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Carl Smoot
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RAF Curtiss Mohawk IV

January 30, 2025 · in Aviation · · 33 · 286

Several years ago, I wanted to build a Curtiss Hawk 75 with fixed landing gear in Thai markings. At the time, the only kit available was the Hobbycraft Hawk 75 in 1/48 scale. The problem with that kit was the cowling was very misshapen and didn't represent the Cyclone powered Hawk correctly. I got around that by adapting a Monogram B-17 cowling and engine and a bunch of conversion work. At the time I was pretty happy with it.

But I also wanted to build a Cyclone powered Mohawk used by the RAF. I couldn't face going through that conversion on the Hobbycraft kit again, so that build was placed on the back burner. Then along came Clear Prop's Hawk 75 kit. Fixed landing gear, correct Cyclone engine and cowling, and beautifully detailed. But I already had a Hawk 75, so I figured I could wait for awhile and they would release the retractable gear Mohawk at some point.

That hasn't happened yet. Last year I started thinking of how I could convert the Clear Prop kit to retractable gear. The only realistic option seemed to be using parts from the Academy re-release of the Hobbycraft P-36. I purchased a Wolfpack version of the Academy kit which has extra detail parts and new decals and resigned myself to using this as a donor kit.

Before starting, it occurred to me that I might be able to simply cast the landing gear parts of the Academy kit and graft them into the Clear Prop kit. This is what I eventually did. Since I didn't use the Academy parts, I decided to scratchbuild the landing gear for my Mohawk from brass rather than steal them from the Academy kit. You can see the results here.

As for my chosen color scheme, there seems to be some differences of opinion on the actual colors of these aircraft as used in Burma by the British. I have seen these typically done in the traditional dark earth and dark green typical of RAF day fighters in the early 1940s. The decals I purchased from ASK showed them in the RAF later Dark Green / Ocean Gray colors specified for RAF aircraft after 1942. All the photos I've seen could be interpreted one way or the other. I did find one short video clip of some with Earth / Green scheme.

However, I really like the gray / green scheme and wanted to use it instead, especially since my other Hawk 75 was also in earth / green camo. So after going back and forth on this for awhile, I decided to stay with the green / gray colors. In addition to that artistic liberty, I took another with the landing gear doors. The photos of the Burma Mohawks show them without the lower half circle main gear doors, but I like the way those look and decided to scratchbuild those when I made the landing gear.

The RAF used 20 pound anti personnel fragmentation bombs with the Mohawks, but there was nothing available for these types of bombs, so I had to scratchbuild those as well. I've outlined all this as well as other work in my build thread in the Serving Under Another Flag Group.

https://imodeler.com/groups/serving-under-another-flag/forum/topic/curtiss-mohawk-in-raf-service/

The Clear Prop kit is a great little model of the Hawk 75 and I can only hope that they eventually release the remainder of the P-36 family. Or perhaps Eduard will release the P-36 family as part of their P-40 series. Besides the landing gear and bombs, I used Quinta interior parts and Master gun barrels, pitot tube, and ring & bead sight for the P-40B. The propeller was modified to reflect the domed spinner used y the RAF.

Reader reactions:
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33 responses

  1. Either scheme, its very nice. Maybe a future Dk. Earth/Green camo?

    • Thanks George (@blackadder57). I will eventually be doing a P-36 in French Colors, A natural metal Brazilian Hawk 75, and a P-36 from the US Army Air Corp war games, but probably none of these for a while as I have many other aircraft I still want to do and like to mix it up.

  2. Good job conversion an so much nice description!

  3. Very nice job and great to see the type. I have 4 completed but not done one of those yet.
    A Hawk 75 with fixed landing gear in China, a Dutch, French and US. LOve them all.
    Looking forward to yours if you do more.

  4. This is really incredible conversion work, Carl (@clipper). A super result.

    • Thanks Tom (@tcinla). The conversion, while somewhat tedious (mainly the landing gear), was not as difficult as trying to blend in the Monogram engine cowling into the previous Hawk 75 I did several years ago. My next P-36, when ever I get around to doing another, will be something mainstream and hopefully no conversion required.

  5. Fantastic job and superb result, Carl! Loved following your build thread!
    Congratulations!

    • Thanks for following along during the build Spiros (@fiveten). It was an interesting experience that exposed me to some new techniques, some that worked, and some that did not (at least for this application).

  6. Nicely accomplished, Carl!

  7. Carl @clipper, love the build. Great looking Mohawk, i enjoyed following the build. Next you should do one in french livery!

  8. Impressive scratch building ingenuity displayed here on this model. The completed model looks great.

  9. This one turned out beautifully, Carl @clipper
    Your building thread was a very educational one as well. Thanks for sharing all this with us.

  10. Well done! A lot of TLC into the project with an excellent result, and that scheme is really nice.

    • Thanks Greg (@gkittinger). I really like the gray and green scheme on the Mohawk, whether or not it is correct. In the end, it's a model and built for pleasure, and the reference material could have been interpreted either way, so I felt free to take the liberty.

  11. G’day Carl (@clipper),
    As I said on your build log, this is a fantastic display of skill, technique and persistence.
    I’ll keep waiting for an out-of-box kit, but I’ll keep my eye out for the fixed gear Thai kit.

  12. A very nice piece of work on this conversion, Carl! @clipper
    I really admire your skills and perseverance you’ve demonstrated in this incredible build. Top notch!

    • Thanks Alfred (@alfred). The perseverance part is probably another word for stubbornness! But it is satisfying to get something like this to work. However, my next project, the B-47 / KC-97 IN Flight Refueling display will be much simpler so I can get a break from detail work.

  13. Looking forward to see that one taking shape! @clipper

  14. That turned out super nice, Carl!

  15. That is a magnificent conversion! You have inspired me to order an H-75 to follow your lead! Excellent!

    • Thanks Colin (@tail-dragon). It was a satisfying build. The challenges I mainly had were trying to find an acceptable way to add the forward fuselage vents (see my build thread) and dealing with the landing gear (also in the thread). I went with scratchbuilding the struts from brass, but you could make the donor kits work as well. The tail wheel portion was fairly easy.

      Good luck with your conversion and I look forward to seeing here on IModeler.

  16. G’day Carl (@clipper) congratulations on a magnificent conversion. It is a pity you did not have a definitve Mohawk kit to work with but with that terrible war going on in the Ukraine it’s a wonder they can produce anything, but you have just nailed it and that must give you great satisfaction. You have inspired me to get on with my somewhat similar correction of the Hobbycraft kit and I thank you as well as George (@gblair) and Spiros (@fiveten) for the encouragement

    • Thanks for the kind words John (@wackett). One thing to remember about the Hobbycraft / Academy Hawk 75 is that the Cyclone powered model has an incorrect cowling that looks more like an oval racetrack. If that doesn't bother you, then you could probably simply swap out the wings from the P-36 kit since they are essentially the same model.

      Two alternatives to consider. Special Hobby has a 1/32 scale Mohawk kit. And Arma Hobby just released a 1/72 scale P-36 which while it's not a Cyclone version, it is supposed to be a nice model.

      And of course, we might get lucky in a couple of years if Eduard includes the P-36 in their P-40 range of kits. Admittedly that might be a long shot.

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