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Monogram P-40B. 50 Years Nostalgia Build.

Started by Seamus Boughe · 53 ≡ · ↻ 8 hours ago

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Seamus Boughe said 1 month ago:
Christmas Day 1974. Ah, what a banner day it was for 11 year old me. Model kits and more model kits and all the usual suspects. Revell, Aurora, Lindberg, MPC, and my first ever Monogram kit, a "White Box" edition of the Monogram 1/48 P-40B Tigershark. I remember being quite impressed with this kit. Three decal options, posable flaps, open or closed canopy, and a cockpit that was beyond the usual floor, seat, and pilot. Maybe those features don't count for much now, but back then, wow! At a recent show I picked up a "Blue Box" edition of said kit for the poultry sum of $8.00. I decided to wait until the Christmas of this year to start a nostalgia build of a kit I first built 50 years ago. I also decided to build it mostly with techniques I learned during the 1970s. As there is no real significant aftermarket for this kit, I'm evoking the spirit of Shepard Paine and the powers of "Creative Gizmology" (plus my own inner modeling mojo) to build a reasonably accurate P-40B
7 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Alright pilgrim, we're burning daylight. Lets get after it.
1. Good 'ol Morton Grove, IL plastic
1. Somewhere inside this ordinary box of plastic scrappage is a cockpit, wheel wells, radiator flaps, and a host of other little tidbits that I am going to need to make this Monogram P-40 shine.
1. Sanded down all the molded on interior detail. Will lay down some Tamiya tape, draw out the shape of a sidewall, lay the tape down on some plastic scrap and, using it as a template, cut out some sidewalls.
1. Starboard sidewall

2. Port Sidewall

3. Rear bulkhead

4. Instrument panel

5. Instrument panel backplate

6. Floor

7. I knew I had a cockpit in that box of plastic scraps. Need to do some dry fitting then flesh out these parts and everything should be right as dodgers.
1. Here we see the basic idea
1. Will be building a module here to hold the .50 Cals as well as to increase surface area for gluing.
Jay Mitchell said 1 month ago:

Fantastic start on this P-40 !
Spiros Pendedekas said 1 month ago:

What a fantastic entry, my friend @seamus1! Nothing better than a nostalgia build! You were too lucky finding this kit version (should be around early-mid 70s?), let alone for a mere $8!
Great start on it! Looking forward to your progress!
John vd Biggelaar said 1 month ago:

Great entry, Seamus @seamus1
Your scratch build will improve this oldie a lot.
Carl Smoot said 1 month ago:

I love it! A man after my own heart! Seamus (@seamus1), improving old kits like this is a huge amount of fun when you feel like doing it. I did something similar to this same kit back in 2002 and 2003 and I still have this kit on my display shelf. An although I feel like I've gotten somewhat better at building since then, it is still one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this build.
Carl Smoot said 1 month ago:

I also wanted to mention something about your plastic scrap box. This is a not often shown side of modeling, but I believe many of us have something similar on our benches. I cannot count the number of times I have taken a small bit of plastic that normally would be thrown away and found a use for it on some model.

I keep two small containers of scraps. One is for tiny pieces of plastic that might still have a use somewhere in detailing and a second one which contains slightly larger bits of scrap for the same purpose. I separate them simply because the larger bits make finding and rooting through the smaller bits more difficult. By separating them, I can find bits I can use more quickly. 🙂
George R Blair Jr said 1 month ago:

Great start on a great oldie, Seamus (@seamus1). I like building old kits, and this is one of the oldest out there. I think this kit goes all the way back to the early 1960s. Looking forward to the rest of the build.
Seamus Boughe said 1 month ago:
Dry fitting of the cockpit parts. So far, everything fits pretty close. A little sanding and some minor adjustments and everything should be spot on.
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Starboard side looking good
1. Port side not looking too shabby either.
Seamus Boughe said 1 month ago:
Worked on the instrument panel module for the Monogram P-40 today using my low budget punch & die set to punch out individual dials from various instrument panel decals that I have saved over time. Also did a small raid on my spares and parts bin to add a little detail via creative gizmology.
10 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Firm gum eraser from any stationary store or stationary dept.

