P-40 Warhawk Forums

Greetings from Greece!

I came up to your wonderfull site for this spectacular warbird, after I had a communication with Alex Kontiveis! I am reccently building Hasegawas 1/32, P-40E , and I have chosen to paint it in Lt's John Landers markings... This bird had flownin New Guinea under 9th FS/49th FG....

I have a question for the painting of the undersurfaces...Hasegawa suggests Azzure Blue! Is that correct, or is it neutral grey??????

Thank you in advance for any reply!!!

It depends on the topside color.  I believe Landers had at least two P-40Es assigned to him while with the 49th FG.  I believe the first was 'Skeeter,' which was painted in the camouflage scheme of Dark Earth and Dark Green.  There continues to be a debate as to the underside color of this scheme.  Here's a link to one of the many discussions on Hyperscale regarding this question.  Even though it addresses the P-40Es of the Flying Tigers it should still be relevant for Landers':

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1201269446/

I believe 'Texas Longhorn' was Landers' second and it had the same camouflage scheme as his first.  However, if the topside was Olive Drab, then the bottom would be Neutral Gray.

HTH,

Mark

Marks analysis is very good.  I attached a scan of the back cover of the older P-40 In Action which has a drying of that airplane and it says it has the blue underside.  This of course doesn't mean it's correct, just another option.  Like Mark said, best to research what the other aircraft in that area at that time were using and that would be most likely the best bet to go with. Without a color photo, it really comes down to detective work.

Good luck with your model and please post some pictures of your progress here!  Would love to see it!  :)

Thank you both for the kind and immediate reply....I ve decided to follow the known steps, and not try to be a detective while ''Texas Longhorn'' is a debateable issue! So I  proceeded, painting a ''Flying Tigers'' bird! Its the most ''worn'' scheme on models, but yet the most impressive...I am posting some photos from the beggining of the construction till now! I have to mention that I used Eduard's Big ED set #3271!




There are some marks from the bluetack masking that is already fixed, but I have no photos yet...I used Lifecolors US Brown and Dark Green for The upper surfaces, and Neutral Grey  for the underside. Pre-Shading an Post- Shading techniques were used!

I m currently applying the decals, a wash will follow as well as a dry pastel weathering! I ll post the progress as soon as possible! I really hope you like my effort on that bird...

Have a nice day!!!

Very impressive work so far!  I really like the job you've done with the pre- and post-shading. 

Regards,

Mark

A couple of shots just before the end....

That's really nice!  The shading and weathering is nice and subtle which really adds to the realism!

Fabulous build!  It definitely has that used and weather-beaten look.  What type and color pastels do you use for the weathering?

Mark

Thanks mate! I m glad you like it...


I hope I wont get boring, but I ll explain the whole proccess....I applied a grey cote and then procceeded to pre shading, with black colour to the upper surfaces, ''filling'' the panels with yellow and white, and dark grey to the underside surfaces, filling the panels in white.

I applied the scheme colours lightened with yellow and small drops of white for both US Brown and Dark Green, and white for the Neutral Grey...Post shading took place with 3-4 lightened shades of the basic colours...

Then i followed the usual method------>gloss cote----->decals----->wash (black and burnt sienna of winsor and newton)

The model was then coated in matt varnish and i used reeves soft pastels to recreate exhaust and gun stains, as well as shading some panels and decals....I made some chipping with interior green (these birds were coated in that colour first) and silver using a toothpick!

I am really happy that you liked this effort Mark, and I ll be back soon with the finished model!

Kind regards,

Dimitris

Thanks for the write up on how you do your painting.  Whenever you do your next model, whatever it is, when you get to this stage, could you post a couple pictures of the different stages you use in your painting, I think that would be a big help as your final results are really good!

Your results are spectacular!

One thing I'm trying to figure out is how to make the decals look faded too.
Do you overspray with gray while they are off the model?

hi Jim,
As I told U, the guys here are very helpful. I'm glad you managed to get your info about your P40.

Keep listening to them.

The model is Really awesome!

Alex.

I am soon getting deployed in Afghanistan, so it would be difficult for me to continue modelling...I promise though that I ll be delighted to post my next construction here, whenever that would be....


Thank you for your kind words Vince! I ve used pastels in different shades to fade them out....Lighter shades of blue till grey...


Thanx Alex! Your help was pretty helpfull too, as well as your instruction to communicate with this forum...

Take care in Afghanistan and keep your head down!  Here's to your safe and speedy return. Thanks much for serving and helping to keep us safe!

I am back safe, so it was time to deal with some unfinished bussines... Here are the photos that I promised to you! I ll have some better in day light tomorrow...I hope you like it!

Great looking model Dimitris.
It's always fun making these planes look beaten up and yours looks terrific.

Terrific looking model and so realistic!  The weathering is really top-notch, I will definitely be referring to a couple of these models when I get to mine. I will post a couple pictures of the completed model on the site when I finally get around to my next update and also link back to this thread.

Beautiful work sir, very nicely done weathering.

I have the GMP Texas Longhorn, one of the best diecast on the market, if only I had your skills I would really like to add some weathering.

Well done sir.

Thank you all for your kind words!!! I am really glad you like it!!!

Outstanding work!  The weathering is very nicely done.  It looks like you did a masterful job of putting the kit together well so there's no evidence of all those plugs and inserts that come with the kit.

Regards,

Mark

Mark, thank you very much for your kind words!

My model was awarded the past weekend with a silver medal, at an all country contest/exhibition hosted by http://www.helmo.gr/ (http://www.helmo.gr/)

I m posting some photos, from a better camera, since there where some minor adjustments/modifications on the model since my last post here!


Thank you all for your kind hospitality at your wonderful forum!