1to1scale

Here are turret comparisons.

Thanks for the picture, we all know this kit does not have the Davis airfoil, and I am not plannng on fixing it. The only issue in this kit that i deem unlivable, is that front turret, everything about it is wrong. The space for the gunner is so small, it would have to be a 5 year old child, every single part of the interior of it is grossly off. I determined you have two options, leave it be, or scratch build the whole thing. I was close to scratching it from plasticard, strips, rods, etc. But finding out last night that replacements are coming from Brassin, I will hold off temporarily. The rear turret is better, and much more accurate, but still has the seam along the top. When I see what Brassin is going to do and if they offer the rear A6a and front A6b turrets, as well as the corrected front A-15, this will determine what final version I will do. I am going to work on the rest of the full interior on it until then.

Don’t try to convert him, I love his foil jobs. I only hope GAZ graces us with a tutorial on how he does foil someday.

I keep moving my Wingnut Fokker closer to the workbench, I am 90% done, but just can’t seem to motivate myself to finish it. I understand what you are saying, it’s hard to finish something you have no passion for. The P-40’s are slowly progressing, all 8 of them, and just one day before I got the B-24, I started work on the Fly Wessex, but the big draw right now is the B-24.

I have just heard through a reliable grapevine, turrets are on the way from Eduard Brassin! Yay!

Yes, I did notice the doors had rivet detail, but no scribed lines, but scribing some straight line is not hard. As a matter of fact, I took 4000, 6000, 8000, and 12000 grit pads to it, it does polish out nice. however, just not sure what to do about the seam line, and then there are alignment pins, and super thick plastic. Another alternative for the UK modelers is this...paint the turret black.

I agree with what you say, if you have enough love for a plane, then build it! I do, so I am overlooking the turret issue and building the plane anyway. So far, the rest of the plane is blowing me away! When they said full interior on the box, they meant it. There is enough detail in the kit to satisfy most people, but there is room for extra detailing. To be honest, none of the other faults bother me. The only fault that is a must fix issue is the front turret, after doing the research, it’s all wrong. But if there was just a replacement Vac turret, that would solve most of the issues. The shape is mostly correct, but unfortunately it’s the seam line that detracts. While I’m sure there will be replacement turret glazings coming from the aftermarket, I am going to take it upon myself to learn a new method of crafting, vac-u-form. So, as I go forward, this is a build thread, and I am asking everyone to refrain from bashing the kit in my thread, there are others out there to discuss and review. I will point out any issues I find as I build, and how I overcome those issues. I am building the plane that I have been dreaming of, and I am happy!

There WILL be a replacement turret available soon. As in, I’m going to build it. I am looking for an old working vac machine, and I already have a food saver vacuum pump, the rest I will combine kit parts and scratch build the rest. I plan to assemble the turret like the real one, with individual glazings. More details to follow.

First order of business, I'm assembling the front turret, to see just how bad it is. And what needs to be fixed. The clear parts are pure junk. They have seams in all the wrong spots, and are super thick. the Inside framework does not fit and will need sanding. I am holding off, there might be solutions in the near future. On to the cockpit....

No. My bench will need clearing for one kit!

So, through fate, luck, or what have you...I got a free B-24! Well, not technically free, I had one-way traded a Tamiya F-4J to someone, but I told them when they have something to trade, let me know. Through talking to them, they also wanted a F-4C/D also, well I had two. He ordered 4 B-24’s, so he offered to trade me! So this is how I ended up with a B-24 yesterday. Funny enough, when I got home, and after dinner, I was checking emails, Hannants let me know the received my B-24 I ordered and it’s ready to ship. So now I have 2! Although I will probably have to wait for a month to get the second. Expect a build thread very soon! Of course, I am going to need more paint...lots of paint!

Damn cats! No cats in my house, my dog loves cats, but he likes them running.

Ok, I’ll join that kingfisher build party, I’ve been putting off my build long enough.

It’s a short tail, which is a shame, only one of the zotz sheet is for a short tail, however, if you just change the number, you can make any of the French planes, they give you both styles of exhaust. And if you mix and match the American numbers, you could make some different N Africa F’s.

The cockpit floor is identical to the Hasegawa, flat.

Building has started, cockpit assembled and fit. hasegawa pilot just checking out the new digs.

