1/72 Curtiss Gloss Hawk

[Brian da Basher]

In April of 1933, a non-descript salesman for the Heinz Company named Perry Binion crossed the Atlantic aboard the RMS Brittanic. Mr. Binon's fellow passengers may have assumed his smug expression came from having sold a lot of Heinz's famous baked beans, but little did they know that tucked among his purchase orders were the plans for what would later become the Gloster Gladiator. Perry Binion was no slouch and upon landing in the Big Apple, caught the fastest train for Hammondsport, New York, home of the Curtiss Aero Co. The Curtiss engineers went over the plans and determined that some of the Gladiator's innovations could be applied to their P-6 Hawk fighter. They were able to improve upon the Gladiator's enclosed canopy by using a revolutionary new clear plastic material devleoped by the Kodak Co. that was a failed attempt for a new high-speed camera film. "Kleerspex" plastic enabled the new Curtiss Hawk to have a bubble canopy which offered excellent visibility as it required little canopy framing. The U.S. Army Air Corps was interested in the new Gloss Hawk and ordered a test squadron. Armed with two .50 Marlin machine guns and powered by the Curtiss Conqueror V inline engine, the Gloss Hawk exceeded all expectations and eventually equipped most front-line U.S.A.A.C. pursuit squadrons until the advent of monoplane fighters. The example shown here flew with the 27th Pursuit Squadron, based at Selfridge Field, Michigan. It can be seen on display at the Spats Annex to the Curtiss History of Flight Museum in Hammondsport, New York.

Brian da Basher

[Leigh]

That looks like a modern aerobatics/racer type, very tasty!

[Brian da Basher]

The basis of this project was the venerable 1/72 Monogram P-6E Hawk. I managed to secure a partly-started vintage example from Alan at Old Model kits. Of course, after I bought this and a P-12 and P-26 I learned of the re-pop by Accurate miniatures which would've saved me a few bucks. Oh well, maybe this will teach me to be patient. Anyway the kit arrived exactly as advertised and was only missing the windscreen. The wings and tail had already been painted yellow and the interior was painted green. I didn't mind as this saved me some work and helped me decide on the color shceme. Of course, there was no way I was going to build it straight out of the box.

I've always been fascinated by the Gloster Gladiator and wondered what enclosed canopy biplanes from other air arms might be like. I played around with a few options but eventually found a home-made smash-u-formed blister that fit this kit almost perfectly. I also decided I wanted a pointy prop, so I dug one out of the spares box that was a good fit. Rigging was accomplished with wire from the Willow kit Baz sent me a while back. These were my only modifications to the Hawk except for covering over the display stand hole in the belly tank with a tiny piece of scrap plastic which I think looks like a drain plug. The parts of the model I painted were done by hand with a brush using acrylics. Polly Scale Blue was used on the fuselage and Tamiya Aluminum on the prop. The guns were painted with Tamiya Gunmetal and I used Mars Black on the tires. The exhausts and radiator were done with a custom mix of blue steel I like to use on all my inter-war U.S. builds. Kit decals were used except for the code numbers, squadron emblem and wing stripes.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

I'm having a blast with this group build, and I might manage to get one or two more models together before the deadline, which I hope will encourage more of you to get your own entries in!

I had so much fun building this P-6 that I just ordered the 1/72 Olimp version while re-stocking my spats stash from Roll Models.

Brian da Basher

[kitbasher]

I'm having a blast with this group build, and I might manage to get one or two more models together before the deadline, which I hope will encourage more of you to get your own entries in!

Where the hell do you find the time to be so prolific?

[John Howling Mouse]

Very nice, as always, and completely believable.  Glad to hear the Willow's wire came in handy.
What mfg/number do you use for your "yellow" paint?  Looks very scale-believable.

Super job, Brian!

[Glenn Gilbertson]

That looks really good!

[Brian da Basher]

Thanks, gents, I'm really glad you like it!

Mr Howling Mouse, the yellow wings and tail came pre-painted by a previous owner. I did try my best to mix up a matching yellow to cover a little overspray from the original owner pre-painting the cokpit.

The rigging wires from that Willow kit are magnificent and I will only use them for special projects. They're remarkably in scale for 1/72 even though they're from a 1/48 kit. I've still got most of them left which I'm hoarding greedily. The rest of that Willow will be put to use in the future. Thanks again for being so generous in sending it to me.

Brian da Basher