Hasegawa 1/32 P-40E Warhawk - Operation Mulligan
By Michael Benolkin
Date of Review | July 2016 | Manufacturer | Hasegawa |
---|---|---|---|
Subject | P-40E Warhawk | Scale | 1/32 |
Kit Number | 08226 | Primary Media | Styrene |
Pros | Easy build, nice details | Cons | Nothing noted |
Skill Level | Basic | MSRP (USD) | $79.95 |
The Project
As I'm sure you know, a 'mulligan' is a golf term meaning a 'do-over'. I built this Hasegawa 1/32 P-40E four years ago and was quite happy with it ( look here) though I didn't get a chance to weather the model much at the time. Last year, I decided to try out some weathering products from company known for its weathering products ( look here) and again, I was pleased with the results at the time. Having just finished one of my better weathering projects on the Kinetic (Vintage Fighter) P-47D Razorback Thunderbolt ( look here), I decided to do a mulligan on the weathering of this P-40E using the same washes from AK Interactive.
The first step was to clean the model of natural weathering (dust). One of the mistakes I made with the model was to extend the interior color back into the fuselage sides under the rear windows. That is easy enough to fix while we're here.
You can see in the photos above that I've applied the panel line washes to the engraved panel lines and rivet lines on the wings, fuselage and tail surfaces. I used the wash that compliments green camouflage for the upper surfaces, the wash for gray camouflage on the lower surfaces, and the gray wash in the wheel wells and inside that pristine green cockpit.
The gray wash makes the details of the cockpit interior pop while adding some age to the interior green. You can also see at the area under the rear windows now carries the camouflage green.
After wiping away the excess panel line wash around the airframe, the results show off the details molded into the surface of the model and the paint now looks like it had been applied over pre-shading.
It is interesting to see how your skills and techniques evolve as your modeling progresses and how a model that looked nice (a few different times) can still cry out for a 'mulligan'. I've wanted to build this model again, but I have so many projects ahead of it in the queue that I decided to see what would happen if I simply re-weathered the model and correct a few errors in the process. Thanks to the AK Interactive washes, the P-40 looks nice parked near that P-47 and while I may build another Hasegawa P-40 in the future, at least for now it can wait a while.