1/48 Hasegawa P-40 Kittyhawk Mk1

by Tolga ULGUR

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Turkish Remembrance of Ataturk and Youth Day 2008

 

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 neededI 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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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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Photos and text © by Tolga ULGUR