realworkingsailor

A small update to end the old year. Major construction has now finished on this build. After some careful consideration, I applied only a few of the kit supplied stencil decals. Most of them are illegible anyways, and many were so small that they more resembled specks of dirt. Assembling the landing gear didn't pose too many challenges. There's a small stabilizing strut that was a bit fiddly, but not impossible. The landing gear bay doors were next. I would strongly recommend to anyone building this kit, to avoid attaching the wheels until the last. This gives the most amount of useable working area to get the smaller parts in place. I replaced the kit supplied wheels with CMK resin alternatives. They look quite a bit better, in my opinion. After assembling the landing gear, it was time to give the plane a layer of Dullcote to seal everything in, and remove the masking from the windshield. The canopy and window inserts were painted separately and then added. Over then next few days, I will add a bit of light weathering. I am contemplating adding a small diorama base as well. Anyway, I have had fun with this kit and would recommend it to anyone who likes P-40s. Out of the box, the detail level is great, and can easily be upgraded with well made aftermarket parts. I expect one more update early in the new year with some final photos for everyone. Until then, thanks to you all for your continued kind comments and likes, and have a Happy New Year! Andy

Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments and "likes"! I have a small update to report, as some progress has been made over the last couple of weeks. Most noticeably, the main decals and lettering have been applied! I always like this stage, as it gives the model an identity and some history. Overall, I would rate the DK Decals as being of great quality, clean crisp printing and thin decal film, as well as minimal film around the edges of each decal. The glue they use is somewhat stickier than that used by other decal brands. This means a bit longer of a soak in water, as well as a need to make good use of Micro Set when positioning each transfer. The decals set down quite nicely into the various folds and recesses of the plane without too much difficulty and the use of Micro Sol was not needed in most cases (but I used it anyway, just out of habit, and just in case). The shark mouth proved to be the most trickiest decal to get right, lots of gentle manipulation to get first one side in place, then the second. Thankfully the left and right sides came as two separate decals to make this process about as easy as it could be. As far as any remaining lettering, I'm down to the stencils provided in the kit supplied decal sheet. I am leaning towards sticking to the more prominent ones (like the fuel filler covers), rather than the litany of tiny fine stencils found elsewhere on the airplane. I've also added a couple more important details. The prop and spinner have been added, as well as the engine exhausts. My modification to make the prop spin seems to be working well enough. The remaining canopy parts have been masked and are ready for painting, and the landing gear is coming soon. Given how busy life gets around this time of year, it will take a couple of weeks picking away at things as time permits. I'm not going to be overly ambitious and claim that I'll have everything done by the New Year, but I should manage shortly afterwards. Thanks to everyone for your continued support! Andy

Glad to see you back, BE! Looking forward to watching your progress on another masterpiece! Andy

Thanks to everyone, as always, for the kind words and likes! A small update to share with you all! Major painting is now finished. A nice milestone to have achieved in any build! The final element involved the application of the yellow leading edge ID stripes, fighter command stripes, or whatever they're properly called! A little bit hard to see in this photograph, I'll admit, but they're there! They show up a bit better in this photo: Digging for photos online produced some mixed results in trying to determine if the yellow stripes were in use or not. It seems to have been on a squadron by squadron basis. Most importantly, for 112 Squadron, they were applied. As you can see, I have also pulled off the "masking" canopy so I can touch up any of the small missed areas or any bleed before I add a clear gloss coat in preparation for the lettering. The underside of the plane was also not ignored: The tail landing gear doors have been added and the interior sides painted green. I've also added a drop tank. It took me a long time to figure out if I should add one or not. From what I've been able to dig up online, no photo of a 112 squadron P-40 exists with a drop tank attached. However, one many pictures there are brackets. Not sure if those were for a bomb or a fuel tank. Some great colour photos can be found here. Ultimately my decision came down to necessity and a bit of modeller's license. If you take a quick scroll up to my last build update, you can see four holes on the belly of the aircraft, inboard from the landing gear bays. in order to avoid using a bomb or belly tank, I would have had to fill those holes. I hadn't fully made up my mind about things when I started painting, and I didn't want to delay the build any further. Ultimately, seeing prototype pictures of the empty brackets suggested that I was free to do what I wanted, and I think the belly tank does look pretty good on a P-40 anyway. Besides, I haven't yet made an airplane model with an exterior fuel tank, so it was about time! That's about it for now. Hopefully the next update will see the lettering applied! Thanks again for the comments and likes! Andy

