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Author Topic: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build  (Read 11153 times)

Offline kevin king

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Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« on: May 12, 2018, 10:48:50 PM »
 So a little history first. This Midwest P40 was the first 'Large' model I built as a kid some 40 years ago, and I always wanted to have another. Of course it had to be done up with the same colors and graphics too! As luck would have it in June of 2012 I found an original kit for sale by a gentleman named James W Hall Jr. To make a long story short he gave me the kit for free. After my wife expressed interest in flying I thought this would be cool if this was her 1st plane too. So, I will be posting this Midwest P40 Warhawk build here from start to finish as time permits.
« Last Edit: November 24, 2018, 02:23:03 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2018, 12:08:45 AM »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2018, 12:10:59 AM »
« Last Edit: May 14, 2018, 05:49:16 AM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2018, 05:58:01 AM »
Heres the plan, I ordered this from Tom Dixon years ago.

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2018, 06:41:55 AM »
Some pics of the real '77' I found.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2018, 10:05:20 PM by kevin king »

Offline frank mccune

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2018, 08:19:39 AM »
       Great job!!!

       I have had the Midwest P-63 and the Me 109 and both flew better than I did.  I have a P-51 kit that I have been wanting to build for a the last 30 years.  Perhaps someday. Lol  The P-40 has always been a favourite of mine.

                                                                                                                                           All of the best.

                                                                                                                                           Frank McCune

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2018, 10:12:04 PM »
       Great job!!!

       I have had the Midwest P-63 and the Me 109 and both flew better than I did.  I have a P-51 kit that I have been wanting to build for a the last 30 years.  Perhaps someday. Lol  The P-40 has always been a favourite of mine.

                                                                                                                                           All of the best.

                                                                                                                                           Frank McCune
Thanks Frank!

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2018, 06:46:39 AM »
I shortened the fuse 3/4 of an inch and lengthened the  motor mounts farther back. The kit and plan motor mounts were only 2 inches long? I have a feeling who ever designed this was a combat flier.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2018, 07:30:24 AM by kevin king »

Offline Avaiojet

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2018, 10:24:49 AM »
Kevin,

Your P-40 makes my P-40 look like an ARF from Walmart.

You're effort with that model really paid off.

Charles
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Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2018, 05:10:39 AM »
Alright, time to finish this Midwest P40 thread. Starting with gluing the fuse together. I apologize for this being out of sequence, bare with me. 
« Last Edit: November 24, 2018, 02:24:55 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #10 on: November 03, 2018, 06:03:22 AM »
This photo shows the stock configuration. Those short engine mounts would have been fine for the fox 35, but after I decided to use a Randy Smith B&B OS LA 46, I would lengthen them.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2018, 06:21:47 AM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #11 on: November 03, 2018, 06:35:52 AM »
Full length motor mounts installed.

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #12 on: November 03, 2018, 06:53:32 AM »
The motor mounts I had were slightly undersized so I used hard 1/16th inch balsa to fill the gap. Also I cant stand the thought or look of zip ties or rubber bands holding on a gas tank. Its all good till the tank fly's off and hits somebody in the head, and I guess that's why we have insurance ;D . I prefer having my tanks solidly mounted with 2/56 socket head bolts and blind nuts. The real benefit is being able to make small adjustments to your upright and inverted engine run and it will keep it that way, as opposed to having a motor run that changes every time you bump the tank.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2018, 06:04:42 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #13 on: November 03, 2018, 07:09:42 AM »
Brass tabs soldered to the tank after drilling and filing slots for tank height adjustment. I also took a #11 blade and scored the back of the tabs & added thin rubber to prevent shifting, scratching the paint and offer some vibration dampening. The rubber I found and cut off from Rosalie's  dollar store mat ;D.             
 Chicken hopper tank? I just used it because Its brand new and the only tank I had. It doesn't really belong on a stunt ship. I may replace it with a real one some day.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2018, 06:07:11 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #14 on: November 03, 2018, 09:00:24 AM »
The kit was missing its canopy so I had to make one. After drinking ten 2 litre bottles of Pepsi I had one I could use. The process is simple though, just cut the bottom off the bottle, put your balsa plug inside and shrink it with a heat gun.
« Last Edit: November 24, 2018, 04:49:23 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #15 on: November 04, 2018, 05:18:20 AM »
Gluing the TE & wing spar.  Z@@ZZZ
« Last Edit: November 04, 2018, 05:49:35 AM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #16 on: November 04, 2018, 06:15:28 AM »
Some P40 pics...