Free time has them cheap, $63 https://freetimehobbies.com/1-32-trumpeter-curtiss-p40f-kittyhawk-aircraft/

Ok, I decided to go outside the box, trumpeter includes decals for the IP, but if you sand the back down a bit, you can glue the decals to the back. So out came a sanding stick and a knife.

Beetle? 1/1 scale

well, I just bought my wife a convertible VW Beetle for Christmas, so she wont say much about the new models I bought. I just need to protect the jewels for a few more days.

Same here, I just worked out a deal to buy a B-24 to pick up tomorrow.

Those crazy Canadians, they probably could have collected money!

Added pictures and notes.

Ok folks! I got my hands on one of these from the local IPMS president, he saw the Grey Matter conversion I brought to the last meeting and let me know he bought a few and asked me if I wanted one, since the price he got it for was way cheaper than I have found, I said yes! ...so here we go! I'm gong to start off by showing some comparisons between the old an new Trumpys, the B and F, as well as a P-40E and a Grey Matter conversion. I’m going to most likely paint this as a checkertail, and I will make some minor corrections to fix some deficiencies. I am happy to announce that NOTHING is a carryover from the P-40B kit. This is 100% new. The good... 1. All new cockpit, appears to be the same dimensions as the Hasegawa for depth, and it appears to have better detail! It is significantly different from the old B. I will say there is room for improvement, the IP is nicely done, except for dial faces, there are none, just flat holes, you will need airscale decals, and I suspect Eduard and Yahu will help here. The seat is beautiful, best p-40 seat yet. Trumpeter did include belts, while a welcome addition, they are thick and seem oversized. 2. Wings...Options for flaps up or down, in the down position, they included a beautiful set of PE to replicate the internal structure ribbing, with slots in the wing for the ribs, alignment appears to be guaranteed. They have a nice set of flap actuation rods in plastic, and and optional set of closed flaps. The upper and lower wing is an all new setup, different construction, they even used slide molds for the machine gun barrels, which are molded into the bottom wing, with little notches in the top wing. The gear wells are basically the same setup as Hasegawa, with four walls and a roof. And finally, vastly improved wheels, but they have rubber tires. Resin would give you better detail. 3. Fuselage...No fiddly fictional joints all over the fuselage to fill and sand. Construction is simple and is traditional L/R halves, but the rivet detail, screw heads, panel lines are the best yet from trumpeter! Compared to Hasegawa, Trumpeter wins this round. The bad... 4. The decals, seriously? Apparently trumpeter still can’t get stars right!?!? Hopefully, Montex and Zots will issue some stuff. 5. Rubber tires, seriously? I don’t understand why they persist with this. Maybe they own a miniature rubber tire factory? 6. Here is the controversy, yes, the top curve of the nose is off, it is not as flat as it needs to be, it has a distinct hump, as it gains altitude as it leaves the windshield then curves back down. It is my initial assessment that if this bothers you, there is enough plastic on top to sand this flatter, which should get you pretty close. The bottom cowl appears to be correct profile. The lower cowl opening is a little small, but, again, this can be opened up with a file. My comparison to the the Grey Matter conversion I did, the top is better on the Grey Matter, and the bottom is better on the trumpeter. So I’m going to call it a toss up. I’m going to start the build on this ASAP, I will then take some side by sides of the two for people to compare. I did take more pictures, but I can’t get them to load tonight, I’ll do that in the morning. New wings, ammo bays open, but not guns. Worst box art ever. Trumpeter kills it on detail, finer panel lines than Hasegawa, more tiny rivets, very nice. Panel looks good, decals for the gauges are included. Grey Matter nose for Hasegawa is good on top, a little flat on the bottom, and a little too much angle on the exhaust. Grey Matter “mouth” is a bit too large. The shape of the trumpeter exhausts opening is right on. Way too much curve up top, good news is, the plastic is thick enough to sand it flatter. It’s not as bad as it looks, the actual rise is about .030, where the plastic is probably about .050 thick. There is room to sand. However, sitting on a shelf, to the untrained non-insane person, it would look fine. The opening is better on the Trumpeter. Totally different design.

Check out the Fly Sea Hurricane, they probably flew off the same ships, I bet those decals would be similar. But I would just get some masks (Montex K32198) or some custom Maketar. Fly has masks, but pretty basic.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fly-1-32-Paint-Mask-M3203-Hawker-Sea-Hurricane-Mk-IIc-for-Kit-32014/232438591456?hash=item361e6b6fe0:g:-YIAAOSwo4pYSopt