Kittyhawk Ia 112 Sqn, 1/72

[Doc72]

Hi,

here comes my latest model that I finished yesterday. It's my first P-40 and I went for the obvious option: a shark mouth of 112 Sqn.

The kit is the 1/72 from Legato/AZ and it is finished basically out of the box. The break lines on the landing gear are the only addition. The paints are Tamiya and I have used oil paints for panel wash, oil/fuel spills and general weathering. Special attention was paid to the decals and tires which shouldn't look too pristine on a desert a/c.

It is a nice kit despite being short-run and needing some filler. I like the fine panel lines while many smaller parts are a bit softly moulded and ill-defined. The decals supplied with the kit were used and they worked without problems.

These Kittyhawks were delivered in in the Temperate Land Scheme (US paints used, of course) and the Dark Green was later overpainted with Middle Stone. Therefore DG is still visible around the serial. The photo of the original also shows that the edge of the fuselage roundel was carelessly sprayed over with Middle Stone.

There seems to be some discussion on the correct colour for the underside whether it is Azure Blue or perhaps Light Mediterranean Blue. On the original photo it sure looks very dark but this might be due to the stark shadow. I went for a mix that looks right to me.

The original photo can be found here: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205208930

The a/c carried the small inscription "London Pride" barely visible over the "Y" on the port side. In these days one could write the letters G, A and Y as well as the word "pride" on an aircraft and nobody would consider it odd.

The base is a bit small for the Kittyhawk but it is just recycled. Originally it served quite a different vehicle: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234964208-sdkfz-263-172/

Thanks for looking. All comments welcome.

Ole

Edited July 11, 2016 by Doc72

[stevej60]

Beautiful build,classic scheme too,great job all round.

[tonyot]

What a cracking little model, the first AZ Kittyhawk that I`ve seen and you`ve got this particular aircraft off to a tee,

Well done,

Tony

[Meatbox8]

A superb looking Kittyhawk. The weathering looks great and demonstrates beautifully the tough environment these aircraft served in. Isn't this one of the great Clive Caldwell's aircraft?

[Cookenbacher]

Beautiful build.

[jean]

Ole, congratulations are de rigueur!!!

Perfect rendition of a desert air force P-40, down to the dust and weathered paint. Plain gorgeous!

JR

[Vulcanicity]

Terrific stuff!

[Doc72]

Thanks for your comments!

The aircraft is indeed connected to Clive Caldwell but I don't know if it was a personal aircraft in the strict sense. Anyway, I wasn't so much interested in building the mount of a particular ace, any shark mouth-Kittyhawk would have done to me.

[RMCS]

Can't beat that scheme

[Beard]

That looks very nice, very nice indeed.