Monogram 1/48 P-40 Rebuild

[LSP_K2]

From what I've seen, the Legend stuff is pretty good. As to interior colors, I can check.

[LSP_K2]

According to the Detail & Scale book on the P-40 (Part 1), the B and C models were interior green, but I don't know that I'd bet on that.

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks K2. I'll go with interior green unless something more definitive comes up. Not sure I've got any in my paint stash though! I'll have to check when I get home from work.

 

Kev

[spacewolf]

I have several books on the aircraft, unfortunately they are in storage right now but as far as I can remember they were done up in RAF standard colors inside and out as they were had been ordered by the Brits originally.

 

Cheers

 

Vaughn

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks Vaughn, makes sense. I've got very little on the P-40 beyond the original Squad/Sig 'In Action' title. I'm not going to get bogged down with that sort of thing though, as that's not the point of this project.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

OK folks, time for the next update. I've been preparing the Legend cockpit parts for painting and assembly, but first I needed to remove the moulded-in detail inside the kit's fuselage:

 

 

Gave my new cordless Dremel its first real workout on a model, and it's so much more effective that the corded monster I have. Not only smaller, lighter and easier to control, but the speed can be adjusted way down compared the corded unit, which means less melted plastic! Good stuff. I finished things off with some sanding sticks.

 

In order to fit the rear bulkhead into place, I needed to remove the moulded head rest halves from the fuselage:

 

 

Here's the resin bulkhead test-fitted after this removal procedure:

 

 

Not a bad fit, but a little narrow lower down, and will definitely need a little filler to blend it in satisfactorily. The bulkhead itself actually had a couple of lumpy defects that I hadn't really noticed before:

 

 

You can see them at the top and top-left of the cut-out. I was pretty sure they weren't meant to be there, so I scraped them out with a hobby knife:

 

 

Luckily this resin is very workable, and not brittle at all (it actually gives off a somewhat fragrant odour when you cut it!).

 

While I was cleaning up the inside of the fuselage, I managed to tear the starboard side at the rear of the cockpit:

 

 

It's getting quite thin there! Some Tamiya Extra Thin saved the day.

 

The next job was to remove the casting blocks from the other major components, including the sidewalls. Each also had a reinforcing beam attached to its rear:

 

 

These were moulded with a delicate undercut, making them pretty simple to remove with an old pair of sprue cutters. This did leave a little bit of scarring, but it'll never be seen:

 

 

And here they are fixed into position with some CA gel:

 

 

A question before I leave you though. Does the vertical bulkhead in the photo below attach to the cockpit floor in the arrangement shown?

 

 

With no instructions I can't be sure, but this is how I figure it. If I'm wrong, please shout out!

 

Kev

[Hubert Boillot]

.... The alternative was to toss this model in the trash, and I hate doing that. Much better to turn it into something worth keeping I reckon. We shall see!

 

Kev

 

Funny that. I have a totally different attitude. I love the research and building phase, the painting one not so much and loose interest completely when the kit is finished. In fact, all the kits I have built have been binned some time or later after completion. and that was when I did not even make photographs of them. At least my abysmally poor record of completing ANY kit lately has meant that the ongoing projects have survived longer than most of my completed kits. I still have that pesky Aichi Hansa to complete and the Japanese version of the Jungmann of the Gulfhawk G-22... And this is a habit that does not need too much shelf space for the completed kits ...

 

I may actually complete some kit sooner rather than later, having taken the challenge to complete a 1/72 OOB kit for the Xmas dinner with my buddies of La Comète. Being who I am, It may not be completely OOB, as some of the (resin kit) parts, i.e. the ejector seats, are way too small even for this lilliputian scale.

 

October has been a very dark and very long tunnel, starting with a personal burn-out after all my activities of the year till september and ending with a very nasty last week in Paris following my daughter's agression ... Maybe this 1/72 challenge will restore my Mojo (that is after I come back from a badly needed week's vacation in Morocco, taking off tomorrow )

 

I'll follow your project with keen interest Kev

 

Hubert.

Edited October 31, 2013 by MostlyRacers

[LSP_K2]

Looks correct to me.

[Guest Peterpools]

Kev

What a great thread to follow and enjoy. Super progress on the P-40

Keep 'em coming

Peter

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks guys. Hubert, sorry to hear about your tough year; hope things are OK with your daughter. Do some modelling when you can. I've got a 4-day long weekend ahead of me, but it's shaping up to be a busy one, so not sure if I'll get much modelling time to be honest. I'll be back as soon as I can squeeze out an update however!

 

Kev

[imatt88]

I love this kind of stuff!!!

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks guys. I'm in the middle of a long weekend, but a pretty busy one, so not much modelling time. I have, however, been pushing on with painting the cockpit. First, all the resin parts received a light coat of Mr Surfacer 1200. I used the stuff out of the jar and airbrushed it at about a 60/40 mix with Mr Color Thinner (60% thinner). After a bit of research, it turns out that these cockpits were most likely painted in US interior green, so right or wrong that's what I went with:

 

 

 

The parts of also had a thin oil wash of Payne's Grey at this point, but the process is far from over. I thought I'd post these photos now as I'm having trouble determining what colours various components should be. The half-round item embedded in the rear bulkhead - what is it and what colour(s) should it be? Secondly, the map case on the starboard sidewall - I've seen some modellers paint it a leathery brown, and others leave it the interior colour. The former seems to apply to later P-40 variants, so should I leave it interior green for a P-40B?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice guys!

 

Kev

[Guest Peterpools]

Kewv

Nice progress on the P40B front office. Might not be correct but I would vote for the map case to be a worn, well used brown leather - just to add a bit more pzazz and color contrast. Sure is looking good

Keep 'em coming

Peter

:popcorn:

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks for your input Peter. The weight of evidence suggests it was interior green, but it's hard to be sure. I went with that anyway in the end, even though a splash of additional colour was sorely tempting! Here are the two sidewalls essentially finished:

 

 

 

The flat coat has all but obliterated my subtle drybrushing. I added some placards from the airscale set "WW2 Allied Cockpit Placards". I really want to improve my detail painting, as my cockpits always look really bland. But this doesn't look too bad.

 

Here's the cockpit floor, suitably painted and weathered:

 

 

I'm still not sure what colour the half-round thing is meant to be on the rear bulkhead, so I settled for leaving it interior green and painted the retaining straps with Humbrol Polished Aluminium:

 

 

Here's the forward bulkhead with the fuselage gun butts attached:

 

 

The instrument panel completed, with rudder pedals attached:

 

 

And then combined with the forward bulkhead:

 

 

That's all for now!

 

Kev

[Guest Jessie_C]

That's definitely an improvement over the old hollow Monogram cockpit. I think that the half round thing is supposed to be a fuel tank (the filler cap is in the left rear vision panel which is why there's a hole in it).

Edited November 4, 2013 by Jessie_C