**** DONE: 1/48 Curtiss P-40 N "Hep Cat" 75 Sqdn RAAF Commonwealth GB

[Vic Balshaw]

I say Karl, damn posh mate.

 

[Crimea_River]

I agree. Close-ups are always brutal but these details look excellent mate! Great job on the spinner especially - tricky work that.

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

You did a great job on that one Karl. I like the way you got the spinner done. Very nice.

 

[rochie]

thank you all guys.

Andy following your tip worked a treat but 30 - 40 minutes of masking for 30 -40 seconds of painting was a right pain !!!!

 

[Crimea_River]

Being a cook, you should know that it's all in the prep!

 

[rochie]

Being a cook, you should know that it's all in the prep!

never thought of it like that mate, very true though

anybody have any thoughts on how weathered Hep Cat may have been, its hard to tell from the pictures i've seen !

 

[Wayne Little]

never thought of it like that mate, very true though

anybody have any thoughts on how weathered Hep Cat may have been, its hard to tell from the pictures i've seen !

I'm sure Andy (Wildcat) will chip in with some pics....got some myself so will post a couple tomorrow night Karl...

Dusty comes to mind over the green though!

Here's a pic, got my daughter to create the jpeg off the PDF...quicker than me trying to figure it out on this new laptop....

 

[rochie]

thanks Wayne, i'm sure Andy and Peter will keep me right !

 

[B-17engineer]

Nice work Karl!

 

[treyzx10r]

Karl looks great ,pics on the 'puter do'nt do it justice as we all know

 

[rochie]

thank you Harrison/Trey

 

[ozhawk40]

Good going Karl - As far as weathering goes you can go as far as you want I would say. It was the aircraft of the squadron CO, first Tolhurst and then Thomson. In the formation shot it appears to be either 'fresh' or to have been 'waxed' for a bit of extra speed, so it might have been kept in better nick than the other squadron aircraft. By the time they finished their stint in the islands they were all a bit worse for wear.8)

Cheers

Peter

 

[rochie]

Good going Karl - As far as weathering goes you can go as far as you want I would say. It was the aircraft of the squadron CO, first Tolhurst and then Thomson. In the formation shot it appears to be either 'fresh' or to have been 'waxed' for a bit of extra speed, so it might have been kept in better nick than the other squadron aircraft. By the time they finished their stint in the islands they were all a bit worse for wear.8)

Cheers

Peter

thanks Peter, i look at that formation pic with the caption saying "at the wars end" and wonder if they were given a good clean up knowing the picture was going to be taken ?
pic below is from "Seek and strike" by David Wilson - all photo credits to him and Alan Thompson

 

[Wildcat]

I'm not much help Karl, those are the only pics I've got of that bird! No doubt she did suffer the effects of the topical sun though.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

If that's war's end Karl they would have been spruced up for the celebration flypast photo shoot.

 

[rochie]

thanks Guy's, i'm going to try and fade the upper colours a bit and maybe plenty of muck along the wing roots where mucky booted groundcrew and pilot trampled it in !

got a couple of hours of modelling time a bit later on this aftie to give it a go

 

[rochie]

well my plan didn't quite work out !
tha paint job looks a little faded, but not how i quite wanted and rather than ruin it i've decided to leave it as is.
i've done the panel lines with a pencil and added a bit of gun smoke and exhaust staining which i'll add to after the decals are on.
the spinner and prop are dry fitted for now and a coat of future is on as well.
pics are a bit poor as its freezing here with a very dark overcast at the moment so they were shot under a desk lamp

 

[Airframes]

It's looking bl**dy good mate! I think the 'fading' will look even better once the matt coat goes on. If you can mix some Tamiya Flat Base with 'Klear' (Future), then add just a touch more Flat base (experiment first), it'll give a more faded look still. Then, when dry, you could add some spots, patches etc of the actual colour, to give a patchy effect, or where rain, hands etc have moved the dust. That's how i finished-off the Spit, having dry-brushed and used pastels first.

 

[rochie]

cheers mate, will look at doing just that, will have to try with Vallejo flat coat though !

 

[Airframes]

OK mate. Add a touch of flat base to the Vallejo, just a touch, and try it on some scrap painted in a dark colour. You're aiming to get a normal, clear matt finish, with just a hint of 'mist' to it. If you add too much Flat base, it'll start to leave a white, dusty look, so just add a tad more Vallejo, and so on.