BOEING P-26C "PEASHOOTER", 95th PURSUIT SQUADRON, MARCH FIELD, 1936

BOEING P-26C "PEASHOOTER" BOX ART

This is an image of the kit's "box art" three "Peashooters" of the 94th Pursuit  Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group circa 1934.  Three models, A thru C, were built and differed little from each other except the C which was powered by a fuel-injected Pratt & Whitney R-1340-33 radial engine and did not have the carburetor air intake stacks located behind the cowling.  The C model incorporated all of the changes produced during the production run of the A and B models.  Some A models were retrofitted to C model specifications. The P-26 series was replaced as a frontline fighter in 1940 by the Curtiss P-36 and Seversky P-35.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #1 6 July 2011

Before joining the fuselage halves as shown in this photo, the cockpit interior was constructed and painted in Tamiya acrylic XF-71 Cockpit Green with various instruments, boxes, cables, etc., painted in varying shades from "steel" to metallic black.  The built-up floorboard was pre-fitted to the fuselage halves and then glued to the right fuselage half, then refitted to be sure of alignment.  The instrument panel was pre-painted in black with white dials markings and glued to the right fuselage half.  After checking for alignment, I glued the fuselage halves together and bound them with rubber bands to dry overnight.  The next day I was able to carefully remove seam lines using 400 grit sand paper.  Some filling was required and allowed to sit another 24 hours before final sanding.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #2 4 August 2011

It took some experimentation with a paint formula to come up with the U. S. Army Quartermaster Corps Spec 3-1 sample 23 known as "Light Blue".  In Dana Bell's book, Air Force Colors Volume 1 1926-1942, page 94, is given his evaluation of that color compared to FS595a 35109 of which I have a chip.  His notes say that the chip is a poor match, #23 being stronger, a little greener, a little lighter, and glossy.  The gloss I will add later using a satin polyurethane overspray.  I selected Vallejo VC0963 Medium Blue acrylic as the base color.  I tried it mixed with three other Vallejo colors: VC0904 Dark Blue Gray, VC0905 Pale Blue Gray, and VC0906 Pale Blue.  I made three chips of each of these shades and none were to my satisfaction.  When I mixed Medium Blue with a combination of Dark Blue Gray and Pale Blue, I felt I was on the right track.  It took a few more mixes to get the combination my eyeballs liked and the result is shown in the photo above.  All of the fuselage panel lines have been painted with my mix of Vallejo VC0872 Chocolate Brown and any flat black.  I had to do a little touchup here and there but I got all of the lines.  The bomb rack was added to the underside and painted in Tamiya TMXF71 IJN Cockpit Green.  The yellow fin shade will be discussed in the next photo.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #3 4 August 2011

The yellow I needed to match is in the U. S. Army Quartermaster Corps Spec 3-1 sample 4 known as "Yellow".  According to Dana Bell, the closest FS595b shade is 13482 but the actual yellow used is darker and more yellow.  I found that Tamiya TM8034 "Camel Yellow" available in a spray can is to my eye quite close.  To match it in a hand-painting format, I found that Mister Kit MKUS17 Orange Yellow ANA614 is nearly identical. To paint the wings I oversprayed with a light coat of Testor's TS1237 Testor's Spray Flat Gray Primer and then two coats of the Tamiya "Camel Yellow" allowing substantial time in between coats for thorough drying.  I used the Misterkit Orange Yellow for touch-up.  Note that the panel and aileron lines have not been detailed.  The engine was assembled and painted in a dark metallic gray mixed with semi-gloss black.  Engine highlights were painted and/or dry-brushed in Vallejo VC0864 Natural Steel.  Not visible in this photo are the exhaust stubs three of which could not be installed until the engine is mounted to the fuselage.  The fixed landing gear was simple to assemble but quite difficult to drill out the closely-packed wire rigging holes.  I used a small No. 78 drill and it took some time to do this.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #4 10 August 2011

The "Peashooter" is undergoing substantial detailing including decal application and painting.  All of the components shown above have to be pre-painted and assembly can't take place until all fuselage decals have been applied - still quite a few to go.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #5 16 August 2011

