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Really looking forward to the rest of this epic build, Jay! - Thomaz

Include me in the "thought those were period pics" camp, outstanding work, Guy, BRAVO!

Way to #fixthatshizz, Jay! Safe travels, enjoy your time in Straya.

Astounding!

Things that go BUMP in the night... Did you get this Jug across the finish line after all, Quangster?

Effin' EPIC modeling, as always Jay!

Hey, Dugy What a beautiful build, good to see you're on the home stretch now. I noticed your canopy is finished in silver -which is correct for Gabby's bird- except you missed a very important detail (which most modelers miss when building -47's, to be fair). There is actually a rubber gasket on the lower edge of the bubble canopy to seal it tightly against the fuselage when the canopy is closed. This gasket was present on every single bubbletop Jug during the war, so it's an important detail to make your build accurate. Here are some photo refs that showcase that gasket, note the thin black line of rubber at the bottom of the canopy: Here's a closeup of the same photo, really showcases the rubber gasket: Here's an unrestored canopy, note the frayed bits of rubber still attached to the bottom edge. Another view, this one also shows the canopy ejection mechanism to good effect, in case you want to replicate it on your model. Hope that helps, your paint and weathering look SPOT ON, this one is going to be a real show-stopper! Cheers, - Thomaz

Hi, Tolga K-14's began to be factory installed by January, 1945 on D-40-RA's, but according to "The Mighty Eighth War Manual" by Roger Freeman -arguably the world's leading authority on the USAAF in the ETO during WW2- the "K-14 was the fighter version, first received for trial installation in July 1944 and progressively installed in as many fighter aircraft as possible after August, replacing all other types of sight." So, as is always the case, the best way to know if this bird had its original N9 sight or if it had been upgraded to the K-14 is to find a good quality period photo of said bird. I did a quick web search and the best I could do was this rather lo-res shot of 44-20372, sadly it is so small and grainy that it is nigh on impossible to discern which sight was installed. If I had to hazard a guess though, I'd bet on the N9, just based on the slimmer profile of that sight compared to the boxier K-14. That being said, I'm pretty sure you can get away with installing any one of the two and no one alive today can honestly tell you if it's wrong or right, so it's up to you in the end. Hope that helps! - Thomaz

Hey, Dugy Paint job looks sweet on your Jug, insofar as I know, this is the only extant photo of 42-26418 showing its starboard side. Sadly, the photo is so grainy as to be virtually useless in helping to determine what the scheme actually looked like on that side of Gabby's plane. For what it's worth, here it is in all its low-res glory, maybe you can glean something from it for your build. Looking forward to seeing you add the markings on this bird! Cheers, - Thomaz

So cool! Practical effects > CGI all day, every day.

Next level modeling, so cool to see, Jay Can't wait for the next installment! - T

Hey, George I'm inclined to agree with you, "Curtiss Green" tended towards the yellow with some brownish undertones, I'd almost call it an ocher (depending on the lighting, of course). LIFE Magazine actually did a full-color story on the Curtiss factory back in the summer of '41, so prior to Pearl Harbor, and you can see the full set of photos on Inch High Guy's blog, here's part I, part II, and part III. Meanwhile, here's a few choice samples that showcase the cockpit color in early Warhawks. This is a little overexposed by the glaring flash they used, but shows the yellow-brownish cast of Curtiss Green to good effect. Some more from the LIFE story: Note the color of the cockpit in daylight, as opposed to factory lights and a giant flash. Also cool to see the differences in flying gear, betting these fellas are civilian pilots hired by Curtiss who are all wearing their own personal duds. These hubcaps were painted in the same color as the cockpit, really shows off how much browner Curtiss Green was compared to most other versions of Interior Green. Here's another period color shot that's not from the LIFE series, the armor plate is painted in a darker green (IG possibly?) but the rest of the cockpit is clearly Curtiss Green. As for the scallops, as @Furie mentioned above, they were considered an exterior surface and thus painted in exterior colors. The windows were easily removed, so repaints usually adhered to the same principle. One thing to remember about early P-40's is that scallop on the port side had two filler ports, the forward one (painted red) being for fuel and the rear one (painted black?) for the oil tank, which led to some pretty wild leakage stains. It's a pretty cool weathering detail to add to your early P-40 that most modelers miss. AVG in China, note the giant fuel and oil stains under the rear filler ports, also the back of the prop blades scuffed back to bare metal from the dirt and rocks of their primitive airfields. They even leaked while still at the factory! Good luck with your build, post some photos if you can. Cheers, - Thomaz

Thanks, Mike! I actually found a few in my files as well, looks like this alternate antenna config was used all the way up to Friedrichs, this is an F-2: Unlike the earlier variants with three antenna wires, this bird appears to only have one wire connected from the antenna mast to the horizontal stab, much like the Eduard box art. Here's a Dora with the three wires: And a Clara: Still, would be interesting to understand why the three wires in the early variants? Also, when they switched to just one wire, why the different configuration with the single wire connecting to the horizontal stab? Where's Vincent Kermorgant when we need him... Sorry for hijacking your thread @dani7705! - T

Dobrý deň, @dani7705 What an EPIC job, conversion looks sweet, and the paint job and weathering are super on point! I must say @19squadron, looking at that box art, I had never noticed that 109 antenna wires could also be attached to the leading edge of the port horizontal stabilizer, I've only ever really seen them attached to the top of the empennage (I think). Pretty interesting little detail that can make a model stand out in a sea of Messerschmitts, I love stuff like this and would be stoked to see some period documentation of this unique configuration, if anyone has more info or photo refs they'd care to share. Was there a technical reason for moving the antenna wire, a newer model radio set, perhaps? Cheers, - Thomaz