Belgium + New blog project. Hasegawa 1:48 RNZAF P-40M wreck part one

As promised, this blog entry will showcase part one of my new project.  I'll be posting regular updates so stay tuned and follow me as I build this new model. You don't know how hard it's been to try and choose this next project.  I came up with a shortlist, this P-40M, a 1:48 Tamiya Hetzer, Trumpeter Z-30 1:350, Hasegawa F-4B in 1:72 or my newly delivered Adademy F-4B in 1:48.

However, more of that in a moment.

BSMC Belgium

Last weekend I attended the BSMC model show in Putte in Belgium, my first overseas show.  The chaps very kindly invited me along as a special guest which meant I had to work for my supper, but doing the demos was a lot of fun and boy did I enjoy the supper!

To say I had a nice time is the understatement of the century.  All the guys (and girls) were extremely nice, helpful and great fun.  The show itself is a wonderful mix of modelling, shopping and socialising.  The last bit is something that really lacks in regional shows in the UK but I sincerely hope that changes as it makes a huge difference, that and an all day bar!  It's my favourite modelling show I have ever been to, by a long long way.

I entered a few things in the competition and did rather well.   One model I was particularly pleased with was my little StuG in 1:72 scale.  If my house was on fire and I only had time to save one model then this would be it.  I entered it at Telford and it didn't do very well, in fact having seen the marking sheet (that's another thing) it actually came last; construction only got 3 out of 10!  Now I know competitions can be a bit fickle but when one of the world's best armour modellers, Mario Eens, waxes lyrical about it (something which meant an awful lot to me) and it wins gold here, tells me something about the judging at Telford.  Speaking to many exceptionally talented modellers who regularly win gold at Euromilitaire, possibly the highest calibre model show in the world, they don't bother with Telford at all.  That's a shame but quite frankly the competition has no credibility with the top of the hobby.  Anyway, that all sounds like sour grapes but it really isn't.  I also think it's a debate for another day, possibly after I get back from the IPMS UK AGM!

New project - part one

Hasegawa P-40M RNZAF

Onto the modelling.  As I mentioned, in the last blog I stated that I would do a step by step in the blog for my next project.  After much deliberation I've decided to do yet another RNZAF P-40, this will be my third!  However this one will be different, I'll be modelling an aircraft that was dumped before being scrapped after the war.

So, onto the model.  The first stage is what I always do with the Hasegawa P-40 and that is to make 2 fuselage halves from the multiple parts breakdown.  This is a bit of a chore to be honest but I understand why Hasegawa did it this way, it's cheaper, but it is a pain!

With that done all the main airframe parts were removed from the sprues, cleaned up and then primed, in this case with Alclad grey.  After a smooth down it was out with the riveter, I find rivets make a massive difference to the overall effect and it's well worth doing.

With the rivets done I turned to the first of the resin parts.  The lower wing is fairly straight forward as the CMK gun inserts are a drop fit.  The flaps however needed to be removed as I will be using Eduard's photo etch set.

The upper wing needed the CMK ammo bays to be removed, I started by scribing around the outline before thinning the inside to scale thickness.  This is important for scale effect otherwise it'll look daft!

The fuselage was slightly more complicated.  I'm using the Quickboost resin engine set so the nose panels needed to be removed which was done in the same way as the wings.  A few minor little panels were also opened up and some detailing with scrap plastic was done, hopefully  this little touch will add a bit of refinement.

Lastly was the rudder.  I wanted to show some damage as if the fabric had been rotting away.  This was achieved by thinning the 2 halves from the inside and then hacking away with a scalpel.  The inside structure was built up using plastic card, thank heavens for the punch and die set!

Ok, that's it for part one.  I'm kind of making this up as I go along so I'm not sure what will be next, probably the cockpit but we'll see, I need to put some thought into it as the weathering will be a bit more unusual.  So until then, I hope you enjoyed part one and see you next time.