This build will act as a preliminary to that project as it involves a plane that was used by 5 Squadron in India/Burma in the end of 1941 until it was replaced by Hurricane IIc and IId in June 43 after which in Nov 43 my father was posted there from his time with 81 Sqn in North Africa and Sicily (more on that time period later).
The Curtiss Mohawk IV (also designated Curtiss P-36 Model 75) was considered a formidable fighter in close dogfighting by the Japanese air forces. The RAF's Mohawk IVs came from at least three different sources. The majority of them were part of a French order for 795 Hawk H75A-4s. These were powered by a 1,200hp Wright R-1820-G205A Cyclone engine, replacing the Pratt & Whitney engines of the earlier French aircraft and the Mohawk I, II and III. They were armed with six 7.5mm guns, two in the nose and four in the wings.
The source kit is an old one from HobbyCraft:
and here is the sprue shot:
As you can see, its not a complicated kit! The cockpit is a bit basic and I can't really find any further information about it, so looks like I'll have to make do with a decent paint job and keep additional details to the obvious (seatbelts predominantly), althogh there does seem to be a deliberate gap between the back of the instrument panel and the top of the canopy which looks like it would reveal the back of some of the dials and so some wires ought to be in order!
The kit details a colour scheme that simply says Burma, but it just so happens to corrspond to the markings for a 5 Sqn machine, so thats a happy coincidence!
Needless to say I'll be putting it on a small base with groundwork to hopefully represent an airstrip in Burma.
Lyell