Official FMS 1400mm P-40B Warhawk Thread

[OV10]

She is balancing real well between 70 and 75 mm. Thanks for the info

Stu Welch I forgot to mention that the 75mm is with gear up. All rearward retracting airframes like the P-40, F6F, A-1, etc should be CG'd with gear up(retracted).
There are a few out there on certain forums that like to muddy up the waters but rest assured you will be glad you followed the plan that the engineers provided in real life.

[Grossman56]

The battery position of a 4000 4s right after a flight

With the 6s, its as far forward as the battery tray will allow.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Made quite a bit of progress today as its cold and snowing (it was 63 degrees yesterday, Spring time in the Rockies!)
Also went over it a couple of times with polish, you might be able to see the difference between the area just forward of the canopy which isn't polished compared to the nose, which is, the gun tray on the nose I painted with Testors Model Master Chrome, which is a great chrome paint. Of course
when finished, I promptly dropped it and put a small dent in it just under the canopy!!so some repair work for tomorrow then I'll start on the canopy and tail. Went looking through the old spare parts but can't find a 650 motor mount and I need a spinner as well. The list grows bigger!!

Grossman56

[OV10]

Grossman56 Dan...... I admire your patience with that stuff

[Grossman56]

thanks CB, been listening to Ryan's live cast. It's an okay job, not a show quality job for sure, but considering what I started with (as you recall the fuse going in at the Nefi triangle) it's pretty good, looks great but hard to reproduce in pics.
After 10 and they're talking jets so time to call it a night. Congrats again on the OV-10 glad to see what we discussed came true

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

And around the canopy hatch we go, this was challenging as I had to make a stencil then modify it and modify it again to wrap around the front of the windscreen, but got it eventually, it was easier when I divided it into three parts. Going around the back windows proved to be much easier as I could push the tape into the recesses and see the outline, a simple cut and on they went. Old eyes needed a break, so here I am. Amazingly, the sun just popped out here in Wyoming and they were predicting thick clouds and snow. Mind you give it fifteen minutes

Thanks to some of the guys who are helping me out with spare parts they have laying around, much appreciated guys. Anyone out there have a spare horizontal stab they can live without??

Grossman56

[AceMigKiller]

Very nice!
It's about time for me to re-finish my ole' trusty P-40.
Thinking of the simple olive drab and grey Army colors. That natural metal finish is way cool!

[Grossman56]

Got the hatch completed today, a couple of small areas to go and some repair work on one of the wing fillets and the fuse is complete!

So, she'll need a few more rounds of polishing and some of the wrinkles will actually work themselves out. You can see in the last pic where the fillet needs repair as the plastic piece is out there somewhere at AMA National HQ!
An interesting project and something to while away the hours. The metal finish is strange in that it will look so much better when there are colors on the plane. Next up is the vertical stab with the red, white and blue tail feathers, then I'll start salvage operations to see if I can at least use the rudder and elevator servos from the Mustang. Fortunately, I have a receiver and the connector board as well.

Grossman56

[Hardway]

Fun stuff!!!! Happy Easter Bro!! Looking good, Jerry in Texas

[Grossman56]

Thanks Jerry, appreciate the compliment!
One of these days I'll get it finished. I'd like to go Hi Tec servos instead of the stock ones as well, so the costs add up. Fun though. I really enjoyed revisiting the Flite Metal days and got a reminder on just how much fun it is to separate backing from tape!

Grossman56

[Cobra1365]

How do u get the hubcaps off?

