P-40B Demonstration Plane

[ChuckD]

Hi, all.  After much labor and strife, I present my take on what a demonstration P-40B might look like.  There's no real historical reference for this, but it sounded like something fun and out of the ordinary for this aircraft.  I'm also a sucker for natural metal finishes with pre-war/early-war national markings.

 

This is the GWH kit, naturally.  It's a really nice kit, but not for the beginner.  A couple oddities I found were that the instructions weren't clear in a few spots (be careful of the orientation of the flap actuating rods) and the PE in this kit is some crazy alloy that resists all attempts to heat treat it.  The metal still had a lot of memory even after annealing like I normally do.  Also, the fuselage to the wing fit was pretty tight and required a lot of superglue and hope to get it to stay together.

 

That said, the kit is otherwise very nice.  I used the Quinta Studio interior and the Eduard wheel set, though neither were really required.  The kit includes a rig to allow you to place an engine bay with or without the cowling.  The engine included with the kit is probably the most detailed Allison V-1710 ever produced in plastic.  So, if you want to display it, this kit's the ticket.  I did build it, but did not end up doing the gimmicky magnet setup to replace the nose section, so it's just a static display on the shelf next to the aircraft.

 

Through no fault of the kit itself, this was one of those builds that seemed to be plagued with gremlins.  Stupid mistakes, lifting paint, small bits snapping off, decal solution attacking base coats... it just went on and on.  The Special Hobby P-400 I did a few years ago was the same way.  Hopefully I've exhausted my share of bad luck in the model room for another few years.  Bleh.

 

Anyway, pics.  Full gallery here: https://postimg.cc/gallery/phBhdYt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeMaben]

Excellent finish Chuck ! ! !  

[Greif8]

Wow!!!! Exceptionally beautiful and well executed build Chuck!  The NMF paintwork is master class.  I have a great amount of respect for you and other top level modellers that can pull off NMF this well.  Again - lovely work!

 

Ernest  

[Stokey Pete]

Wow! This is a beauty. The metal finish is spectacular. 

[KUROK]

Great job!  Make's want to do a natural metal version as well.   You proved it can be done well!

 

[ChuckD]

Thanks, gentlemen.  This was the first shot at a full natural metal finish, though I've done small bits in the past.  I have nothing but respect for the guys who do NMF all the time as I think this will be a "few and far between" type of finish for me.  Getting the surface prepped to the level needed for NMF is just too much for me.  

[James Rademaker]

Very pretty, Chuck, excellently detailed. I like the different hues of natural metal finish.

Jim

[Iain]

That's stunning Chuck - beautifully finished!

 

Iain

[Robert]

That is some amazing metal finishing. Congrats on a ral stunner.

[MikeC]

That's beautifully done.   Not too shiny, and looks much more realistic for that.

[RadBaron]

Fantastic finish! That looks great

[Rod Bettencourt]

That's just COOL!! Thanks for sharing.

 

Rod

[Gazzas]

Very nice!

 

[LSP_Kevin]

That is superb, Chuck!

 

Kev

[ChuckD]

Thank you, gents.  I really appreciate the compliments.  The more I look at it on the shelf, the more I like the end result.  Or maybe it's just that the pain of doing an NMF is healing.