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Monogram P-40B. 50 Years Nostalgia Build.

Started by Seamus Boughe · 53 ≡ · ↻ 9 hours ago

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Seamus Boughe said 3 weeks, 1 day ago:

The CA knob technique I picked up from Mr. F Verlinden.
Seamus Boughe said 3 weeks, 1 day ago:
One thing I always wondered about this kit is, why a separate nose piece? What is the rational for this? For the life of me, I can't come up with any rational answer. That being said, it does lend itself to some simple detailing. I also figured out a way to get a better fit between the nose piece and the fuselage. Lets carry on.
9 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. So here is the separate nose piece as comes in the kit.
1. Removed the molded on radiator detail. I'm going to try to scratch build something more reasonable.

2. Cut off the molded on gun barrels and drilled holes in the gun fairings. I'll fill the holes with some brass tubing.
1. Broke out my low budget punch and die set up and made some radiator parts

2. Had to make quite a few of these before I got six that were acceptable.
1. For what one is going to see of them, these are reasonable.
1. Took the radiators and some thin plastic card and held them all in place with some Blu-Tac to see how it would look.
1. Built this structure to hold everything in place. Had to do some trimming on it to get it to fit inside the fuselage.

2. To get a better fit of this piece to the fuselage, file down the upper and lower surfaces of these to locator pins.
1. Sand down the insides of these locator pins. Doing this, the nose piece will fit perfectly on one side with a small step on the other which can easily be sanded down. It is your choice which side you want perfect.
1. Finished radiator array glued in place. I'm pleased with the result.
1. Painted this black.

2. Added brass tubing gun barrels

3. Added the gun fairings to the nose piece rather than the fuselage as it makes the seams easier to sand.
Carl Smoot said 3 weeks, 1 day ago:

You're really pounding this out Seamus (@seamus1). Excellent upgrades to the nose piece. I wonder if a small spacer inside the fuselage would eliminate the step you mentions, leaving any seam filling for the upper or lower fuselage nose section.
Seamus Boughe said 3 weeks, 1 day ago:

Wow, using a spacer never occurred to me. Maybe next time. However, the step is so minute that a few swipes with a sanding stick levels things out quite nicely.
John vd Biggelaar said 3 weeks, 1 day ago:

That's an impressive improvement on the nose piece, Seamus @seamus1
Looks very realistic this way.
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 weeks ago:

Awesome scratch building, my friend @seamus1! Definitely way improved looks!
Seamus Boughe said 3 weeks ago:
Okay, looks like old age is kicking in some. It took me quite some time to figure out what this large rectangular attachment on the side of the fuselage was. I looked at many builds of this kit online as well as many reference photos of the P-40B in order to get an idea. After a bit of head scratching, it dawned on me. This rectangular attachment represents the lower sill of the sliding canopy. This would be all well and good if I was going to build this kit with a closed canopy but seeing as I want the canopy opened, I will have to sand this rectangular piece of plastic down. I will also have to figure out how to build some rails as well as making a sill for the kit canopy. Got some figuring to do.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
1. Yikes!!! Quite a bit of sanding in my future but that is the cost of working on these older kits
Brian Ruffier said 3 weeks ago:

Got several of these in the stash, and was probably going to do the first one with only a replacement seat... but now I'm getting motivated to go beyond that...
Seamus Boughe said 3 weeks ago:

I'm happy that I inspired you.
John vd Biggelaar said 3 weeks ago:

A bit of extra work ahead but clearly something which is doable with your skills, Seamus @seamus1
Seamus Boughe said 2 weeks, 1 day ago:
Well, the holidays are over and now is the winter of our discontent. Back to a full work week. However, I did manage to get some bench time in. Glued the fuselage together and added the nose piece. Scribed and sanded the whole affair and added a bit of extra detail. Setting it on the side for now and am preparing certain parts for paint. I also need to start working on the wings.
11 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Port side scribed, sanded , and polished.

2. Engraved the fasteners with a Swiss beading tool. Not exactly straight, but under primer and paint, everything should even out.

