Airfix 1/72 Curtiss P40b by Rick - FINISHED!

[Rick]

Got a couple (dozen) builds going on right now.  Got a bad habit of getting to a point where I'm missing some paint so I start building up another till I can get to a hobby shop for whatever color I'm missing.  Thought I'd have a go with a Flying Tiger early P40b.  References are about as confusing as can be when it comes to this plane.  Not so much all the various names given to P40's but more about what colors were Flying Tiger P40's painted in.  They started life planned to go to the British but at some point, ended up in China with the American Volunteer Group.  The colors were supposed to be standard early war RAF Earth/Green/Sky.  Curtiss got the paint specs from the Brits and the company that produced the paint over here, got them all wrong.  I'll let that debate continue by others.  I'll settle on the most common sounding argument a bit later.  Research continues. 

In the mean time, let's build a P40b TomaWarKitty...Hawk.

Honestly, I've never heard P40's ever referred to as just a "Hawk" but, why not. 

The office surrounded with some good ventilation.  Interior paint was a bit sketchy as well so I went with RAF interior green since these were intended to go to the RAF.  Given the primitive conditions these planes fought from, I added some dirty oils and scratches.  Made harnesses with Tamiya tape and Khaki paint too. 

Dry fit the wings and fuselage to check out the fit.  The left wing root is a bit mis-aligned and the cowl fit sucks big time.  Need to do a bit of work to try to alleviate those issues.  Otherwise, fit is decent and the panel line engraving is very crisp and well done.

Belly up with the wings on board.  A bit of filler helped the wing fit.  A nice touch is the choice of open or closed cowl flaps.

Not completely happy with the cowl fit but much better than it was.  Primed with Mr Surfacer 1200 and add a dab of pre-shading into the panel lines and some random squirts. 

Shared some paint booth pre-shade time with a 109G6 build going on at the other end of the work bench.

And here is the TomaWarKittyHawk . . .Hawk with it's base coat of "Sky-Gray" paint.  Doesn't show well in iphone pics but the actual color which was supposed to be standard Sky turned out to be more of a Gray with a slight Bluish cast.  Anyway, since no one can really say "This is it!", it's my rendition of as close as I think I can get to it! 

I figure by the time the heavy weathering is added to represent the primitive conditions in pre-war Burma and China, the end result will not come close to the original color anyway.

That's it for now.  Will keep researching the paint mix for the topside then swoop in for a haul of paint next run to the hobby shop.  As always, thanks for stopping by and all comments, suggestions, thoughts, knowledge sharing, and recommendations are always welcome. 

Rick

[deafpanzer]

Oh yeah I like those Flying Tigers... or Hawk for this! Fantastic pre-shading work... can't wait to see camo on it.

[fightnjoe]

always up for a good hawk build. you are right on the color question/arguments. my best is they were in the american version of the british colors and had the star not the roundel. seems i read that once they got to the chinese theatre there was no chance to repaint. although you will most likely get as many opinions as responders on that one.



joe

[wbill76]

Nice subject and progress, looking forward to seeing the end result.

[Deleted]

If memory serves me well, these were export versions of the P-40 thus designated simply "Hawk" by Curtiss.

The build is coming along swimmingly!

Love the comparison with the Me109, gives an good idea of size.

G

[fightnjoe]

actually all the curtis aircraft had the nickname hawk. seems it was a company thing.




joe

[Rick]

Got away from this one for awhile trying to sort out the colors. I think I've come up with as close as I'm going to get. Amazing to see and read so many variations and opinions as to the correct colors are. To start off, I created the base brown using MM enamels. Starting with Dark Tan - 30219, I mixed Military Brown - 30117, and a couple dashes of Leather - 17380. It dried a bit darker than I would have liked, but it seems to be close to a number of resources.



To get the camo patterns as accurate as possible, I used the painting guide and enlarged it to match the actual kit size. Then marked and cut out the patterns that would cover the brown. I then overlaid the pattern on blue painters tape and drew it out with a pen. I cut the tape pattern out with a sharp exacto knife blade and positioned it on the model. This process works well, though time consuming, for hard edge camo. It can work with feathered edge by using the paper pattern and raising it above the surface with tape, blue tac, or fishing line and spraying directly down over the edge. Wings are fairly easy but the fuselages are more difficult to get the correct shape. Just have to try to get as close as possible.

