I'm building a Monogram P-40B Tiger Shark but I want to paint it a Pacific theatre color scheme or maybe just the standard US color scheme instead of the RAF scheme Monogram instructs me to do.

I guess a couple of questions need to be answered before I can really paint it a certain scheme. First, was the P40-B even used in the Pacific front? If so did it wear the usual blue colors as seen on other US Pacfific fighters?

Any reference links would be awesome, thanks in advance!

nope
they are used mostly in china by the USAAFand taiwan Flying tigers
i hav never seen them in blue since they are not carrier based or whatsoever

heres an example

Yep, thats the same paint scheme I've been seeing for this bird. I'm wondering then if there are any other good paint schemes for it?

Army Air corps colors. Green top, light gray underneath.

SEarching for some nice schemes too!

This is a P-40N and since it didn't come out until '43, it never carried this camo, but I modelled it after the "Pear Harbor" movie where, given a lack of P-40B/C, used a couple P-40Ns instead for their flight scenes and ground shots.

P-40B/Cs were definitely used on the Pacific theater, most famously by the Flying Tigers, but also at Pearl Harbor, Clark AF in the Phillipines and at outposts all across the Pacific. They were initally the most advanced fighter the USAAC had, but gradually as the P-38, P-47, and eventually P-51 came around, they were relegated to back up and support roles.

I have never heard of blue P-40s; Navy Blue Gray is...well...used by the US Navy. The USAAC (Army Air Corps) used the P-40s and painted them, for the most part, in standard OD on top and Neutral Gray on the undersides with some sneaking their way onto selected parts of the fuselage side.

Jeff

If you can wait that long, this is getting published next month....Jim

Oh wow, a whole book coming out on it, I may need to check that out.

Also, I think I'm just going to settle with the common paint job found on the P-40 which is that brown and green camo pattern with the shark mouth decals, etc.

Thanks!

Hi Jim

Judging by those cover shots, I think I might have to try to reel that one in for review!

All the best

Rowan

Thanks for the reference and info, USNavy2534. I'll probably stick with the Flying Tigers colors since the decal sheet Monogram gave me doesn't have the correct USAAF star decal, it has the generic white star on blue circle instead of the one with the red in it like you posted. But then again I love the paint scheme on that reference image that I'm contemplating using the USAAF decals I have and dealing with it.

Hi Barget,

AVG Shark There is my Monogram P-40.

First, does your decal sheet have red circles? Those are the red centers for the USAAC stars.

Other paint jobs? You could do a Soviet P-40. They were (probably) mostly the colors they arrived in, but I've seen Soviet schemes of green with black, not to mention whitewashed.

One other idea, the US wargames of 1940-41. Have you seen the game colors? Pastels, splinter schemes, all sorts of bizare paint jobs. Not sure of P-40s were involved, but why not?

Nice job on yours! What's the secret to getting a seamless wing attachment like yours? I'm speaking of the seam where the wing meets the upper fuselage.

So that's what those red circles can be used for, I'll have to make note of that and use them then. What's the standard procedure on applying decals anyways? I know you got to soak the piece and then use tweezers or something, how do you pros do it?

Also I remember seeing the Russian variant of the P-40 and it was indeed an interesting find but not really my cup of tea.

Although I really can't say that I've seen the colors from this US wargames you speak of, what is this exactly? I'd love to know more!

There are solvent solutions that aid in decal placement. In the end, it typically just comes down to what the instructions say. Warm water, tweezers (typically a paddle type tweezer not sharp ones that will cut through the decal) and apply. The solutions really help for large decals and over recessed and raised panels. For the Star, Bar, and Circle, apply the large circle first, then star, then the red ball last (letting each set and dry first (some just come with a Star and large circle and a red ball; same thing goes: star then circle). The red ball was taken off aircraft about mid-'42. It was thought to bear too much resemblance to Japanese rising sun emblems. I just chose it, because it looks cool. These were some of the last really colorful emblems that American air power used.

Jeff