Building a Better ?
Hawk Part 2 - the Hobbycraft P-40B
Mike Gawell
Hobby Craft P-40 (Pearl
Harbor Defender HC 1450 1/48 scale)
In part one
I covered the Hobby craft P-36 kit HC1546 in 1/48 scale.
Now in part two we conclude this "dual build" with a review of the
Hobbycraft P-40B "Pearl Harbor Defender" kit.
History:
The P-40
was an attempt by Curtiss to improve upon its P-36/Hawk 75 design, and an attempt to
bring the design to full potential. The
1930s were a time of rapid technological advancement in the field of aviation.
It was obvious that the P-36 design would be overtaken soon by foreign
competitors. Curtiss having a
desire to be on the cutting edge of design for the US Military, decided to mate an
Allison V-1710-11 engine on a new frame. The
resulting XP-37 looked more like a racer than a fighter.
Don Berlin proposed then to mate the Allison engine to a P-36 A airframe.
The resulting wind tunnel tests suggested a top speed of 350 mph.
The Military was impressed enough that a contract was issued on July 30, 1938 for
the new aircraft called the XP-40. There
were some differences to be done such as weight and center of gravity to be dealt with,
but essentially it is still a member of the Hawk family with direct roots to the P-36A.
After
significant testing, and movement of such items as the blast tubes for the cowling
machine guns, moving the carburetor air intake, moving the air scoop from the top of the
cowling, etc. the P-40 as a production model became the H-81.
The YP-40s were essentially the P-40A model, and with the addition of bomb racks,
and an additional .30 cal machine gun in each wing, it became the P-40 B. Each model through the P-40 C kept all the changes made on the line as
production was increased. Unless the modeler
is going to show self-sealing wing tanks, and pilot armor, it is enough to know that
these are some of the changes introduced on the B and C models.
The P-40
was equipping and replacing the P-36 units by the time of Pearl Harbor.
The 46th and 47th Pursuit squadrons of the 15th
Pursuit group were operating a mixed bag of P-36As, and P-40 Bs from Wheeler Field.
Also based at Wheeler were the 6th, 19th, 73rd,
and 78th Squadrons of the 18th Pursuit Group operating P-40 Bs.
The 44th Pursuit Squadron of the 18th PG operating P-40 B/Cs
were based at Bellows Field. By this time
the P-40s were sporting the Olive Drag 41 over Neutral Gray undersurface that the USAAF
would use throughout the conflict. Some of
the 18th PG esp. the 78th Ps sported large white training numbers
on the aircraft sides.
The
Kit.
The kit
itself is much like the Hobbycraft P-36 offering sharing the same interior pieces, and
diagrams. The difference is that in the P-40
it is loaded into the fuselage once it has been glued together.
I painted
the interior a flat Chromate Green, and highlighted the paltry interior with a few extras
of my own making to include dry brushing the instrument panel and then adding a drop of
clear gloss to give each an effect of a glass dial.
I left the seat in a aluminum finish to bring a bit of color to the whole thing,
and added my own painted on wiring, and fuel tank dials on the floor according to
Kinzey's fine edition of Detail and Scale for the P-40 Warhawk to give the cockpit
a busier look.
The
Fuselage itself, and the mating of the wings was very good, and left little to be done in
the way of putty or gap filling. Hobbycraft
even saw fit to model the 3 filters under the nose inside the air intake scoop.
Very nice touch. I must pause here
and address the same comments heard on the shape of the cowling, and wings at this point.
Firstly…yes what you have read in the past is all true.
After a fine effort, the company blew it on the rear of the cowling, and the shape
of the lines. Secondly, unless you are an
aviation expert, or someone competing at NATS, then for my two cents, this doesn’t
matter. It is a shame after doing as much as
Hobbycraft did to make the new mold, they blew it so badly on the rear cowling area.
Since I was in a bit of a time crunch, I left it the way it was, and while it is
bothersome to see the lack of underside profile around the cowling, I personally am not
going to worry about it since this was built in order to give people just a general idea
of what the aircraft looked like, and it turned out that the museum in the end deleted
the US component of the display due to lack of space.
The
aircraft was modeled wheels up, and it was a pleasant surprise to find that the
modifications were easy, and the gear bay depth was adequately portrayed.
According to photos I have, and in my references, it looks “about right”.
The most difficult area of a wheels up portrayal using this kit are the rear wheel
doors. By gluing the first one in (either
side, and then laying the other on a strip of tape I was able to get a good fit.)
On the
nose, I personally do not like having to guess at the correct angle of the prop, but
since I have done a few other kits from other companies. This was not a huge deal.
I would recommend that the modeler ensure that the angled pieces are deep enough
on the kit when building to ensure a proper mating of pieces.
I finished
the kit as an aircraft of the 78th Pursuit Squadron, 18th Pursuit
group. The large training numbers looked
interesting, and with the older star with a red center and white nose, makes for an
interesting choice. I used Aeromaster Olive
Drab 41 on the upper side, and Neutral Gray on the underside.
After a shot of clear gloss from Polly S, I applied the decals.
I was amazed how well these went down. For Hobbycraft, this is amazing.
I would again question the color of the U.S. Army decal, but I will leave that to
better minds than mine. The decals reacted
well to Micro sol, and left no silvering. Since
this was an aircraft of a newer version (possibly a C model according to references), I
chose to keep weathering to a bare minimum. I
did a little shading of the panel lines with burnt umber oils in a wash, and left a
little streaking for effect. On
the exhaust, I drilled out the stacks, and used Testors metallizer burnt iron. With a bit
of Polly S rust for highlight. Very nice
accurate effect. Much like what I see on our
T-6s after the stacks are broken in. I used
invisible thread for the antenna wire and very carefully ran a semi dry brush with flat
black over them to highlight, but not overpower the effect.
All in all
it was a decent kit to build, and if it was not for the inaccuracy of the cowling, and
some other details such as the landing light not being present, it is a good kit for any
beginning modeler, or a good challenge for the advanced modeler to make a silk purse out
of a sow’s ear.
Recommended,
but not the final say in the P-40 line of kits by any stretch of the imagination.
Model and supplies supplied by my ability to get up every morning, and keep a job.
