Special Hobby Curtiss P-40 Warhawk Batch Build Part II

Curtiss produced the P-40 with canvas covers in the wheelwells to prevent water and dirt from entering the wing.  These were often removed in the field, exposing the internal structure.  Special Hobby has molded in the structural detail.  This is good, as it is much easier to represent the covers than to scratchbuild the internal detail.  Here I have used masking tape for the canvas, seams can be eliminated with superglue and Mr. Surfacer 500.  Easy to do if you want the change.

The fuselage is closed up with the instrument panel inserted.  The instrument panel is a tricky fit, I would recommend installing it at the same time the fuselage halves are joined to allow some wiggle room.  Modelers who wait to install the “dashboard cover” piece until later report that it is very difficult to get a good join.

I experimented with glues on this build.  The P-40E was built with superglue.  This left a seam to be filled at the wing root, but ensured there was no danger of a sinking seam along the fuselage joint later.  The other kits were joined with MEK from the hardware store.  The MEK yielded a much better join at the wingroot, effectively liquefying any imperfections and allowing the parts to settle in properly without any gaps.  I was worried that the fuselage seams might draw in over time but that did not happen on this build.

The biggest thing Special Hobby could do to improve these kits would be to include a set of Kabuki tape canopy masks.  Eduard does make some, but for some reason they are asking $7 – $10 per set, which is half again the cost of the kits.  Outrageous!  I masked the canopies the old-school way with Tamiya tape.  Not the most entertaining way to spend an evening but I saved $50.

Hawks on a stick!  Seamwork was checked with Mr. Surfacer 1000, any problem areas filled and reprimed.   Ready for paint!

Part III here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2020/06/05/special-hobby-curtiss-p-40-warhawk-batch-build-part-iii/