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Michelle Edwards
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1:72 Airfix P-40

December 22, 2015 · in Aviation · · 13 · 2.6K

Another of 's newer offerings that goes together well. Although I've finished it as the same aircraft on the box art I have substituted Airfix's decals with ones from Kits World. In the end I used decals from both Kits World and the ones supplied by Airfix.
Working from a WWII colour photo of the Aircraft I have tried to faithfully reproduce the weathering that the real aircraft had been subjected to.
Paints were a mix of Vallejo, Tamiya and Gunze acrylics.

Reader reactions:
9  Awesome

4 additional images. Click to enlarge.


13 responses

  1. 🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
    Nice one, I always did like the P-40. You have done a good job on this one.
    I will be honest here, I do miss the pilot figures ( not your doing, I completely understand ). Nonetheless good work.

  2. Superb assembly, but if I might pass on some suggestions for the paint scheme.

    I'm very familiar with this airplane. I was privileged to be a friend of Judge Charles Older (its pilot) for around 10 years (30 years to the day after he became an ace over Rangoon, as a Superior Court Judge here in California he sentenced Charles Manson to death). I've also been around a lot of the other AVG guys, most particularly Erik Shilling who had all the original LIFE color shots taken when Claire Booth Luce visited them in late February 1942 (none still with us sadly) and was able to question him about the schemes.

    These airplanes were originally Lend-Lease RAF Tomahawk IIs, painted in US colors for RAF Lend-Lease of Dark Earth, Dark Green and Sky Grey. The US Dark Earth is lighter than actual RAF Dark Earth, close to Tamiya "Dark Earth." The "dark green" was US Medium Green, considerably more green than RAF Dark Green. The lower color was close to Tamiya "Sky Grey."

    When painting 1/72 models freehand, it's been my experience (as recently as this morning) that thinning the paint 60:40 (thinner:paint) and tightening the airbrush to the minimum, you can get a right line about as thick as a marker pen. That's "tight enough" and then you can fill in after the outline is completed.

    HTH

  3. Great work Michelle, I like it. For whatever reason, I have never put a pilot in any of my 1/72 builds, and I've seen only a few modelers that do so... Interesting.

  4. Good work,looks great. Airfix really got the lines right, waiting for the 1/48.

  5. Good looking P-40.
    Hope their 48th is as good.

  6. Great looking P-40 - and good to see someone who does a lot of 1/72 (like me)! I have two Academy kits (one built and one waiting) and wish they were Airfix! I may have to spring for a 3rd just to be able to build a kit that goes together more easily!

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