Special Hobby 1/72 Kittyhawk Mk.IV ‘Over the Mediterranean and the Pacific’Reviewed by Zac Yates
Scale: 1/72
Item #: SH72484
Price: €17.40 direct from Special Hobby. Also available through quality hobby retailers worldwide.
Contents: three grey and one plastic sprues; two decal options. Review kit kindly provided by Special Hobby at
https://www.specialhobby.eu/kittyhawk-mk-iv-over-the-mediterranean-and-the-pacific-1-72Background:The Curtiss P-40 series – known as Warhawk to the United States and in the Commonwealth forces as the Tomahawk (P-40B and C, distinctive by their long “shark” noses) and Kittyhawk (D-N models) - was a development of the radial-engined P-36/Hawk 75 using the Allison V-1710 V12 engine (the P-40F and L variants used the Packard Merlin).
Kittyhawk Mk.IV A29-575 was nicknamed “Black Magic” and when Aboriginal pilot Len Waters was assigned the aircraft he kept the name, reportedly because he found it a funny coincidence.Although never in the same league as contemporaries like the Spitfire or later P-51D due to its lack of a two-speed supercharger, limiting it to lower altitude operations, the P-40 series more than held its own against Axis aircraft in North Africa, the Pacific and the Russian front. Wikipedia states more than 200 Allied pilots became aces on the type and at least twenty became “double aces” while flying the P-40.
Special Hobby’s Mk.IV:All sprues and the decals come in a bag, the decals in their own similarly-sealed bag and the clear sprue thoughtfully placed in a zip-lock bag. The glossy instructions covering 12 steps are mostly black and white, aside from showing the colours interior parts should be painted (all colour callouts are for the Gunze brand). The Parts List helpfully shows which parts are not to be used for this kit, such as different propellers, exhaust stacks, wheel and seat options – all good fodder for one’s spares box.
The cockpit is handsomely equipped with decals for the seat belts and instrument panel (which has delicate raised detail) and nicely detailed sidewalls which closely match the real deal. As on the 1/1 example the cockpit “floor” (also nicely detailed with control runs, piping and fuel gauges) is the upper surface of the single-piece top wing half. The canopy can be posed with the sliding portion open and one does not need to resort to aftermarket parts for the cockpit to “pop” thanks to the moulded detail.
There are a few options to consider while building this kit: opened or closed canopy as mentioned previously, open or closed cowl gills, and a choice of two different drop tanks or a bomb for the centreline (although the instructions provide no suggestion as to which loadout suits which markings option). Both marking options use the dorsal radio mast (part B40) and fortunately the instructions make this point clear in the final step, although it is called out as optional. The small mounting hole for the mast is moulded open (as are the four centreline store mounting holes) so will need to be filled if one of the other two aircraft is to be modelled. After previously building this kit the mast itself looks too short.
Instructions:
Markings: The kit features two marking options, both Kittyhawk Mk.IVs.
1. A29-575/HU-E “Black Magic” of 78 Squadron RAAF, Morotai, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), early 1945. Originally flown by Flight Lieutenant Denis R Baker, the aircraft became famous as the mount of Flight Sergeant Leonard Victor “Len” Waters, a former sheep farmer and boxing champion who was the only Aboriginal RAAF fighter pilot in WW2. This aircraft wears Olive Drab over Neutral Gray with Off White wing leading edges, empennage and chin “lip”, and Red and Dark Blue stripes on the fin tip and propeller spinner. Unusually, the canopy framing is all Aluminium.
2. FX835/OK-D, 450 (RAAF) Sqn RAF, Italy, June-November 1944. This aircraft wears Olive Drab and Dark Earth over Neutral gray, but with a Dark Green rear fuselage band and a patch that serves as background for the pinup girl “No Orchids” which, the instructions state, was a reference to “a lightly erotic novel”!
Decals:The decals appear thin, with solid (and seemingly accurate) colours. Seat belts are also provided on this sheet, but not instrument panel details. The white is nicely opaque, the colours look right and everything appears to be in register. There are a bunch of stencils provided and there is a separate page of placement instructions for these.
Summary: This is a gorgeous-looking kit in the box and having built other boxings twice now I can recall no issues with fit – a real “shake and bake” kit. It’s great value for money and a must-have for any P-40 fan as it is vastly superior to Academy’s offering with none of the shape or accuracy issues that latter model suffers from. Special Hobby has done several other “short nose” variants in this scale and if they are to this standard then they will be bought on sight. I feel very fortunate to have the chance to build this kit once again as I enjoyed it so much the first – and second - time around.
Highly recommended.
(Review sample kindly supplied by Special Hobby. Please support the businesses that support your Forum.)
