500 Series P-40 Build

[r wheatley]

man I hate to keep asking questions ,but your builds look so neat, did you cut each piece of tissue exact size for each section, or over size and then trim?

Ronnie

[scigs30]

I would only trim one side. The in between formers was cut exact using the plans. Then the only over hand or extra I had was over the top keel or bottom keel. That was the only parts that needed trimming. Also I cut the tissue off behind the canopy and added a stringer and recovered. The sagging effect was really bothering me.

[scigs30]

I have mostly everything covered. I normally do 2 coats of dope, but this time I did 3 to help with the acrylics. I will let you know how that goes. Esaki handles the acrylics just fine with 1 or 2 coats of dope. The top rear portion of the fuselage behind the cockpit was bothering me way too much. So I stripped the tissue and added a stringer so there is no tissue sag....Now I am happy. Once again I am pretty pleased with how the fuselage came out. I think I was 9 or 10 years old when I covered like this last. Definitely a good method for a beginner or if there is a complicated fuselage. Next I will finish the bottom belly and cover that. Then I will add the paper fillets and rear canopy. I bought my paints today and will begin airbrushing next week. This may take some time since I think I will mask this bird.

[scigs30]

With the fillets done, the bottome covered, I am ready for the paint shop tomorrow.

[Steve_in_NH]

With the fillets done, the bottome covered, I am ready for the paint shop tomorrow.

When you attach adjacent sections of tissue, do you overlap the pieces or cut them to mate exactly? Thanks for any help in advance. Really enjoyed the progress of this build.

[scigs30]

Steve, Obviously since I covered in many sections, there is a lot of overlapping. Still, I try to do a nice job, and each section overlaps by 1/16 of an inch. This is white tissue so that is why you don't see the overlaps. I Promise you that if it was colored tissue, you would see the overlaps.

[Scott]

Great work on that P-40.

[scigs30]

Been real busy lately, so I haven't had much time building. I painted the bottom Gull Grey, and the top Dark Earth. Hopefully in the next day or so I will add the green.

[r wheatley]

do you use the same acrylic paints that are used on plastic models, like model masters, and does the tissue sag again when you spray it?
plane looks great!

Ronnie

[Scott]

That's a nice smooth paint finish,looks good.

[scigs30]

I use Testors MM acrylics thinned with MM thinner and 2 drops of retarder. The tissue does sag until the paint is dry, but with domestic tissue it takes 3 coats of dope prior to painting.

[scigs30]

I finished the P-40, not too happy with my paint job. Probably the worst I have done in many years. The light grey and dark earth went on great. The Dark Euro green was a different story. I used a brand new airbrush and thinned the paint way too much so coverage was not too great. But I always finish what I start no matter how bad things go........Also the canopy was airbrushed with the same green used on the camo scheme, even though is looks like a lighter green. The reason is because the green was sprayed over the dark earth on the fuselage. The green for the canopy was sprayed over white primer, should have sprayed dark earth first then the green.......I am not happy with the paint job overall, so I decided not to fix it. I am sure someday I will build another. Final weight balanced is 26 grams,, should fly at 30 grams. I used the Longhorn P-40 decor.

[ADW 123]

could you tell me how to get a really good papering job like yours?

[Scott]

Great finished P-40.

[H65 Driver]

ADW, I recommend you search these forums for other builds by Scigs30. He has gone to great lengths on many occasions to describe his building and covering techniques. His Cessna 150 build, if I remember correctly, was especially informative.