1:32 P-40K

The armored pane behind the windscreen

The version powered by a stronger Allison kept the typical low canopy with a sliding center section. Right behind the windscreen sat a thick plate of bulletproof glass and it is clearly visible when you look into the cockpit: it has a frame of its own, refracts light differently from the surrounding acrylic and only a short gap separates it from the instrument panel.

That plate is also the reason why masking from outside is not enough. Paint applied to the outer outline of the frame prints into the cockpit as a shadow, because you see it through two layers of transparent material. An inner mask prevents that and the edge stays crisp even under the windscreen.

Overview of the contents

The masking film for the canopy comes in two layers, one for the outer outline of the frame and one for the same edge seen from the cockpit. It is complemented by three pre-cut insignia and a decal sheet for serial numbers and personal markings. Everything is die-cut to the size of the plastic parts of the large scale, so measuring and transferring an outline to tape falls away.

The Warhawks served in Africa, in New Zealand and over Alaska and their camouflage schemes varied a great deal. That is exactly why it helps to have the insignia as a mask: a sprayed national symbol can be oversprayed with a translucent filter or dusted with pigment without any fear that a decal carrier will lift underneath.

Briefly on the procedure

Press the film down with a soft tool across its whole area, not only along the edges. Anyone who applies the inner part only after the fuselage is assembled usually touches the acrylic from inside and the fingerprint shows under the paint. The order of the work is therefore unambiguous: interior, inner film, assembly, and only then the top color.