The P40 Warhawk was a sturdy and rugged aircraft that saw combat in almost every theatre in
World War 2, but was overshadowed in history by more elegant
and advanced designs.
Join me in this video as I build the Tiger Model cute plane series model kit of this
unassuming, yet important aircraft.
Hello, and welcome to model minutes! This video was chosen by you, the community, during
a recent poll on my channel. Almost 90% of those who voted were in favour
of seeing a build and review of this model, so here it is! Thanks to everyone who voted!
Before we start the kit, As always, remember that adult supervision may be required due
to the use of sharp tools and toxic paints and chemicals! Tiger Model
recommends this kit for those aged 6 years old and over, due to the presence of small
parts.
The box features an interesting image of the P40 on the front, and this is what caught
my eye in the shop. Information is presented on the sides in various languages,
as well as safety warnings and pictures of other kits in the range. The rear of the box
depicts the recommended paint scheme and decal placement instructions.
Upon opening the box, you are presented with a plastic bag containing the various parts
of the kit.
The instructions are a glossy fold-out booklet, which features colour and multilingual information.
The exploded step by step diagrams are clear and easy to follow.
A set of waterslide decals, and an identical set of self-adhesive stickers are included,
which gives you a choice in how you construct your model. Both are well printed
but i will elect to use the water slide transfers rather than the stickers as I feel they will
give better results. I imagine the stickers are included for those who
may be beginners and haven't got much confidence or experience with decals.
The plastic components are held on 4 sprues. A clear one which contains the cockpit canopy,
a black one which features the wheels, propellor and a few other parts,
and the majority on 2 dark green sprues.
The parts are well molded with no flash, and feature a reasonable amount of detail, despite
being a stylised design and not being to any particular scale.
I didn't see any instructions to wash the parts prior to assembly, so decided to see
how the kit would turn out if this step was omitted. I imagine it's not mentioned
so the keen builders can get stuck right into the build of the kit. If however, you do wish
to clean the parts, a wash in warm soapy water will help to move any grease
or dirt from the surface of the plastic and help give a better surface for cement and
paint to stick to.
The cockpit components were cut from the sprue using a sharp knife, and any burrs cleaned
up with a nail file.
Throughout this build i will beusing tamiya extra thin cement, which has a good flow quality
and can be applied accurately with the included brush in the lid.
I don't believe that cementing the model together is entirely necessary however, as many of
the parts clip into position, but i will use the cement to ensure that
it stay assembled.
With the cockpit built, i then removed the two fuselage halves from their sprue, and
cleaned up with a nail file. The component that represents the air intake on the
nose was then cemented into place.
Next, I painted the internal areas with Humbrol 81 matt pale yellow acrylic which I had left
over from the Airfix Pearl Harbour gift set. The p40 in that kit has almost
the same paint scheme as this model, so i have chosen to use the same paints.
At times I add a drop of water to the paint to help thin it and improve its flow quality.
A thinner paint will leave less visibile brush strokes, but more coats built
up in layers will be needed to get a good even finish.
With that coat of paint dry, I then picked out the pilot's head rest in humbrol 29 dark
earth matt acrylic.
Next, i added the decal for the control panel. It was cut from the sheet, soaked in warm
water, and when ready, gently slid off the backing paper into the correct
position. The control panel part had been given a coat of humbrol decalfix to help soften
the decal into the surface details. When the decal was positioned correctly,
it was then given a further coat of decalfix to further soften it and improve its adhesion.
The propellor parts were then removed from the sprue and the retaining pin cemented into
the rear of the propellor. If careful during the assembly, the prop can be
made to spin, so be careful with your cement!
The spinner was then painted with Humbrol 174 signal red satin acrylic. A few coats
were needed to give a good even coat.
The cockpit assembly was then cemented into one half of the fuselage and left to cure.
The upper and lower wing surfaces were removed from their sprues, cleaned up and then assembled.
The ailerons are installed into their slots and if you're careful
with the cement, they can be moved up and down freely.
The landing gear parts are then cut from their sprues, and the wheel hubs are clipped inside
the wheels. If you're careful, these too can be made to rotate freely,
adding an element of play value to the model. It's worth noting that if you intend to use
the decals for the wheel hubs, this would be the time to apply them.
I add them later and end up having to cut them in half and re-assembling them in order
to allow them to fit around the landing gear supports.
When complete, the landing gear was then cemented into position in the lower wing assembly.
As was the drop tank, which comes in two halves and had to be cemented
together before locating into the correct position.
