nmayhew

nothing too exciting here but masked the canopy inside and out primed Mr Surfacer 1500 black both sides, then US Interior Green inside interior masks removed and made some masking to fit to protect it once attached and spraying main camo montex masks used in combination with Eduard generally i prefer Montex for flat surfaces, and Eduard for compound curves; Montex usually provide inside and outside which is great whereas i don't think Eduard did here i ended up using Eduard on outside for all the parts, main windshield included fiddly, but with patience it's not too bad the gunsight - which is obviously very delicate - will not be fitted to the instrument panel until just before the canopy part above is ready to be attached some wheel well stuff next which i will try to post later

correct - it's meant to be fun; fun for different people means different things, so it's all good but i only have limited appetite for this stuff i may go build some armour next where you don't have any of this nonsense!

additional changes re the 4 guns vs original 6...once i did this there wasn't really any going back! i thought about using Master Model barrels - and they do look sweet - but i was not confident of being able to drill out the right amount / area of the piece shown above i used black CA - which is slightly rubberised - as an experiment here i think ultimately CA mixed with talc is better, but this stuff is definitely not as hard as regular CA wings.... i will do almost anything to avoid wing root problems! so i glued the bottom half first, and then added the top halves in the grand scheme of things, i think most modellers could do this - i certainly didn't do anything special - and whilst it potentially just moves the problem around from wing root to say leading edge, it's a damn sight easier dealing with the latter when doing this stuff i make a point of scribing / emphasizing the panel lines and rivets **before** i get to sanding it's soo much easier going over something that is already there, rather than trying to redraw lines and rivets from scratch your mileage may vary of course! there is no panel line on the bottom cowl...*sigh*... more sanding this bit was not very well handled by me - i broke own rule of not scribing before the sanding began and i had to rescribe some stuff from scratch meh cheers Nick

Hassy kits have the reputation of being simple and easy to build for the most part if you want to have panel lines where they should be, and more importantly not to have them where they shouldn't be, then their P-40s are not for you notice the horizontal lines inside the insert do not line up with main exhaust area this was a learning experience for me 1) i will be better the next time i tackle a kit like this 2) the next time may be some way off and i am leaning more towards Tamiya's (limited) selection of uber kits - life is just too short to build what saps the life out of you 3) simple kits are *not* easy kits - this is far more challenging in terms of skills required than building a Tamiya Spitfire in 1/32 - no way you'll need to be doing so much of this shit! more fun... in the below, i experimented with talcum powder mixed with CA glue - it did indeed make it much easier to sand and i will consider using this technique again, although i suggest masking along the areas you are going to fill so that you don't have to sand stuff unnecessarily also note in the above the panel lines on the scallop mating the wing to the fuselage are almost completely washed out this were a PITA to re-scribe, but do need to be done given the lines just above them are so crisp

got a link please?

yeah he's been a bit 'meh' as regards shipping - I sneaked in there just before he said no UK shipping because of Brexit (don't know if that's changed) whilst the switches are very cool, the spark plugs are not drilled out and therefore pretty useless for what i had in mind (engine detailing, connectors for brake lines etc) i just don't have the ability or the inclination for that stuff 3D parts in general will revolutionise the detailing side of our hobby i think - the regular resin guys better get on that train or in a few years they will be dinosaurs in my view, but that's for another discussion I suppose!

and then attach to the seat being RAF belt it attaches in two places - behind the seat down the back (doesn't matter can't be seen) and also down in one of the holes in bottom of the seat back glued using super glue because it needs some strength - i hadn't crumpled them much so they were quite springy!

cheers guys HGW belts... remember Sutton harness rather than US belts... i found it helpful to tape it down to the desk to act as a second / third pair of hands also to thread belts where possible before removing the buckle from the PE fret note that the belts are not coloured both sides which is a shame because half the beauty of these things is being able to drape them which ever way you please - see below white back showing... so i painted them a tan / buff colour as a make do...

