denders

Okay, I think I have all the PE that I want. I guess it's time to get started.

She has legs and a few other bits. A few more small bits and then some weathering.

I was at the IPMS Middle Tennessee show today. Didn't buy too much. The Spitfire kit includes a bunch of Barracuda AM for it and an Eduard 'Look' instrument panel and seat belts. The metal landing gear appears to be for the Trumpeter A-10. I'll have to get the kit down and check it out.

Update, the top wing is on. I attached the cabane struts first, then the wing struts.

I bought this shirt at the EAA Museum gift shop when I visited the museum a couple days before the 2024 NATS in Madison, WI. I wore it one at the 2024 NATS, but wore it every day at the 2025 NATS. I don't have a P-40 on the shelf but decided that I needed to build one of the GWH kits. So, I bought one when SB was having a discount going. Since the shirt has 77 on it, I was thinking that would be the markings. I have some AM for it and some more AM that I ordered last evening. I'll post photos of the AM when I have it all. This should be fun.

So, the cowling didn't turn out too bad. But it certainly isn't perfect. But, in preparation of attaching the landing gear I realized that I didn't look at the assembly diagram for the landing gear nearly enough.

Thanks, guys!

Well, I've gotten to where I paint the larger areas first regardless of color and do the thin stuff last. I find it easier to re-locate the larger areas than the tiny, thin stuff. So, I've placed the only decals that I'm going to use (5). They went on very well. The engine cowling was next. I had pre-painted the cowling pieces and expected the need to touch them up. I was also aware of other folks having issues with a somewhat large gap in the end. (There are 9 pieces to the cowling.) Something else I did was to scribe the part number on the inside of each piece so they wouldn't be incorrectly placed. There is a thread that DrDave posted over on LSP showing how he worked it out. I couldn't find it when I went to install the cowling but after having taped the pieces together to fit, I came to the same conclusion on how to locate them. I just didn't glue sections together. I did them one at a time. It didn't reach a perfect solution, but it is a bit less of a gap than other folks had. Here is a link to the thread over LSP in case anyone is interested. ICM HENSCHEL. How to avoid cowlings fit woe! - Works in Progress - Large Scale Planes

Thanks, Rob. I'm calling this one done, sorry for not keeping up with updates. Weathering, small bits, etc. I'll try to do some RFI photos in the coming week.

Update, all the markings that I'm going to paint. (I think.) There are a few stencils that are decals. There is something in the stash that I need to dig out. IIRC it's either 1ManArmy or HGW.

Another update.

So, I noticed this anomaly on the head rest after gluing it in place. I've also test fitted the engine cowling pieces, just tape, no glue. They do fit without gaps. It is a precise fit and must be done very carefully. There is a lot more painting to do before this is permanently attached.

I've been a little lax in showing progress. The top wing has been painted. The engine is mounted. I've been painting the cowling pieces, inside and out. I'm planning on assembling the cowling with tape, first, to make sure I don't run into problems that some other folks seem to have run into. The bracing for the tail surfaces appears to have a "direction". I didn't test fit it and the tail surfaces before gluing the bracing piece into the fuselage and it resulted in the need to 'bend' the braces to hit the correct spots on the horizontal stab. Of course, before I installed the horizontal stab, I managed to break both bracing sides while working on seams at the nose area. Of course, when I finally did glue the horizontal stabs and the bracing 'pieces' it didn't look very good. So, out with the styrene and new braceing. I've been painting LG, wheels, bombs, struts, and other bits. Also, the fuselage and lower wing. Referencing the photos that I was sent. I'll note that the yellow area on the underside of the lower wing seems to cover more of the wing than what the kit instructions indicates. So far, all the markings are painted.

Jeroen, I saw a FB post by Special Hobby about your build.

Chris, walking in the front door, to the right is a room that contains aircraft models. I have to admit that I didn't really check out the rest of the shop. I spent at least half an hour to perhaps an hour walking in circles around the room looking over everything. I finally decided on the F-15E. The sticker on it was ~$140, he gives a club discount if you belong to a local club. I don't belong to any local club, but IPMS membership was good enough for the discount. The price may not be a great deal, but I was going to buy something to support an LHS even if it isn't my LHS. (Nothing even close to it in my area.) I'll probably stop by there again if time permits when I'm on my way past on I81. I've also stopped in Front Line Hobbies in Staunton too. There was a shop in Salem that I visited one time, but they've closed up since.

Thanks, crazypoet. Okay, I"ve got a couple of questions. Colors and what if, perhaps. I was forwarded photos of Blue 4 in Winter White camo. I was planning on doing it with worn winter camo. But, Blue 4 in the photos appears to have been wrecked soon after being painted white, so it doesn't look worn at all. (The photos haven't been posted by the donor, so I'm not going to post them, sorry.) 1. One thought is to paint the model as it might have been before the winter white paint. 2. Winter White paint, RLM 00 Wasserhell/Water-white??? I have three books with colors in them. One is Luftwaffe Colors, 1935-1945 by Ullman from Hikoki Publications, Crecy which show it to be a white with a slight bit of yellow, very pale. The second book is the Monogram book on German aircraft shows RLM 00 as clear. The third book, the AK Real Colors book has printed in it a representation of an original color card and RLM 00 looks kinda pale gray, but perhaps that's the representation of clear. Thoughts? I would have thought that it would be whitish gray, very pale. I sort of think there should be some difference there from the white in the insignia. I'm using MRP paint, and they don't have anything that I think is suitable, so I'm planning on mixing a color. Also, progress, paint on the bottom of the upper wing. Thanks!

Fuselage is closed up. Need to work on seam lines.

Still working on decals.

Another update, although, I've not done much in the last 10 days or so. We were traveling and I picked up a book on the battle for Italy in WWII which has been taking a lot of my time. Several pictures. Since I want this to be OOB, I've created some seatbelts with lead sheet and brass wire. I've also added some wiring/plumbing using lead wire. Otherwise, everything is from the kit. The left fuselage half has a bit of warp to it. Next step will be to close up the fuselage.

We were up to PA for a long weekend (wife's 50th high school reunion). And on the way, we stopped in Steven's City, VA at All Nation Hobby and Model Supply. It's a nice shop, wish there was something similar in my area. They had a bunch of kits from someone's collection including quite a few of Tamiya 1/32 kits. I bought this one, but it was a hard to make choice. It would have been nice to have a 3-5K budget. But then that would have been more than I had space for in the vehicle. My wife has commented that perhaps I need a larger vehicle for models. They don't appear to have a web site, so you have to stop in. They're open Tuesday thru Saturday, something like 10AM to 6PM. So, if you're passing by on I81 and the time fits, stop and have a look, support a LHS even if it isn't your LHS. It's guaranteed that I'll stop in the next time we're through there.

I started on the decals last evening. I feel like I need to order a case of Micro Sol.

Making Progress.

Thanks, Carl. The wings and fuselage are joined, and the wing struts are in place.

The Pzl is in the painting process and it's rainy and damp here today. And since I don't want to paint while it's rainy and damp, I thought I'd start the next model. I'm planning on doing the box art aircraft OOB. Working on small bits and preparing for painting RLM02 when I can paint. Lots of detail in the cockpit. I believe this is the carburetor intake. The seams need a little work. I think a little Mr. Surfacer 500 will do the trick.

Okay, black stripes on the fuselage and khaki on the top of the wing. I kinda feel like I need more khaki and more light-blue-gray on the bottom of the wing. Definitely more khaki on the right wing to match the left wing. Working out how to do this.