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World War II
Discuss WWII and the era directly before and after the war from 1935-1949.
Hosted by Rowan Baylis
1:48 P-40E
Merlin
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#017
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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 - 03:03 AM UTC
Hi there

As a little light relief from my epic WnW AEG, I couldn't resist tackling the Hasegawa Kittyhawk that I bought the other day. This is very much a side project - just something to turn to while paint's drying or I need a break to refocus.

Anyway, in time honoured fashion, the first job was to completely ignore the instructions and tackle the fuselage inserts early:





I'm not really worried about seams at this stage - I just want to get the panel lines matching up as well as I can. From a test fit, if you followed the instructions, some re-scribing looks inevitable. Once glued and sanded, this way looks quite encouraging...

All the best

Rowan
PeeJay74
#363
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Pennsylvania, United States
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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 - 03:53 AM UTC
I think you will find it an easy kit with a really nice fit overall Rowan. I built it as the box art not long ago and the only remotely annoying spot were the nose inserts, which were shallow on my kit. Just a little thin card underneath to make them flush. The pros more than made up for that one con. I liked it so much I went out and got another E along with their P-40N.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Shark mouth in desert camo? It would only be fair since so many American Warhawks copied the famous grin the British introduced...
thegirl
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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 - 05:11 AM UTC
What are ...instructions




Terri
JPTRR
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RAILROAD MODELING
#051
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Tennessee, United States
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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 - 06:50 AM UTC
Hi Rowan,

It is a good model but I had bad experiences with their modular inserts. They did not fit as well as some folk's experience.

What I've read and intend to do with my next one is to attach the inserts opposite of the instructions. I recall attach the parts after the fuselage halves were joined. I will do the opposite - attach the inserts and then join the halves.
Merlin
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#017
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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 - 12:06 PM UTC
Hi Fred

I well remember your frustration with the kit - that's why I've ditched the instructions at this stage.

@Paul - I haven't really thought about the colour scheme yet. I'll have a hunt to see if I've got any aftermarket decals in the Stash before deciding. One way or another, though - I think it's a safe bet it'll have a shark's mouth of some description.

All the best

Rowan
Emeritus
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Uusimaa, Finland
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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 - 12:31 PM UTC
Oh yeah, those inserts...

While it was nothing that couldn't be solved with some filling and rescribing of panel lines, I had a bit of trouble getting the inserts lined up on the P-40M I built a couple of years ago. Fortunately, having read about it beforehand, I built the fuselage halves before joining them.

This was the best I could get the tail inserts lined up. Was it any better on yours, Rowan?
Joel_W
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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 - 07:38 PM UTC
Rowan,
Looking forward to following your build. Should be a nice, relaxing build for you, especially in between that WNW kit. I'm still way too chicken to try anything with multiple wings, as I have enough issues with just single wing aircraft.

Joel
iakarch
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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 - 09:26 PM UTC
Rowan,

beautiful kit, i look forward to following your build.

Irvin


Eetu, I think Hasegawa would be better fit than that. But its always good practice to dry fit the parts a few times before glue.
Emeritus
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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 - 11:14 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Eetu, I think Hasegawa would be better fit than that. But its always good practice to dry fit the parts a few times before glue.

When building kits with modular inserts, I've grown to expect at least some work blending them in, but I with the P-40M kit I was a little bit surprised by the fit of the cockpit rear and tail inserts.

Oh, I did dry fit the parts multiple times to ensure the best fit and minimize the need for filling. With the tail insert that was the best I could get the panel lines to line up: three lines matching nicely and one not at all. Well, better to have to fill up and rescribe one panel line on each side of the rear fuselage than all four on each side having really ugly kinks in them.
iakarch
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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 - 11:24 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Eetu, I think Hasegawa would be better fit than that. But its always good practice to dry fit the parts a few times before glue.

When building kits with modular inserts, I've grown to expect at least some work blending them in, but I with the P-40M kit I was a little bit surprised by the fit of the cockpit rear and tail inserts.

Oh, I did dry fit the parts multiple times to ensure the best fit and minimize the need for filling. With the tail insert that was the best I could get the panel lines to line up: three lines matching nicely and one not at all. Well, better to have to fill up and rescribe one panel line on each side of the rear fuselage than all four on each side having really ugly kinks in them.


I agree, It looks like Rowan did a good job of fitting and re-scribing.
Merlin
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#017
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Posted: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 - 12:33 AM UTC
Cheers everyone for your interest and encouragement.

@ Irvin and Eetu - I've gone by matching up the panel lines in assembling the parts. I've smoothed out the seam, but haven't need to re-scribe anything (yet...). The rear fuselage was a better match on the starboard side than the port, but neither had the complete mis-match you've shown.

The "turtle deck" wasn't the best of fits, and I added a thin plastic card spacer at the base on both sides.

The nose inserts will definitely sit too low without some backing.

@ Joel - seeing as my original plan was to "dip a toe in the water" with a WnW Fokker Eindecker, I can't believe how I've ended up jumping in at the deep-end by tackling a twin-engine biplane bomber!

All the best

Rowan
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Posted: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 - 01:39 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Cheers everyone for your interest and encouragement.

@ Irvin and Eetu - I've gone by matching up the panel lines in assembling the parts. I've smoothed out the seam, but haven't need to re-scribe anything (yet...). The rear fuselage was a better match on the starboard side than the port, but neither had the complete mis-match you've shown.

Funny how differently the short and long tail inserts fit. Just based on the fit, I would have probably guessed the long-tailed variants were released first, leading people to complain and Hasegawa paying more attention the next time, but according to Scalemates the P-40E was the first of the new-tool line of P-40 kits by Hasegawa. Go figure.

The nose inserts on the P-40M also sat a little too low, requiring either filling or gluing thin styrene sheet on the back side, depending on the part.
Merlin
Staff MemberSenior Editor
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#017
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Posted: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 - 03:05 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Funny how differently the short and long tail inserts fit. Just based on the fit, I would have probably guessed the long-tailed variants were released first, leading people to complain and Hasegawa paying more attention the next time, but according to Scalemates the P-40E was the first of the new-tool line of P-40 kits by Hasegawa. Go figure.


Hi Eetu

The kits may well have been designed in parallel - just released at different times.

Whatever, as you can see, with my P-40E, there shouldn't be too much hassle with the rear fuselage:



But the panel lines don't match up on the nose inserts (plus, they're too small):



Instead of a backing sheet (attached now), an alternative option would have been to skin the exterior ready to scribe the panel lines once the inserts are fitted and blended in. As it is, I'll fill them and re-scribe.

All the best

Rowan
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