Guillow's kit#405 Curtiss P-40N

[heywooood]

just the beginning..

[heywooood]

[heywooood]

old school building style, cork core board, T-pins, wax paper, etc..

[heywooood]

I use the various dia. wood dowels to form the infill pieces to the radii required to match the fuselage formers and conform to the shape at each position. This minimizes the sanding and filling process a bit by keeping 'flat spots' away

[heywooood]

the spackling paste is applied with the wet willie method..put a dollop on your index finger, wet it, then smear it on like finger painting to work it into the wood grain and any fissures or defects that need filling.

[heywooood]

working on the cockpit now..

[Scott]

Great work,Heywooood.

[heywooood]

Thank You, Scott - I keep thinking about how these different kits come together. The game plan always has to accommodate the build. This one, for instance, cannot be painted until after final assembly - sans the LG..and the cockpit having to be completed and buttoned up long before final assembly and so on

The Stearman had to be painted in two separate components. It's just that the better solution depends on the configuration of the model. On this one a major component of the fuselage cannot go on until after the wing is mounted and all must be fared
and gusseted, filled and sanded to look as one complete assembly.

[Blacksheep214]

Coming along for sure! Keep up the good work! I really can't wait to see the finished product!

[Bis]

Looking good

[heywooood]

Finally back to work on the P40n
I’ll post a few WIP pictures soon. I have the wing attached along with the horizontal stab..the vertical stab and rudder will be left off until the belly pan and wing fillets are done.
My plan is to have manually retractable landing gear. I want to be able to either hang the plane in the den or set it on a shelf now and again.
Still considering the Aleutian Tiger markings - probably wont decide until the model is completely assembled.

[heywooood]

progress update:
I have fabricated and installed the belly pan, attached the wing and finished the fillet or wing root fairing.
The main landing gear housing is attached and sealed, the canopy is masked and has been painted with the interior color as have the wheel wells
here are a couple of images..

[heywooood]

color applied..

[heywooood]

what to say about Guillow's decals...
I have found them to be too thick to take to the slightest compound curved surfaces, to have insufficient adhesive, to often be in the incorrect scale to the model provided for, to be out of register,
and to be often of incorrect coloration.
The decals provided for the P40 are typical of ALL of that.
I ended up scrapping all but the tail codes - and within an hour of applying them using solva-set and over-spraying with clear lacquer they have silvered...Never Again
The rest of the markings I used on this kit are from my spares folder.

[heywooood]

Guillow's kit #405 LC is complete, Thank You to the good people at Guillow for producing these outstanding kits for us to enjoy..regardless of my previous disparagement. Chalk it up to a bad day