1/48 Airfix P-40B Tomahawk Mk.II 112 Squadron Nth Africa
G'day folks.
I built this one in the later half of 2019. This is the lovely P-40B by Airfix in 48th scale. Flown by Sergeant William Earl Houston (RNZAF). This is GA-O (AK457) from 112 Squadron RAF during their time in North Africa.
I'm quite chuffed with the way this one turned out. I put a lot more into the weathering in the way of Faber-Castel water colours, AK Interactive weathering pencils, pigments, washes and filters. Normally I'm a bit dialled back with weathering but made an effort to push it beyond what I'd normally do. I hope the result speaks for itself. The only thing I'm not happy with is the size of the thread used for the aerial rigging. I think I'll go up in size next time as it's too fine for 48th.
It was nice to build a machine flown by a Kiwi cousin.
The minutia...
Airfix Curtiss Tomahawk Mk.II item A05133
Quickboost radiator inlet
Quickboost exhaust
Master details barrels, pitot and ring and bead gunsight
HGW belts
Barracuda resin wheels
Kit decals
Ushi fine rigging thread
...and of course Mr Color for the camo colours and Vallejo paints for the fiddly details.
Cheers,
Mick
Fine work here. I think the size of your aerial rigging wire is fine. A lot models I've seen have wires that resemble bridge cable, another words, way too thick.
Great looking P40, Michael @mickdrover
To me your used antenna wire size looks fine as well.
Amazing model, Michael! The weathering stands out!
I also think the antenna wires look correct.
Well done, Michael! Love the overall look of the paint and weathering.
In my opinion the aerials look good. Most real photos the wires are barely visible. Especially when you need to see them for reference.
@mickdrover
Good to see an Airfix kit, especially when it’s built as nicely as this one. By the way, I think your aerial wire looks OK as well.
I think you got this one just right as far as weathering is concerned- great job! Excellent result makes for an outstanding build. Thanks for sharing!
Beautifully done! The weathering looks fantastic. Love it!
@mickdrover - this is one of the best Airfix P-40s I have seen done by anyone. Beautiful paintwork.
The aerial wires look find - as everyone else has said.
Beautiful version of an icon; and the 112 Squadron were especially noteworthy operators of this plane, @mickdrover.
Your high degree of grime, weathering and exposed 'aluminum' look perfect for a squadron in hard desert fighting, with no time to make the planes look clean. Perfection!
Thanks for the comments everyone. Noted about the size of the antenna wire too!
Mick
Michael,
Some strong work in the grease, grime and dust dept. The exhaust staining is convincing with tonal variations in paints. It makes for a convincing representation of a aircraft in a desert environment. The build could easily be seen in hard copy or in one of those how too books Michael. Your gifts and talents are an inspiration for reference and for others to build this kit.
Two thumbs up.
Very, very nice. Build and finish spot-on.
Neat build. Really like the RAF desert color scheme and the effort put in by the radiator and extra weathering underneath. Liked..
It's a great kit, I agree.
Superb build, Michael, not overweathered, just 'spot on' IMHO.
Add my congrats to the others, Michael (@mickdrover). Your paint and weathering is outstanding. I haven't had a lot of luck using weathering pencils, but your results tell me I need to give them another try. Well done.
Excellent result @mickdrover! 🍻 I love the overall look of the plane and find the weathering just right, along with that fine aerial wire! 😉