The method you describe about attaching the masked canopy and using it as a cockpit mask is the method I usually use. However, on this aircraft, there were little gaps between the rear of the sliding hood and the wedge shaped windows behind the cockpit. The gaps were not too big, but I was afraid of getting some stray paint in there and ruining my finished office. The masking took a few days of cutting tiny squares and slowly going around the office perimeter and wheel wells. Hopefully, it will work and no paint got in there!
Nothing worth taking pictures of yet but I have started the pit on the P-40E. I went with an Aries resin pit this time instead of the Eduard color PE. I think I have t vote for the PE stuff. The resin has incredible 3D detail, but what good it is if your micro painting skills are crap. We’;ll see how it looks after the wash is dry and it gets a little drybrushing.
Here’s a question for anyone that knows or is doing the Hasagawa P-40E; how the heck does part W1 mount? That’s the clear part that’s the prism or mirror part of the gun sight. I can’t get it to fit. I don’t think I put K1 on backwards.
Guy, very nice. I love the green-around-the edge camo and yours is a very nice job. I was going to mention that in the one pic, it appeared that your tank/bomb bracing wasn’t painted, but the later picture shows me wrong. Kudos on a nice job. Are you going to be doing another for this GB?
Frank, your paint is looking good. Are you going to do a lighter shade of OD in the panel centers? It’s not required, but I know that some folks like the effect if they want a more sun-bleached effect. Good work so far!
I’m starting to have apprehensions about the Hasegawa kit after hearing some of the struggles that folks are having with the needless seems. It sounds like this one’s going to be a careful, slow-going sort of affair. I have decided on a paint scheme:
It is a bird from the 89th FS 80th FG, India 1944. Guy, note the medium green around the edges.[8-]
Thanks Justen! As for lightening the centers of the panels, I am going to try to hold back the effect as from what I have read there wasn’t a lot of sunshine in the Aleutians. But, I will probably still do a little fading, from age but will try to refrain from sun bleaching. Thanks for the feedback!
My P-40M from Eduard is giving me a hard time from a start.
I looked at the wing and …
it is necessary to do some corrections. I am trying to use a small source of heat and very gentle load to correct it. If this will not work than I use some more heat - hot water or a hair dryer. It looks to me I have to use the top wing first technique here.
Here’s a few progress pics, I got a little bit of a start on some cockpit detail. A little bit of cleanup to do, got a little sloppy, especially with the red. Nothing on the instrument panel yet other than painting it black. I’m gonna Future the whole thing when I get the pieces together and try some oil washes to shade the cables and lines and whatnot.
This is the Aries resin pit. After touching up the black I got on the green… then the green I got on the black… then the black i got on the green.[%-)]… I added some placrds from the Mike Grant insturment sheet
Wow you guys are really picking up the pace. Thanks for the picture justen. I would have chosen that scheme if id have found it. The plane i posted should have had a white tail with blue stripes. It was a decal but failed drastically lol. Ill paint it on and also ill put the aerial wires on.
Well mine won’t compare to Marc’s, but I got my detail finished up for the cockpit and an oil wash over it. I think I’m calling this part done. Oh yeah, I still need to put the gun sight on and future the instrument panel, then MM Flat Clear on the whole thing. Then on to other parts.
Sorry for my silence, I’ve been outta commission over the last four days.
I’ve caught up on the PMs and will work through the posts here in the thread in due course…
In the meantime, here’s some more ‘inspiration’. This is ‘Doc’ Anderson and AK940 at Geneseo, 1988. 'Tis the grooviest shot I ever took of an airplane, or anything else…
LOL yeah I have been slacking off haven’t I? But… fuselage is together and working on the seams, added some detail to wheel wells, cutting off the ailerons to animate a little … so not completely sitting on my hands[;)] the paint look real nice. Very smooth application. If you said already I missed it but what kit is that?
Speaking of seams… Justen, to not fear the Hasegawa kit… you will be victorious[:)]. The best way to go is to make 2 complete fuselage halves 1st. Get the fit of the insert as good as you can 1st. The things you want to line up are panel line and the outside surface of the fuselage. Don’t worry about lining up what will be the seam between the 2 halves. The object here is to minimize the filing, filling and rescribing of the outside of the fuselage around the plugs. The gap at the fuselage seam is a lot easier to deal with than trying to get rid of a step in the seam at the tail of upper fuselage insert. Trust me… I know[;)]
Marc, wow! Guess you have been busy. You are right about making two complete fuse halves first instead of making up the inserts separately, wish I had known that a few years ago when I started this lil’ project. Oh, mine is the Hasegawa P-40E 1/48.
