Author Topic: The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale  (Read 3016 times)

Offline Brian da Basher

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The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale
« on: June 21, 2017, 06:53:58 AM »


While the export Curtiss Hawk III has gained notoriety for its foreign service



utterly forgotten is the last Curtiss biplane fighter with retractable landing gear, the Monaco Hawk V.



By 1938, war clouds made the tiny principality of Monaco determined to upgrade their small but professional air force. They wanted to obtain export versions of the Curtiss P-36 known as the Hawk 75,  but trouble with wing plate buckling meant those aircraft were unavailable.



Curtiss refined their Hawk IV demonstrator to become the penultimate of the Hawk biplanes, the model 79C or Hawk V which was offered to fill the gap in export sales until Hawk 75's teething troubles could be resolved.



The new aircraft featured a completely enclosed cockpit and a more powerful engine as well as that legendary, hand-cranked retractable landing gear. Another modification, made at the request of Monaco, was filling in the "tunnel" between the gear wells with additional fuel and oil tanks. Not only did this help keep the upgraded engine in fighting form, but it also eliminated annoying aerodynamics which were previously only fixed by adding an awkward ring.



Despite delays in delivery and the additional 8 months it took to transition the first class of pilots, Monaco eventually fielded enough Hawk Vs to form three squadrons, 17 aircraft total. By the summer of 1940, these fighters would be desperately needed.



The summer of 1940 was a terrible time not only for western Europe, but also for the tiny principality. It wasn't the war that would cause all the carnage, but a celebration conceived as a way to boost tourism.



It all began in a very civilized manner, but once Absinthe Stadium Cup Happy Hour began in earnest, things began to go wrong. Not only is an extra-extra large cup of absinthe overdoing it, but multiple rounds had been consumed by the time the constabulary tried to enforce the end of Absinthe Stadium Cup Happy Hour. Indignant, thousands of drunken absinthe devotees rioted.



The police retreated in the face of the angry mob and called in the militia. When the militia was forced to give way to the violent, absinthe-fueled riot, the air force was ordered to restore peace.
 


The Monaco Hawk Vs dove at the drunken mob again and again and then flew at them head-on at extremely low level. Finally, this got the rioters on the run and the Monaco pilots were glad they never had to fire their guns as they helped herd the last groups of miscreants into waiting Black Marias.



The next day it was all over except for the thousands of crippling hangovers and hundreds of thousands spent to post bail. It was said that the roar of the Monaco Hawks' engines as they dove down low to face the mob made those hangovers especially brutal.



The damage done was truly legendary and little Monaco would not see destruction on that scale even during W.W. II.



As this incident is all but lost to living memory, perhaps it's no surprise that the Monaco Hawk V is also forgotten. To this day there has never been a model kit made of this magnificent aircraft in any scale and the only reminder left is a Gregasus conversion set briefly available from a sidewalk "vendor" outside the DuBois, Pennsylvania Zayer's store in 1989.



Brian da Basher


« Last Edit: June 21, 2017, 08:06:38 AM by Brian da Basher »

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2017, 07:33:21 AM »
This all began with the venerable 1/72 Monogram Goshawk the eagle eyes of Bill & Jeff spotted for me at the Renton show (thanks a million, gents!). Your box art may vary.



Here's a look at what's in the box.



You can't see it in this shot, but perhaps the main reason this kit is such a classic is how Monogram molded the cabane struts into the fuselage making aligning the upper wing a snap. All you need to do is build up the fuselage, glue the upper wing to the cabanes and then slide in the outer inter-plane struts between the wings. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and horror of horrors, I amputated that wonderful spatted landing gear.



I've always had a soft-spot for the old BF2C/Hawk III but I didn't want to spend time and effort tracking down an actual kit of the beast when I had most of it in my hands already. The next job was scratching the new gear well "hump" from card.





Then I glued on some leftover P-40 wheel halves that seemed ideal for this project. Here's how it looked once I did that and tacked on an Airfix Arado engine and Hasegawa Babs cowling for mock-up shots.





After that, I added the leftover slice of a Devastator canopy and then it was off to the paint shop. The old hairy stick was used along with a lot of custom-mixed Olive Drab acrylic.





Polly Scale RLM something-something Licht Blau was used on the undersides and the canopy was tinted with Testor's Gold. That little square bottle always takes me back.





Decals were mostly from two sheets of Japanese markings and the fuselage codes were from spares. The rudder marking was painted by hand using Model Masters Insignia Red up top and White Primer below.



Rigging was done with busted steel guitar strings snipped to length and held in place with Gator Glue.







The prop was swiped from a Monogram P-36. At first I thought it'd be too large, but it turns out the P-36 prop blades are the same length as the ones from the kit. Whodathunkit?





Even though I found rigging a little challenging since I haven't done it in a while, this was a very enjoyable project and only took me a week from start to finish.



I'd like to thank Bill & Jeff for finding this gem for me! I couldn't have done it without you guys!



I hope you enjoyed the Monaco Hawk V and reading about an aircraft that's absinthe from most history books.



Brian da Basher
« Last Edit: June 21, 2017, 08:24:30 AM by Brian da Basher »

Offline Tophe

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Re: The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2017, 10:36:54 AM »
Biplanes with a canopy were too rare, thanks for enriching this family! ;)

Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2017, 01:22:55 PM »
Excellent bit of kit-bashing Brian!  If I had not seen the WIP images where you added on the wheels and the deepened fuselage under the wings I would have thought this aircraft had been built with retracting landing gear.  :)
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Offline Old Wombat

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Re: The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2017, 06:30:39 PM »
That is one of the most awkward & ungainly aircraft I've ever seen! :icon_surprised:

Good job, that man! :)
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Offline AXOR

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Re: The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #5 on: June 21, 2017, 07:06:24 PM »
Love it !  :)
Alex

Offline andonio64

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Re: The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #6 on: June 21, 2017, 11:16:59 PM »
Wow Brian, I like this very much!
The blueish-green is beautiful!

And the story is great as well .

Antonio

Offline Story

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Re: The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #7 on: June 24, 2017, 01:45:43 AM »
The blueish-green is beautiful!

His paint was tinted with Absinthe.

Offline finsrin

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Re: The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #8 on: June 28, 2017, 01:24:57 PM »
Monaco was prudent to acquire Hawk V at that time.  New to me; most interesting.
Thanks for providing us an example of this little known fighter. :)

Offline pigflyer

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Re: The Curtiss Monaco Hawk V - a Riotous Tale in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #9 on: July 04, 2017, 10:44:12 PM »
First class as ever Brian, superb Bi, but are you not suffering from the removal of the spats? Or have you absinthed your self of blame?
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