models. I’ve built probably 6 or 7 of them over the years. I think it’s because it was my first skill level 2 build when I was a kid. That’s always made it kind of special to me. Anyway, great build and excellent camo work.
Wow, thanks Mike (for both advice and opinions). Two minutes with some color pencils made a world of difference on the little guy. Might use him after all! Mighty small work for Max but I’ll probably work on him a bit more.
That darn camera sees 10x better than Max! LOL. He still looks a little pale, perhaps from a scary flying experience.
Max, you did a great job on her man! Looks nice. Not-so-great molds actually makes a better modeler out of us. Fixing seems and misfits gives you plenty of practice. I personally enjoy building kits that don’t fit just right sometimes. I also like the silky smooth fit of most Tamiya kits as well.
Looks great, that old kit really has not aged well. I also built it a few years ago and thought to myself, “man, it wasn’t this bad when I last built this model”. That was 1973 and I used bottle paint and tube glue. I fought a really bad wing warp and gaps between the wing and fuse.
For you’re pilot, try to give him a thinned color wash of an earth tone. I usually use burnt umber or dark earth. It will dull down the yellow and pale and blend everything.
Very nice finish on your P-40! And regarding the pilot, I second Scott’s advice. My technique with 1/48 figures or smaller is to block in the basic colors, and then use washes to tie everything together. That’s actually a nicely sculpted figure, as are the rest of Monogram’s figures from the time this kit was issued up to the time of the merger. A wash of burnt siena or some other brown will pick out the sculpted details. In 1/48, I might add a line for each eye, too, remembering Shep Paine’s advice that people outdoors tend to squint in daylight. Here’s an example, the USN pilot from a Hasegawa set of pilots in in 1/48:
I did add eyebrows, but then just let the wash do the work. This was a figure I painted up to use in displaying or photographing a model, so I could give a better sense of the scale of the aircraft.
Okay, maybe a bit pale lol. But you’ve got the idea and that looks better already. I also agree that a sepia wash or any dark brown acrylic paint thinned down to watery will help flush out those details better.
Also worth noting if you decide to fix it, is that the pilot sits a little low in the seat because he’s not sitting on his chute. Add a cusion of 2mm under his but and he’ll be sitting about the right height. I skipped it on my build and he sits a little low in the pit.
Your pictures don’t show it, but did you cut off the location tab on his back? I did that and filled the slot in the seat so he would sit forward and not look like he was napping lol.
OK, You guys are great coaches! Not perfect but quite the improvement. I had some brown kid’s washable water based paint which I thinned and used as a wash. I repositioned the little guy and I think it’s at least as good as the rest of the build. He looks rugged as pilots should be!
Thanks Gang, You can teach an old dog new tricks! LOL!
Excellent job on the P-40 and good rework on the pilot. There is only one glaring issue is that the P-40B’s and the AVG Hawks never had drop tanks. It is a glaring issue that Monogram put it from the very beginning.