2. Circular punch guides which, coincidentally, were made with this punch and die set.

3. Punches were made from the chuck end of some worn out drill bits which I cut off, deburred, and polished.

4. Cheap craft hammer I purchased from my local DIY shop

5. This is my impromptu, low budget punch & die set up. It ain't perfect but it gets the job done. Works well with paper, foil, thin plastic, and soft metals.
1. Punched out some individual dials from various instrument panel decals.
1. Some of the dials are a bit askew. No big deal. A bit of adjusting and I'll get those puppies centered.

2. On the actual P-40 instrument panel, the bezels are flush with the panel. A flat panel would look quite boring in 1/48 so I took some artistic license and added photo-etched bezels from Reheat.

3. These four lower bezels are actually shims/spacers I removed from a discarded butane cigarette lighter.
1. Resin .50 Cal. breeches from the spares box.
1. Looking good so far.
1. Dry fit the instrument panel module. Slid in like a glove.
1. Fuel tank selector switch. Don't know where that hair came from, but it will be removed.
1. Fuel tank selector switch in place.

2. Rudder pedals from the spares box. May be from a P-47 or P-38. Doesn't matter, they look the part.

3. Added charging handles for the .50 Cals. Just some bent wire dipped in PVA glue to add some texture.
1. Okay, not historically accurate but it is reasonably accurate and that is what Shepard Paine's "creative gizmology" was all about. Anyway, it is a far cry more accurate than the kit instrument panel.
Spiros Pendedekas said 1 month ago:

Very creative job and excellent results so far, my friend @seamus1!
John vd Biggelaar said 1 month ago:

Impressive work on the instrumentation panel, Seamus @seamus1
Seamus Boughe said 1 month ago:
Working the cockpit floor for the Monogram P-40 today. Yeah, I know the floor of the actual P-40 was the top of the wing and therefore should be curved. However, once all the cockpit parts are put in place, I doubt any degree of curvature will be seen so why bother. Once again, I'm going for reasonable accuracy on this build so a flat floor works just fine for me.
3 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. So here is the cockpit floor. The rivets are from Archer and go down just like decals. I added a fuel gauge for the rear fuel tank and some wiring.
1. Modified the kit flight stick to give it a little more realism
1. Hydraulic pump handle was taken from the spares box and probably started out as a gear shift from a 1/35 soft skinned vehicle.
John vd Biggelaar said 1 month ago:

Excellent work on the cockpit floor, Seamus @seamus1
Wise decision to keep the floor flat, makes work a bit easier.
Spiros Pendedekas said 1 month ago:

Fantastic scratch building, my friend @seamus1! I agree with John, good decision to go for a flat floor.
Seamus Boughe said 4 weeks, 1 day ago:
The build continues on the Monogram P-40, although in very small steps. I decided to add a small detail that is often overlooked in other P-40 kits. It is also a small detail which probably won't be seen once the kit is assembled, but I will have the satisfaction of knowing it is there. Namely, the fuel tank that sits behind the cockpit. I enjoy the small details, even the ones that won't be seen. They help me to think out of the box as well as hone my scratch building skills
9 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Originally, a 1/35 U.S jerry can from the spares box is now a P-40 fuel tank. That is after some hacking and slashing, filling and sanding, and a wee bit of shaping.

2. The hold down straps are photo etch rifle slings in 1/35 that I had leftover from a previous build.
1. This piece of plastic stock serves two purposes. It keeps the angle of the rear bulkhead true and provides more surface area for the gluing of said bulkhead.

2. This is where the fuel tank will slide into once (and if) my measurements are correct.
1. Nothing much to say here but, this is the mount for the fuel tank. Hopefully, I got the width measurement correct.
1. Might have to do a bit of sanding, but so far everything seems to be squaring up.
1. Height and angle look pretty good from this perspective.
1. Lets get 'er mounted.
1. Angles all seem to check out
1. Wingo!!! We have a fuel tank!

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