Kittyhawk Mk Ib Springbok Tank Buster

Given the success of its three Hawker Hurricane Mk IId squadrons in the close support role, and bearing in mind its failure to obtain more aircraft direct from the UK, Desert AF command looked at other ways it could supplement its "tank buster" force. When the Hurricanes had been delivered the shipment had also included a quantity of spare "S" guns and their accompanying impedimenta. These were currently sitting in a warehouse in Alexandria doing nothing. So, the Engineering Staff were given the job of seeing if it was practical to fit them to any other DAF fighters. Now whilst it should have been possible to copy the changes Hawker had made to the Hurricanes wing in order to accommodate the guns relatively quickly, for some reason this was not proceeded with (some say the engineering officer in charge liked a challenge) and eyes turned to the Curtis Kittyhawk's which were the service's second most numerous fighter aircraft, and perhaps more importantly were increasingly being used in the ground support rather than pure fighter role.

The fact that the gun itself and most of its feed mechanism was housed in an underwing pod certainly made things easier and three weeks after being issued with instructions to look into the matter the first aircraft flew. It took another 10 days to sort out problems to do with ammunition feed and aiming, but once this was done orders were given to convert 12 Kittyhawk Ia aircraft into what DAF HQ called the Kittyhawk Ib, although this nomenclature was never officially adopted, and indeed their Airships back home in London were never officially told about it. In order to accommodate the pods the existing wing guns had been removed, although one in each wing was retained in order to help aim the gun, and some strengthening plates had been added. The existing gun sight had also been removed and one more suitable for the ground attack role had replaced it.

Rather than using all of the aircraft to equip one squadron in the role it was decided that the 12 aircraft would be spread across 3 existing Kittyhawk squadrons which had been specialising in the ground support role and would be flown in mixed flights together with conventionally armed aircraft. It was felt this offered more flexibility, especially now that these standard aircraft were more often than not operating in the fighter bomber role. Due to some prodigious efforts by all parties the squadrons had re-equipped and sorted tactics out just in time to take part in the Second Battle of El Alamein (23rd October – 11th November 1942) and played an important part in securing the breakthrough that eventually led to the utter defeat of the German and Italian forces in N Africa. Although the type had a short service life, the remaining aircraft being withdrawn from service with the Axis surrender, it can be considered a very successful one, especially given its rather improvised nature.

One of the squadrons chosen was No 4 Squadron of the South African AF, and it is one of their aircraft I have chosen to depict. So here we have Curtis Kittyhawk Mk Ib AK702 of No 4 Squadron South African AF some time in December 1942.

The obligatory boxes



Those parts never to be seen again – why do I spend so much time ?



The finished build







The kit is AZModel's 2021 release of what was originally a Legato kit issued in 2012, and if I'm honest is showing its age a bit. Some of the detail is a little soft and there is some flash on the smaller parts, but nothing that a sharp blade can't sort. Fit however is quite good and it won't tax your reserves of putty, just needing some in the usual places. The transfers are excellent and as is usual for AZ/KP ones come of the backing paper very quickly. The gun pods are from an Omega Resin set that I found whilst looking for something completely different, and it was these that inspired the build. If a "now what the hell can I do with these ?" be considered inspiration. So overall I enjoyed the build and whilst it took an inordinate amount of time for what is a relatively simple kit, that was down to me, and its completion has certainly restored my mojo.

Would I build the USAAF boxing in my stash ? Yes but only after the 2 MPM "new tools" that are currently sitting in the stash.

That looks suitably menacing Chris, specially if you're a Panzer driver!

That socking great radiator coming at you, AND two 40 mm cannon, would tend to concentrate the mind on being somewhere else, QUICKLY!   

That looks just right, Chris!

Quote from: NARSES2 on March 19, 2024, 08:08:44 AMIf a "now what the hell can I do with these ?" be considered inspiration.

You mean most of your inspirations don't come to you like that?

Thanks gents 

Quote from: Old Wombat on March 19, 2024, 08:15:59 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on March 19, 2024, 08:08:44 AMIf a "now what the hell can I do with these ?" be considered inspiration.

You mean most of your inspirations don't come to you like that?

Not really. I tend to have a plan when I buy something, but the time it takes to get around to it normally means I've forgotten all about it or have moved on to other things 

I love the big guns!   
That looks very good, Chris.  

Big guns 💪

Nice, I like it. I did a similar yet later British P-40N variant (the P-40S), armed with four Hispano 20mm guns, a long while back - but coincidently also in a desert livery. 


1:72 Curtiss P-40S 'Kittyhawk V' - aircraft 'GA-W'/FX688 of Royal Air Force (RAF) No.112 Squadron; Cutella, Italy, April 1944 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Great looking build Chris              (and the AZ model box art looks the business    )

Very nice Chris, that should suitably upset Gerry.

Good job Chris.

 

Looks fabulous with the sharkmouth and those massive cannons! Excellent back story, too. Brilliant!

Cheers,
Mark

Those big guns really suit the Kittyhawk! Nice cockpit (at least you and the rest of us know it's there) and very believable backstory, too. Maybe the Brie helped with the inspiration?

Thanks again gents

Quote from: frank2056 on March 20, 2024, 07:01:08 AMThose big guns really suit the Kittyhawk! Nice cockpit (at least you and the rest of us know it's there) and very believable backstory, too. Maybe the Brie helped with the inspiration?

I was surprised at the end of the day that they didn't look out of place and seemed a natural fit. The pods fitted as though they were intended for her 

It was a very nice Brie as it happens, I love cheese  , and the boxes make suitable parts trays while working on 1/72 scale kits at least 

Quote from: NARSES2 on March 19, 2024, 08:20:57 AMThanks gents 

Quote from: Old Wombat on March 19, 2024, 08:15:59 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on March 19, 2024, 08:08:44 AMIf a "now what the hell can I do with these ?" be considered inspiration.

You mean most of your inspirations don't come to you like that?

Not really. I tend to have a plan when I buy something, but the time it takes to get around to it normally means I've forgotten all about it or have moved on to other things 

So do I, usually, &, to be totally honest, most of my builds have ended up as planned (the kits for the Winchester B.I/III, for example, sat in a drawer for about 4 years before their time was right).

That looks so right!