P-40B progress

Andy Ball
May I take a seat?, like to see how this one goes...

Guy Rump
Following as well, I have this one in my stash 🙂

Patryk S.
Thank you Gentleman! The kits itself is a bit problematic - very soft plastic which can be accidentally oversanded, small parts have big sprue attachments and i managed to break the pitot and control stick no matter how much i tried to go gentle on removing them. Additionaly there is a big gap where the wing attaches to the cockpit. But nothing that you can not overcome. The yahu instrument panel fits great and the cockpit parts also do not need to much adjustment.

Andy Ball
I've done the Special Hobby one, I can't recommend it enough (in Kittyhawk variety)

Patryk S.
Will definetly pick the SH version in the future

Patryk S.
The story so far: fit if the fuselage was ok, but i have spend a lot of time with sanding, filling and rescribing the radiator and upper cowling as they do not fit to good. As this model is a comeback to the hobby after 12 years, this is actually my first time doing resin and photo etch so the kit is going along pretty slow due to myself trying every technique on a junked academy f6f hellcat which is the silent hero of this build. The yahu panel fits great and also the quickboost resin is spot on. Aires wheels are ok but the masks in the set do not hold at all so had big overspray. Wing to fuselage fit is not so good as ia had to shim of some plastic from the lover fuselage to get a better fit. There are 2 gaps between the right wing and the fuselage.

Andy Ball
Although this is a return for you, you have at least had a full exposure to most challenges that model-making comes with, you will survive, and you'll thrive!!

Guy Rump
It's looking good so far Patryk, keep going! 🙂

Patryk S.
Thank you guys! Actually I am very satisfied with this build, just thought that a mainstream kit from not so long ago would be less of a problem. I am enjoying my time with this build and im going definetly to finish it, hopefully until end of this year. Thanks for looking!

hammer
Nice build! From the pictures it looks like the panel lines are deep and the canopy sits high compared to the spine? Has anyone built the Trumpeter kit? I would like to know how they compare? I'm looking forward to see this completed. Thank you for sharing. 🙂

Patryk S.
@hammer: Yes, the panel lines are deep but it does not affect the kit too much now, we will see after the pain job is finished. You are right they are deep but on an acceptable level for me. As for the canopy, i do not know if it's the kits fault or just me messing up as I shimmed much of the area where the middle part fits in order to get a decent fit of the front. The canopy plastic is thick though. The front section is too wide in comparison with the original and has fit issues. All together I am a bit dissapointhed by the quality of this kit, AML got it right in it's short run.

Andy Ball
shaping up well Patryk.... @hammer: I tried the 72nd SH kit, and found her to be excellent

Patryk S.
@Andy Ball: would be great if SH would tackle the early P-40, as Airfix could have made an better effort. Strange as their 1:48 effort is exelent.

hammer
Thank you

Łukasz Gliński
Interesting, will watch

Ricardo Reis
Following!

Cuajete
Well done. Congrats!

Patryk S.
Thank you.

Andy Ball
she's a beaut!!

Patryk S.
Thank you very much. It was a long project but the expierience gained while working on it is invaluable. I am writing down pros and cons of the kit and products used so tay tuned for a short After Action Review 🙂

Andy Ball
Great idea Patryk, I think if we have time this is the most valuable thing we can do on here- to talk through our projects

Guy Rump
Great result, very impressive 🙂

Patryk S.
Thank you very much!

Patryk S.
I decided to make a few notes about the kit and the products I used for my P-40 project in hopes that it would be helpful to others when building the kit. I am not an rivet counter but I like to study thruoughtly the subject I am modeling so here are some of my thoughts. Off with part one then:
Acuracy:
- front windshield to wide, sliding part is too thick and stands out in comparison with original (to high profile, shimming the fitting area of the fuselage does not completely solve the problem), sloppy fit, wrong outlines of rear fuselage glazing (pmasks solve problem);
- after fitting of the upper cowling to the fuselage the created line is not in accordance with the original, needs to be redone;
- the tailplanes are to thick and wing trailing edges also;
- front armored glass, N2A gunshight missing (not present on all examples of the P-40B - check your references);
- Mechanical gunsight and seat rear frame missing;
- landing gear reinforcements missing 3x position rods on every side plus gear door actuators;
- good wheel well representation (if modeling without the canvas covers which were indeed often removed.
Beside of this it looks definetly like an P-40B and is easily convertible into a P-40 CU.