RNZAF P-40K-15, using the 1/32-scale Hasegawa P-40E

[Allok]

Your cockpit looks great all painted up!  If you don't mind me pointing out one thing that I see a lot of people get wrong, all of the P-40 variants left the pilot seat in natural aluminum, they didn't start painting it until the N version. No big deal if it's too late or too much work to change it as it still looks really good. Can't wait to see more progress on it! 

Cheers Brad
Ah... one of the pitfalls of using a restored bird as a reference.
I guess I had to turn up here eventually. Nice site Buddy.

[Allok]

The next issue is the tail. I have added about 20mm to the length of the fuse and raised it a couple of mm.
Got to try out my new Trumpeter etching and riveting tools too.

[P-40 Admin]

Yeah, those restored plane have caught me out before as well! 

Excellent job on the wings and also on extending the fuselage.  Quite a while ago, I had started doing that to a Revell 1/32 E to make it into a N, not the easiest of conversions, but it sure makes a difference.  Never did finish mine, I will have to pull mine out once I get a couple of these other models off of my desk.  Hopefully finished for a change! 

[Mark Joyce]

Nice work, Keith!  I really appreciate your willingness and ability to lengthen the fuselage;  something I wouldn't/couldn't do.  I'll just wait for Hasegawa to release its P-40M/Kittyhawk III!

By the way, what markings are you looking at doing?

Mark

[Allok]

I really like this scheme: NZ3060



Here's a photo.


(both from the internet)

[Allok]

I've finished glueing all the big bits together. Here's a quick look with the wheels dry fitted;

[Mark Joyce]

It's coming along nicely, Keith!  Good choice of markings, too.  It'll really make a splash once completed.

Mark

[Allok]

I've begun painting the exterior. Masking for the wavy lines was done using a pair of scissors borrowed from my wife. She makes srapbook style photo albums for a hobby and has many handy tools.
I guess the white lines will be next.









Sorry, that last one's a bit blurry.

[Mark Joyce]

Fantastic job on painting it, Keith.  My wife is into scrapbooking as well, and she probably has a pair of those same scissors laying around someplace....nice to know I might have a use for them in the future!

Mark

[Allok]

After working on a couple of other projects for a while, I picked up where I left off on this one.
Here's the photos:

[Vince_M]

Excellent work!

 

[Allok]

I have some old RNZAF markings from Roo Decals. The paper was very old and required dunking several time before I could get the decals to budge. The fuse roundel is layered with the yellow circle going over the top of the blue/white/red roundel, with a big clear section in the middle. This proved to be tricky as the decals started to disintegrate as I tried to position them. MicroSol to the rescue.



The rest of the Decals will be from the kit sheet.

At this point, I realise the forward white stripe is in the wrong place! Too late to fix it now.
Still, I was using the Hasegawa paint/marking guide and it's correct to that.
BTW, it's in the right place for "Gloria Lyons" but not "Wairarapa Wildcat".

[Allok]

Maybe it isn't too late after all.
I painted out the offending stripe,





remasked...



and painted them in the right place.





Incidentally, if your are doing RNZAF P-40 "Gloria Lyons", the Hasegawa painting and decal guide is correct.

[Mark Joyce]

Nice save, Keith!  Glad to see you've been able to continue the build.  It looks great!

Mark

[Vince_M]

That is a nice looking paint job.