Hasegawa 1/32 P-12B Conversion by Joel Rawson

Hasegawa 1/32 scale conversion
Boeing P-12B

by Joel Rawson

Boeing P-12B

Airfix's 1/72 scale Hurricane Mk.I is available online from Squadron

Introduction

This is one of those projects you do just because you love the way the airplane looks and by the time you are half way done you think you were out of your mind to start.

It began as the old Hasegawa P-12E kit. The P-12E is a later model airplane with an all metal monocoque fuselage and tall fin and rudder. The earlier P-12B had a fabric covered fuselage.

These are the differences:

Fuselage is fabric covered and with a lower deck.
The deck forward of the cockpit has straight, flat sides, not curved as on the P-12E.
Cockpit interior is different, including walls, floor and seat.
Fin and rudder are much more square in shape.
Landing gear has a different configuration.
Engine is exposed with no cowl ring.

Construction

I began by cutting the fuselage down on a jig saw and trimming the kit vertical stabilizer and rudder to the rough shape of the P-12B.

The rudder being the most distinctive difference in the planes, I did that first by adding a bit of plastic and sanding it to shape. The corrugations are the finest plastic rod I could find glued one strip at a time then sanded and filed to shape. They are over scale. Thin monofilament attached with super glue might work better. I prefer gluing plastic to plastic.

The interior of the fuselage was built up using plastic rod for formers and stringers and square plastic to simulate the fuselage structure which on the original was built of square aluminum tubes bolted together.

Most of the aluminum on the original was first treated with a red lead primer and then overpainted in aluminum lacquer. I've got the remains of an original P-12F in my garage and consulted them for paint guidance.

Throttle quadrant and the instrument panel were scratch built and details were added such as trim wheels, rudder pedals, control stick and push tubes.

The seat on the early P-12s, according to factory photographs, was a simple aluminum bucket with a sheet metal back, painted gloss black.

Research and scratch building details are what I really enjoy about modeling,

Now for the troubles. The first try at simulating the fabric covering was a failure. Plastic strips were glued where the stringers fell on the model and Milliput was smeared over them. The idea was a wet tool, my finger, would brush the Milliput off leaving everything smooth and looking like fabric. It didn't work.

So I rubbed it all off in a hurry, using lots of water.

The second try I outlined the shape of the fabric covering with masking tape and smeared on auto body putty. (I bought a huge tube of this stuff at an auto-parts store and it has lasted five years.) The green filler was sanded back to the plastic stringers and sanded smooth. Then more filler was added at the dips and holes. And sanded again. You know the drill. And again. It was somewhere in here at the six month mark, where I decided I was out of my mind.

I made the aft deck out of sheet plastic and built up a new deck forward of the cockpit.

Thin plastic was cut to the shape of the lacing strips around the fabric and was sanded into the contour of what would have been the metal fuselage skin.

The new landing gear struts were made of airfoil shaped plastic and square stock.

The exposed engine on the P-12B is a prominent feature. I bought the Vector engine kit designed for the Hasegawa F4B-4, the Navy version of the P-12. It's a lovely little kit. The exhausts are beautiful castings and although the original P-12Bs had short, straight stacks I used the Vector kit's exhausts. They aren't authentic but they look great.

Painting and Markings

I opted for a simple scheme, no gaudy stripes or chevrons, just the squadron insignia and aircraft number. The paints are Tamiya yellow and a hand mixed dark OD. The Boeing lettering on the aft fuselage was printed on decal paper using my home printer. You must overspray the decals with clear before dipping them in water to prevent the ink from running.

Thumbnail panels:

Now for the rigging. On two previous models, the Wingnut Wings SE5A and Monogram's F3F, I used flat stainless photoetch to match the original streamlined flying wires. They had worked out okay. Not so this time. By the time I was halfway through trying to trim each to length and get them parallel, I knew it was a botched job. Wires sprang away zipping around the room. Super glue went where it shouldn't. I practiced the vocabulary taught me by drill sergeants in my youth and swore never to use the stuff again. The wire does expand and contract with changes in temperature and in a nice chilly air conditioned room they tighten up a bit. Is Ezy line really easy? We'll see.

Conclusion

Still it does look like the P-12B, a jaunty little fighter that was great in its day.

Through the years I've bought several Tamiya kits, but I've never built one. I think it's time. I hear they assemble very nicely right out of the box.

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