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #17 on: November 04, 2018, 06:34:55 AM »
 "That nice and shiny!" 😁
« Last Edit: November 24, 2018, 02:17:53 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #18 on: November 04, 2018, 06:45:39 AM »
⬇️Oh would ya look at this! ⬇️Just look at it!⬇️

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #19 on: November 04, 2018, 04:51:43 PM »
Look at this look at that.  I kept the strange 2 pushrod bellcrank the same for nostalgia, but moved them both in closer toward the pivot point to slow the movement of the control surfaces down.
« Last Edit: November 11, 2018, 05:22:41 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #20 on: November 04, 2018, 05:06:01 PM »
Line slider.

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #21 on: November 06, 2018, 11:19:44 AM »
Wing tip detail.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2018, 11:06:51 AM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #22 on: November 07, 2018, 05:57:33 AM »
Wing tip weight box detail.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2018, 10:59:00 AM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #23 on: November 07, 2018, 06:02:44 AM »
Polyspan covering on a C tube wing? I wouldn't do it again. It added 2 ounces. That's ok, because it's Rosalie's 1st airplane she wont be doing any Hourglasses or anything anyways. Everything else i used silkspan on.
« Last Edit: November 24, 2018, 04:52:20 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #24 on: November 07, 2018, 06:14:58 AM »
  Rosalie adding extra coats of dope on edges only, to prevent sanding into the covering when its time to cut, buff and polish the dope.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2018, 05:05:11 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #25 on: November 08, 2018, 05:05:41 AM »
You know your building an old design when you cant tell the difference between the elevators and rudder. They're all the same size! And one flap is 1.5 miles longer than the other.😁
« Last Edit: November 29, 2018, 08:19:07 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #26 on: November 08, 2018, 05:01:23 PM »
Rosalie putting on her lipstick...while flying her P40. ;D She is such a good sport for putting up with the likes of me. ;D
« Last Edit: November 11, 2018, 12:46:22 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #27 on: November 09, 2018, 04:48:32 PM »
Time to lay down some paint.
« Last Edit: November 10, 2018, 07:16:39 PM by kevin king »

Offline 944_Jim

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #28 on: November 10, 2018, 06:45:38 PM »
Mr King,

I appreciate the inside wing shot of your control system. I hope to replicate this on the smaller 1/2A builds I do. This looks like it will allow for CG trimming while still maintaining the appropriate leadout position changes for a given CG.

My 1960-kitted Scientific profile P-40 wound up a bit nose heavy. I plan on using my current build as a scratch plane...and incorporating adjustable lead-outs, weight boxes, and building lighter overall for the next one. Oh, and definitely plan in putting in a pilot!

Thanks!

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #29 on: November 10, 2018, 07:10:06 PM »
You're welcome Jim. Share some pictures of it when it's done!

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #30 on: November 11, 2018, 05:29:54 AM »
Laying out the paint scheme. I used windows Paint to make a reverse image of the plan, then printed off a few copies. Who would have thought all that coloring you did in kindergarten would be useful?
« Last Edit: November 11, 2018, 08:00:55 AM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #31 on: November 11, 2018, 05:42:36 AM »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #32 on: November 11, 2018, 06:06:25 AM »
Applying the blue. Bottom of wing, fuse and control surfaces. Shark mouth template used to mask off the the shape of the blue paint line.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2018, 09:03:55 AM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #33 on: November 11, 2018, 06:31:01 AM »
Good old "77". I was looking forward to seeing this memory of  those numbers at the end of the lines as a 12 year old kid some 40 years later!
« Last Edit: November 24, 2018, 04:59:08 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #34 on: November 11, 2018, 01:01:32 PM »
The decal sheet that came with the kit was so degraded it made them unusable (see first picture). I didn't feel like  painting them all on, so I decided to  make new ones. Last time I used decals on a stunt plane it was 40 years ago on this very model. Making  your own was quite the learning process. It took a lot of trial and error to master the process until I got them the way I wanted. PFFFT.. .the original P40 decal sheet didn't even include a shark mouth decal on the engine side of the nose! Images of the roundels and the Flying Tiger logo were easy to find online. If you're new to the decal making process like I was, be prepared to spend a lot of money on ink cartridges, decal paper and a lot of wasted copy paper. Decals have some pretty big pitfalls, the biggest (To me anyway) is THE RATE THEY FADE IN THE SUNLIGHT. The benefit of using decals is (in my opinion), that you can quickly make smaller, high detail multiple color graphics that would be very hard to paint, (like the Flying Tiger motif). The 2nd picture is one of two  final decal sheets I made and used on the model. The color of the roundels is off a bit, but everything else was good. Since I wanted the roundels on the top and bottom of the wing, I just put the 2 that matched on the top, and the two that matched (but were a different shade) on the bottom.
« Last Edit: December 02, 2018, 08:09:50 PM by kevin king »

