Hi guys,

Here is some work on my almost OOB Hasegawa 1/32 P-40E cockpit. I'm just concentrating on making it look as good as possible without adding a lot of detail to it.

While it looks pretty decent with some painting, it is not very accurate for a P-40E. The various placards are from the BarracudaCals 112 Sqdn P-40s sheet. The instrument panel is mostly hand painted. Only the white rectangles on the port side of the panel under the instruments are decals. I used the decal for the dials, but they have wide white rings around the dials, which the real instruments do not have, so I scrapped the decal dials. Glass was simulated with epoxy.

The fuselage halves are together, but work has stopped for now, as I have to get ready for the IPMS UK show next week in Telford. Really looking forward to this show.







Hope you like it.

Roy

M.

It's good to have a friend here at my shoulder with a little time to spend, til I find love again -F. C. Collins W. C. Bickhardt

One of the best pits I have seen....

I don't know how some of you guys do it.

Old age causing us to move up in scale? lol
Cheers,
George.

awesome as spanish school...maybe the next step...amazing

hello

And i'm sure the P-40 will be ACES as to the way u have started it.Larry

I love your painting and shading!

.

That looks really great !!! -Some lovely tones happening there, cant wait to see more , cheers Pete.

I love Hasegawa kits, possibly even more than Tamiya. Not sure exactly why. Certainly not easier to build. The P-40 is a mass of drop in panels. While they fit pretty well generally, they still require a lot of work to blend them in. I really wish they had molded 2 fuselages; a short and long tail. Getting the separate tail unit on cleanly is a challenge.

George, are you saying I'm getting old and blind?

Just because I need glasses AND Optivisors to work on 1/72nd scale, doesn't mean that ... OK, yes! Its harder to work in God's one true scale these days.

Roy

One thing I love that you and other super-talented modellers do is chip and scratch the paint. It looks so random and subtle....and real. I've tried tiny brushes, wire dipped in paint, torn scoch-brite pads...etc. Mine look okay, but I can't ever seem to achieve quite the same fidelity. My paint is too thin, or thick....the scratch is out of scale, or it doesn't show up well.
On and on. Parts of it I'll like but I can't achieve any consistency. Any pointers you could offer?

Thanks....Parker

Hi Parker.

Glad you like it. Paint chipping, like all weathering is hard to pull off and make it look organic and natural. My best advice would be to take your camera and go and find some paint chipped surfaces. Construction equipment, dumpsters, old pickup trucks are all great souces for real paint chipping.

I do mine with Floquil old silver or gunmetal, some thinner and a good pointed brush. I swear by Windsor Newton Series 7 brushes. Expensive, but nothing holds a point like they do.

I hate to say it, but practice is the best way to learn it. Remember to study photos of real aircraft. Study wear patterns. Wing roots, canopy sills, some light chipping around removable panels. Vary the size and intensity of chipping. A few bold, heavily chipped areas balanced out by a good number of small and very small areas. Try to avoid patterns and making the individual chips the same exact size. Make it random. Remember to decrease the chipping outside of the prop arc and as you move out and back on the airframe. Wingtips and trailing edges show almost no chipping, unless there is a problem with the paint. Do NOT chip along every panel line. It doesn't happen.

Also, another thing to avoid is to match the shape of a paint chipped area across a panel line, especially if they are removable panels. They are different sectiosn, and chip differently. Its very possible to have chipping only on one side of a panel line.

Some guys like to use prismacolor silver pencils, but they just look too waxy to me and lack the real sharp edge of chipping. Of course , the best way is to underpaint with a tough silver, then paint your camo over the top of it, and slowly pick away at the camo paint leaving the silver exposed. Easy to say, tough to do effectively.

Its mostly practice my friend. That, and being observant.

HTH Roy