Another 85th FS/79th FG P-40F started, 1/72 Special Hobby

[Mark Joyce]

I've waited for many years to build an 85th FS P-40F/L with some accurate markings and, since recently I was fortunate enough to not only locate some excellent photographs of some planes but someone willing to make the decals for me, have decided to tackle several builds at the same time.

This build is using the Special Hobby 1/72nd scale P-40F/L 'two in one' boxing, which provides both a short-tail 'F' and a long-tail 'F or L' kit. My markings are for a long-tail P-40F-10CU.  Scalemates indicates that these molds were first released in 2008, so this kit would be considered an "earlier generation" of its recent P-40 kit releases, and as such not quite as refined.  There are no locating pins on the fuselage or wings, the cockpit is somewhat basic, and some attachment points for the parts to the sprues, especially the wings, are rather large.  Still, the surface detail is nicely done and a photo-etch fret is included that will add detail, especially an instrument panel and seat belts.

Here's the cockpit.  As mentioned, the plastic parts are rather basic.  There are some boxes and such on the sidewalls, including the throttle quadrant and at least one trim tab control, but no detail for the floor.  At least the seat is the correct shape, and the PE seat belts went on nicely.  The photo-etch IP is nice, but I always worry about trying to install something so flimsy, so I decided to sand down what detail there was on the plastic IP and glue the photo-etch one to it.  That way, I'll have something with more contact area for installation in the fuselage. The detail on the lower half of the IP is a bit lacking and the rudder pedals are rather bulky and ungainly, but I'll live with that.

The directions are a little confusing on how to install the cockpit, at one point indicating that the separate sidewalls should be glued first to the fuselage, but at another that they should be attached to the floor first then the whole assembly installed.  After some test fitting, I decided to attach the back rest first to one fuselage side, then both sidewalls, and lastly the front fire wall partition.  It appears, and I'm hopeful, that this will work.  Now I'll glue the seat to the back rest and the IP to the one fuselage side. The fit of the IP was a bit larger than I had determined, so I had to remove some more detail from the sidewalls to ensure it would go it, but the scraped away portion seen in the photos shouldn't be noticeably once it's in.  After those parts are in, I'll install the Merlin-style intake/radiator and glue the fuselage halves together, which seem to have a very nice fit, and finally attach the floor.

The kit gun site is rather sad, and I might try to scratch build something a bit more accurate, and there is no cover on top of the IP, which should be present, so I might deal with that as well.  We'll see...

[Vince_M]

Nice!

I also have this boxing but have not built it.
The newer boxings of the Kittyhawk from Special Hobby are really nice and accurate.

[Mark Joyce]

Primer coat is finally on after the initial try showed some flaws that needed to be dealt with.  The fit of the fuselage halves was very good; the upper and lower wings not so much and took a bit of work to get something decent enough for me to live with, partly due to those large attachment points for the sprue that I previously mentioned.  I also had to fill the 'scallop' behind the exhaust openings for my build, drill the holes for the air vents on each wing root, and add some scratch-built canopy rails.

The photo-etch fret contains parts for the main build, such as the braces for the landing gear and for the external gas tank or bomb. Fortunately I'm not going to attempt to add the tank itself on those flimsy supports since the photos I have of the plane don't have it on.  Interestingly, although the fret has hinges for the elevators (surprising in 72nd scale), the kit has neither an antenna mast or pitot tube.  I'm using the mast that I didn't use from my Special Hobby P-40E build and the pitot tube that's included with the aftermarket Master barrel set.  I had originally only planned to use aftermarket wheels and exhausts, but once I noticed the wing guns were just nubs decided I needed to replace those as well.

They can't be seen in the photos, but I've added my scratch-built reflector gun site and the cover over the IP.  Although the cover is a little offset, I noticed that once I installed the windscreen I managed to get it offset as well while trying to get it snugly on, so I guess the two cancel each other out.

Now off to the paint shop.


 

[Vince_M]

Looking good!!!
 
 

[Mark Joyce]

Thanks Vince.  I have the paint on, although I'm not too thrilled with the topside colors.  I used Colourcoat enamels, Middlestone and WWII Dark Earth, the latter lightened with a bit of Desert Tan and White.  The contrast, to my eyes, was starker than I liked.

I then tried to tone down the contrast and "blend" the colors by applying a very thin mixture of Desert Tan and Yellow.

