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Dear all,

I'd like to show a MOC I finished last month: the Curtiss P-40E Tomahawk in the colours of the Flying Tigers in China.

51169877129_812b71efd3_w.jpgTiger_11_wheelup by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

As you can see it's in dark green and khaki; colours which aren't readily available in LEGO sets. I had to order these bricks from CADA and wherever I could find them, so I hope I am not violating any rules there since these bricks are not from LEGO. Still, I don't regret it as my 'original' colour-vomit set made from mostly 42039 pieces just didn't have the right look to it:

51170188000_651f5c82c8_w.jpgspareparts by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

It started innocent enough, with me making the front cowl and canopy... but you know the feeling, once you are that far it becomes a life mission and needs to be finished.

51169877194_1e255729b5_w.jpghalfway by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

At first the canopy could open, but I had to let that idea go when the controls were added.

51169877259_4334ee2455_w.jpgcanopy by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

Really happy with the dihedral there. I used some black 15-length liftarms, which I have not been able to take out and switch to light grey.

51170188060_8d882480db_w.jpgdihedral1 by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

Once the model was fairly complete, I ordered the various green and khaki parts, and came up with this:

51169319838_a55f6178c9_w.jpgBlank_08_topview by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

51168422787_91d25db3a7_w.jpgBlank_03_sideview by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

51169096131_6dddf1bc23_w.jpgBlank_05_bottomview by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

The flaps fell off right after I took this photo, so I fortified them since. They are controlled with a level in the cockpit, but I like the way they slope in down position:

51169096081_0270b3c62f_w.jpgBlank_07_frontview by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

The flight surfaces are controllable by a small joystick behind the cockpit. It was very hard fitting the mechanisms in there, and I am afraid to take it apart for a picture as it'll be a challenge to put it back again.

51169877089_6f6071ec26_w.jpgTiger_12_controls by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

I am most proud of the landing gear retraction system. As you may know, the gears of a P-40 retract one after the other, so I always wanted to make it fully manual operation. Here below you can see how it works. You turn the small black cog to drive the linear actuator. this will push the gear axle back and forwards. A fixed cog at the base drives the wheel axle, and the 90 degree turn becomes a 90 degree twist, making the wheels fold neatly under the wings:

51168422652_10b738d88e_w.jpgBlank_13_wheelhalf by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

51169319803_5efd2d3458_w.jpgBlank_12_wheelturn by Roel Cruijff, on Flickr

Here is the mechanism in case you'd like to try it:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/fqgxwfmazzuclv0/Gear_retracting_mech.io/file

The decals are simply laminated colour prints stuck with double sided tape. Works like a charm.

Hope you like it and that it may inspire more WW2 aviation models!

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