Yours looks great too! Your reddish dark earth might be more correct for a Curtiss built plane as they used DuPont paint, rather than UK manufactured, so some of the colours had a slight variation from the “British Standard” colours. Andy

Thanks Alan! Yes, they are the Vallejo Model Air series. I’m not certain, but I would think they are of the same base formulation as the majority of their full acrylic colour ranges. I have experience spraying humbrol, polyscale, floquil and now Vallejo paints with my airbrush. And I would say that the Vallejo is just as nice as Floquil lacquer, and way better than polyscale. I think the Vallejo airbrush flow improver is the key to happy spraying. I’ve noticed the drying time is extended by a significant amount using only a drop in my airbrush paint cup. It may work well with other brands of water miscible acrylics, I’ll have to do some testing. I admit I don’t have much experience with other paint brands, but now that I’m properly set up, I will have to begin some experimenting! Andy

Has it been that long?? I had hoped to be able to get more time at the workbench over the last six weeks or so, but life has a habit of getting in the way. So do warm sunny days..... After my last update, I did get the cockpit buttoned up and a coat of primer applied. The main canopy hood is just held in place with some poster putty for now. It is serving simply as a paint mask. I will display the model with the canopy open, and SH has a separate part for that. In the above photo, you can just make out that I have also applied the Azure blue underside colour. I have opted to use Vallejo acrylics for this build, making use of the nice spray booth and compressor that I got back in June. The last couple of weeks I managed to get the upper colours applied as well: A few touchups here and there, as usual, but I'm fairly happy with how things are looking at this point. The underside contrasts nicely with the upper surface colours. Following the touch ups, I will have to mask and paint the yellow "fighter command" stripes on the wing leading edges outboard of the guns. That should be fun..... Overall I am enjoying using the Vallejo paints. Using their thinner and a drop of flow improver, I haven't had any nozzle clog issues, and I'm able to spray at a relatively low pressure, with no spattering. All problems I've encountered in the past with other acrylic paints (ahem....Polyscale...cough cough). I hope to be able to provide more frequent updates in the near future. Thanks to everyone who's still following along and all your kind comments and likes! Andy

It strikes me as a bit odd, as for years model railroad sound decoders have been able to play the full range of engine sounds from startup to idle to full throttle (and everything in between), sequenced to whatever the controller throttle is set at. “Engine startup” when electrical power is first applied (or the locomotive’s digital address is selected), endless idle sounds until a movement order is sent, then the appropriate increase in engine rpm to a new setting, and so on. For the price of the kit, and other qualities not withstanding, I think they could do better on the sound than having just a continuous startup sound loop. Andy

If you look up “Lanz Bulldog”, the Wikipedia article gives a good insight into how that type of engine works. Plus there’s a lot of interesting YouTube videos of people starting and running them too. Very distinctive sounding engine. Andy

Nicely done Chris! Now you need your own desert P-40 to go with it! Andy

Doing some digging around, it would appear the chemical in question used in the Tamiya spray paints is 2-Butoxyethanol CAS no. 111-76-2 I believe this is used to forestall the drying process in acrylic paints. Vallejo used to have it in their airbrush thinner and flow improver. If I’m not mistaken Mr Surfacer is a lacquer paint and shouldn’t have 2-Butoxyethanol in it. Andy

