AndrewR's Weary Warhawk **Wescued**

[AndrewR]

Here's another kit which has been lurking on the bench for many months - the Matchbox P40-N Kittyhawk/Warhawk. I have rescribed the panels, hopefully to be a bit more accurate and fiddled around with the nose intake a lot. I think it's a touch better than the original intake, which was pretty flat, but whether it was worth the effort is a moot point.



The build stalled because the canopy is not quite correct - it has an extra frame on the forward port side which should not be there. So I fiddled around with crash moulding and looking at a vac-form replacement and never finished it off!




Apart from the decals, I need to put the canopy on, the wheels (up), attach the stand, put the exhaust manifolds on and the propeller. The only thing that needs painting is the canopy frame, everything else is done.

The decal sheet from this kit was curled up like a roll of parchment, but I pressed ahead...




because tonight was Day of the Decal (not quite as thrilling as Day of the Jackal... )




Those old curly decals behaved perfectly and went on over a layer of Pledge with no trouble. Even the skulls!



They are a bit thick though (the decals, not the skulls ), they remind me of Academy decals a bit.

While I had the decalling stuff out, I also put on the 1 Squadron markings for the Arctic Harrier, from the Xtradecal Sheet "100 Years of 1 Squadron".



So hopefully tomorrow, I'll get more stuff on the Warhawk sorted out.

cheers

Andrew

[ShaunW]

Sounds like you've put a lot of work into improving this Warhawk so it'll be good to see it finished. The decals look great after looking less than promising to start with.

[Dirkpitt289]

Love the Skull paint scheme... Can't wait to see more

[AndrewR]

Love the Skull paint scheme... Can't wait to see more

You can get this set from Fundekals
You have to hand it to the Matchbox researchers, they really came out with some good examples on their kits.

I should have finished this for Halloween!

Cheers

Andrew

[AndrewR]

Nothing worth photographing tonight.
Exhaust manifolds painted, canopy dipped in Pledge,stand checked for fit (it does). The plane had a coat of Vallejo satin varnish.
The wheels and oleos seem to have vanished, but spare wheels from an Airfix Hawk-81 have been pressed into service, and I will find some oleos in my spares box.
Not bad

Cheers

Andrew

[BlohmWolf]

Just thinking of how much work you have done lately. This forum really needs a Reputation system. Like we can go up to a post made by someone and press on a green 1+ to give them a rep. Anyway, this should do:

http://blogdailyherald.com/wp-content/u ... mbs_up.gif

[AndrewR]

Just thinking of how much work you have done lately. This forum really needs a Reputation system. Like we can go up to a post made by someone and press on a green 1+ to give them a rep. Anyway, this should do:

http://blogdailyherald.com/wp-content/u ... mbs_up.gif

Reputation points? No way, posting on the site is not a competition, it's for fun.

Cheers


Andrew

[Dazzled]

Great to see another unfinished project hop off a shelf and back onto a bench Andrew and after all the work that's already gone into this kit it's certainly a worthwhile contender for a finish . It's about the best Matchbox P-40 I've ever seen.

[BlohmWolf]

Just thinking of how much work you have done lately. This forum really needs a Reputation system. Like we can go up to a post made by someone and press on a green 1+ to give them a rep. Anyway, this should do:

http://blogdailyherald.com/wp-content/u ... mbs_up.gif

Reputation points? No way, posting on the site is not a competition, it's for fun.

Cheers


Andrew

Just came back to this thread. Starting to think now, I can see why green 1+ could cause rivalry and competition between modellers. So yes, more fun!

[AndrewR]

Great to see another unfinished project hop off a shelf and back onto a bench Andrew and after all the work that's already gone into this kit it's certainly a worthwhile contender for a finish . It's about the best Matchbox P-40 I've ever seen.

Definitely not one of Matchbox's better kits, the canopy error is bizarre, and the chin intake is not good too - they got it right on the Tempest VI kit, but failed here. I'd say a "B" team effort.

This GB has been good for getting some stuff off the bench all right

Cheers

Andrew

[AndrewR]

Exhaust stubs and wheels fitted. Another coat of matt varnish applied.



I've also masked the canopy for the vertical frames and primed them.

Cheers

Andrew

[AndrewR]

And I've now managed to finish off the prop and spray OD on the canopy frames.



Here's the plane on its stand. The prop is blu-tacked on.

[AndrewR]

After some sepia wash has been applied.



And with the partially painted canopy. It's come out quite well. I'll tackle the other frames later in the week.

[Dazzled]

Looking good Andrew and a nice change from all the Airfix new-tool P40s (good as they are) being built recently

[AndrewR]

Looking good Andrew and a nice change from all the Airfix new-tool P40s (good as they are) being built recently

It's turning out better than I expected, looking at the sprues

I still have to do a desert Kittyhawk though.