Here are some pictures of my Guillows P40 build. This is a newer kit so the wood and die cut was really nice. Guillows kits are good for practicing basic building skills. Always try to make the kit fuselage straight and make the stringers uniform and straight. If you try to force stringers in and they are crooked, then the fuselage will be crooked. I use regular elmers all purpose glue so I have time to straighten parts out before they dry. I am trying to post img. but have a difficult time. Sorry
Here she is partially covered. I am using domestic tissue with 50/50 Elmers and water. Then spray 2 coats of Aerogloss dope. I normally use Japanese tissue but there is limits with choice of colors. I don't like painting or chalking so Domestic tissue will have to do. I am using brown and light blue. I will be busy the next couple of weeks so it may be awhile before I get to finish the plane.
I know it has been awhile but I finally finished my Guillows P40. I started covering it 6 months ago and finished it tonight. It was a tough to trim for flight, but after a few flights it trimmed out ok. I had to add weight and down thrust in the nose. The Guillows decals would not stick so I made my own with my Alps printer. I painted the nose and as you can tell it does not match, but I wanted to finish this plane. During the last flight the stab suffered a small puncture from a nearby weed. I replaced the wheels with Peck wheels. I did not use the Guillows prop, I used a longer Peck prop.
Great Job! Do you have a photo that better shows what you did to the front of the plastic cowl so you could get reliable thrust line adjustments. I think that many people here would find it helpful.
It would be hard to show in a picture since the area is so small. What I did was I built a small box inside the cowling. I then built a nose plug for the box. This is one area where I think Guillows is lacking when it comes to these models. There is no way you can fly a Guillows kit with the cowl and nose button design. You cannot add wt and you are limited on down thrust. I don't think it would be hard or cost Guillows a lot of money to add a piece of paper with directions on building a workable nose block. Guillows could even throw in a couple pieces of scrap balsa. I am currently building the Spitfire so I will take pictures of how I build my nose blocks. I now have completed the P-40, Wildcat, Rufe, and almost done with the Spitfire and Bf-109
It would be nice to see details on a proper adjustable nose block. I know I have seen pictures before, but a series of pictures with descriptions with be a great help.
For Domestic I either buy from Easy Built Models or Peck Polymers. They have every color imaginable. I know a lot of people do not like Domestic tissue because it is harder to use and is heavier than Esaki. But we are building a Guillows kit so lightness is not a factor. Esaki is great tissue but colors are far few between unless you like to paint. I do enough painting with plastic models and Rockets so I don't want to paint my stick and tissue planes. Domestic is a little tougher to use than Esaki but if you can master Domestic you will have no problem with Esaki. When I first learned to build I was only allowed to use Domestic tissue because it was cheaper than Esaki. Once I was better at building my Uncle introduced me to Esaki and wow what a difference. I used to paint tissue but weights adds up quick so Domestic was a better option.