Curtiss P-36A - 20th PG

[Zero77]

Hi,

 

This is not really a new WIP as i started it around March. But it has progressed a lot, and i should be able to start the paint job quite soon.

 

The kit is of course the Special Hobby kit, USAAC version (P-36's at Pearl Harbour).

The aircraft i am going to make is the group commander's aircraft of 20th Pursuit Group, with decals from Yellow Wings :

 

Here are 2 pictures of 20th PG aircraft :

 

So pretty shiny/polished finish (but not too much), no anti-glare panels, and some nice colors. It will be the first build where i will try the new AK metallic paints.

 

So i share with you some of the first steps of the build. The model looks accurate and detailed to me, but it's not very easy to build, especially the way the fuselage is made (because of the different engine cowling for the different engines). Gluing thightly a front and rear fuselage only on their edges is not easy, especially when the parts are quite wrapped and deformed !

But difficult doesnt mean impossible.

 

Let's start with the beginning.

 

The engine :

 

First i drilled the cylinders and added some microtube to make some sparkplugs :

 

Then a coat of black paint on the lower part of the cylinders, and a coat of dull aluminium (alclad) on the upper part :

 

With the pushrods (and a small wash):

Edited July 29, 2015 by Zero77

[Zero77]

And with the ring and wires :

 

 

 

Now finished with the crankcase, and a few scratch addition.

I also added the small round plate with the Pratt & Witney logo. I had no stencil for that, so i painted it freehand. It's so small that is doesn't really looks like an eagle, but it adds a bit of color, and the disc being only about 2mm diameter, it does the job :

 

The original logo :

Edited July 29, 2015 by Zero77

[Zero77]

Then the cockpit. This kit is an early Special Hobby kit, and they have progressed a lot since then. So there is not a lot of details. It is quite good for a short run kit, but the PE fret is not so large than on more recent kits (actually, there is only the belt and a few instrument panels levers). So i added a very few wires on the sidewalls, and i had to redo the throttle, firstly because i did not like the supplied one, and secondly because the carpet monster stole it, so i had no other choice anyway...

 

 

Then, first use of the new AK metallics. I thinned the seat as from the box it would has been a 2 inches thick sheet metal in scale. It was pretty easy, i just shave it on each side with a scalpel blade and then sand it clean.

First, a coat of AK black base. Nice product, quite different from Alclad gloss black base. It's a bit transparent, but you can have a deep black coat if you build it with several layers. Maybe it can help to get some undercoat deepness variation?

 

Here the control stick. I love this metallic sheen !

 

 

 

Then i painted the plates on the floor in a certain metallic shade, then masked it with Microscale liquid mask, and sprayed another shade :

 

Edited July 29, 2015 by Zero77

[Zero77]

And here it is :

I've made the small compass (or fuel gauge?) on the floor with a small decal and a huge drop of microscale krystal clear.

 

 

 

The sidewalls have been painted the same way, masking some boxes, and spraying over with another shade. If i remember correctly, i used some decanted Tamiya spraycan paint to make the aluminium primer, but i'm not sure. The placards are Airscale decals.

 

 

And the intrument panel. It is a plastic part (unfortunately no PE Instrument panel in this kit), so i painted it black (like the Rolling Stones), and drybrushed it with a lighter grey. I applied a drop of the amazing microscale krystal clear to simulate the glass on the instruments.

Edited July 29, 2015 by Zero77

[Zero77]

Then engine cowling interior was painted NMF (on the first picture it's only the AK gloss black base of course !), and the firewall with zinc chromate primer :

 

 

Here with the engine glued, now the fuselage is ready to be glued. More pictures to come !

Edited July 29, 2015 by Zero77

[LSP_Kevin]

Great work, Nicolas! For what it's worth, in my testing I found that the underlying colour made no difference to the resulting sheen or shade with the Xtreme Metal paints. So I think using the gloss black is not worth the effort.

 

Kev

[Zero77]

Thanks Kevin,

 

I did not notice exactly the same thing regarding the gloss black base, with my F-86F build, with polished alumium though (so, not the standard aluminium). Actually it was even a mix of polished aluminium and standard alumium just to break a bit the sheen.

I've painted some of the wing plates with the AK, and on one wing, i had to polish a bit more the black base because i had a few dust bit to remove, and i almost break through the black paint and so it became grey. And after a coat of my aluminium mix, this area was quite noticeable. (i had to apply a new coat of black base and restart it).

 

However, i've played a bit with the AK paint on plastic spoons, and i found that if the gloss black base is not perfectly glossy (i mean glossy like glass), it doesn't work. And to get a very glossy surface, you have to build a very wet coat and let it self-level without overspray. Pretty easy on small plastic spoons, but not on an entire model.

 

I should also make some comparative tries between a glossy grey and glossy black base, to see if there is any difference.

[waroff]

this is a nice work

 

the hand pump had not a rod  forward. This is a cylinder with inlet and outlet pipe on each extremity.

The two pipes go to the rear through the frame behind the pilot's seat

SH/azur représents the french radio. emitter control box, receiver and control box

And the buckle of seat belt is not exact.  It must be the same as subsequent models on US aircrafts.

 

 

I've made the small compass (or fuel gauge?)

 

 

It's  fuel gauge (wing tanks)

Edited July 29, 2015 by waroff

[Loic]

Vrey nice work Nick

[Zero77]

Thanks !

 

 

this is a nice work

 

the hand pump had not a rod  forward. This is a cylinder with inlet and outlet pipe on each extremity.

The two pipes go to the rear through the frame behind the pilot's seat

SH/azur représents the french radio. emitter control box, receiver and control box

And the buckle of seat belt is not exact.  It must be the same as subsequent models on US aircrafts.

 

It's  fuel gauge (wing tanks)

 

Thanks Waroff for these informations. Yes there must be many inaccuracies, but too bad, i think it's too late now that the fuselage is closed, wings glued, everything sanded and primed. My first purpose was to fill a bit the cockpit to make it more busy. It's better when it's accurate, but if it's not, i can live with that.

I'm dumb to have not spoted that there was not a rod from the hand pump as it is very noticeable on pictures, and i did look at pictures when i built this cockpit. I did not find any P-36 cockpit though, but only french H-75 cockpits. But the hand pump is the same.

What can be corrected will be corrected, at least in the next builds (i have other H.75's in the stash... finnish, british, french, fixed landing gear version....)

[waroff]

Yes, I know that is not easy to find a good picture of each P36/H75 models.

at the end, the most important will be obtain a pleasant model.

About the gunsight, the P36A had the same gunsight N2 type as H81. The lens was fixed on the floor, between the rudder pedals, and the reflector was fixed behind the windscreen by 4 screws.

[Zero77]

THanks ! I'll try to find pictures of this type of gunsight, maybe i still can correct it.

[Zero77]

Is the reflectore the small rectangle screwed on the wndscreen?

 

I also found this 3D modelizing of a P-40B. It looks like what you described, with the lens on the floor :

 

 

And here another picture of a P-40, with the rectangle screwed on the windscreen :

 

 

 

 

However, i just wonder how this can work, as the lens and the reflector would be far from each other compared with "standard" N2 gunsight (or is this one the N2A?)?

Edited July 29, 2015 by Zero77

[tomv87]

Fantastic work! That engine looks terrific, and the work you did on the cockpit is spectacular! Can't wait to see more!

 

Following...

[Azgaron]

Excellent work so far!

 

HÃ¥kan