Top flite: 1/7 P40 kit build.

Gold edition 60 size.
200+ hours build time.
Robart retracts.
Warbird colors paint.
Fiberglass specialties cowl/scoop etc.
Callie graphics decals.
ASP120 four stroke.

[@CheifyRC]

Impressive skills. Really enjoyed watching your build. 🤛🤩

[@meakins355]

Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it!.

[@grahamhunt1902]

Thanks for the inspiration, I need to start building the many kits that I inherited and get back into this hobby. 🍻

[@mrkattm]

Nice job, top flite are nice kits. I wish more people these days would build what they fly

[@meakins355]

Top Flite kits are fun to build just wish they had a larger selection to choose from.

[@tbobborap1]

Wow great build, looks fantastic, I love the p40's Deano

[@meakins355]

tbobborap1 Me too, I will end up building a bigger version at some point in the future. Thanks, Deano.

[@reckemroysrc3764]

WOW what a solid build. I'm impressed. 😎

[@FranksModelAviationWorkshop]

Nice! I have that kit in my stash. I can’t wait to build it.

[@everythingrcz]

Wow! DAM nice I love how you did your paint not a look alike in a crowd of p 40's and your attention to detail like on your guns the black riffing on the wings ! love love it !

[@meakins355]

Thanks for the kind comment. Sorry I was late to reply but sometimes I don't get notification emails for new comments...

[@dwaynemarshall8357]

Nice work, really enjoyed videoNever glassed a model before this makes me want to finish my great planes gaint p_ 51It is ready for covering..looks so good now in bare wood but may be time to finish it

[@stevejones9044]

I will be starting that build sometime in the future after my current builds. You used fiberglassing as the covering. I have only used iron on like monokote. I'm going to have to consider glassing next time, maybe for the P40E.

[@stevejones9044]

What did you use to cover the ribbed control surfaces?

[@maestrimq]

Awesome!! Great job.

[@alvincctrn]

love the music you picked

[@fdwsr71]

Hope it flys as good as it looks

[@rluigi1965]

vey well done and very nice job painting. How does she fly?

[@meakins355]

+Luigi R Thanks mate. Still waiting for it's maiden at the moment.

[@rluigi1965]

bellissimo . Good paint job!!

[@tedsmith6137]

The buildings, the vegetation, has to be in Oz!

[@meakins355]

haha yes, good old Perth WA.

[@DutchSpifire1]

Hi Jamo, I am from The Netherlands and love building planes as much as you do. Just finished a Spitfire I bought 20 years ago! As soon we had kids, the other kits had to wait.... Ha,ha Anyway, love the building and the finishing you did. I'm now building the same P40 TopFlite kit. Amazing quality in the box!! I am also making photo's of the building proces. You inspired me with that! For now I only worked with Oracover and do not know a lot of painting. What did you use to cover the elevator and rudder? What kind of filler do you use on the covering? A lot of questions I am affraid but i very interested in getting into this kind of finishing for this plane. Thank already, kind regards Adri

[@meakins355]

Hello, Adri. I'm more than happy to answer any questions you have. The Covering used for the elevator/rudder is called Solartex (Natural). No filler or primer was used, you can paint straight onto the covering. Good luck with your build, I'd also like to build the spitfire.

[@FranksModelAviationWorkshop]

Really nice. How’d it fly? I’m building that same kit on my channel.

[@meakins355]

Hello Frank, the P40 was a really nice flyer. Mine turned out overweight but still performed well. Only thing I'd do differently is beef up the landing gear mount area. I ground looped on landing which caused the landing gear/mounts to rip out.

[@FranksModelAviationWorkshop]

@@meakins355 thanks for the advice. It’s a great kit to build. Top quality wood, and easy to read manual. I’ll be putting an Enya R1.20GP 4 cycle in it for power.

[@meakins355]

@@FranksModelAviationWorkshop I've built two TF kits now, both very enjoyable to build and like you said the manuals are easy to read. Good luck with your build I'll be following along!.

[@FranksModelAviationWorkshop]

@@meakins355 thanks!

[@FranksModelAviationWorkshop]

What did you cover the control surfaces with. It looks like silkspan, or polyspan.

[@jacksnavely559]

R.C. built up,cool

[@TOPHAT1966GS]

Great build

[@danpos1971]

Do you have any flight footage? I have built a Top Flite Mustang kit. Powered it with a Saito 120S then a Saito 150. Great flying plane. How does this fly compared to your P-47 kit? Fantastic job finishing your P-40! Great work!

