Balsa Bashing a P40 (Part 2)

Guillow’s Series 400 P40 Warhawk Build:
Cockpit Detail:

I decided to deviate from the plan’s suggestion of using thin cardboard and instead made the dummy bulkheads behind the cockpit from balsa sheet. This may add a bit more weight but I feel the trade-off for additional durability worth it, particularly as I’m going to be trimming the canopy side windows from the main moulding and attaching them separately.

The cockpit detail has been crafted from scrap balsa, doped to seal, and then painted. The instruments I’ve represented with a photo of the real thing glued to the panel – simple but effective. My aim was to make something attractive to pass off as ‘semi-scale’ with minimal weight penalty and I’m quite pleased with the final result.