Airfix 1/72 Curtiss Tomahawk Mk.IIB
One of the recent "new tooling" Airfix's 1/72 starter sets, and relaxingly easy build it is!
This is an out of box build that spanned two weekends but were truncated due to other project commitments & stretched across the month of September.
Markings are for those included in the kit, namely Neville Duke's machine whilst he was serving in North Africa with No.112 Squadron based in Libya in 1941.
(Neville Duke was one of the pioneers in breaking the sound barrier)
Decals are from Cartograph and though good quality are slightly too thick for my liking.
I get why they go for the thicker decals since they're far more robust as this kit is really aimed for the occasional hairy stick builder & younger modeller.
Panel lines though heavy are acceptable & after a coat of Mr Surfacer they tone down a bit.
Build wise there's not much to complain about. The front wing leading edge to fuselage joint is a bit iffy, and you need to exercise a bit of care around there. Nothing that a small shim of plastic and filler won't fix.
Interior detail is perfectly respectable, all I added were some masking tape belts for the seat.
A nice low part count & a reasonably good fit means this isn't a complicated build.
Paints used were Tamiya acrylics...
...Followed by the usual pin wash and Lifecolor filters to tone things down and get a dusty look to the airframe.
Comment s as always most welcome, but in the meantime thanks for stopping by & looking.
Very nice work...especially in that scale. đ
Thanks Craig ?
Looks good Marek, nicely done.
Cheers Allan ?
Lovely Tomahawk, Marek. Well detailed, Sir!
Thanks Jeffry, much appreciated!
Nice job on that Marek.
Cheers Anthony! ?
Beautiful job on this Marek! One thing I've noticed on the new-tool Airfix builds I've seen is that the engraved lines do seem a bit overscale, as you mentioned.
Thanks Greg. Re. the over-scale panel lines...they are getting a lot lot better with their latest releases:
Their 1/72 Whitley has got the engraved panel lines about right and having seen the recently released 1/48 Walrus which has got very finely engraved panels, there's nothing now to complain about, I'd say they've taken on board a lot of the comments from the Modeller community. Meanwhile, kits like the Tomahawk, well from a couple of feet away they look fine!
Great result, Marek.
? Thanks Rob!
Good work on a hairy stick kit, full marks to Airfix for keeping it simple enough to attract newcomers to the hobby while at the same time being detailed enough for more experienced modellers.
Cheers George, these re-boots from Airfix of their old 1/72 back catalogue have got a lot going for them. A welcome break from "AMS" (or the dreaded advanced Modeller syndrome) being one. - Easy uncomplicated builds that look ok once completed, so yup, something for everyone.
Stunning job mate. Very well done!
Cheers