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

I had a google on US interior colours before i started the pony ..... I think i ended up more confused lol

This is what they had to say about P40s , though i bet you you already know this and more

Unlike some other manufacturers (like Boeing), Curtiss painted their aircraft directly at the factory.

The cockpit of the P-40 was Curtiss Cockpit Green, which was the Berry Brothers' (a local paint vendor) approximation of Interior Green. Reportedly it was a little browner than Interior Green.

The scalloped cutouts inside the fuselage windows aft of the cockpits on P-40D to M models were usually painted the same as the camouflage colour. As the rear windows could be easily detached for re-painting, most field repaints were also performed this way. Earlier P-36 Hawk production practice and some photos of the early P-40D and Es indicate that Curtiss could initially have used a different colour for the cutouts. It could have been the same as the cockpit colour, but the author was not able to find any positive confirmation of this.


I guess the inside colour was less likely to be changed in the field than the camo ?

Sounds feasible Dave.

As I said, unfortunately I don't have access to a camera til next week so I'll have to write a thousand words instead. I've been detailing the pit over the weekend with the Eduard PE bits. Settled on a green shade by mixing a bit of black into green zinc chromate and spraying that on. Then highlighted the raised details with dry-brushed plain Zinc Chromate. I'm happy with result. Seat is painted silver.

I did all of my work on Sunday outside on my patio as the weather's been spectacular so the box of parts and basic tools were set up on a sqaur of plywood and little tables next to my lounger. Ghetto blaster with some CD's plugged in and playing nicely. Marguerita (just one) an arms length away. Birds signing, no-one breaking the peace with their lawn mowers, an idylic setting. After I finished a most productive afternoon with the last pieces of PE on the instrument panel PE work, I packed everything away to throw a steak on the barby for supper - or so I thought.

Today, Monday, when I came home for lunch, I went down to the basement shop to dab some Future into the IP dials. But wait, where's the instrument panel? Checked the plywood board I'd been using as a table top with all the tools, glue, etc. then sifted through the box - twice - nothing. Looked on the floor, then began retracing my steps up the stairs, checking the carpet, through the kitchen, then back outdoors - nada. A careful look on the stone patio around where I was sitting - nyet. Looking up, ominous clouds. As anyone from Alberta can tell you, this could mean anything from nothing to a tornado and anything in between but I was convinced it was at least going to rain, HARD. Another desperate look around the patio did not locate the beast so I gave up and retraced my steps slowly back inside as the raindrops started to fall. Back downstairs for another look through the box, (isn't that the famous definition of insanity?) when I began hearing the drumming of some serious rain horizontal rain on the windows. Back upstairs, looking outside, the patio now resembled the sea around Cape Horn the rain now having flooded the area and the wind now whipping the water around at Gale 5. And then it began to hail! After about 10 minutes of this, I finally accepted the fact that, if this thing was outside, it would likely be picked up and floated to any number of places if not smashed by the hail. With that happy thought, I headed back to a lovely afternoon at work.

During a particularly exciting meeting in the afternoon, with my focus rivetted on the conversation, it occurred to me that maybe the damned IP fell onto my shirt, pants, or the seat cushion of the lounger, which I dutifully folded and put away the night before, and that, perhaps with some not-yet-dry CA glue having possibly oozed out, the IP had stuck to one of these objects. Convinced that this was most likely the case, the minute I got home after work, I inspected the shirts and shorts I'd worn on Sunday, hoping to find the little bugger there - nope. Ah! well, then it must be on the lounger cushion - you guessed it, not a trace. Bucking the insanity definition once again, I walked over to where I'd been working on the patio for a last look, and there, plain as day, within the arc of a glorious rainbow, dancing nymphs, and trumpeting angels was the errant panel sitting on a nondescript flagstone right where I'd already looked, and probably stepped several times! Joy of joys! My build can continue unabated!

Other than that, it was an OK day.

And i thought dropping stuff on the carpet was dangerous enough !

Great story. I've already been crawling around on the floor looking for parts, and I haven't done anything but put five parts together on the engine. So glad you found your panel.

Me too. Thanks guys.

Maybe have to rethink that Marguerita thing. I've been warned before!

Glad you found the part Andy. Not so sure about those trumpeting angels though - dancing nymphs, maybe, but angels .....

Bu$$er me if I'm not clapping for you Andy.....................have a Margarita!!!!!!

OK Vic, if you say so!

Andy, Andy, Andy....what a great adventure, would have liked to see the unedited Camcorder version of your quest, although most of the sound may well have been edited out for the colourful language....

No colourful language emitted (loudly at least). Neighbours have young kids.

Sounds like a 'Great Escape'. Surely that's all your bad luck used up on this build.

Let's hope so Gerry. Will do a maximum effort on my 410 this weekend so will set this one aside for a bit.

Here are some pics of where this build stands today:

First off, the instrument panel that almost became lost in oblivion. The upper sections are coloured Eduard PE which have a bit too gray a tinge for my liking but it will need to suffice as the switch and breaker panel on the lower piece has some nice, fine detail that would be lost if I tried to darking the background. Instrument bezels have been filled with several drops of Future to get the glassy look. The pedals are a bit of a disappointment but look worse in this severe close-up than they will once put in the tub. The left pedal broke on me while cutting it from the sprue so a rapair can be seen. The pedal faces have received tiny plates cut from excess unpainted PE and these are to represent the manufacturer's placards that appeared there. The panel between the pedals has no PE replacement so the dials have been highlighted with dry-brushed white. There are a few more bits to go on here yet, including the gun sight so I'll post another shot later when this is done.



Next is the port cockpit wall with throttle quadrant and trim wheels. The basic colour is MM Chromate Green darkened with black. High points in the molded pieces have been dry-brushed with light Chromate Green and a wash of darker green appears in the shadow areas, all to accent the raised details. Scratches, dust, and general wear has been subtly added with a very light dry-brush of light green.



Two pics of the partly finished tub follow. The seat has had the sidewalls thinned significantly and is painted with Testors Silver. The cutouts in the brace where the seat bottom meets the back were molded in the seat and the recesses were filled with black to suggest the fact that these were actually holes. Eduard PE bits appear on the starboard wall and the seatbelts are also PE. I have yet to add a fabricated oxygen hose on this side as this was omitted in the molding. Once again, the highlighting and weathering techniques described above were applied here as well. I go t a bit carried away and covered up the two gas tank gauges on the floor so I'll need to remove the dust colour from these.




Finally, we have the wheel wells painted with the basic green and the wing halves glued together, ready for sanding.



And that's it for today. As always, comments welcome, especially from the P-40 experts. Thanks for stopping by.

all looks top banana to me

That all looks good Andy!The lost adventures had me smiling.The same about happened to me with a shoulder harness on the 152 for two days which Wayne emailed to be quieter.

Very nice work Andy!

Looks fantastic!

Looking tops Andy.