An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

For any subject - air, land, sea, military, civil - in any scale of anything in Scandinavian (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland) use or markings.
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The Great Auk
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An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by The Great Auk »

Hello fellows! I hope it's ok if I join in the fun. For this project, I'm going to use the venerable 1/72 Monogram P-36 kit.

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Here's a shot of those sprues.

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This kit is totally vintage in that it's as old as I am which means it's a miracle it's not of the wood and tissue paper variety.

One of the weak points in an otherwise great kit is the canopy. Results like this are not uncommon.

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Fortunately, I have a cunning plan in place.

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Actually, it was pure luck. These beauties were included for no extra charge when I got the kit off a re-seller. Until now, I had no idea there was a vac replacement.

More to follow...

The Great Auk
ShaunW
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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by ShaunW »

Good to see this old classic, Auk and the replacement canopy looks like it might well be needed! Do you have a set of aftermarket decals for the Norwegian markings?
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The Great Auk
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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by The Great Auk »

I started out by fixing the too-short back landing gear struts and carving an ADF football out of some of the sprue which luckily came free with the kit.

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Here's the current state of play after an evening's work. The fuselage was buttoned up and the wings attached. Then the canopy and side panels were tinted and stuck on with Elmer's glue. Finally I got it up on its legs.

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Shaun, I don't have the exact markings I need but I might be able to fudge something using spare cheat line decals. Failing that, I've got a back-up plan in place.

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The Great Auk
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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by The Great Auk »

I've managed to get the masking on and I'm procrastinating starting on painting those markings.

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I'll try to take courage in that wonder known as Tamyia tape which usually works pretty well. Here's a vintage photograph of what I'm going for.

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It won't be an exact replica but perhaps a not-too-far-off approximation.

And no, this bird is definitely not a Norwegian Blue.

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planecrazyman61
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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by planecrazyman61 »

welcome Auk thats looking nice you have been rapid with your build it will be interesting to see how spraying the Norwegian national markings turns out ,thinking of doing the same for a Gladiator mk1
cheers craig
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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by Spaceowl »

The Great Auk wrote:
And no, this bird is definitely not a Norwegian Blue.

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The Great Auk
No, Norwegian Blues are a lot darker blue. It's that stance that throws people. :-D

On a more serious note, lovely choice of subject - I don't think I've ever seen a Norwegian subject modelled before and heartily approve. I'll be watching this one closely.
Overhead a rainbow appears...in black and white.

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The Great Auk
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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by The Great Auk »

I knew I should've used a black and white photo instead, Spaceowl. :-D

Here's tonight's update. No spraying was done, but the old hairy stick got quite a workout along with Mr. Tamiya's miracle tape.

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I still need to touch up the white a little more but the red needs to fully dry first.

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The plan for the blue parts is to use slices of RAF rudder stripes from two 1/72 SE-5 kits, Revell and Esci.

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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by ShaunW »

I like what you are doing here, Auk and one advantage with painted markings is that you aren't going to get any silvering!
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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by The Great Auk »

Last night I got the main painting done.

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Then I got the canopy framing on. The prop and horiz. stabs. are just popped into place and not glued on yet. I'm always impatient to see things completed so I wanted to see what it looked like and I thought you might too.

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For some reason, I'm feeling a bit fatalistic and wondering if I should leave it as is and call it Peruvian or something but then it wouldn't fit in a Scandinavian GB.

As for decal silvering, I plan on using large numbers cut from Airfix Lysander decals for the rear fuselage codes so there's still plenty of opportunity for that to happen if past experience is any guide.

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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by Crashpilot »

Nice! Have to get me one Monogram P-36, too (if I find one...)! For a tooling that old, it looks very good.
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The Great Auk
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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by The Great Auk »

Cheers Crash it's a real honey of a kit despite its age. They're quite common over here and can be found for $5 or less at shows and swap meets. Once I paid all of $2.50 for one and opened it up to discover two kits in the box so it was a whopping $1.25 apiece! I danced like I hit the lottery. Often I find these on the Bay of Evil for $15- $20 with shipping. Out your way the Revell version is probably more common and some say it's more accurate in shape although I tend to favor the Monogram one. While neither is in any way comparable to a modern kit, they build up fine and are an excellent value for the money.

You guys have truly inspired me and I got the stripe decals on which worked far better than expected.

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I've got two flavors of paint to fill in those gaps, Testors Royal Blue and Polly Scale Prussian Blue.

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Sadly, I've been unable to find that elusive shade known as Norwegian Blue.

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With luck I might have this finished over the week-end.

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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by ShaunW »

Excellent, GA, those Norwegian markings really make this stand out. There is a common misconception with many modellers that modern is the be all and end all when it comes to ease of construction. Sometimes that is the case but certainly not all of the time. I am a regular builder of classic kits and have found many to build up better than much more modern products. Yes, modern kits often provide more detail out of the box, especially in areas such as cockpits, but I enjoy a bit of scratch building to add the missing stuff. Decals tend to be the real Achilles heel with classic kits IMHO and I nearly always replace the originals with modern aftermarket items.
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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by Crashpilot »

The Great Auk wrote:Cheers Crash it's a real honey of a kit despite its age. They're quite common over here and can be found for $5 or less at shows and swap meets. Once I paid all of $2.50 for one and opened it up to discover two kits in the box so it was a whopping $1.25 apiece! I danced like I hit the lottery. Often I find these on the Bay of Evil for $15- $20 with shipping. Out your way the Revell version is probably more common and some say it's more accurate in shape although I tend to favor the Monogram one. While neither is in any way comparable to a modern kit, they build up fine and are an excellent value for the money.
...........

The Great Auk
Just had a look on eebee, and to my surprise, there were quite a lot of Monogram´s P-36 on offer!
Only 2 Revell´s - but isn´t the Revell one very "rivetty"?
But I want to get a bit more reasonable about my hobby, the stash pile grew too fast this year!
Those 2 kits will not disappear for long, so I can still get em later, after having reduced my stash pile :grin:
Waiting for the day, when wars for territory will be something to be read about in history books only.

Playing Tetris taught me: If I clean up too much, my kits disappear.....8-(

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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by Kitaholic »

Definitely and eye catcher and, as has been said, proof that old does not always mean worse
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Gord

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The Great Auk
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Re: An Awk-ward Bird from Norway - the Curtiss Hawk 75

Post by The Great Auk »

I'm glad you gents are enjoying my Norway Hawk 75. It's been a nice, relaxing build and the wind has been in my sails on this one.

Crash, the Revell Hawk 75 is a pretty nice kit in its own right and the rivets are actually quite well done for the era and definitely not as prominent as those on some of our favorite Airfix kits of similar age.

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My spidey-sense about those large Airfix Lysander decal codes silvering was spot-on so I had to paint around them by hand with a fine brush which was tedious and time-consuming along with all the other little touch-ups. The paint is drying now and I should have something to show tomorrow.

The Great Auk
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