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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

1/32 Trumpeter P-40F Warhawk


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After my dog ate nacelles on Beaufighter and canopy on my Dauntless I had to take a break, contemplating changing to a new hobby , for instance taxidermy. 

But then there was a parcel from People's Republic of China. Boom ! 

This is the aircraft I would like to build.French_P-40F_114_.jpg.9f7e92861198ded5a8cfd7b3be697a20.jpg.

 

Curtiss-P-40M-Kittyhawk-FAF-GCII.5-White-8-Verrier-Thelepte-1943-01.jpg

Fana-HS15-02.jpg

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After comparing the kit with drawings and photographs I discovered few discrepancies:)

-the engine trust line is too low, that creates excessive curve on the top of the engine cowling and shortens the height of the radiator opening  

- overall shape of the engine cowling is too curvy, almost like the E model

- the spinner in too large in diameter and too long , probably to compensate, disproportionate nose section, that is too short 

- rear of the fuselage is too short 

- canopy is too rounded ( remember hellcat), that reflects on the curved shape of the rear fuselage as well

- rear greenhouse section is too small

- propeller ,,,  I don’t know how to say it :)

- cockpit floor , I’m not touching that LOL 

picture time

 

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So I was lucky enough to cannibalize Eduard’s  P-40N. Particularly exhaust ports, rear glass section, front glass section, canopy. 

picture time 

I add extra extension at the mating point of the spinner, that I had to sand down to the proper diameter. 5D0EDCE8-21B0-4BF0-86D2-93BF0AD0E079.thumb.jpeg.864cef9f8d03d725de0510fc7d738233.jpeg
 

then used the lower ring to sand it appropriately 022114DD-E0A7-4EEA-AF80-B3F8F35F32E0.thumb.jpeg.513eb82dae3e128e290c11cdc882645a.jpeg

With Hasegawa prop as a guide 

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Wow,  that's a bunch of work. Would it have been easier to convert the Eduard/Hasegawa instead of trying to fix the Trumpeter kit? I know, it wouldn't be as "fun". 

Haven't had our dog or cats eat one of my models yet. Did have a squirrel chew on a Tamiya F-4J kit though. Left teeth marks in the nose cone and shredded the crappy decals. 

 

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Amazing build so far and lots of work! I don’t know if I had the patience for such a kitbashing. 

Will turn into a beautiful Model in the end and with a not very often seen French livery!

What kind of putty do you use? Looks like epoxy putty? Would be interesting to know because you can cover big areas with it. 
 

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Last night I finished the rough shaping of the spinner.  Not great, not terrible ....☢️37D03E13-94AC-4160-BF02-7F61269B66A5.thumb.jpeg.d03ef28ae28519824b4fbd76cdd4b7c1.jpeg
 

hi Carl, you’re absolutely right. To use Hasegawa is the way to go. Derrek’s fantastic conversion set ( GMF) is the best option. 
it wasn’t so much the dogs fault. I left open boxes in the ground, that’s a grey zone. 
here is the perpetrator:)

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Thank you for your support Gaz, it is lots of work, hopefully it will show at the end. 
 

Thank you Kai, I like the look of the French aeroplanes , weathered and well used . 
I have been using Tamiya epoxy putty, it’s little bit on the expensive side, but well worth it .

Thank you Dennis, I’m glad to see you on board with this one. 
 

Thank you Fran, to be honest it has been fun so far. The hardest part will be scribing and polishing. We shall see. 
 

and here is the modified propeller, side by side with Hasegawa. 
image.thumb.jpg.af5c63bc09a67781c166bf0cf9a75e4c.jpg

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I have one of those kits. I started on it but decided it was way too much work to get it right. It's on the SOD now. The Grey Matter "F" conversion, if you can find one, is a better approach IMHO. Trumpeter just can't seem to get the P-40 right no matter which version.

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Hey Martin, 

I take a few lessons from your posts:

1) you can improve your tidying skills. As Ikea ads say, it helps, sometimes ...

2) dogfood, per gram, is still cheaper than kits

3) you can still do taxidermy whilst the putty hardens

4) I would never have thought that Trumpeter could release inaccurate kits. Now that’s a tough lesson :wtf:

5) you can still feed unused parts, like the propeller, or the spinner, or (insert the list of inaccurate parts here) to your starving buddy

6) you definitely have not lost your modelling skills

7) I love the scheme you have chosen

All in all, I will conclude with a single word :popcorn:

Hubert

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Thank you Jeff :)

You are absolutely right John. Although the main wing is very nice with all the flaps down and internal details 

Hubert, my friend I simply love your sense of humour. What do you mean, by “ improving my tiding skills”? :)

Thank you Phil, I sure do, however my shrink is not going to be happy. 
 

As I used the backplate from Hasegawa, the tr. seat was too narrow for the mounting points, so I opted for Hasegawa option as well.  The seat is deeper and creates perception of depth. Those openings on the bottom plate will be covered by seatbelts. 
image.thumb.jpg.5ff467e67b73493a0b8734adb4cceebe.jpg 

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19 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

After my dog ate nacelles on Beaufighter and canopy on my Dauntless I had to take a break, contemplating changing to a new hobby , for instance taxidermy. 

But then there was a parcel from People's Republic of China. Boom ! 

This is the aircraft I would like to build.French_P-40F_114_.jpg.9f7e92861198ded5a8cfd7b3be697a20.jpg.

 

Curtiss-P-40M-Kittyhawk-FAF-GCII.5-White-8-Verrier-Thelepte-1943-01.jpg

Fana-HS15-02.jpg

I suppose that counts as 'homework' of a sort Martin! 

One of ours ate a AIM-7 off my F-15C but that's all so far.

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There was something off about the look of the nose that I based on the set of drawings above. So I overlap it with a picture of an real aeroplane that was scaled up to the spinner diameter just to see the proportions and realized that the drownings are incorrect. The plug was too big. 
so back to the basics. :)

I meant mitre saw LOL 

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A6A242A7-CB12-49E6-BA3B-97A14F2BAEBF.jpeg

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1 hour ago, Martinnfb said:

There was something off about the look of the nose that I based on the set of drawings above. So I overlap it with a picture of an real aeroplane that was scaled up to the spinner diameter just to see the proportions and realized that the drownings are incorrect. The plug was too big. 
so back to the basics. :)

I meant mitre saw LOL 

A15254B2-D194-4023-AF42-38D426F16E13.jpeg

A6A242A7-CB12-49E6-BA3B-97A14F2BAEBF.jpeg

I‘m impressed what you do to get everything correct! Great effort for a great result in the end! 

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