Yesterday I was shopping online at a Canadian hobby store and noticed an announcement regarding Tamiya spray cans. To summarize: Effective September 24th the importation of all Tamiya spray cans has been banned. This includes all paints in the TS, PS and AS ranges and all forms of Tamiya spray primer, but does not concern any non-aerosol products. Retailers are permitted to sell their remaining stock, but all imports have been halted. Any stock held by distributors has had to be destroyed. There seems to be a lot of online hysteria regarding this ban, but it is NOT a political issue. There is a chemical component in Tamiya spray cans that has been banned in Canada since 2010, due to environmental and/or health concerns. This is likely a case of the government regulators finally getting around to evaluating Tamiya’s products. I would also strongly caution anyone trying to import Tamiya paint via a US or other foreign retailer. If Canada customs decides to inspect your parcel there’s a good chance the paint will be removed and destroyed, and likely you will have a struggle to get any form of refund. Andy

The irony is, I’m used to working in 1/87 scale with my model trains, so 1/72 is a bit of an upgrade in that respect! 😅

Good afternoon everyone (at least, it's afternoon where I am), thanks for all the likes and comment! A bit of progress to report! The cockpit and interior components went together well, and fitted into their proper locations without any issues. Big difference from my Skua build, no guessing, everything fits positively. After a bit of dry brushing with some silver to simulate worn paint, I added the rear bulkhead along with the pilot's seat as well as the instrument panel (with the rudder pedals). This was then followed by the radiator/oil cooler core in the chin. You can see the little alignment tab for the radiator core. The bulkhead slid into a slot on the cockpit side. As there is now a fair degree of resin parts in the cockpit, CA glue was needed to secure everything. I dry fit the other fuselage half to ensure everything dried in the correct position. A quick last look at the instrument panel before everything is buttoned up. I then took my first two deviations from the kit instructions. After assembling the fuselage (which fit wonderfully, and only needs a bit of fine sanding along the seams), the next step calls for the installation of the wing. The instructions would have you assemble the wing halves before adding them to the airplane. I attempted this in a dry-fit and found the things weren't going to work that way. I found it was easier to add the top of the wing to the fuselage first, then add the lower half of the wing after the upper has dried. Another testament to the improvements being made at SH, there are no gaps in the wing roots to speak of. The joint is obvious right not because of the overspray from earlier, but they should look better once there's a proper coat of paint on. Another deviation was how the propellor will eventually mount. SH seems to have a thing against spinning props for some reason. I, for one, prefer the spin-y bits to spin. a bit of 1/16" styrene rod, along with some 1/8" tubing (to act as a backing plate) and I should be able to mount the propellor to that to enable it to spin freely. The lower half of the wing was then added (don't forget to add the little clear part for the landing light!) It slotted in nicely and only a little tape was needed to secure it while the glue dried. There is a small gap at the leading edge of the wing (this is the first one I've found!): A little bit of filler and some sanding should have that nicely tidied up (there's another small gap on the other side in the same location). The intake for the chin fairing was added just before adding the wings. The last bit of work done to date was to add the rudder and horizontal stabilizers. These all fit nicely, in keeping with the kit quality experienced so far. There's not too much left to add before paint starts flying. Hopefully for my next update, there will be some colour! Andy

Rather than type up a long winded response, I'll let Greg handle it (he explains it better anyway): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGFsAOUdX7A Andy

An interesting explanation of the aerodynamic properties of the P-51: (Note: the presenter’s information is all sourced from primary source documents and test reports) Andy

I feel compelled to jump in, if you don’t mind, with a small factual (fun?) tidbit. The prototype photo you posted is in fact a P-51H model, not a P-51D. Aside from other design changes, it used an entirely different NACA wing profile than the “D” model, and can be most easily recognized by the straight leading edge. Andy

