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Stan Traas
46 articles

Hasegawa 1/48 P-40E Kittyhawk....

February 12, 2017 · in Aviation · · 28 · 2.3K

Well, good people keep trying to drag me from the dark side to the light... and I always resist. Except for this time- A good kop (whose favorite A/C is the ) dared/cajoled me into doing a . Credit for inspiration also goes to whomever does the Scale-a-ton videos on YouTube... this guy is really good.

I rushed through this a bit and there are many minor boo-boos, but I think I've made some progress overall in the painting/weathering department. Eduard cockpit P-E and pre-cut masks were used, decals from Barracuda, and paints are Mr. Color (uppers) and Model Master (Azure).

Reader reactions:
17  Awesome

13 additional images. Click to enlarge.


28 responses

  1. Stan, that's one good looking Kittyhawk. That 214 squadron, in the Western Desert. Neville Dukes outfit?
    Not overdone, weathered just enough.

  2. Spec-tac-alar. Fabulous P-40, paint and details all spot-on. (except for the one I know about, mum's the word).

  3. Thanks Bernard. AFAIK, yes, Neville Duke, but I believe it's 112 Squadron.

  4. I don't see any 'booboos' looks great

  5. One of the best I've seen...nice photos, too.

  6. Looks like a winner Stan! I bet I can guess what Kop did the arm twisting. He's good that way! 🙂
    Fantastic build Sir

  7. Looks good Stan, I like it. Your camo looks great ! I've always liked the desert "Hawks".

  8. Very nice looking Kittyhawk.

  9. Excellent look, the camo is stunning.

  10. Nice job Stan,remember leave the dark and go towards the light.

  11. Great P-40, excellent detail

  12. You really knocked this one out of the park ! Fantastic work indeed. I don't see any boo boos... 🙂

  13. Great work. I've been contemplating starting on the same kit. Did you encounter any fit problems?

    • All of the 'plugs' (rear fuse, rear cockpit panels, gun inserts and cowl inserts) need careful alignment, then a bit of filling. Be especially careful to set the cowl inserts flush- if not packed out with something (I used Apoxy Sculpt), they will sit too low making for a fill & re-scribe nightmare. Join front & rear fuselage sections together as halves first (panel lines line up almost, but not quite perfect- get 'em as close as you can), then assemble the halves. Fuse to wing join may require a spreader bar or, maybe try the trick of glueing the upper wing halves to the fuselage first, then add the lower wing. Haven't tried this but it's a common practice on Hase '109s- might work here? Finally, do paint the rear cockpit panels, then glue the clear covers which require some serious fettling (which I failed to do!) to get the fit right, then mask the glass. HTH!

  14. Gorgeous Kittyhawk! Paint and weathering effort look great!

  15. : ) ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
    My hat is off to you in sign of respect, that Desert Hawk is one outstanding piece of work Stan. Very clean work yet the weathering really makes it jump out, it is very well done and shows no sign of it being overdone. Nice work on the camouflage.
    Very good work on the photography.

  16. Looks great! One of my favorite schemes that you've done proud!
    Luv looking at pretty models.

    Bo

  17. That looks nice all over.

  18. Thanks to everyone for the compliments!

    Cheers!

  19. FANTASTIC looking P-40!

  20. Great one, and the painting/weathering is excelent!

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