3. Cut out the molded on radiator flaps. Will scratch out a new set in the deployed position.
1. Starboard side done.

2. Lightly sanded and contoured the nose piece to the fuselage. Happy with the results.
1. Not bad, not bad at all.
1. This is the tailwheel assembly as it comes in the kit. I like that the doors and the roof come in one piece. There is also some minor detail on the inside of the doors. I was thinking about making a canvas boot from tissue or putty until I saw a ph

2. Gotta clean these

3. Gotta clean these.

4. Gotta clean these
1. This is what I want.
1. Okay, not exactly like the photo but, from what will be seen of it, it is good enough.

2. Some plastic rod and some photo etch bolt heads and I have come close to nailing it.
1. This piece is a part of a German FuG radar mast from my spares box.

2. Cut off the lower portion of the kit tail wheel and drilled it out. It will be fitted here later. I can articulate the tailwheel so that it looks as though it is in an unlocked position.
1. I am totally amazed at the fit of the tail planes. The mounting tabs interlock on the inside of the fuselage creating such a tight fit, that, all I needed to do was give them a quick swipe with some Tamiya thin. No filling required.
1. Made a mount for the ring site. Set it slightly to the starboard as it should be, not dead center as it is on so may kits.

2. In retrospect, I should have used a piece of photo etch fret as it is more to scale. Still the plastic does not look too bad.
1. So this is how the wire antennas connect to the tail fin. I think I can duplicate this.
1. Ah yes, the devil is in the details
Spiros Pendedekas said 2 weeks, 1 day ago:

Excellent progress and ditto looks, my friend @seamus1! Love those added details and your approach to them. Also love your presentation with pics and clear explanations, very inspiring!
John vd Biggelaar said 2 weeks ago:

This is some serious progress, Seamus @seamus1
Those details are really impressive.
Carl Smoot said 2 weeks ago:

Very very nice Seamus (@seamus1). I know all too well the size of lot of these areas you are detailing as they are also present on my Mohawk. You are doing an outstanding job detailing them.
Seamus Boughe said 1 day, 2 hours ago:
It has been about two weeks since I last posted. Things have been quite busy around here between work, home, and family. Still, I was able to fit in a little bench time for about an hour or so before hitting the rack every night. With the fuselage pretty much finished and various parts being prepped for paint, I thought it time to start on the wings. There is quite a bit to be done on the wings. I figured I would start off with wheel wells and a couple of minor details.
20 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Laid down some Tamiya tape and drew a rough outline of the wheel well.
1. Cut out the wheel well outlines and proceeded to make adjustments.
1. Loosely placed some plastic scraps around the wheel well outlines to get some measurements for cutting out the walls of the wheel wells.
1. After measuring length, width, and height, this is what I have. I cut in some lightning holes as per reference photos.
1. I assembled the walls of the wheel wells and before they could dry, I squared the angles and glued them down to some .10 thou plastic card. This will form the roof of the wheel well as well as hold the angles square.
1. Laid down the re enforcement ribs to the wheel well roof. On the actual aircraft, there should be eight. Unfortunately, I did not have plastic strip thin enough to lay down eight evenly spaced ribs so six will have to do.
1. Happy with the way the wheel wells turned out. Once painted, I will add some plumbing.
1. Can't complain about the fit
1. Have to do a little trimming here in order to get the wheel wells to sit flush

2. Have to do some trimming here in order to get the wheel wells to sit flush.
1. Yikes! These are the shell ejection ports and a very poor representation. Rather than try to cut these out, I think it would be easier to replace the whole panel.
1. Starboard side roughed in
1. Port side roughed in
1. Sanded and polished. This will look great once painted and finished.

2. The guns and gun ports are off center. This will be corrected once the wing halves have been glued together.
1. I could not find any photographic evidence of this landing light. I figured if Monogram put it there then it must exist. However, I think I can improve upon it.
1. Scooped out an appropriate sized hole with the tip of a drill bit
1. Laid in an MV lens from my dwindling supply. Looks a lot better now.
1. Wings scribed, sanded and polished. Not too shabby me thinks.

2. Laminated some .15 thou plastic card to the mating surfaces of the upper wing halves. This will fill the gap notorious to this kit as well as setting the correct dihedral.

Viewing 31 - 45 of 53 posts

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