**** DONE: Kittyhawk Mk III James F. "Eddie" Edwards RCAF - Aircraft of the Aces GB.

[T Bolt]

Wonderful worl Andy! I love the weathering you've done.

 

[Wurger]

Smashing , Andy.

 

[Gnomey]

Good work Andy!

 

[brucejscott]

Outstanding work Andy.

 

[Crimea_River]

Wow, I'd like to thank the Academy, I mean the Hasegawa,...oh whatever.

Thanks everyone. A few days before I can finish the side panels. I've blended the edges in a bit and applied some Future today at lunch so I want that to completely dry before I mask anything.

 

[Wayne Little]

Waiting for more...

 

[Crimea_River]

Well OK then!

Masked and primed the frames for the side glazing. In blending the clear parts in, I had removed some of the paint on the top of the fuselage so this will need touching up, That's why you see the primer there. No work til Friday so pics then.

Cheers

 

[le_steph40]

There is something beautiful here...

 

[Airframes]

Nearly there Andy.

 

[Crimea_River]

Yes. In hindsight, the side glazing should have gone on before the paint, but since I broke one of them, I was hoping a replacement would arrive. The fit is not what I'd like it to be as the top edge protruded a bit but it's not too bad.

 

[Gnomey]

Looking good Andy!

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Hugh.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Thank-you my friend.

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[rochie]

nice work Andy, was it as much of a pain as it looks ?

 

[Crimea_River]

Not really Karl. Masking and painting that is; the filing and sanding of the glazing to make it sit perfectly flush was though as you'll see below.

I've now completed the side glaze framing paint and attached the antenna wires. Here's the port side. The clean-up along the top edge of the trimmed glazing is not as clean as I'd like it. If I had to do this all over again, I'd attach the glazing before even gluing the fuselage halves together and sand and polish the whole area. As it is now, I'll accept the results and will wait until my replacement parts arrive at which time I'll try to fix these areas. There's some dust that got in behind the galss that I'll need to blow out as well.

Here's the same view on the starboard side with the broken piece. You can see the break quite clearly but after I place the canopy strategically so the back frame of the canopy is over the break, a lot of this will be hidden. I debated about whether to paint the rear frame on this side in mid stone or dark earth but opted for the mid stone. my reasoning was that the glazing was likely removed to paint the middle stone over the green and that, in doing so, the crews likely painted the frames by hand while off the airplane and didn't bother changing colours. Any opinions on this?

A small piece of foil makes for a decent mirror:

Next, the antenna wires on the P-40 are quite the challenge and here you can see how I finished these off. First I drilled tiny holes into the wing and upper fuselage. The wire, which is 0.1mm diameter nylon thread, was then superglued into the holes and the center piece was drawn over the attachment on the tail and superglued in place. Then the two from the wings were pulled tight over the center wire and dabbed with a drop of superglue and accelerator. Once dry the excess was cut off using a brand new x-acto blade.

Here's and overall shot of the finished wires.

So we're almost done. I still need to glue on the canopy, attach the pitot tube and aiming reticles and that'll be it. You should see a finished post tomorrow if all goes well. Thanks for looking in.

 

[Gnomey]

Coming along nicely!

 

[T Bolt]

Excellent !!

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys.