I've debated with myself whether or not to place this up. There are so many fine models here and this is potentially my first completed model since 2002. Oh, I've started numerous kits in the last several years, but they always end up on the shelf of doom. I determined that a big reason for this was that my modeling area was just plain inconvenient to use. So a few months ago, I made some new purchases, made some changes in the layout, and reorganized. I made it easier to airbrush, and easier to keep things out of the way of the building area. And some new places to store supplies and tools. And finally, I added more paints so I wouldn't have to wait so long (by having to order paint) to get something accomplished. All of this has resulted in an uptick in productivity and desire to keep working on the models. This Hawk 75 is by far the closest I've come so far.
First, a little about the kit. I've wanted to build the Hawk 75 with fixed gear for a long time. This original desire was inspired by a photo a the highly polished example presented to General Chenault in China (at least I think that's how that story goes). Anyway, I knew of the HobbyCraft 1/48 kit but for a long time could not acquire one.
This was finally rectified in 2019, but I still was dissatisfied with the inaccuracies in the kit, especially the cowling. So it sat in my stash for about a year.
I was discussing the kit with a fellow builder, trying to determine how the cowling might be corrected and we hit upon the idea of using the Monogram B-17 cowling which looked to be close in shape and size. I acquired a sprue trees of the B-17 kit and found that the cowling was close in size but would still need some modifications.
Rather than cover the entire build in one post, I'll post bits of it along with the few photos I have. I'll try to explain what I did along the way. One final caveat. I have not researched this aircraft much and I am more interested in polishing my skills than in complete accuracy. So there will be some parts of this build that some may find less than ideal. I make no apologies for that as I need to get my mojo active enough to keep going and I want to get better at building and finishing the kits. Accuracy and going overboard on detailing was what caused me to drop out of this hobby back in 2009 after several unsuccessful builds (Monogram F-100 and Trumpeter P-38). I don't want to fall into that trap again. So accuracy can come later when I get my skills to a level I feel is worthy. I'll post some pictures in a few minutes.
