REAL WORLD: Special Hobby 1/72 RNZAF P-40K Kittyhawk NZ3061

KiwiZac · November 11, 2021, 05:28:29 PM

Hi all,
This kit was a birthday present to myself in August last year as I love P-40s, had liked the look of the Special Hobby kits, and am a sucker for RNZAF markings. The kit itself has lovely details and went together beautifully, the decals were well-behaved. The only issues I had were self-caused such as losing the correct canopy, and using a too-dark green for the top colour which somehow became even darker under Humbrol gloss. For various reasons I only added the finishing touches - painting the light lenses - today.

But I want more of these kits. It was a delight and, as long as I don't bring myself down by using the wrong colours, I expect the next (I want to get an E to honour a local pilot killed in a training accident) to be even better and more fun.

Photo of the real NZ3061 from "RNZAF The First Decade" by Charles Darby:

NZ3061 RNZAF The First Decade Charles Darby by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Special Hobby 1/72 P-40K-15 Kittyhawk NZ3061 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Wardukw · November 11, 2021, 06:09:01 PM

I like it Zac..a very nice build as always and ya know ..that grèen works mate..really makes the decals stand out.
I need to buy two 48th P 40s so i can build the twin engined version ive seen 😁

KiwiZac · November 11, 2021, 09:12:06 PM

Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on November 11, 2021, 06:09:01 PM
I like it Zac..a very nice build as always and ya know ..that grèen works mate..really makes the decals stand out.
I need to buy two 48th P 40s so i can build the twin engined version ive seen 😁

Thanks for the kind words, especially about the green! You wouldn't believe how much that stressed me out even before it changed on me.

Ah yes, I'm very familiar with that one! I can't wait to see your rendition!

Wardukw · November 12, 2021, 12:58:47 AM

Your very welcome matey..ive been thinking about the twin P40 and ive gotta wiffy it..so instead of Allison V12s im gonna use Merlin V12s ..because ive got the remains of a Tamiya 48th Lancaster and spare propellers

Now to hunt down a cheap P40 kit ...think im gonna need luck there.

zenrat · November 12, 2021, 02:45:54 AM

Good job Zac.

PR19_Kit · November 12, 2021, 03:56:29 AM

VERY smart indeed Zak.

TomZ · November 12, 2021, 04:00:45 AM

Looking very good indeed

TomZ

AeroplaneDriver · November 12, 2021, 02:00:54 PM

Very nice! You know I have a soft spot for P-40s. Getting that green to look exactly right seems like it's always a challenge, but this looks fine to me.

zenrat · November 12, 2021, 04:49:54 PM

Two or ten years ago I would have said "I don't like P40's" but, like a fungal infection they seem to have grown on me unnoticed and I have wound up with three in the stash.

AeroplaneDriver · November 12, 2021, 04:59:28 PM

Quote from: zenrat on November 12, 2021, 04:49:54 PM
Two or ten years ago I would have said "I don't like P40's" but, like a fungal infection they seem to have grown on me unnoticed and I have wound up with three in the stash.

I've always had a bit of a liking for them. Not like I like Spits or Typhoons but I fondly remember what was most likely an Otaki 1/48 P-40 as a kit I built on a rainy day at my cousin's when I was about 7. It didn't hurt a bit when I got to fly one two years ago.

KiwiZac · November 12, 2021, 06:14:15 PM

Thanks folks for the nice words!

Also I've said for a while: people who say they don't like P-40s are lying.

Old Wombat · November 12, 2021, 10:49:04 PM

Or they haven't met one, yet.

As a youngster I was all about the Spitfires & Hurricanes, then, in Auckland of all places, I met a P-40 at a museum, & sat in the cockpit, & I was infatuated!

I, also, got to crawl through the fuselage of a Lancaster, even for a 12 year old it was a tight fit getting to, & into the rear turret.

Wardukw · November 13, 2021, 12:50:56 AM

Guy would you by chance have been at a place called MOTAT ??
Crawling thru a Lancaster which believe it or not i worked on ..i help rebuild the rear turret ..this plane never saw WW2 ..it was built right at the end and if my memory serves me well its last owner was Argentina..its why its got twin .50s in the rear turret and not quad .303s.
Now the hunt begins for a nice P 40..i was looking for a cheap one but ive decided to get a good one to modify.

Old Wombat · November 13, 2021, 06:32:26 AM

No idea where I was, Phill.

I know I was in Auckland but beyond that, clueless. I was 12yo at the time ... Maybe 13.

The thing my parents remembered was that they had a (jet) fighter simulator game (quite an advanced one for the time; big screen, joystick & rudder controls) where, if you achieved a high score, you got a free game & it got to the point where the management came over & asked me to stop playing, please, because I'd been playing for a good 30-40 minutes straight on one 10c (I think) coin.

Wardukw · November 13, 2021, 10:14:18 AM

Oh a young computer game genius huh ?

MOTAT or the Museum of Transport and technology is near the Auckland Zoo and theres two parts to it..the first had a few aircraft ..trucks and cars and the like ..the second part is where they have all the other planes..for yrs the gate guardian was a P 47 ..a silver one and the Lanc has always been there..i clearly remember smacking my knees against the box where the main wing spars pass thru ..there wasnt any lights in this thing yet.
I didnt mind working on the Lanc but i would have preferred to have been working on the tanks..thats more my game