This all started with the wonderful 1/72 Airfix Curtiss Hawk 81/P-40B which I think may be the finest early P-40 widely available in this scale.
Unfortunately, that wouldn't save it from falling victim to an unholy marriage with the nose from a Russian I-5 biplane.
First, I had to cut off the useless but sleek Allison engine.
I needed something to attach the I-5 engine on that would blend in with what was left of the P-40 nose. The tip of a 1/48 Walrus engine pod seemed just the ticket.
Since I was itching for spats, the P-40 wheel wells needed filling.
My putty-fu looks much better with the flash on.
Next I glued on all the little cylinder fairings. All friggin' nine of 'em!
Once again, forcing the flash on the camera makes me look like a much better modeler.
Next up were the spats. I'd put some thought into this and decided "trousered" gear was the way to go. Ahead is a brief tutorial on my patented method for scratching spats. Now remember, I don't share this kind of top secret stuff with just anyone...
Sprue of a suitable shape was cut and attached. The sprue was compared to the kit landing gear to make sure the length was right.
Then I glued on the kit wheels.
Here's a brighter bonus pic:
Next, card stock was cut and glued on. I crimped the back with a clothespin.
The putty came out again and I filled any gaps.
Once again, more light makes this all look better. I figured the paint would hide any remaining flaws.
Speaking of paint, figuring out the color scheme was the most time-consuming part of this project. Initially, I wanted to do war games camo, but this bird wanted yellow wings. A while back, Bill & Jeff sent me some mystery paint of a perfect blue shade that seemed just right for this model.
The number made me think of the famous Humbrol line. And indeed Humbrol has a close blue 089.
However, the Humbrol is enamel and this stuff is definitely acrylic.
It reminds me of the stuff that comes in a paint-by-numbers kit, but it's honestly a mystery to me.
The mystery paint worked a treat. However, the yellow required multiple coats. I always find yellow so challenging for some reason...
I used a mix of decals from the stash. The U.S. Army under-wing markings are probably older than I am but went on without a problem. The rudder stripes are hand-painted. I couldn't really mask them off, so tape was used more as a guide to get things square. Which may have only met with limited success.
I had a lot of fun on this model which took me about two weeks from start to finish. I hope you enjoyed it and reading about a long-forgotten crisis. Here's a bonus shot of those fearsome spats.
Brian da Basher