[@meakins355]

+Dan P Hey Dan, thanks!. I've only had 2 flight so it's a little hard to compare atm. I will say the 120 is perfect for this plane, you have the extra power if needed plus no added weight was required for the recommended CG.

[@harisonnhussein9662]

I was wondering what paint you used for the weather wash? I’m using Klass Kote for my olive drab and grey. But would not like to use enamel or acrylic paint because I would then need to finish with a clear coat. That defeats the advantage of Klass Kote which is glow fuel proof.

[@meakins355]

The olive drab, grey and all the weathering was done using warbird colors paint. I needed to use Klass Kote clear to seal the paint because Warbird colors "New batch" isnt fuel proof for some strange reason.

[@TheLipRipp3r]

Nice work!

[@meakins355]

TheLipRipp3r Thanks, brother.

[@sheriffjohn2498]

Hey Jamo, good Job on the video. Very enjoyable video! The music was a good choice. :) Question: I have a Zenoah 26cc engine that I can't seem to find a plane for. It's either too large or too small for the bulk of the planes on the market. It's just a little physically smaller than a DLE 30. Do you think that it would mount OK on the firewall? the mounting dims are: 94mm x 75mm (3.7 x 2.95 inches) width x height good job again! SJ

[@meakins355]

+Sheriff John Hello SJ, thanks. The rough firewall dimensions for the p40 are 140mm x 75mm.

[@harisonnhussein9662]

Hi, Jamo. I’ve ordered the P40 kit and accessories and hope to start building in January. I’m wondering whether you would recommend any gas engine with a walbro carb which I think would give a more reliable performance when inverted than a four stroke. Hopefully, fully hidden. Btw I found that if I got the level of my fuel tank just right relative to the engine fuel needle it performed better. What was your final weight? What was your cg? And did you need nose weight to balance? Thanks Jamo, this is going to be my first kit build and watching your video inspires me.

[@meakins355]

The recommended CG is spot on and my final weight was 11-12 lbs if i remember correctly. No nose weight was needed as I could get the correct cg by moving the RX battery pack forward. I can't help with regards to a gas engine recommendation sorry.

[@dumpsmokes4388]

If I worked on her all day every weekend how long would she take and what tools will I need to build with

[@meakins355]

Took me 200+ hours to build so just over 4 weekends for you :P. As for tools, Sanding blocks, razor plane, rulers, squares, pins, clamps, glues, tape, dremel, drill, incidence meter, soldering iron, hobby knife, saw etc.

[@douglasames6495]

Very nice! It's great that you didn't do another cookie - cutter box - art paint scheme.

[@rodolfo-f7i]

I'm from Brazil, and very good video bro, inspired me HAHA, so what you used in the lamination and finishing? how was the process? - Thanks bro!

[@meakins355]

Hello, sorry for the late reply. The model was finished with fibreglass cloth/resin, High fill primer was applied until the weave in the cloth wasn't visible anymore. Paint was then applied.

[@harisonnhussein9662]

Kev, nearly finish woodwork on the stab, rudder and elevators. It should be alright to glass the whole stab before joining it to fin and fuse right? Going to start the fuse next. Any tips on the fuse construction?

[@meakins355]

You will be fine glassing before joining the stab. As for tips, I guess take your time, ensure a nice straight/square fuselage. Add some triangle balsa gussets for added strength around the firewall and fuel proof the fuel tank area before you close up the fuselage.

[@harisonnhussein9662]

I got the Robart 615E electric retracts which is recommended by top flite for the P40. I am surprised how weak the motor is. I am using robostruts and scale wheels from Robart. It was jamming and I could not at anytime get both retracts to work at the same time. Can you recommend be the best retracts. My P40 is finished. How difficult is it change to Robart pneumatic. Are their pneumatic more reliable.

[@joslinnick]

What do I need to do in order to learn how to build something like this? What builds do I need to start with so that I can gain the skills necessary to make something like this one day?

[@meakins355]

+Nick Joslin Hello, Nick. I would start out with a high wing trainer kit first, then maybe a low wing sport plane kit etc. Plenty of forums out there on the interwebs that will help you out also. Good luck brother.

[@harisonnhussein9662]

Kev the wing root fillet did you build it with balsa following the kit or did you use micro balloon?

[@meakins355]

Hello, I used balsa on the fillets.

[@SeanSpargur]

Great job on your build! Couple questions: Did you glass all surfaces? I was planning on covering mine with 3/4 oz cloth and Minwax waterbased PolyCrylic. Did you use this type of cloth or something similar and if you glassed the control surfaces with the same material that you used to glass the fuse and wing? If you did glass the control surfaces, did you do them all? Rudder/elevators/Ailerons/Flaps.

