P-40 Tomahawk IIb (1/48 Academy)

[Steven000]

Hi guys,
My next 1/48 build will be this P-40 from Academy.
The kit looks nice and easy to build.

Boxart & (a few) sprues...


Cockpit is very basic


The exhaust didn't look realistic, so I took a very fine dremel-bit and drilled the pipes out, than melted the plastic a bit with Tamiya ET...


The bottom-engine-cowling had some extrusion things inside, I tried to clean them out with a small drill...


The wheels don't have any tread on them, I used a fine saw-blade and carved a tread-pattern to make them look more interesting.
This is a technique I picked up from a Plasmo-youtube video I think...


Then I brushed Tamiya Extra Thin on them to melt/clean the tread. I'm quite happy with the result.


Gluing the wing...


I just sprayed an interior green on the inside...


And some more parts on sticks for painting...


That's all for now
Thanks for reading and kind regards
Steven

 

[Tim Marlow]

Nice work Steven, especially on the tyre tread.

 

[colin m]

All looks very nice Steven. I am a bit surprised that a 1:48 Academy kit is so basic, I wonder if it's a re=box ? I've built a couple of their 1:72's and they were quite nice kits.

 

[Steven000]

...I am a bit surprised that a 1:48 Academy kit is so basic, I wonder if it's a re=box ?...

Yes I was a bit surprised too, I bought it for a good price and l liked the boxart. Just took a look and it seems it's indeed a re-box from a 1996 kit with new decals. I think it can be turned into a nice model though. We'll see

(The original kit from 1996)

Cheers, Steven

 

[Steven000]

Hi guys,

The cockpit was very basic, but in fact there isn't much visible afterwards because of the tapered fuselage :
/o\

I painted the seat in an aluminium color and gave it a dirt wash.
Then right before gluing the fuselage-halves I decided to add seat-belts with paper-tape and superglue.
I painted some buckles onto the tape...


Fuselage-halves...


Gluing the fuselage, a rather good fit considering the molds are from 1996...


I had some minor fitting issues getting the fuselage and wing together,
When I got them in place I noticed the wing-profile didn't align with the fuselage-profile as I wanted...


So I made a piece of streched-sprue and fitted it under the wing profile to slightly adjust its curve, that worked great...


Clear parts...


I masked the clear parts with 18mm Tamiya tape, it was quite hard because the raised canopy-detail was very subtle...


The canopy parts were fitted with Micro Kristal Klear, I went for a closed look.
I had a small issue with the middle piece, it needed to be lowered just a tiny bit, so I scraped some plastic of the fuselage...


I sprayed the canopy with an interior green,
then added some black primer into all cavities and finished up with a light grey primer...


That's all for now, thanks for reading and kind regards
Steven

 

[boatman]

HI Steven very nice work on this tomahawk I really liked this plane in this camo an the sharks mouth an its good in the film death race with Dough McClure an roy thines where they are flyin the planes in the deasert
chris

 

[minitnkr]

Looking good Steven. My father & grandfather built these during the war. Wow Chris, that's a blast from the past. PaulE

 

[topgazza]

Loving how you've turned a "simple" model into a proper detailed build by attention to the small things like the tyres.

 

[Steven000]

... I really liked this plane in this camo an the sharks mouth an its good in the film death race ...

Yes that 'shark mouth' looks really great on a P-40 Chris, something that attracted me as a kid I remember. But I hope that decal will cooperate well!

... My father & grandfather built these during the war ...

Nice to hear Paul, it must have been quite a thing to work on a warbird like that.

Loving how you've turned a "simple" model into a proper detailed build by attention to the small things like the tyres.

Thanks Gary, yes I think some extra detail can't harm this model, happy you like it


This afternoon I painted the prop, I sprayed a white base-coat before spraying the (more difficult) red and yellow colors...


I also sprayed the bottom color, Vallejo 'UK Azure Blue'


Kind regards!
Steven

 

[topgazza]

I prefer that blue Steven. A lot of builds specify Sky S which is a pale green and always puzzles me however accurate.

Also I normally brush paint the props etc but on the P51D I'm building I'm going to use the airbrush

 

[Jim R]

Hi Steven
Just found this. You're doing a great job of this older, rather basic kit. Those tyres look really good. Seat belt buckles needed a steady hand. Nice that you got the wing profile to fit. Neat canopy masking. As you said it will make a very pleasing model.
Jim

 

[papa 695]

Looking very good Steven. Very nice work so far.

 

[Steven000]

Thanks Gary, Jim & Ian!


After about 4 hours I masked the largest part of the blue underside.
Usually I wait a bit longer but my 'home-alone-day' was ending and it would be great if the 1st camo-color is on before the next time at the bench...


After that I sprayed the first camo-color, Earth Yellow...


So next is the dark brown color...
Kind regards,
Steven

 

[adt70hk]

Looking good Steven. Keep up the good work!

ATB

Andrew

 

[yak face]

Looking really nice now steven , the tomahawk ( warhawk/ kittyhawk ) always looks fantastic in the 112 squadron scheme . Cheers tony

 

[Steven000]

Thanks Andrew & Tony!

I had a few hours today to mask and spray the 2nd camo color...

Masking with Blu-Tack...


Tamiya tape...


Right after spraying the dark brown I removed the masking tape.
I still need to add some interior green to the wheel openings...




Perhaps tomorrow I can spray a first gloss coat for the decals...
Thanks for reading and kind regards
Steven

 

[JR]

Top marks Steven looks really good, as for that masking on the canopy I take my hat off to you !

 

[papa 695]

Great paint work Steven, looking very nice indeed.

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Great build thread Steven. Plane is looking awesome.

 

[Steven000]

Thanks John, Ian & Steve!

I was able to spray on the first gloss-coat this evening, hope to start with decals tomorrow!

(gloss lucky varnish, mig)

Kind regards,
Steven