Wings and undercarriage have been glued in place.  The engine fit right into the front without a problem thanks to the "pin and hole" alignment.  Projection under the fuselage is the boom rack.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #6 16 August 2011

This quarter right front view shows engine detail.  Copper exhaust pipes are not all on yet.  The "Peashooter" is undergoing substantial detailing including decal application and painting.  All of the components show above have to be pre-painted and assembly can't take place until all fuselage decals have been applied - still quite a few to go.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #7 16 August 2011

Overview of the model from the rear.  The left wing and horizontal tail plane have had brown-black paint detail added to bring out the panel lines.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #8 12 September 2011

All of the major construction is completed.  All of the exhaust stubs and the exhaust collector ring have been installed and/or painted with a half-n-half mixture of Vallejo VC0999 Copper and Andrea ANXC02 Flat Black.  The two-piece engine cowling was fitted over the radial engine, removed, and tacked with super glue along the side seem, then placed back in position to dry.  Later, I went back a added small droplets of glue where the cowling touched a couple of the engine cylinder heads. The drop-down cockpit door was added and painted in Tamiya TMXF71 IJN Cockpit Green and dry-brushed with Vallejo VC0864 Natural Steel.  The seatbelts had already been added in a previous step and now the shoulder belts were pulled out and draped over the side for show.  Barely visible under the fuselage are the four small bombs attached to the bomb rack. Next step is to overspray the model with clear satin polyurethane and continue with decal application followed by wing rigging and radio antenna rigging.  The only parts remaining are the Pitot tube, telescopic gun sight in front of the windscreen, and radio mast.

 

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #9 18 September 2011

The rigging has been completed.  At first, I tried using individual pieces of .005 piano wire but it was difficult to get the wire to conform to the pre-drilled holes.  I switched over to my favorite, .005 monofilament thread: easier to glue and to tack down the plastic scratch-built spreader bars.  I started on the remainder of decal application using the 1:48 scale decal sheet #4802 for the P-26 Peashooter by Starfighter Decals (Mark's Models and Toys).  I used quite a bit of Microscale "Micro Sol" setting solution repeatedly over the rounded surfaces to get the decals to conform to the curves but it worked quite well.

 

FINISHED MODEL PHOTOS PHOTOS #10 & 11 20 September 2011
One final piece of work was the radio antenna masts and rigging.  The masts were made from Strutz material.  Each connecting point for the wire antenna segments was drilled out and a shortened length of Eduard Wire Stretchers (turnbuckles) was inserted and Super glued.  A long length of .005 monofilament thread was looped and tied around the main mast and secured with Super glue.  When dry, I looped each end through the turnbuckles at the wingtips, tied them off, and fixed them in place with Super glue.  I took another length of .005 monofilament thread tied it around the rear fin mast and Super glued it in place.  I threaded it through the turnbuckle on the headrest, tied that off, and Super glued it.  Last, I took a short piece of .005 monofilament thread, tied it off to a section of the rear antenna line and Super glued it.  When dry, I looped it through the rear fuselage top deck turnbuckle, tied it off, and Super glued it.  I used a pair of surgical scissors to cut off the excess thread from each turnbuckle. I started on the remainder of decal application using the 1:48 scale decal sheet #4802 for the P-26 Peashooter by Starfighter Decals (Mark's Models and Toys).  I used quite a bit of Microscale "Micro Sol" setting solution repeatedly over the rounded surfaces to get the decals to conform to the curves but it worked quite well.

 

FINISHED MODEL PHOTOS PHOTOS #12 & 13 20 September 2011
The last step was the final application of small decals from the 1:48 scale decal sheet #4802 for the P-26 Peashooter by Starfighter Decals (Mark's Models and Toys).  All these were small, stenciled caution or information markings scattered throughout the aircraft  a few of which can be seen on the wheel spats.  The propeller and Pitot tube were placed into position and the model was finished.

 

FINISHED MODEL PHOTO #14 20 September 2011