Profile Photo
Bill Koppos
119 articles

Karma almost at 1000….Shameless use of kid’s model….

April 16, 2013 · in Aviation · · 11 · 2.1K

to get 20 points closer. Curtiss Hawk III, Chinese Air Force late '30's. Hawk III was China's main fighter of the time, did well against unescorted bombers but faded when the monoplane Japanese fighters showed up. Not an easy kit at all, I think Kyle did a hell of a job on one of my favorite planes. Please forgive lousy pics, taken before I learned about F-Stops and good lighting. Just squint a bit. 🙂

Reader reactions:
4  Awesome

6 additional images. Click to enlarge.


11 responses

  1. Pretty impressive build. The rigging looks good.
    Kids should support their parents one way or another.

  2. No apology necessary for the pics...I've a lot worse (and right here). 20 points closer to what?

  3. Must be some plastic in the Koppos DNA... Kyle is certainly a chip off the old blockhead. 😉 Great job on a cool A/C Kyle!

  4. Yep! Very great job indeed!

  5. very nice choice of scheme bill...fun to look at

  6. Looks like a good,clean build. I imagine this biplane kit was a challenge, (being from Classic Airframes). I know that it was for me when I did their Grumman Duck. Did the Chinese markings come with the kit or did you research them? If so, what was your reference source?

    • said on April 19, 2013

      Thanks it was a challenge, I remember him using words I had taught him not to use earlier in life whilst he was trying to get things to line up-Oh well. Kyle said those markings were in the kit and he did no further reaearch. From what I have seen over the years, they are pretty good. I remember a shot of an old Hawk being used as a trainer, I think it was this one.
      I have an old Hasegawa BF2C-1 in 1/32, always wanted to make a Chinese Hawk III out of it. Should just do it.

  7. That's beautiful Hawk III, Bill. You should be very proud, not only have you raised a great son,,, you've inspired him to become a world class modeler! A rare feat these days, In my reading on the matter, I was surprised how many Chinese pilots enlisted and trained to fly in Oakland while living in America and then returned to their homeland to fight the JAAF,

  8. Lesser-known and -represented subjects are so cool...especially birds in foreign service. Love this build.

Leave a Reply