Leave it parked in East St Louis over night! 🤣

[Johnnyrabuse]

I saw some posts regarding flight batteries myself I try to keep battery's light I personally fly my P40 with a 3000 admiral it's less stress on the retracts

4 min mixed throttle 30 seconds to land

I also have flown it with two 3000s in fifteen mph winds and have gotten crazy flight time

Eight minutes

Landing with 15 percent

On windy days only

Settles in like a champ

I also tossed the predetor esc in the trash replaced it with an 85

It's an excellent airframe and the 650 is a great motor

[Grossman56]

A bit more work done this morning. The radiator cowling is back on under the nose and is drying right now. The rudder is painted white and I had to do some minor putty work on it that has me on hold while the putty hardens. I decided to go with a white and blue spinner combination, the base being navy blue and the cap is white, looks great and against all that chrome it will look amazing!
I have run across one stumbling block and could really use a kind squawker out there with a totaled P-40 fuse. Somewhere along the way, the plastic piece inside the fuse that the front wing joiner screws onto has gone missing and its one of those pieces that you can't buy a replacement part for.
If anyone has said piece laying around and can see their way to parting with it, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'd gladly reimburse you for the cost of mailing it to me,

Thanks guys and thanks especially to the fellows who have helped me out in this project. I don't have their permission to say names and won't until I do, but their names will be on the airplane at some point!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Latest update, prop and spinner painted and assembled and mounted on the new motor!

And the fuselage with the partially painted tail fitted on, the metal tape on the tail completed.

You can see in the second picture why you have to wear gloves when handling, fingerprints show up real easy!!
since these were taken, the chin scoop has been painted silver and the fairings at the base of the windscreen have been painted.
Due the unbelievable generosity of a couple of fellow Squawkers, the major portions of the rest of the airplane are on there way to my humble abode.
Stay tuned for more!!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

The motor mount arrived today and I finished up the Vertical stab last night, so here's the progress...


I noticed some movement in the firewall so I'll pull the motor and repair that. Not unexpected, but hard to tell until there was some weight hanging from it.
So far, so good!!

Grossman56

[Johnnyrabuse]

Latest update, prop and spinner painted and assembled and mounted on the new motor!

And the fuselage with the partially painted tail fitted on, the metal tape on the tail completed.

You can see in the second picture why you have to wear gloves when handling, fingerprints show up real easy!!
since these were taken, the chin scoop has been painted silver and the fairings at the base of the windscreen have been painted.
Due the unbelievable generosity of a couple of fellow Squawkers, the major portions of the rest of the airplane are on there way to my humble abode.
Stay tuned for more!!

Grossman56

Whatever you do be sure not to use the predetor stock speed controller

Use a 85 wtz from motion

[Grossman56]

I hear you!
After what you've gone through with the Predator ESC's, I wouldn't even hang one on the wall!
Just working on the rear part of the starboard wing fillet, using balsa to build it up and sand it to shape.

Grossman56

[Cchrissyv1]

I have flown the P-40 a handful of times now. I never had any issues with the ESC. But from what I am reading, sounds like I should replace it? How hard is it to take out the existing ESC and replace it? And which one from Motion RC are we talking about...this one?

[Grossman56]

The Predator motor has 4.0 mm bullets where the ESC that you show has 3.5 mm bullets.
On the old type motors that the P-40 came with, the one you show works fine, you just need the motor wire extensions.
With the 650kv Predator motor, you need an ESC like this one..

https://www.motionrc.com/products/ztw-gecko-85a-esc-with-8a-sbec

The product specs show the 4.0 mm bullets connectors...


Not the only thing is what type of battery connectors you have. If your batteries are Deans (T) connectors like my batteries are, you 'll need an adaptor.

https://www.motionrc.com/collections/battery-to-esc-adapters/products/xt60-female-to-t-connector-male-adapter-admxt60ftconnm

Hope this helps!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

working on the wing fillet and making some real progress on it. Still working out a way to rebuild the air ducts on the fuse. It would be cool if there was a way to have the doors extend when the gear and/or flaps come down. Once the wings are here, I can ensure that the front wing mount is spaced properly for the wing joiner to screw into. I actually screwed the wing joiner into the two halves before gluing them to size, but I just need to know that the position for the mount within the fuse is correct. I'll have to get some pictures of the modified wing mount, it's pretty cool!
Excuse me, the wife just handed me Haagen-Dazs ice cream, time to act like Nancy eewwww did I just say that!!!

Grossman56