Most research indicated that RAF Dark Green was a very close match so I went with it to keep it as simple as possible. Several shots of the mask applied and the results:










It can get a bit confusing with the various patterns and. More than once, I found myself masking the green instead of the brown and even left a couple gaps that I didn't see until the green was applied and the masks removed. Note that I finished up today's bench session by adding the landing gear struts, exhaust stacks, and a bit of paint chipping with some Silver paint and a silver artist pencil. I'll add more weathering as I get further into this phase.

As always, any suggestions and comments are always welcome. I'm sure there are numerous ways to mask camo patterns. I'd appreciate any feedback that makes this tedious task go by faster or more accurately. Thanks for stopping by.

Rick

[deafpanzer]

Lovely camo job on the P-40!

[wbill76]

Now that's a nifty paint scheme Rick, your patience with the masking paid off for sure.

[venom1]

Looks great so far Rick! Keep it comin'!

Cheers,

Sam

[Rick]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the kind words. I've now added the landing gear and sprayed a gloss coat. Decals come next.

[fightnjoe]

the cammo looks good to me. definitely sharper than what i have done with that type. looking forward to the next round.



joe

[Rick]

In addition to my 109 build, I put some time in on the Flying Tiger P40. Canopy will be the last thing to add. I applied the markings this week over a gloss coat.







After the nose markings were done, I added the fuselage markings followed by the wings and the various stencils. I tried the red fuselage band decal which did not form to the curved fuselage so I removed it and masked it then painted it. I like the paint much better and will probably paint all fuselage bands going forward.





Next up, I'll add another clear gloss coat and start panel lines and overall weathering with oils. Feels like I finally started on the home stretch on this build. Hope to finish it up within a couple weeks.

Rick

[Deleted]

Nice work on the P40 Rick. ....In response to a previous question,the P36,or type 75 from Curtiss,was known simply as the Hawk.I believe the Brits gave the P40s the different names,which was/is the norm for any aircraft used by the Commonwealth.Off the top of my head,just about any aircraft used in service by the UK,has had a name attached to it,apart from maybe the early WWI a/c.

[wbill76]

Nice progress on the Flying Tiger war-bird Rick. This has always been one of my favorite WW2 subjects going back to when I was a kid.

[deafpanzer]

So colorful... me like like like it!

[pantherf]

OH!  Well, real cool!  I can't believe I missed it (being a P-40 fan) but I am still relatively new here and that will happen.  Love the progress pictures so you're on your way!  Weathering's next, huh?

There are a few 1/72~1/48 P-40's I want but most of all, one painted brown to look like a wooden model.  Just don't know how to do the canopy, that's all.


But you're building the most popular version of the plane so I anxiously wait for more!  





Jeff

[DeafStuG]

Rick - Oh I missed this thread.
So AWESOME! Great paintwork!

[Rick]

Finally finished up Airfix's 1/72 P40b Hawk. It was a great kit and went together very smoothly. Was the best $8 kit I ever built. Picked it up at the last model show.













Paints were model master enamel. The belly was neutral gray, base was a mix to try to get closer to the dark earth on early RAF aircraft. Flying Tiger P40's were originally built for the Brits and finished to RAF specs. The only exception being the dark earth that was mixed in the US, just not to the RAF specs and has created quite a debate as to what was the original color actually was. I also painted the red fuselage band. The decals did not set properly and tore while trying to get them in place. Speaking of decals, they are very thick and I couldn't get them to form fit to the fuselage panels very well even with micro sol. That was my only complaint with this kit. I enjoyed the build and look forwd to more of the newer Airfix kits. Thanks to all that looked in and shared your thoughts.

Rick

[deafpanzer]

Beautiful Hawk!!! Really do dig the camo!!! You did great with the streaks...

[fightnjoe]

nice hawk sir. looks incredible.



joe

[dupes]

Nov 23, 2013 9:53:05 GMT -5 Rick said:

Got a couple (dozen) builds going on right now.

Hahaha...I feel your pain! I'm in the same boat.

Love this one, btw! Nice build.

[wbill76]

Always have a soft spot for the AVG P-40s. Very nice Rick!