Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (oz16037)

About this Plan

Curtiss P-40E Warhawk. Peanut scale rubber model.

Quote: "One of the better-flying WW-II Peanuts, Steve's P-40 was 3rd in the WWII category at the 79 PPPP Contest. Curtiss P-40E Warhawk, by Steve Gardner.

In 1937, Curtiss decided to update the P-36 Mohawk to contemporary standards. To do this they used the standard method of the day: more power. The 900-horse Wright was replaced by an Allison liquid-cooled V-12 with 200 more horses and less than half the frontal area of the big Wright. This increased the weight by better than a thousand pounds and lengthened it by three feet.

The result was the P-40, a rugged multi-purpose airplane that found work throughout WW-II with a number of different countries. Production stopped in 1944 after 13,738 were built.

Several examples are still flying today with the Confederate Air Force and other old airplane buffs. To own one of your own, you will have to build it.

Start with the tail (I do the simple stuff first to get into the building mood). The stab is started by pinning the 1/16 square leading and trailing edges down, followed by the spar and the laminated tips. The ribs are half as wide as the spar because I like to use so many of them, so they are thin to keep it light. This is important even with the long nose, so use light balsa in the tail. Build the fin in the same manner as the stab.

The wing is next. Start by pinning the leading and trailing edges down, followed by the wing tips. Now add the sliced ribs on top of the wing, trimming them to fit at the trailing edge. Flip the wings over and add the spars, which are tapered from the width shown on the side view to 1/16 at the tip. Add the rib bottoms and fill in the nose of the rib at the landing gear attachment with 1/16 balsa.

Build the center section now, then add the wing halves with 3/8 of an inch dihedral under each tip and 1/16 inch of washout in the tips. Mount the landing gear tubes with epoxy at the angle shown on the plans. The tubes themselves are 3/32 OD aluminum tube flattened to clamp onto the .020 wire gear strut.

Begin the fuselage by cutting out the top, bottom, and side keels from medium balsa. Use care to cut the keels and formers accurately. The formers are 1/32 medium soft balsa, the grain running vertically. Pin the top and bottom keels down and add the formers, making sure they are square with the keels.

Add the side keel and remove the fuselage half from the board. Glue the other formers on, including F5 (the window frame). The side keel and stringers go on now.

The stringers are made from 1/20 sq or 1/32 x 1/16 medium soft balsa. The stringer positions shown on the plans can be changed to straighten any stringers that are crooked.

Sheet the first two bays of the fuselage with 1/32 soft sheet if you need a place to hold on to while winding the model. Add the front key plate to the fuselage and carve to fit it to the key and the nose. Make a nose plug of 1/4-inch hard balsa and carve it to fit the spinner and key plate, then add the key. Carve a plug for the spinner and key plate, then add the key. Carve a plug for the spinner and vacuum form one as shown on the plan.

Make the wheels from 1/4-inch soft balsa, give them two coats of sanding sealer, then color with a black permanent marker.

My model was covered with Japanese tissue dyed olive green with Rit dye. The fuselage is covered wet on account of the compound curves. Be sure to jig the wing when it is drying to avoid warps and bowing. The tail surfaces are not shrunk. Coat the model with one thin coat of nitrate dope, then paint the bottom surfaces with light blue enamel thinned heavily.

Assemble the model now, adding the fairings, tailwheel, prop, spinner, and windscreen. Add the surface outlines with ink and any other markings you want with ink, paint, or decals if you have them.

The model in the photos flies to the right outdoors with a loop of 3/32 brown rubber 12 inches long. To fly in the Proxy Peanut Contest, the model was re-trimmed to fly left with a small tab bent down on the left wing to hold it up in turns. The indoor version uses 1/16 brown rubber 12 inches long.

Have fun with your P-40 and write me care of RCMB if you have any questions or comments."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

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