GWH 1/32 Curtiss 81A-2 Hawk - Flying Tiger

[Dpgsbody55]

Nice work on the cockpit and rear glazing.  Both look great.

 

Like you, having built this model, I don't understand why the rear glazing and windscreen have no framing making gluing so "dangerous".  I used MicroKlear on mine with thankfully good results.  Even so, removing the masking makes your heart race .

 

 

Cheers

Michael

[Greif8]

Brilliant work on those rear windows John.  

 

Ernest

[dennismcc]

Wow, that is so good and precise, well done.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Thunnus]

Thanks for the comments guys!  I'm happy with the way the side windows are being treated and (hopefully) they'll turn out well in the end.  Yes, that was probably a finger print on the previous photo but the windows were completely cleaned and re-masked afterwards so it should be taken care of.

 

 

It's time to put the seat harnesses in place.  The kit has some in PE form but I'm going to use the laser-cut belts from HGW.

 

The first thing to remember about these fabric belts is that there is a paper backing that needs to be removed before using.

 

I'm one who likes to crumple the belts before using them, per the instructions.  It doesn't really have much of an effect on the shorter lap belts but can impart some realistic wrinkling on the longer shoulder belts.

 

After the clips and buckles are threaded into place, I can temporarily hold them on the adhesive side of a Post-It to make sure the lengths and positions of the buckles are uniform.

 

The harnesses can now be glued into place using strategic dabs of CA glue.

 

The harnesses have stitching details that you can highlight with a wash, if so desired.  But make sure you give the belts a solid coat of clear gloss because the material can be permanently stained otherwise.

 

As a final weathering touch, I've added some wear stains to the cockpit components using oil paints.  I'm pretty new at using oils and need practice but I'm encouraged at the type of wear effects that can be achieved using oils.  The key is putting the oils on a matte surface and using a clean brush moistened with mineral spirits to help blend the oil effect.

 

The oil stains were emphasized on the lower portions of the cockpit, where I'm guessing the majority of dirt and grime collected in these wartime cockpits.

 

The cockpit can now be considered complete, painting-wise and I'll pose the components together one last time for photos before I start gluing the components together.

 

[Gazzas]

Very sharp looking cockpit area.  I think those laser-cut belts are a better way to go than their standard cut-it-out-yourself kind.

[geedubelyer]

The most striking things about your paintwork that delights, fascinates and astounds me all at once John is the delineation between features and the clarity. 

How you manage to create such a crisp demarcation between components beggars belief. 

When I try everything blends together. You have the gift of making everything look like individual elements layered over one another with exact precision. 

Sorcery!! 

(Your photography is really good and shows everything perfectly too)

[Greif8]

Your cockpit weathering looks fantatstic John.  I also like HGW seatbelts and use them whenever possible on my builds.

 

Ernest

[Thunnus]

16 hours ago, Gazzas said:

Very sharp looking cockpit area.  I think those laser-cut belts are a better way to go than their standard cut-it-out-yourself kind.

Thanks Gaz!  Foil material is also pretty good if you go the cut-it-out-yourself route.  It has the added benefit of being much more "posable" than PE or the HGW fabric material.

 

 

11 hours ago, geedubelyer said:

The most striking things about your paintwork that delights, fascinates and astounds me all at once John is the delineation between features and the clarity. 

How you manage to create such a crisp demarcation between components beggars belief. 

When I try everything blends together. You have the gift of making everything look like individual elements layered over one another with exact precision. 

Sorcery!! 

(Your photography is really good and shows everything perfectly too)

Thank you so much!  I really appreciate these words as it validates some of the things that I'm doing to help make the painting of the cockpit more convincing.  Little things like putting a ring of contrasting silver around a red button for example.  The pastel wash is another way of establishing that contrast between separate parts.  And finally the photography... I believe that good photography can be an invaluable tool in improving one's paint skills.

 

 

9 hours ago, Greif8 said:

Your cockpit weathering looks fantatstic John.  I also like HGW seatbelts and use them whenever possible on my builds.

 

Ernest

Thank you Ernest!  Appreciate the feedback, as always!

 

 

The underside of the wing has detail that will be hidden by the ventral keel including some long piping runs that I am not going to bother with.

 

The ventral keel is molded as one part.  There aren't many clear photos of the P-40B's bottom but based on Peter's (Airscale) sublime P-40C build that I'm using for reference, it looks like the keel is actually three separate parts.  So I'm going to replicate this.

 

 

Some sheet styrene is used to fill the mystery slot and add some beef to the leading edge of the middle part.  The leading edges are rounded off and the trailing edges are thinned.

 

This is what the ventral keel looks like now.

 

After toying with the idea of gluing the sidewalls into the fuselage sides first, I decided to stick with the kit-recommended order of things and put the fuselage tub together first.  Fit on this GWH kit has been superb so I have little reason to doubt the fit.

 

But... it's always safer to verify before committing to glue.

 

Having passed the sniff test, the fuselage is glued together, sandwiching the cockpit and the fuel tank in between.

[FW190A-5]

Fine work coming to fruition. Always enjoy closing the fuselage. 

[Uncarina]

Brilliant work John! Pastels are so versatile, and you’re using them to great effect.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Greif8]

Looking great John.  It looks like the cockpit fit is pretty good on this kit.

 

Ernest

[Thunnus]

Hello everyone! Took a break from modeling last week to take a trip down to Bahia de Gonzaga, Baja California. Back now and have resumed the Flying Tiger build. I'm moving forward slowly but surely, addressing small details as they present themselves. The fuselage is buttoned up now so I've gone ahead and glued the windscreen to the small part that attaches to the front of the fuselage.

 

The GWH kit generously provides both exterior and interior cockpit masks so I used the interior ones to aid in painting of the windscreen interior.  The armored glass and small instrument panel have been painted and installed.

 

This assembly can now be glued onto the fuselage.

 

The gun panel covers were then glued into place. A quick dry-fit to see how the slidng canopy fits.

 

The ventral tub has some drain tubes that can be enhanced so I cut them off and replaced them with brass tubing.

 

Moving to the next area forward of the ventral tub is the radiator assembly.  Two complete radiator assemblies are provided... one for the aircraft and one for the interchangeable engine.  Detail is very nice although most of it will be unseen within the engine cowling.

 

Some parts need to be painted priorto assembly.

 

Although GW provides very fine mesh intake covers for the radiators, I chose to use the ones included in the Eduard PE set.

 

The trailing edges of the open cowling flaps are a little blocky.  Because of the molded detail, thinning the trailing edges is not that simple.

 

I cut "masks" of the raised portions to create copies using the Silhouette Portrait cutter and thin sheet styrene.

 

The molded detail was then scraped/grinded off and the trailing edges were thinned. Then the copies can be glued back into place, restoring the lost detail.

 

 

At this point, I decided to assemble the nose cowling with just tape.  Fit is excellent and it held together pretty solidly with just the tape on the inside joints.

 

 

Here are the modified cowling flaps in place and the view into the radiators.

 

Using Jumpei Temma's scale drawings again, the missing riveting on the nose cowling can be added.

 

[geedubelyer]

Goodness! 

Your skills are second to none John. 

[Gazzas]

Some mighty fine detailing, John.

[FW190A-5]

So many fine and instructive builds going on here at LSP.