I like the look better this way, although something doesn't seem quite right about it.  I usually use Model Master, Humbrol, and Colourcoat enamels and rarely keep track of which brand on what build, so I don't know if it's because I used a different brand for the colors on previous builds, or what.

[Vince_M]

Mark,

I used the "Mission Models" paint which is a relatively new brand, on this Spitfire.
It is a water based paint and I found their primer was super nice too.
You have to follow their instructions to the letter.  I found I only needed to thin the paint just a bit...not the 20% recommended.

[Mark Joyce]

Nice build, Vince, even if it's a Spitfire and not a P-40!   I was hoping you would post some more builds.  I do like the look of those colors, which is more in line with what I was shooting for.  I still might try and adjust my colors. 

I've always used enamels and thus feel comfortable with them. But seeing that the rumor is that the Testors line is being discontinued and Colourcoats are hard to obtain in the states, it doesn't leave me with many alternatives besides Humbrol.  I recently used MRP/Mr. Paint for a non-Warhawk build (blasphemy!) and was quite happy with how they sprayed, but they aren't meant for brush painting.

I might find myself gravitating to acrylics, like it or not. 

[Vince_M]

Mark,
I'm also an old timer enamels guy.  But I have been getting used to the acrylics.
Model Master has an acrylic line called "Acryl".  I lot of modelers have said bad things about it.
However I tried it on that spitfire...just on the spinner.
I mixed it 50/50 with Future floor finish.  It was great!  It sprayed beautifully and because of the Future it was tough as nails.
Sadly, the future of Testors is in doubt....
I had good results with the Mission Models paint.
Also I have been trying to airbrush the cheap craft acrylics.  They are hard to airbrush but after several experiments, I'm getting it down pat!

[Vince_M]

The spinner of this was painted with Model Master Acryl "British Crimson" mixed with Future.

[Mark Joyce]

The color looks good on the spinner.  I typically use Insignia Red (the only red I have) and try to fade it by adding a little white.  Too much and it turns pinkish, though.

[P-40 Admin]

Because of health issues, I only use acrylics, I have some from a few different manufacturers and Future helps a lot with them to make the finished harder since acrylic and scratch so easily and it seems to help it flow. Sometimes I will even use Future with some paint in it as a type of primer, not as a sanding primer, just to give everything a similar coloring and sometimes it seems to help the acrylic stick a bit better. Sometimes I also use gesso as a primer. I also use Future with baby powder as a filler, you can adjust its thickness, I will make it kind of thin as a sanding sealer for my balsa models. Sometimes I will add some acrylic paint, makes it easier when you're sanding as it will look darker and the areas you sand will look lighter so it's easy to find low spots, I change colors for guide coats.

I don't do airbrushing but I have a simple one I would like to start using for some things. I found a great thinner for acrylics is windshield wiper fluid, the really cheap stuff, you don't want the stuff that makes the rain bead up. Works great with craft acrylics. I've watched videos of a guy that airbrushes craft acrylics and he thins it with windshield washer fluid, some colors are a bit thicker than others, but generally he does a ratio of around 50/50.

[Mark Joyce]

Finally finished this one, although not with the markings I had originally planned. Instead, I used the Kitsworld decals.  Unfortunately, its 79th FG decals are inaccurate, this one being no exception.  "Fifinella" was on X24, not X21 per Kitsworld, which was the P-40F flown by 85th FS pilot Lt. Robert Taylor.  I had held off on this build because his P-40F, like most others of the 85th, likely had some name in white just under the exhausts, but from the only full profile photograph I have of his plane in flight (which, according to Murphy's Law, was of course taken from the opposite side that the "Fifinella" artwork was on!) it appears it had none when said photo was taken.  I've been hoping that another would turn up, but at this point I think it's highly unlikely.

The Special Hobby P-40F kit is okay, but I've been spoiled by its new-tooled P-40 releases; unfortunately the F/L not being one of them.  The necessary photo-etch parts were especially troublesome for me, since being 72nd scale were quite difficult for me to handle.  

[Mark Joyce]

I'm having some trouble attaching the photos.  Hopefully these two work.

[Vince_M]

Nice job!  Great looking Warhawk.

[Mark Joyce]

Thanks, Vince. I’ve noticed that it’s really in need of a vacuform sliding canopy section. That kit one is a monstrosity!