The tail wheel was added to one of the fuselage halves, and then, with the propellor assembly
in position, the other fuselage half was cemented over the top, holding
all the internal parts in place.
The wings were then added to the fuselage, and the model is really starting to take shape.
The tail surfaces were cut from their sprue, and then also cemented into the correct place
at the rear of the model, and it's at this stage that I was ready to begin
painting.
The lower surfaces were given a number of coats of humbrol 165 medium sea grey satin
acrylic. I used this straight out of the pot and found it worked quite well.
The upper surfaces were painted in Humbrol 155 olive drab matt acrylic. Whilst the paint
was drying, i moved onto the clear canopy part and painted the frames using
the same paint. I did this free-hand with a fine paintbrush, taking care with the application
in order to avoid painting the wrong areas. If you do get some acrylic
paint in the wrong place on this clear part, it is relatively easy to remove it by gently
scratching it off, but care bust be taken to not scratch the plastic.
Humbrol 11 silver acrylic was used to pick out the landing gear struts and the wheel
hub on the tail wheel.
The entire model was then given a coat of humbrol 135 acrylic satin varnish which i
thinned with a little water to help it flow better. This coat of paint will become
the base for the decals and help prevent leaving any silvering on them when they are applied.
A gloss or satin varnish tends to work well for this, but a matt varnish
will unfortunately make silvering worse.
Humbrol 53 gunmetal grey acrylic was used to highlight the engine exhausts on the nose,
and the gun barrels on the wings.
The decals were then applied by cutting them from the sheet, soaking in warm water and
then sliding off the backing paper in the correct place. Humbrol decalfix was
used just as before (during the cockpit construction) by adding it to the surfaces to help encourage
the decals to soften into the detail and appear painted on.
For more information on decal application, take a look for the tutorial i made on this
topic on my channel. Whilst you watch the completion of this step i'll tell
you a bit more about the real p40 warhawk.
The p40 was a fighter aircraft designed in the late 1930s. It was utilised by many Allied
airforces in the early days of World War two, and was the main fighter
aircraft of the United States Army Air Force in 1941.
The version depicted in this kit is that of a p40-E as used by the Flying Tigers - a squadron
of american volunteers flying as part of the Chinese Air Force, in combat
against the japanese invasion during World War 2.
The P40E Warhawk had 6 .50cal machine guns in the wings which presented formindable amount
of firepower, against the lightly armoured japanese aircraft.
With the decals applied, a further coat of Humbrol 135 Satin varnish was applied, but
this time it was the enamel version. It was thinned with white spirit to help it
flow better. The reason the enamel version was used was in order to protect the previous
acrylic layers in the next stage of the construction.
Citadel nuln oil was brushed over the model with the intention of bringing out all of
the recessed detail and panel lines.
The excess wash was then removed by using a cotton bud dipped in tamiya acrylic thinners.
Wiping the cotton bud across the surface of the model in the direction
of airflow will clean the wash off the surface of the model, but allow it to remain in the
recessed detail.
a final coat of paint was then applied. This time, humbrol 49 matt varnish enamel, which
was again thinned with white spirit. This will help give an even and realistic
finish.
The last step in the build of this kit was to add the cockpit canopy, which i just pushed
into position until it was clipped in place. And here's the finished model!
A found this to be a fun little build, particularly as i do quite like P40s, and this is the 4th
version i've built on my channel. It's an interesting model with
a good element of play value due to the rotating prop, wheels and movine ailerons.
The paint scheme is easy to replicate, and the pre-coloured sprues and inclusion of stickers
makes this even easier if you need them.
Retailing for about £10 in the united kingdom at the time of this video, i do feel that
is a reasonable price for this kit, given the quality of the various components.
It didn't take particularly long to construct, and you could find that it might only take
an afternoon to get it to a completed stage.
In conclusion, i really enjoyed building this kit, and I think it looks great. It's not
to any scale and has quite a cartoony appearance, but I feel it will add
interest to any model collection as well as being a conversation peice.
I'm impressed with the kit of this rugged aircraft from tiger model, and more than happy
with the finished results i've acheived with my Curtiss P40 Warhawk!
As always, let me know what you think of my build, techniques and finished model in the
comments below!
I'm also keen to hear your suggestions as to other kits that you'd like to see me build
on my channel, so feel free to post that too!
All that's left to say is thanks for watching this video, and don't forget to leave a like
if you enjoyed it!
Subscribe in order to see more content and turn those notifications on to help support
the channel. Feel free to share this video with your family and friends, and
dont forget you can connect with me on social media, i'm on twitter, instagram and facebook!
See you all again next time!