Offline Avaiojet

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #35 on: November 11, 2018, 01:58:06 PM »
Those teeth are typical.

You have the absolute best teeth I've ever seen?

No kidding there.

 H^^
Trump Derangement Syndrome. TDS. 
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Amazing how ignorance can get in the way of the learning process.
If you're Trolled, you know you're doing something right.  Alpha Mike Foxtrot. "No one has ever made a difference by being like everyone else."  Marcus Cordeiro, The "Mark of Excellence," you will not be forgotten. "No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot."- Mark Twain. I look at the Forum as a place to contribute and make friends, some view it as a Realm where they could be King.   Proverb 11.9  "With his mouth the Godless destroys his neighbor..."  "Perhaps the greatest challenge in modeling is to build a competitive control line stunter that looks like a real airplane." David McCellan, 1980.

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #36 on: November 11, 2018, 02:14:35 PM »
Those teeth are typical.

You have the absolute best teeth I've ever seen?

No kidding there.

 H^^
Thanks Avaiojet. You must be referring to my Spitfire's teeth. But for this P40, its more of a "trip down memory lane" build.  ;D I wanted to keep the kit's look as close as I could to the original. Including the teeth.
« Last Edit: November 11, 2018, 05:27:32 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #37 on: November 11, 2018, 05:37:40 PM »
Hard to imagine someone using this plane for Slow Combat.
« Last Edit: November 11, 2018, 06:16:32 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #38 on: November 11, 2018, 06:27:57 PM »
Combat!

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #39 on: November 11, 2018, 06:53:52 PM »
Believe it or not a lot of this plane was painted in the bathroom hanging from the curtain rod in a one bedroom apartment.  n1  mw~ S?P

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #40 on: November 11, 2018, 07:02:09 PM »
...

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #41 on: November 11, 2018, 07:20:57 PM »
I get my sleeves of sandpaper at cost from work, and the AkzoNobel Bright Yellow Organic pigment from a paint rep in the finishing business.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2018, 07:07:56 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #42 on: November 11, 2018, 07:26:50 PM »
 S?P

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #43 on: November 11, 2018, 07:51:02 PM »
My original P40 Warhawk's camouflage was was done with black and yellow monokote some 40 years ago, so now I had to duplicate it with dope. This would be my 1st camo paint job. Its a strange feeling going from painting straight lines with a 50% overlap to random curves.. Its like my arm holding the spray gun wanted to keep going straight while my brain was telling it turn a corner! Well...all masked off and ready for soft edge camo. Lets get painting... S?P
« Last Edit: November 25, 2018, 07:04:40 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #44 on: November 11, 2018, 08:28:26 PM »
To get the yellow as bright as possible I spayed that area white first...
« Last Edit: November 29, 2018, 07:10:45 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #45 on: November 11, 2018, 08:35:39 PM »
...

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #46 on: November 11, 2018, 08:49:14 PM »
...then the yellow over the white.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2018, 04:25:02 PM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #47 on: November 12, 2018, 05:41:27 AM »
...

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #48 on: November 12, 2018, 06:00:36 AM »
...then the black. The roundel decals were applied later, after the camo was sealed with clear.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2018, 04:27:21 AM by kevin king »

Offline kevin king

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Re: Midwest P-40 Warhawk Build
« Reply #49 on: November 13, 2018, 05:28:55 AM »
PSH...Trying to give the section behind the canopy a concave look.  Apparently its supposed to give the pilot better rear view visibility. And being one of the slowest warbirds...it would help them dodge LL~ the bullets ;D
« Last Edit: November 29, 2018, 07:16:03 PM by kevin king »


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