Curtiss P-40N-5-CU
89th FS, 80th FG, 10th AF, USAAF,
Naggaghuli, Assam Valley, India, 1944
*Kit: 1/72 Hasegawa P-40N
Afermarket sets:
Subject
This model represents the P-40N-5 named "Joanne" operated in CBI
theater in 1944. A photo of this particular aircraft was published in "Curtiss
P-40 in Action" No. 26 by Squadron/Signal (p. 49).
Construction
The main problem with the Hasegawa 1/72 P-40 kits is wrong wing location
resulting in the forward wing section positioned too high while the trailing
edge is located where it should be. To correct this error the entire lower part
of the wing was extensively modified by replacing the wrong areas with the parts
cut out from the Novo P-40E kit (well, with respect to required reshaping, I
would say, almost any other kit, at least a WWII fighter, or even a plastic
sheet would go too! ;-) ...) and then reshaped and adjusted as required. Some
pieces of plastic in the belly area were cut out and then repositioned onto the
correct place.
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After that the
fuselage had to be adjusted to fit the corrected wing by replacing the entire
wing root area of the fuselage with scratch-built insertions.
Another major form correction was modifying the fin to be off-set instead of
being 100% symmetrical as the kit parts were.
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Further
corrections/additions included:
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wheel well
interiors (totally scratch-built),
-
correct
instrument panel covering (scratch-built part added),
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correcting/adding
panel lines,
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simulation
overlapped panels where needed,
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extra detailing
of the landing gear and drop tank mounting,
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landing,
navigation and formation lights,
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antenna
The True Details
resin set was used for the cockpit and the kit wheels were replaced with ones
with rubber tires by Equipage.
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Camouflage and
Markings
The model was painted with Model Master enamel paints A mechanical lead pencil
was used for the panel lines highlightening and also for shading the lower
rsurfaces while the upper surfaces were weathered with pastel chalks. Exhaust
stains were applied using natural candle soot.
Kit decals (with completely
trimmed clear film) were used for major markings and the stencils were taken
from the Travers P-40E sheet. The visible fragments of black serial number on
the starboard side of the fin & rudder not overpainted with the "white
"49" (absent for some reason on the decal sheet) were cut out from a
solid black piece of decal.
The final clear coat was done with Future mixed with Tamiya Flat Base.
Conclusion
Well, as this model was build 9 years ago, I would certainly do the same things
quite another way. First of all, instead of troublesome correcting the wing
location, it would be much easier just to take a wing from one of the recently
released P-40B/C or at least P-36/Hawk-75 kits by AML, Pavla or Special Hobby
modifying it to the P-40N standards.
However, I don’t believe, it would be much easier to get a correct wing doing
kit-bashing with a Tomahawk by Novo or Academy available at that time. The
Academy P-40E/N is unfortunately no improvement compared with Hasegawa regarding
the wrong wing-to-fuselage joint and should be therefore corrected the same way
to obtain the correct appearence. By the way, the same can unfortunately be
applied also to the P-40F/L by MPM...
In addition, I am not sure, I would still use kit decals now, as some really
good aftermarket decals with similar markings became available in the meantime,
and, of course, displaying the canopy in open position using vacuform
replacement items just couldn’t be wrong, since the cockpit was already
extensively detailed...
However, all in all, I still hope, this one is not the worst replica of the
final Warhawk version ...
References
1. MBI Curtiss P-40
2. Squadron/Signal # 1026 Curtiss P-40 in Action
3. Squadron/Signal # 8262 Curtiss P-40 Detail & Scale Vol.2
4. Squadron/Signal # 5508 Curtiss P-40 Walk Around Vol.8
5. AJ-Press Curtiss P-40 Monografie Lotnicze Part 1-3 #64-66
6. Histoire & Collections Curtiss P-40 Planes and Pilots 1939-1945 #3
7. Osprey Curtiss P-40D-N Warhawk in USAAF, French and Foreign Service –
Aircam Aviation Series #7
Igor
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