Flying Tigers P-40B Warhawk

[palindrome]

After finishing my P-26A Peashooter, I took a detour from airplanes to build a castle. Now I'm back. I'm starting work on an American Volunteer Group (AVG) P-40B Warhawk (the AVG is the famous Flying Tigers). The model is from Paper AircraftWerks at ecardmodels.

The model is 1/32 scale. It is listed as a P-40C, but I believe the Flying Tigers only flew P-40Bs (planes initially manufactured for the RAF as Tomahawk IIBs). The model depicts plane #68, flown by Charles H. Older (who, per wikipedia, was later the judge who presided over Charles Manson's murder trial).

Here are low-res pictures of the cover and the parts pages:




This is the first digital model I've purchased and printed myself. All of the parts to be printed on normal paper are on a single page, but the parts that need to be reinforced with cardboard are spread throughout the other five pages. Fortunately the PDF file isn't protected, so I was able to make my own page with all the parts that need reinforcing so that the page could be glued in one piece:



I also made extra copies of parts that are to be thickened to 2 or 3 millimeters. Note to designers: please try to group up parts that need to be glued to cardboard so that those of us who use spray adhesive to do them can do them all in one shot. Thanks.

So far I'm very pleased with the design and the instructions. I'm just getting started, but I've put together the first chunk of the cockpit, with a number of fiddly little bits, and it's going together well:



Updates as I make progress. I'm putting together the control handles, dashboard, and seat at this point.

[MacSongLi]

I purchased this kit, but haven't had a chance to build it yet. The cockpit looks quite detailed. I look forward to your build and any information about tricks on this kit.

Thanks,
Gary

[Don Boose]

I have this one and the two Pearl Harbor P-40s and hope to build them some day. I will watch this thread closely.

Don

[Yeti]

Originally Posted by palindrome

It is listed as a P-40C, but I believe the Flying Tigers only flew P-40Bs (planes initially manufactured for the RAF as Tomahawk IIBs).

Actually I think the Tomahawk IIA is closer to the P-40B, and the Tomahawk IIB is closer to the P-40C. The difference in numbering systems between the Americans and British makes this one a little confusing. The A is the B, and the B is the C! The AVG also flew some P-40Es later into their tour.

At any rate, I look forward to following your build!

[milenio3]

Good start on this one, Palindrome!

I'm building the one from Stepan Ridnyi's, in winter camo, also from PaperAircraftWerks.
I'm not, however, doing a building thread (I should, but I have no pics of the assembly, sigh!)

But beware... the instructions are not that easy to follow. They lack lots of details on how to assemble.
It is doable, but takes a little patience.

Example: the instructions ask for connecting strips (diagram F, G and I of instructions).
The kit is not supplied with them, and you have to make them yourself. Is not a big deal,
but be careful how you make them, as you have to curve them to fit the fuselage.

Also, there are no strips to joint the fuselage and spinner parts at their ends (parts 26, 27, 28, 29, 41, 42, 43),
so create strips for them as well.

Please let me know if I can be of any assistance, as I'm almost done with the plane.



END OF THREAD HIJACK.

[MacSongLi]

Very nice build Gerardo, I wish you had done build photos. I would love to see them.

Gary

[palindrome]

Yeah, I was going to mention the missing connecting strips in my next update. The other thing odd about this model is that there are part numbers missing, which means you have to be VERY careful going through the instructions (e.g., working through the cockpit, there are no parts 11 or 14. It goes ..., 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, ...)

If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you post a picture of the cockpit showing where you attached the dashboard/control panel to the sides of the cockpit? The tabs on the sides of the dash don't match up properly with the marks on the cockpit walls, and the instructions don't help at all.

Thanks.

[palindrome]

I finished the cockpit shell, the control panel, and the seat.

The instructions have the control stick soldered to a long horizontal wire. Since I don't have silver solder to use to connect two pieces of paperclip, I tried various glues, which all failed. In the end, I made it by having a 90 degree bend at the bottom of the stick to form half the bottom wire, and then butted another short piece on the other side. I can't tell the difference, and I think this is an easier solution.

This was my first attempt at a layered control panel. There are a few errors (e.g., there's a hole that clips the bottom of the panel) but all in all it looks good. There is a piece of transparency film between the layers. It doesn't show up well in the picture, but it looks good on the model. My wife was impressed

As I noted above, I cannot figure out exactly where to mount the control panel - how high it's supposed to sit - because the tabs on the panel don't match the marks on the shell, and the instructions don't help at all. So I'm holding off until I have enough of the fuselage assembled to see how the cockpit sits in it before I attach the control panel.

The seat gets mounted later, after the fuselage is partly complete. There's a tubular frame that attaches the seat to the rear bulkhead; there's no attachment to the cockpit floor. I'm not sure why the instructions have you build the seat now, but I'm trying to follow them as closely as I can.



In my first post, I said that I was pleased with the instructions. Now that I'm into the details, I'm not. There's too many details left out, and there are no overall drawings to show where all the parts go as an assembled whole. This is definitely not a kit for the first-time builder. This is my third plane, and I'm reasonably comfortable that I'll finish it well, but if it had been my first, I would have been utterly lost...

[MacSongLi]

The cockpit looks great, and the kit is coming along nicely. Thanks for the detailed build photos.

Gary

[Don Boose]

Excellent work, and valuable info.

Don