[@meakins355]

Hello, Sean. Everything (including flaps) was glassed with 3/4 oz cloth and resin apart from the rudder, elevator and ailerons, which were covered with solartex natural.

[@SeanSpargur]

What advantages does the Solartex offer for those specific surfaces?

[@meakins355]

Those specific surfaces are open structures and need to be covered with a iron on film. As for advantages, Solartex is easy to apply and lightweight.

[@SeanSpargur]

Excellent - thank you for your quick replies. Hope that mine turns out equally well.

[@meakins355]

No problem, good luck with your build.

[@harisonnhussein9662]

Jamo thanks for reply. Another question, can I modify the wing to use two separate servos instead of one in the middle? Can the wings take it do you think? Also your flexible exhaust extension is it 12cm long or do I need to get the 24cm length? I much appreciate your replies. Thanks

[@meakins355]

Hello mate, I have no problem answering any questions you have. You can replace the bell crank system for two seperate servos without a drama, plenty of room. I used the 12cm flexible exhaust extension. Cheers Kev.

[@harisonnhussein9662]

Thanks again. Will start the kit in Jan. My first so it will be rather slow.

[@harisonnhussein9662]

Did you cut out the glass on the top of the cockpit rear recess or did you leave it on?

[@meakins355]

I left it on.

[@MarkHSPR]

Looks great. How did you find the top flite kit in terms of ease of build? I'm tossing up between the P40, P47 and Spitfire.

[@meakins355]

+Mark Hindley Both the p47 and p40 were very enjoyable kits to build, the supplied instructions are very clear to understand. The only thing I would change is the tail wheel setup. A ball joint is used to connect the tail wheel to the rudder push rod. During transportation the p47's tail wheel ball joint has popped off.... It requires a 500mm long, custom length of wire to pop back on... very frustrating. If that happens to the p40 I will be forced to cut open the fuselage...

[@harisonnhussein9662]

Kev, finished my P-40 build. Went smoothly and the baby came in at 12lb. I have one problem. The flexible exhaust extension can not flex enough not to touch the cowl side. I’m concern the vibration from the engine will loosen the cowl screws. The O.S. engine is mounted per instructions slightly tilted away from exhaust side. How did you get the clearance? If I tilt the engine further I am not sure whether the narrower bottom of the cowl will make it worst. I just need 5mm gap so the flexible extension coming out of engine head does not touch the cowl.

[@meakins355]

That's great to hear!, 12lb is good. What size engine do you have?. I have a ASP120, I'm wondering if the ASP exhaust exit is at a different angle that yours?.

[@meakins355]

Also, did you use the ABS cowl that comes with the kit?. I purchased a fibreglass cowl that is thinner than ABS, so maybe that's how I have clearance .

[@harisonnhussein9662]

I’m using O.S. 120 four stroke. I’m also using the stock cowl. I’m very pleased with the weight. Not expecting to put more than 50 grams nose weight. If I can more the battery under the fuel tank may be less. I know if I don’t resolve the cowl issue it’s going to bite me after a couple of flights.

[@meakins355]

Yea I was able to place the battery under the fuel tank to get the correct CG, with zero dead weight added. Did you maiden her yet?.

[@harisonnhussein9662]

No I have not maiden. I will be traveling for next two months so will do it in July. Would love to send you some pics.

[@kiwirambob]

Perfect .. could you finish mine please

[@meakins355]

Thanks. I have too many of my own models to finish hahah.

[@GVBiggs524]

Great build, nice lines but it really needs a 3 bladed prop!

[@meakins355]

I agree, looks horrible with a 2 blade.

[@neviamorim5611]

Hello, iam starting the same kit. Whats the final weight of your model with the 120 and this kind of finnishing?

[@meakins355]

+Nevi Amorim Hello mate, final weight is 5.2kg (11.5lb). It performs fine at this weight, full flaps slow her down nicely for landings.

[@bergfald]

Most impressive :-)

[@meakins355]

bergfald Cheers. This is my second warbird, I can't wait to start on my third hahah.

[@douglasames6495]

Thanx for Not building another box art Flying Tigger.

[@modshaman]

Nice Ride , nice Video Nice paint. Just one small word of advice from a Graphic Artist , Don't EVER use straight BLACK ! Just something that was pounded into my head in the early days.

[@meakins355]

Appreciate the advice, I'll remember that for the next build, cheers.

[@modshaman]

Jamo. Believe me I really didn't want to say anything because this is a GREAT build and paint Video.... EXELLANT! keep up the good work ...... Also great masking & paint on the Nose Art .......love the free hand