Clunkmeister

Peter, the decal being used now IS the kit’s lower wing roundel, as supplied by GWH. The Eagle Editions lower Chinese roundels are too small. That’s what I originally used and pulled the bottom ones off. As far as I can see, the rest of the Eaagle Editions decals are correct, though. And Cutting Edge decals are wrong, just like the Eagle Editions decals. The only AM who got it right was Montex.

🤣

Aaaand I dropped the made up rubber tailwheel with hub attached, And it bounced a rolled off into parts unknown… 😡🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤡

OK guys. I’m happy. These are the kit lower decals. I like these much, much, much more. And as Carl said, it looks right. I’ll take Carl’s knowledge on Nationalist Chinese markings as fact. When you have family that has and is involved, that’s good enough for me. The new decals are on the top, followed by the original picture again, and finally, the Eagle decals. The difference is obvious. Yes, ai keep posting the same picture of the “gently used” Tomahawk simply to avoid people having to keep scrolling back I am MUCH happier with the lower roundel now

Which is why I go back to these two pictures. My build using EagleCal lower markings, and an actual slightly used Hawk 81 of the AVG. To my eye, the actual lower roundel from the Eagle sheet (on my model) is quite a bit smaller than depicted on the bent airplane. Also, at least according to pictures, the lower roundel is noticeably larger than the upper. I will continue looking online to see if I can find a definitive straight on view of the upper wing roundel. And if Carl feels that the color is good, I’ll use it, as it’s a big enough issue to me to warrant me using the kit roundels on the lower surfaces. Plus, I haven’t sealed it in place yet so removing the Eagle decals is simple and easy. If my build was all but finished as is peter’s is, I’d not go there. Obviously, everyone has their bugaboos, and to me this is important enough to my way of thinking that I’ll take the time to do it I’m anal enough where it would bug me forevermore Like many say, scale modeling, lacking exact references and firsthand witnesses, one rolls the dice and in the end, it’s in the eye of the builder Peter, I couldn’t agree more regarding decal research. I think back to Kitty Hawk decent plastic, but a gorgeous set of in register decals so riddled with errors as to be a joke. And Tamiya’s famous 1/32” thick decals 🤣✅

Carl, I did the same as you. I just checked the very last place I expected to find the answer: the kit decals. Amazingly, the kit decals feature a lower roundel that is noticeably larger get diameter than the upper decals, and noticeably larger than the EagleCal decals, which feature roundels all the same size. As the lower roundels were out of the sun and faded little if any, I feel comfortable trying them. Unfortunately, I’m not positive on the color. It almost appears too dark.

Well, the Montex masks are unavailable. Life goes on…

Montex appears to have nailed it, although I question their use of the Angel figure on the port side only. Eagle has you do it on both sides. Also, Montex shows some VERY dark blues being used.

Hey Carl, actually, Montex looks closer to me… CE is the same as all the others. Maybe it’s telling us to leave well enough alone?

I’m anxious to see, because both GWH and EagleCals got it wrong. I’m quite honestly thinking of ripping them off and making some masks in the correct size. my concern is that since they’re already settled in with multiple applications of Micro Sol, it may be too late. Even the US Military got it wrong!

And along with that, despite me lighting the color mixes greatly, I may yet be waaaay too dark, still.

Exactly. I think we all, including the restoration experts, got it all wrong. The pictures of the originals show very large roundels. Also note that they are all early Tomahawks, not replacement P-40E’s. That bottom pic of that very slightly used Tomahawk leaves absolutely no doubt. It’s almost a straight-on picture, with no oblique angles whatsoever

I’m not a P-40 expert, but check that bottom picture. The ailerons are deflected, yet the elevators are neutral. So the stick is loose, not secured back with the lap belt or left to flop forward. Is there a control lock on a P-40? Or is there a bobweight or spring that returns the elevators to neutral?

And I’m thinking the red fuselage band may be too dark as well. Of course, that’s an easy remark and respray, but still… dangit

And Peter, the more I look at it, the more your build looks amazing to me. Just a GREAT job!

