Posted May 10, 20213 yr Dear all, I'd like to show a MOC I finished last month: the Curtiss P-40E Tomahawk in the colours of the Flying Tigers in China. Tiger_11_wheelup by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr As you can see it's in dark green and khaki; colours which aren't readily available in LEGO sets. I had to order these bricks from CADA and wherever I could find them, so I hope I am not violating any rules there since these bricks are not from LEGO. Still, I don't regret it as my 'original' colour-vomit set made from mostly 42039 pieces just didn't have the right look to it: spareparts by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr It started innocent enough, with me making the front cowl and canopy... but you know the feeling, once you are that far it becomes a life mission and needs to be finished. halfway by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr At first the canopy could open, but I had to let that idea go when the controls were added. canopy by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr Really happy with the dihedral there. I used some black 15-length liftarms, which I have not been able to take out and switch to light grey. dihedral1 by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr Once the model was fairly complete, I ordered the various green and khaki parts, and came up with this: Blank_08_topview by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr Blank_03_sideview by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr Blank_05_bottomview by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr The flaps fell off right after I took this photo, so I fortified them since. They are controlled with a level in the cockpit, but I like the way they slope in down position: Blank_07_frontview by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr The flight surfaces are controllable by a small joystick behind the cockpit. It was very hard fitting the mechanisms in there, and I am afraid to take it apart for a picture as it'll be a challenge to put it back again. Tiger_12_controls by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr I am most proud of the landing gear retraction system. As you may know, the gears of a P-40 retract one after the other, so I always wanted to make it fully manual operation. Here below you can see how it works. You turn the small black cog to drive the linear actuator. this will push the gear axle back and forwards. A fixed cog at the base drives the wheel axle, and the 90 degree turn becomes a 90 degree twist, making the wheels fold neatly under the wings: Blank_13_wheelhalf by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr Blank_12_wheelturn by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr Here is the mechanism in case you'd like to try it: https://www.mediafire.com/file/fqgxwfmazzuclv0/Gear_retracting_mech.io/file The decals are simply laminated colour prints stuck with double sided tape. Works like a charm. Hope you like it and that it may inspire more WW2 aviation models!
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.