Greetings everyone! The autumn weather is now upon us, and it seems a little more appropriate to spend some time at the work bench building small things again! Over the last weeks I have begun picking away at my P-40 project. It took a little bit to get the momentum up after a summer off, but I think things are finally picking up a head of steam! First up, I did a little bit of work on the sprues fitting some of the aftermarket resin. The CMK cockpit sidewalls are a drop in fit that directly replace the kit parts. \ The detail level is much improved over the originals: Not that much will be seen anyway! After working through the first couple of steps in the instructions, most of the interior is now completed and painted. I have put my new spray booth and air compressor to work, and I am so happy to be able to use my airbrush again! Rather than make some custom mix, I simply sprayed Humbrol interior green #226. Seems to be reasonably close to some of the colour photos I've found online of P-40 cockpits. Some of the details were picked out in an appropriate colour. The next sept will be to adda little light weathering and some dry brushing with some silver paint to simulate a little wear and tear, but apparently I will have to do a little dusting first! The remainder of the interior components consist of the radiator/oil cooler assembly. The instructions say to simply paint it an aluminium colour, but I added a little gunmetal in the grills for visual interest. The instrument panel was a Yahu models replacement, I added this after sanding off the moulded details. The final bit is the armour plate and cockpit seat. The seat was another CMK resin product that came complete with moulded on seatbelts. A little weathering on these parts (and some more dusting) and they will be added to the fuselage. Yeesh, this macro photography business is going to drive me nuts! The remainder to the cockpit floor is moulded on to the top of the wing section. Again a little chipping and weathering (and dusting) is in order. Jumping ahead a little bit I've also installed and painted the interior of the wheel wells. Unlike my Blackburn Skua build, the wheel well frames don't require any sanding to allow both halves of the wing to fit together. The Skua wheel wells required considerable plastic removal before the wing halves could even get near each other. I must say, that so far I am thoroughly enjoying this kit! As one of Special Hobby's newer offerings, the fit of the parts is much more precise than in their earlier kits. There are locating pins and tabs to make sure parts end up in the right place, and a cursory dry fit of the fuselage and wings seems to suggest that only minor filling and sanding will be required (a precision on the level of some of the better Airfix kits!). Definitely a kit worth building! Andy

You would have to show me which line you are referring to, although I can see the fairlead. Open top fairleads would not be used to redirect lines from an upwards direction, but rather sideways or downwards. On modern ships, we use fairleads all the time to redirect mooring lines, and it’s far from a new concept, as is the practice of shifting a ship alongside a dock. While it doesn’t show in any photo posted in this topic, I’m fairly certain those fairleads are doubtless securely attached to the beams below. For what it’s worth, all the fairleads are open topped, which means ropes were meant to be passed through and then removed with regular frequency during their use. All this strongly suggests to me that they were most likely used as I suspect, for directing mooring ropes from ship side fairleads to a favourable run to a more distant capstan. Andy

John, think about the task of warping the ship alongside. The mooring lines would need to be led to either capstans or windlasses to be worked. While your diagram indicates one capstan on the bow, there appears to be two paired amidships and two aft. A forward spring line could be led aft to the midship capstan, while the headline would be worked via the bow capstan. The stern lines would be worked by one aft capstan and the stern springs by the opposite side stern capstan. Andy

I think the capstans in the well deck give a major clue! I’m just thinking it may be the fairleads are there to direct the inboard end of a mooring rope towards a central winch or capstan. After tensioning, the mooring rope would be stoppered up and made fast to a bit on the poop or fo’c’sle, adjacent to where it comes inboard. It would also come into use when warping (shifting) the ship along side the dock, using those same capstans. Andy

I had a quick look at your first post regarding the “duchess” and you mentioned she was involved in the grain trade. Early grain unloading legs used drag lines to move the grain from around the cargo hold towards the end of the leg. It’s possible that the fairlead in question was for running a drag line off one of the ship’s own winches. An example of the operation can be seen here: https://www.buffalohistorygazette.net/p/buffalo-grain-scoopers-photo-tribute.html?m=1 Andy

If I had to guess, it looks very much like a scene from the winter of 1919/1920, when the French were clearing up the mess left behind, and refugees were maybe returning to see what was left of their homes and farms. Steam engines were very dangerous near the trenches! The smoke would tend to draw artillery fire. A good book to check out is Tracks to the Trenches by David Guay. It’s about the trench railway systems that were built to supply troops. Andy

Count me in! Always fascinating seeing your work! Glad to see you back! Andy

“May have” ?? “ ”Small order” ??? uhh huh…. Riiiight…. 😜 Nice job with the rigging BTW…. Andy