This is too much head exercise for this early in the morning.

I tried to follow the placement diagram on Eagle’s sheet, but everyone knows that Jerry was a Luftwaffe guru, and this certainly ain’t Luftwaffe. And then there are these pics that I just found, which may mean we’re ALL wrong. Those of course, are the real deal, and those certainly seem bigger than any of ours. Was there an absolute standard? We’re they painted on using a standard issue mask, I ain’t got no clue. Thoughts?

Hey Peter, dang, we have so little to work on! LOL. I did a quick search online, as well as checking your build, and everyone seems different. As we say in Texas “Ah’m a scratchin’ my hay-ed over thee-yis here conundrum”. So here is yours, mine, and that restoration you documented

I had the great debate re: upper wing roundels as well, and simply decided to place my faith in Jerry Crandall. Of course I used the faded option, and they’ll be faded even more, today.

Peter, it’s sad, actually. Today, I have no doubt that it’s a ton safer than even 30 years ago, but yeah, the spirit of the thing is gone now. Back then, oil burners were really still only used by the big airlines and the military. Yeah, the Twin Otter was around, but it was still relatively rare. Avgas ruled the day, but today, avgas is getting harder and harder to find, or at least decent avgas that won’t tear up the insides of an 1820 or 2800. I’m an old dinosaur, I guess.

Licking and sticking on the stickers now. 🤣 I’m using the Eagle Editions set for 3rd Pursuit Squadron. 3rd Pursuit seems to be the most famous of the three Squadrons, if for no other reason than it’s definitely the most colorful. I’m doing Chuck Older’s White 68 off the Eagle sheet, which contains enough decals to model 4 aircraft from one sheet. These Eagle sheets are a great value in that respect, and are extremely accurate as well, having been extensively researched by Jerry Crandall. The sheet even includes the RAF roundel overlaid by the Chinese roundels, as seen on several AVG kites.

Believe me, Peter, you use what you have, and you have what you use. IFR up there is “I follow Rivers, Railroads, or Roads”, but quite honestly, rivers were the most common. Winds aloft info was one of the most important things you got, and being able to read isobars on the weather charts properly gave you a decent idea of winds aloft between reporting stations. Add to that the dew point, and suddenly you were armed with 90% of what you needed to know. Dead reckoning is simple if you can see ground drift, but with the flat, featureless tundra up the central arctic and the almost constant ground drift, you had beautiful stratus below, and 10 ft below that, sharp rocks. So between ADF plots, you see your drift on the chart based upon the track you THINK you’re following. A lot of assumptions, but if we had a FUBAR, at least with radio and FSS available who could at the worst, listen for the sound of engines and relay it in real-time, we had it 2000% better than the likes of Punch Dickens, Max Ward, Robert Byrd, and Tom Lamb in their Fairchild 71’s, Fokker Supers, and Junkers W34’s and 52s… ADF is as handy as a pocket on a shirt when used correctly, but, unfortunately, is a lost art today. If the lights go out today, I fear that 80% of the new breed will auger in, 10% will get lucky, and the last 10% spent some time with grey haired old veterans chugging around in clapped out DC-3s. That U-2 driver was most likely either a Vet, or learned from one. TACAN was still new then. Either way, with no electrics, he had nothing but sectionals and his head to rely on.

Well, after posting my build on Peter’s thread (duhhh), I fixed it. 🤣

Oh crap. Peter, I was posting MY build updates on ayOuR build thread. Duhhh. And nobody said a word. Sorry, Buddy, my mistake. If I mess up, please, someone tell me!

Peter, I assume you’ve used two ADFs to triangulate your position, or to shoot an approach? That’s a skill that definitely turns rusty with disuse. But like you, I’m one of those old timers who could navigate quite comfortably without GPS, DME, or even a VOR. Not to the same precision, of course, but enough to be able to grab the outer marker, localizer, and nail the glideslope. All at night, dead tired, and with drifting snow and ground fog 100’ to the surface.