The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

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The Great Auk
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The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by The Great Auk »

Hello all,
I'm hoping to get a start on this at 0-dark-30 tomorrow morning.

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I can't say enough about this kit. I've probably built 10 of them since they came out. I think it's the best early P-40 in 1/72 scale. Isn't that box art just aces? The painting guide on the back is very nice too.

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Even though I'm going to completely ignore it, I still appreciate the artistry and printing technology that went into it.

Oh, and I'll be having a little help early on...

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This is some fantastic coffee all the way from Seattle. I'm sure I'll appreciate the added kick compared to my everyday Folger's.

Kick-off is Sunday morning, I hope...

Stay tuned,

The Great Auk
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iggie
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by iggie »

Although I've not yet built one of the new tool P40s, they do look a very nice little kit. I've one or two in the stash so will be looking in for hints and tips....
Good luck with the blitz!
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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The Great Auk
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by The Great Auk »

Thanks, iggie! I think I'm going to need all the luck I can get.

I got started at 5:24AM local time this morning with a little help from the Good Coffee.

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I think the key might be doing as much painting in advance as possible and keeping the color scheme fairly simple.

Things went smoothly at first.

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I'm using acrylics and today they're drying relatively fast.

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Wait something's wrong with this picture.

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Ugh one of the wing guns is missing. I hate when that happens and this is the second time over the course of building 4 Airfix P-40s since December. This, the easily-snapped pitot tube, the sometimes high-riding canopy, and wonky rudder attachment & gap are about the only flaws in an otherwise excellent kit. Airfix sure beats the Academy P-40B by a country mile.

Here's how it all stands at the end of round one.

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The work actually only took about an hour, but I wanted to let things dry before taking pics. Boy do I miss real model kit boxes like the Monogram one I swiped for this build. I'm old enough to remember when all the boxes were like this. And only cost $.69. Now get off my lawn...

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I must be getting cranky. Time for a donut break before round two. Glazed blueberry. Yum yum.

The Great Auk
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Gregers
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by Gregers »

Looks like agood start. Wise move using a kit you have built before. Another tip to add to the list. Nice one.

All the best.

Greg
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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by Migrant »

That's an interesting approach, painting on the sprue before assembly. Nice choice of subject too, I love the new Airfix kits though the P-40 isn't one I've built so far.
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by jssel »

On board and watching. A proper Blitz so far. Love that kit and will do another.
Besting 60 years of mediocre building of average kits in the stand off scale
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by Old_Tonto »

Me too. Nice progress so far.
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East German Air Force (1956-90)
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by iggie »

Loving the early warnings for the pitfalls in this kit and enjoying the progress, good work!
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by The Great Auk »

Thank you for the encouragement! It's keeping my morale up!

Just a small update getting more paint on. Originally I was going to paint the fuselage after assembly but I changed my mind.

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I think I might chop the radio mast to use as a replacement wing gun and add a DF loop antenna in its place. If you ask me, there aren't enough DF loop-equipped P-40s and it will fit the mission nicely.

Not much to see on the obverse, but I got the lower horiz. stabs done.

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I also got the wings cleaned up and added a dot of white for the light.

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Can't quite make it out? Maybe this will help...

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Here's a close-up. I'm going to drop a dollop of clear Liquitex Acrylic Artists' Gloss Medium on it after the paint dries. I've had too many fruitless searches of my carpet looking for the kit lens that always flies off to nowhere when I cut it from the sprue.

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So this is the state of play as of 9:33AM local time. I've been listening to the Sundays while posting this which seems appropriate.

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I think it's snack time now. Nap time afterwards.

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That pig on the bacon jerky looks very alarmed. I don't I blame them.

The Great Auk
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by Old_Tonto »

Top snacks mate.
2023 - A:0 B:0 C:0
Current Projects:
East German Air Force (1956-90)
South African Air Force (1958-93)
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The Great Auk
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by The Great Auk »

Wow that nap was delicious. I think I realized I was old when I started to enjoy Sunday naps more than just about anything else.

Time (local was 12:47PM) for an update.

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The fuselage is buttoned up and the chin scoop added. That large gap typically disappears under paint if I can manage to do it right. The prop has been assembled as have the landing gear. I had to do a little touch-up painting.

I came across some pictures of an older model I built in a day.

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This was a vintage 1/72 Revell Fokker D.VII modified by using a SPAD XIII cowling and only using the upper wing.

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This was a simple color scheme consisting of two tones of gray with some very light olive stippled over it.

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It's snack time again.

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Next up with be putting the landing gear on, gluing the wings together and then attaching them to the fuselage. I have more clothespins at the ready.

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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by iggie »

Nice snacks! Very envious of the full fat Coke, I'm not allowed that nowadays......
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by Old_Tonto »

iggie wrote:Nice snacks! Very envious of the full fat Coke, I'm not allowed that nowadays......
Oh dear. Might I suggest Cider instead. It's one of your 5 a day. ;-)

Any progress shots Auk.
2023 - A:0 B:0 C:0
Current Projects:
East German Air Force (1956-90)
South African Air Force (1958-93)
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The Great Auk
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by The Great Auk »

Oops my apologies iggie. I don't mean to lead anyone down a primrose path...

Here's the latest as of 2:53PM local time.

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I added the top nose panel to the fuselage and the DF loop antenna on the rear deck. This was a prop shaft grommet that I sanded back. I left a nub of sprue on it to use as a base. The back part of that base is the rest of the sprue gate sanded to shape.

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While finding the DF loop part in my spares, I came across an orphan Airfix P-40 wing gun. I think it was a refugee from my SAAF P-40 built last December.

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Anyway the wings are together now and that gun almost looks like it belongs.

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Just in case you forgot which gun busted off.

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I did a little touch-up work after gluing the landing gear on.

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Next up is attaching the wings to the fuselage, perhaps the most stressful part of building this kit. I hope to get this done before supper, but in the meanwhile it's time for another snack.

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Maybe I can eat my way out of this?

The Great Auk
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Re: The Great Auk's Aukward Blitz Airfix P-40 Attempt

Post by iggie »

No worries Auk; I used to drink about 2ltrs of Coke a day until about five years ago. Now I stick to 'zero' drinks but not Coke as anything other than full fat Coke just ain't worth bothering with!
The orange cream looks good!
As does the build to be fair :grin:
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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