Aleutian Tiger P-40E
by Darin Bellis

Just finished the cosmetic work on my Aleutian Tiger P-40E, refinished from my second 31.5" wingspan Airfield P-40.

The oversize instrument panel 'hood' was cut down by ¼" and reshaped. The erroneous cockpit details removed before installing a new 'floor', a headrest made of Depron sheet and an instrument panel printed out on my PC, then repainting it all and installing a reworked Williams Brothers pilot. All of the really goofy original decals were stripped off, then the poor original paint job was stripped off with packing tape. The molded on 'guns' and landing gear fairings were cut off of the wing, the LG mounts removed and their holes filled, then the leading edge was taped for durability's sake. The cowl flaps were reworked to something a little closer to scale, then protected with a layer of packing tape. All of the trench-like panel lines were filled and sanded smooth before sealing it all under a coat of automotive lacquer primer.

The paints are Testors enamels, and the camo colors are FS34086 "Green Drab", FS30215 "Dark Tan" and FS36270 "Neutral Gray". The custom decals came from Callie Graphics. The entire airframe was misted with FS30117 "Military Brown" to give it a muddy/dirty, Alaska clay look common to the real thing in the sloppy conditions of the airstrips they were operated from.

Still have to solder a Deans connector to the ESC, bind the Spektrum AR600 receiver and set the CG and control throws before I fly it.

(Ed: I asked Darin about the color of the lettering under the wings as I have seen it in both black and insignia blue, here's his answer) The US Army letters are Insignia Blue. There was a lot of squawking about this a few years ago. Then someone produced several period, color images of P-39s & P-40s clearly showing the letters to be blue, not black. IIRC, someone also posted a scan of a page from the Army's regulation guide from the time which stated Insignia Blue as well.

© Darin Bellis 2011