1/72 Special Hobby RAAF 76 Sqdn. P-40N

[Vince_M]

This Special Hobby 1/72 kit is a real gem.  They are accurate and appear to be easy to build as well.



Of course, I should do it out of the box and avoid...well avoid being me!
But I have already started fiddling.
I have a couple of the True Details cockpit kits for the old Hasegawa kit.
Look how closely it matches the kit sidewalls.  Also they are much thinner.
Should be easy to get them to fit!

[Mark Joyce]

I've built the "E" and feel these new Special Hobby kits are the best P-40 kits in any scale for exactly the reasons you mention.  I wish Special Hobby would re-tool its "F/L" kit, which is definitely earlier-generation and not nearly as refined.

[Vince_M]

  I wish Special Hobby would re-tool its "F/L" kit, which is definitely earlier-generation and not nearly as refined.

I also have some of those earlier P-40F/L kits from SH.
You are right...they are not bad but the nose is still not quite right.
No model kit has ever gotten that right.
I have plans to do a resin nose for these new Special Hobby kits.
That is...whenever I get more spare time...   Ugh...

[Vince_M]

I am amazed at the fit of the True Details sidewall parts which were designed for the old Hasegawa kit!
Seems more than a coincidence.




These are the resin wheels upgrade kit from Eduard "Brassin" line.
Beautiful fine detail that I hope I can preserve with some careful painting:


I also plan to use this old Eduard photoetch set also made for the Hasegawa.
It has some useful parts too.  I might do an open ammo bay just for a change of pace.

[Mark Joyce]

Looks like you're off to a good start, Vince!  Have you decided on which markings for it?

[Vince_M]

I have an old Micro Scale decal sheet with a 76 sq RAAF kittyhawk.
Here is an old thread about this plane:

https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/done-finished-kittyhawk-iv-curtiss-p-40n-raaf-76-sqn-g-sv-a29-1140-group-build.18592/

[Vince_M]

I have noticed that the RAAF in particular used a "double wide" belly tank.  I have not seen any USAAF or RAF P-40s using them.  One can assume that as the Japanese were pushed back, they needed more range.  As I recall the Aussies were pissed that they were given second line role...so much so that some of their top pilots resigned.

Special Hobby included a wide tank in the kit but they only made the tail end of the tank wider.  It's incorrect.
So I took a part from my spares box and modified it myself.  It was a belly tank from an old Hasegawa kit I built in the late 80s.

Here is a pic of the bad one included in the kit:



Now a pic of mine prior to primer and just before I added the "seam" around the circumference.  That was difficult.



Here it is with a coat of primer.  I'm trying to figure out what color to paint it.  Should it be an aluminum paint or neutral gray???

[Vince_M]

Hi all,
Today I installed some ammo bay detail I got from that Eduard photoetch sheet (from the early 90s).
I used black paint and bare metal foil to detail it before gluing it in here:

[P-40 Admin]

That's some nice detail in such a small scale

[Vince_M]

Thanks!
I painted the bullets black and then sanded the protruding detail to expose the brass.  It worked perfectly.
Bare metal foil was used to represent the other portions with my carefully cutting out the bullet detail on the feed chutes.
I was worried about the two different metals corroding each other so I painted the brass with a layer of Future floor gloss.
Hope that does it...

[Vince_M]

Here is the decal sheet I'm using.  This was the first decal sheet I ever bought...about 40 years ago.
I've already done four planes from this sheet so I'd say I got my money's worth eh?

[Mark Joyce]

Splendid work so far, Vince!  I have that decal sheet too.  If I recall correctly, I used its markings for Joel Paris' P-40N on my build of his plane.

[P-40 Admin]

Nice markings!

[Vince_M]

Small update.
This is the pilot seat from the old Eduard Photoetch.
It might not be exactly right for P-40N but it has a square back so that was good enough.
The belts are from the old Reheat photo etch sheet.

My eyes are struggling with 1/72.  I love the kit tho.

[Mark Joyce]

Looking good!