Body Complete

Today I completed the body of the Warhawk and it is amazing how a bunch of flat pieces of wood can turn into a three dimensional object.

Starting to Take Shape...

Well the two halves of the body are not in place and Terry is already amazed at it's size (as well as me). I've gotten used to the new super glue and have a feeling that I will be able to build this kit fairly fast. Once thing that I am doing that I did not do back in 2009 on the DR I Fokker is sand all the part numbers on the pieces. I recalled having to add extra coats of paint because I could see the numbers through the aircraft skin, an issue I want to avoid this time round.

Gorilla Super Glue

Added the first set of ribs to the hull of the aircraft and used a new "Gorilla Super Glue" since the UHU glue used on my previous balsa build is currently not available at the local hobby shop.  It's really great and works well, only issue is that parts can be glued within a few seconds so I need to be precise on the first try.

How did I do that again???

Started the new kit, had a bit of difficulty remembering how to start... Fortunately all I had to do was read up on my previous blogs from the first balsa kit built back in 2009 and it all came back to me. Basically just need to use a sheet of cardboard under the plan so that the pins will hold the pieces in place and wax paper on top to protect the it from the glue.

P-40 Warhawk

Terry (my second son) who is now 4 1/2 birthday is in March and I want to give him as a gift for his 5th birthday a scale plane to hang from his bedroom ceiling just like I did for my oldest son Casey. Recently I found out that a local hobby shop was moving and they were having a sale with all kits 25% rebate. I jumped on the occasion and got a P-40 Warhawk for $37.50 instead of $50. To my surprise it is large at 27.5" wingspan compared to the 18.5" of Casey's Fokker DR-1 triplane. Now I just got to get this done before the end of the summer/early fall!

Masking the Cockpit Windows (Part 2)

Having painted the windows in late May I did a last inspection of the cockpit and glued the glass to the frame with white glue. I then added the second mask set which overlapped the first one and added some extra masking take since the masks had lines to make them more flexible in the curved sections and I wanted to ensure no paint got through.

Masking the Cockpit Windows (Part 1)

I ordered some special masks to fit the windows of the Intruder and to my surprise there were two sets. The first one seen here is slightly smaller then the second set and is to be painted black to replicate the rubber lining around the windows. The next one will slightly overlap the first mask so that I can paint it to match the upper section.

White Paint is hard to Apply!

After applying seven coats of white paint a I am finally satisfied with the results. To my relief the mask to cover the cockpit worked and nothing was damaged during the paint process. With the mask gone I was finally able to add the heads up display (HUD).

Front Wheel

After a little break from spray painting several coats of white paint I completed today detailing the front landing gear.

Cockpit Mask

Today I added a tape mask as to prepare for the several coats of white paint that I need to apply to the underside of the aircraft. That parts makes me nervous as I don't want to destroy any of the detail that I added to the cockpit.