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SMER 1/72 Curtiss P-36, Hærens Flyvevåpen


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Time to start another GB. My entry for the Less than a Tenner Group Build will be the SMER Curtiss P-36, 1/72 scale, in the colours of Hærens Flyvevåpen (later RNoAF) in the spring of 1940. It's actually a sort of Whif but more about that later. I will build it without any extras except for maybe homemade decals or paintmasks. Ok, the pictures:

CIMG0866_zpsb76bc7b7.jpg

"Flashy" sprue..

DSC_0285_zps0a1d3daa.jpg

This is the colour scheme I will be using.

Just have to wait til the start is announced.

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Hi,

I have two picture of this airframe!

One, taken from the 4 O'clock position, with the caption stating, "An A-6 being inspected by Germans at Kjeller airfield, shortly after April 9th 1940".

It appears that later this airframe became CU-560 in the Finnish Air Force, served with LLv 32, HLeLv, LeSK and HLeLv 11 and achieved 18 3/4 victories.

Christian the Married and exiled to africa, where the P-36/H-75 served just to the North with the SAAF.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

No updates to report on this , i'm sorry to say. It's been quiet at the workbench the last month or so. To be honest I've (and my computer) have been infected by a "virus" called World of Tanks :banghead:. And it's very addictive. So much of my spare time has been used to bang up all sorts of tanks on the PC :mental: . Too bad. But it's quite fun.

And I'm not a tracky thing guy. More of a wingy thing guy. And the worst is that there is a thing called World of Warplanes :yikes:

I think I need a reality check and start some serious modelling again......

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I know what you mean. I have not played any games since January due to their addictive nature. They are always there wanting to be played and I want to play. I'm just preferring to build the last few months so am hitting it while the mojo is in check... Go on, pick up the craft knife and get building. give it a go for a day and see how you get on. You never know you might like it... :hobbyhorse:

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Hah, i can see what are you talking about guys, i m also quite "infected".. :) I had to stop half year ago, because it was too much for me already, but i m happy for that, because i started with models again. Like Snapper says, i opened one of the boxes i had under my mistake for years and years and sudenly fell back into it :) So go go, we want to see your norwegian P-36! ;)

off topic: if you like planes, try War Thunder, its pretty good. And i m going to make collection (slowly) of all planes from that game! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've started!

Not much but it's a start. Some interior green in the proper places and a little black/ antrazit on the engine. The is kind of "flashy" so I have to do a job with the knife and a sanding stick. It's also a rather large sinkmark in the fuselage that I have to get rid of.

So here is the proof of the start :winkgrin: .

CIMG0875_zps6995d833.jpg

By the way, love your avatar Wolwe82. The "beer-express" of -44 B)

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Good start. I made this years ago from the old Revell kit, in the Finnish markings from the kit. It did not have so much 'flash' back then. I think it is the basis of a good P-36/H-75.

Looking forward to seeing it in Norwegian colours, and learning about it's history.

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The P-36 should have been ready and tested by april 9., but history repeats itself... :weep:

Anyway, some progress is made. The fuselage is assembled and the wing also. I'm not looking forward to joining the wing to the fuselage, I think there will be some large gaps to fill. Well it's the next step anyway...

CIMG0876_zps3fe2880a.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Hello snapper_city, and gooooood morning to all!

The P-36 is actually moving ahead, but I have to admit that I will not cross the finishing line in time :weep: . The pictures to prove the progress is at home (I'm at work at the moment) and I'l try to put them here when I'm back home.

The fuselage and wing is joined, filler applied, sanding done and a honest try on airbrushing is done. Only details left actually. And the devil is in the details... Later on today I will be away for the weekend I dont see a chance to get it all finished by Sunday. The end result will appear in the RFI section when everything is done.

I promised some historical facts about the Norwegian P-36. Here is some taken from Wikipedia and the book Norske Militærfly by Sverre Mo and Ole Bjørn Sælensminde (ISBN 978-82-7128-687-3)

By the end of the 1930's the Norwegian government realised the the armed forces needed more modern and better equipment. The RNoAF (Norwegian AirForce) was not yet born and aircrafts were operated by the navy and army. Caproni bombers were ordered and paid with fish, Heinkel 115 torpedobombers were ready by the spring of 1940 (and a few evacuated to Shetland and did service in the RAF), Douglas DB-8 were ordered but not ready and 24 Curtis P-36 (Hawk 7A-6) were ordered and more or less on their way to Norway by 9.april 1940. 19 aircraft was in Norway by that day. 5 were assembled (4 of them with guns and iron sights) none of them had radios. None of them had made their maiden flight. 2 machines were almost ready and 3 were on their way out of the boxes at the assembly point. So actually not much the meet the invading germans with. The rest of the 19's were in their boxes at a warehouse at Oslo Harbour and the story says that a clerk from the warehouse did what he could to destroy them in the crates while the germans were litteraly in the next room. He cut the wires he could reach and smashed the instruments so the germans could not use the aircraft. The last five were on board a ship wich left New York March 22. and after the invasion of Norway unloaded the planes in UK. They did serve in the RAF as Mohawk III. The planes already in Norway was taken by the Germans, given new instruments and made airworthy, served with German training units and in 1941 13 of them was sold to Finland and used by them in the Continuation war against the Russians. And as wywerns4 said in post above the Finns made good use of them. One a/c with over 18 victories.

Edited by NorwegianWood
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The promised pictures:

CIMG1002_zpsdff2399f.jpg

The fuse and wing went together quite OK, but I had to use a good amount of filler. Humbrol filler and liquid glue made up a putty.

CIMG1003_zps051618db.jpg

I could not find the nose guns so they had to be made out of sprue. Not exactly 100% accurate but they give a good impression of the cowling guns.

CIMG1006_zps74b7724f.jpg

Primed and masked eady for the airbrush. Vallejo primers and Italeri acrylic paint.

CIMG1007_zps9df3961c.jpg

After the paintjob. My second attempt at airbrushing a plane, and first with a metallic paint.

Next is making ready all the details. Canopy, landing gear, serial number and nationality markings. No decals to be used and no weathering to be done. Remember the original didn't even fly is this paint scheme. But I'l be going away for the weekend in about an hour, and won't be back until sunday evening. So the next posting has to be in the ordinary RFI

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Look forward to seeing it it RFI.

Cheers for the information, interesting stuff. I built the old Revell Hawk in the Finish markings, I didn't realise they came from the Germans!

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  • 6 months later...

Thank you HOUSTON. I really think that I should get this one finished. At the moment my man cave is a mess, mainly with R/C stuff. Most of my plastic modelling is on the other hand done outside of the mancave. I just need to get my gear organized and at the ready. And it's this mojo thing that I read a lot about on BM. But the P-36 is not forgotten so one day..

Maybe ready for the 9.april 2015?

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