i glued the tail section together then attached to an already assembled fuselage when i made my P-47 (Trumpy) with a similar arrangement with the tail fillet, i glued the individual fillet / tail sections to the fuselage first, *and then* glued the fuselage together - this in retrospect was a much better way to do it it is very hard to get a good join *that you won't see* and not leave yourself with a lot of sanding, filling and rescribing to do ask me how i know this is just one of many attempts at fill / sand / spot prime / repeat... the best sanding stuff i have ever used - Infini! i have their big pads as well which you can snip up and use in between tweezers to sand even the tiniest nooks and crannies! (pic later) and so for weeks i had something like this... HGW belts up next - i'll try to post later today if i have time cheers Nick

radiator - i had some Braz or something resin piece and also Eduard PE grills in the end i chose the simplest option re construction of using the kit parts some masking, glossing and dark wash and it looks pretty reasonable

a few more cockpit pics... i was very pleased with the switches did some hairspray chipping on legdes as well...

cockpit: seat was 3D printed using file from SMCG Facebook group - Will Pattison - and 3D printing from TimC over here in UK hairspray chipping on seat yahu instrument panel anyz cockpit switches a few placards HGW belts floor is hairspray chipped and weathered with oils and also a panel line wash there were only one or 2 pipes added with lead wire or styrene rod - a shame no-one makes a decent resin pit for the kit some dry fit and realised the cockpit does not need to be glued in to fuselage - a small bit of play but it helped later on when putting everything else together

4 gun version should look like this underneath i decided to fill the holes, but not rescribe the panel line it was an ongoing dog show really if doing it again i would probably use sprue goo to fill the holes this is really how *not to* do it! there was a lot more touching up etc after the shot below, but if i am honest only minimal improvement - at this stage i was considering ditching the whole project

Hasegawa 1/32 kit Neville Duke went to my school so this my tribute build to him for those not familiar, he was the highest scoring Allied ace of North Africa and the Med he was also quite a 'chap' - he kept a diary which is like a cross between a comic book and Lord Flashheart in Blackadder - well worth a read: Neville Duke Diaries to be converted to 4 gun 'early' model - not a great pics but enough to go on thing to note: - to be converted to 4 gun 'early' model - middlestone and dark earth top side, with serial kept over small dark green patch - dark green behind rear window - US attempt at Sky underside - discussed here on Hyperscale: AK578 discussion etc - would almost certainly have had canvas covers in wheel wells, but CMK parts are about 1-2mm too small so beyond me to get them to look right - yellow strips on wing leading edges - would have Sutton seatbelt i believe - I have Barracuda decals but may not use (they fail to identify 4 guns, sky undersides etc) - custom masks will probably be used I am currently half way through but will post some WIP pics which i have taken along the way cheers, Nick

Yes! finally!

yup unless i missed something? i was hoping against all hope that Tamiya would spring a surprise and release a new 1/32 WWII fighter... hopes dashed

wow i just scrolled through what felt like 500 pictures of pure 'meh' absolutely nothing new in 1/32 see you next year

Hassy P-40 pleased with the wing roots but f*ck me it's tedious clean up on the tail section and behind the canopy (panel lines which should not be there) Won't be doing another one of these in a looooong while

Super cool project have you contacted HGW about their ‘short shot’ masks?

impressive!

no-one makes any FAA updates which i have always found puzzling I have asked Roy at Barracuda and clearly no interest also discussed with Aerocraft and more recently Tim Perry, so I am hoping someone takes the plunge i have no interest in chopping up such an expensive kit, even if it is considered a very simply mod

scribing and re-scribing panel lines whatever i do looks pretty mediocre at best

very underwhelming whilst it's fun to guess and wish, some of the suggestions were quite amusing in that people think they would actually sell anyway, it's all over now... ...until the next time!

that LuckyModel price is stunningly cheap! best I have seen elsewhere is AK Interactive at 54 Euros-ish

Wife and I both working from home - I am in trading risk management and she is a finance lawyer We live rurally so it's been awesome apart from no village pub I am a lot fitter than before, and the garden looks pretty decent too! No desire to go back to London any time soon (or ever really!)