1/72 Airfix Curtiss Warhawk in USAAC Colors

[wingnutz]

It was the morning of the 8th December 1941, as Japanese aircraft from Formosa were just on their way to bomb Clark Field, northern Philippines, a few aircraft of the 20th Pursuit Squadron was getting ready to sortie out in anticipation of the coming attack.

As sirens wailed and aircraft were caught lined-up along the airfield, reminiscent of the folly made in the US bases in Hawaii, there was no stopping the incoming devastation, as IJA/IJN G3M "Nell" bombers with A6M2 "Zero-sen" providing cover, descended and unleashed one of the most crippling strikes on allied USAAC/FEAF air assets in the Philippines, which eventually left the Filipino and American ground forces without air cover in the defense of the Philippine islands.

This is my rendition of the P-40B Warhawk, flown by Lt Joseph Moore on that fateful day. The kit is a 1/72 Airfix Curtiss Hawk, represented in 1941 USAAC colors based in Clark Field, December 1941.

Colors were Gunze acrylics, Olive Drab overall and Neutral Grey undersides. weathering was done with Tamiya enamel washes and Mr Hobby pastels. Subtle chipping effects with acrylic paint was applied with satay sticks for better control. Additional weathering effects were added with lead and silver colored pencils.

Additional details were done for the following;
> Cockpit details with tape and styrene for seat belts, styrene and CA glue for levers;
> Sawed-off canopy for an open position;
> Clear-plastic for armored windscreen detail;
> Styrene for exhaust and cowling flaps detail;
> Styrene and jeweler's wire for undercarriage details;
> Styrene and copper wire for ring and bead sight detail;
> Invisible thread for aerial details;
> Custom decals;
> CA glue for navigation lights;
> Brass pipes for .50 cal gun barrels;
> Brass rod and styrene for pitot tube;

The kit is an updated mold from Airfix with recessed panel lines and weighted wheels even. The ring and bead sight was the most fiddly detail added, as well as the additional landng gear details, as the original didn't have any brackets making it flimsy.

The OD colors needed some creative mixing with lighter colors to get some tonality in an otherwise monochromatic scheme.

The base was done in Photoshop with impressions of grass to simulate the grass airstrips of Clark Field in 1941, then mounted on a photo frame.

An Airfix 1/72 Willy's jeep + accessories was added to show some scale in the base.



















More pix of this build in this link...

[otftch]

Nice.
Ed

[T Bolt]

Excellent! Hard to believe it's 1/72 scale. I had to double check your description as I was sure it had to be at least 1/48. I'll have to check out that Airfix kit. It looks miles ahead of the Academy one I have in my stash.

[wingnutz]

Nice.
Ed

Much thanks Ed...

[wingnutz]

Excellent! Hard to believe it's 1/72 scale. I had to double check your description as I was sure it had to be at least 1/48. I'll have to check out that Airfix kit. It looks miles ahead of the Academy one I have in my stash.

The new Airfix line-up of kits, both re-issues and new molds are quite interesting...

[Crimea_River]

Nicely done.

[Airframes]

I agree - nice one, especially for 1/72nd.

[Gnomey]

Excellent work!

[Andy70]

Beautiful!!!

It looks miles ahead of the Academy one I have in my stash.

TBolt, I tried building the Academy version of the P-40B and finally gave up and picked up one made by Trumpeter in 1/72. It was a nice kit to build.

[copcheck]

I'm with all!

Hard to believe that is 1/72!

Superb!

[Wurger]

Undoubtedly looking much better than the Academy one. Well done.

[vikingBerserker]

NICE!

[wingnutz]

Much thanks folks. I've got both the 1/72 Academy and Trumpeter kits as well, and comparatively, this Airfix kit is a few notches better, although not without it's shortcomings. The common missing part for all these three kits would be the provision for the ring and bead sight for the USAAC circa 1941-42 P-40 versions.

But the best deal for this kit would be the Cartograf decals, the weighted wheels and detailed recessed panel lines.

The Trumpeter kit is comparable in quality in my opinion. I also have the 1/72 Hasegawa P-40E lined-up for my "Kibosh" build, and even that is a far cry from this Airfix new mould.

[Matt308]

Wow. Wonderful for my favorite scale!!

[Wildcat]

Very nice!!