Tutorial Novice - Curtiss P-40E/Tomahawk Mk I

[lastvautour]

Glue the vertical fin and check carefully that it is actually vertical. If using white glue either tape in place or place blocks on either side as the glue has a tendency to pull the part one way or the other as it dries. Experience from my stick and tissue flying model days. I let mine dry overnight.

Lou

[lastvautour]

Thin the filets to 1mm and check the fit before attaching with white glue. I sanded mine a bit on the inside to get a tight fit. Note the location on the fuselage. Looking at it from the rear, the filet should be parallel to the wing. A side view should see it having a slight upsweep at the rear. Tomorrow we use putty to fair things out and seal gaps.

Lou

[lastvautour]

Belly pan glued. Next, putty.

Lou

[lastvautour]

Tight corners can be filled using a rounded bamboo skewer or dowel. For larger area I marked off the area where putty/filler was to be applied. I applied it straight from the tube and faired it in with my finger. DO just one pass and let it dry thoroughly before sanding or adding filler.

Lou

[lastvautour]

Additional filet/filler photos.

Lou

[lastvautour]

As long as the putty/filler is dry to the touch we van add the carburetor scoop. I shaved a bit at a time from the bottom to match the shape of the upper fuselage.

Lou

[lastvautour]

My filler was too thick and it shrunk while drying leaving a big crack in the filet. I applied another thin coat and will wait for the results. This occurred with all four filets. I thinned the filer a few days ago and I guess I used too much water. A word to the wise! I also made stands using scrap fiber board and 1/4" dowels.

Lou

[buccfan]

Excellent tutorial as usual Lou, regards Paul J. Great progress.

[lastvautour]

Thank you Paul.

Lou

[Michaelpierce123]

Hi Lou,

Thanks again for doing this. Tonight I got my fuselage blank cut out. I laminated 2 pine blocks... but the 2 halves didn't glue together exactly evenly, and when I cut it to length one half was too short. I also did one from a solid piece of poplar I found at a big box store, so I continued with that.

Like you, I found it tough to line up the top and bottom tracing (do you trace both, or just the top)?
Finally, I found that my band saw marks were pretty visible on the sides. Is that an issue, as I think I'll be carving off much of this.

A personal struggle is hating to make mistakes, not know how to do something perfectly, and not being good at something. So this is an exercise in learning by making mistakes. 

Attempting to post pictures here.

[lastvautour]

Excellent achievement Michael. It has the making of a great P-40.  I always leave a bit between the lines and the blade to allow for the roughness of the cut. Looking forward to more progress shots.

Remember, there are no stupid questions.

Lou

[Michaelpierce123]

Hi Lou,

Quick question: for the beginner do you suggest the flat wing + cut for dihedral, or the one piece with dihedral built in?
I saw your P-40B with one piece with the dihedral cut in... but not instructions on how to do that.

[lastvautour]

The flat build is easier to do. The built in dihedral version has some tricky cuts to get around the flow of the grain. I would recommend the flat version for your first. I will have to do a tutorial on "built-in" dihedral wings on a later project.

Lou

[lastvautour]

With the filler having dried, we move on to sanding. I use various rounded object for the filet areas. I used large diameter dowel to do the filet shape. Work slowly and keep the sweep constant. Note the rear end of the filet is sanded to meet the fuselage smoothly. Various areas will need different size dowels. The trick is to avoid sanding too much filler.  Areas like the stab and around the undercarriage blisters can be done with a flat piece of sandpaper doubled over. I used a sanding stick to fair the carb scoop into the fuselage.

My Kittyhawk is currently in the paint both with its first coat of grey primer. Photos to follow.

Lou

[buccfan]

Looking good Lou, regards Paul J.