Here
is my 1/48 Hasegawa P-40 Mk1 Kittyhawk finished in the markings of the Turkish Air
Force (TuAF). A total of 24 Kittyhawks were delivered to Turkey in 1943. After 1944,
they started to be replaced by Spitfire MkVs. Kittyhawk Mk1s originally
had two 0,50
inch machine guns in each wing, but later these were increased to
three machine guns like Mk1a s.
I
started to built it by painting the cockpit components as usual. They are
painted in US interior green as
needed. I
easily decided to buy some after market goodies for the cockpit. The seat
with British sutton harness is from Ultracast (#48037). The
instrument panel and few other metal parts are from Eduard PE set.
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images below to see larger images
The
second step is spending time with the fuselage halves. Getting together the
multi part fuselage halves is not so straightforward. It needs some putty and
sanding activity for an acceptable
result. I faced similar issues with the wings as well, but instead of complaining,
I rolled up sleeves and got to work.
The
painting was done with Gunze Sangyo & Tamiya acrylics. Lower surfaces
are painted to Sky Grey with Tamiya XF19 by lightening with few drops of white
paint. I used Dark green on the upper surfaces and Dark earth from Gunze
Sangyo.
The
other modifications on the model are as
follows.
-
Ultracast
P-40 E Tubular exhausts #48152
-
Squadron
vacuform canopy.
-
Metal
gunsight from Tally Ho.
The
square national insignias and
the flag are from “Turquoise Decals” (#TD002). White
fuselage numbers are from old “Kedi Decal KDT48001” sheet.
A
matt coat from Gunze applied after some weathering effects. Finally I
finished the model by adding antenna wires although I was not sure whether this
machine actually had such wires.
Happy
modelling
Tolga
Istanbul-
Turkey
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images below to see larger images
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