Underwater P-40 wreck

**rjwood_uk** · 15-03-2008

this is all going to come in one hit as i started it over on the ARC.

after Greg mentioning the crash dioramas (something i have always wanted to do) i got my backside in gear and got down to it.

Im using eduards 1/48 P-40N with CAF decals. i know its a nice kit to "wreck" but its the only one i have that could possibly be at the bottom of the pasific.

The warhawk is all painted and im decaling it as i type. Im going to depict it having not been in the water for too long. maybe 5-10 years.

The story is Cpt. Wang Kuang Fu got hit by enemy machine gun loosing all contoll to the controll surfaces. He managed to bail out but the warhawk hit the water fast! smashing the canopy to smitherines.
hitting the bottom at quite a low angle it skids across the loose sand hitting some wrocks wich tare open the air scoop and rip a chunk out of one of the wings and the horisontal stabilizer.

well there ya go. iv got the wrocks down, just waiting for the plaster to set and il get some pics up.
Richard

**rjwood_uk** · 15-03-2008

well.

iv done the basic layout of the dio. i have now paper-mache'd over the whole thing and going to give it a coat of primer.

also here are some pics of the plane progressing...or un-progressing should i say. this was built clean so i have had to add damage. still a bit to do, i have the new, broken and twisted canopy frame waiting to glue on.

there will also be a few panels laying around as well as a half buried landing gear and door. also the bomb that came un-attatced on impact with the water will lay half burried near by. and obvioulsy all the colours tonned down, covered in algie, sea life and rust!

let me know what you think so far. just need to go buy some fine sand.

Richard

**rjwood_uk** · 15-03-2008

I managed to find some pretty fine sand online and it came today so i have got on with some progress today.

Someone on the ARC suggeste that i show some panels ripped off and show the internal frame work. Also he pointed out that the bullet holes were a little on the large side.

Well im not going to rip any pannels off but i have ripped off most of one of the stabalizers and am going to show some mangeld framework comming out of it.

and as for the bullet holes, i made them on the large side on purpose in the first place so that when i add all the rust and bit it will show the effect of the rust eating away at the skin.

on these ww2 fighers would the stablizers internal structor be made of a mix of aluminium for the frame and wood for the supports or all wood/all aluminium?

sorry about the lighting, the window is south facing but its a bit grey outside.

Richard

adamkijak · 15-03-2008

Looks really nice, i can't wait for the painting so you can give the sand and all that staff proper tone because at this moment it looks like sahara crash or some beach (which could be quite a nice idea).

**rjwood_uk** · 15-03-2008

hi Adam. yes i know the sand is too dark and i need to tone down all the colours....etc

although it would be easier to say it s a crash on a desert beach or something im going to stick to the underwater theme. may be hard work but i think it will be worth it in the end!

Richard

adamkijak · 15-03-2008

I keep my fingers crossed mate, looks really good.

**rjwood_uk** · 15-03-2008

well here is a pic of the sand i got;

i got it from here:

Decorative coloured sand at Rista.co.uk

in hindsight i should have gone for the natural colour but i thought that might be wrong and went with the champagne one. never mind. the sand is nice and fine as you can see and i can always airbrush it to get the right tone.

maybe a mod could add Decorative coloured sand and gravel for crafts and displays at Rista.co.uk to the modeling resource directory?

Richard

alan2525 · 15-03-2008

If it's been underwater in the pacific for 5-10 years wouldn't it have lots of coral and marine life starting to grow on it?

Years ago I was watching one of Jacques Cousteau's documentaries and he was exploring the underwater wreck of the B17 BlackJack. The film of it was excellent and it was amazingly atmospheric to see the aircraft in such an alien environment. Obviously this aircraft has been underwater a lot longer but it's amazing how fast nature takes a hold.

Blackjack on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

One thing that would be really neat to do - If you got some clear acrylic and made a glass case from it, you could give it a blue tint and then use some water clear resin on top for a rippled wave effect - then it'd look like it was underwater, giving everything that slightly blue tinted colouring.

**rjwood_uk** · 15-03-2008

Hi alan yes, im going to add coral, plants. maybe a starfish and all that stuff once the sand has dried.

as for the water i am exploring different options, your idea is one of them. another, harder, smellier aproach would be to use clear cast resin. but i would need about £60 worth.

Richard

**Bunkerbarge** · 15-03-2008

Richard, be carefull with the rust. Most aircraft construction materials would be aluminium so there would not be any rust around the bullet holes. You would have to investigate the engine components as well but I suspect you will find that there is very little ferrous metal used.