Airfix Curtiss Tomahawk IIb 1/72 scale

[yak face]

I think it is Theuns , but in the other boxing its called a Hawk 81-A2 and in the dogfight double with the zero , P40b, cheers tony

[Dave W]

Not my scale but these new Airfix 1/72 kits have some impressive detail.Especially considering the low price.Are you not tempted to do it in Russian markings Tony?.

[yak face]

Not my scale but these new Airfix 1/72 kits have some impressive detail.Especially considering the low price.Are you not tempted to do it in Russian markings Tony?.

I was very tempted dave , theres a few nice winter camo ones to choose from ,but i thought that as I was trying to do a pretty much OOB review /build I'd use the kit decals. The kit option is a good one though , nice sharks mouth and a great bit of provenance with the Neville Duke connection. cheers tony

[Guest]

No come on Tony. DO a SAAF Western desert plane !! The same camo ar RAF but with orange roundal centres and fin flash LOL

Theuns

[Guest]

Being new/coming back to modelling me and my 6 year old lad have just done this kit him paint me glue probably not as good as yours Will turn out but not bad little kit.

[yak face]

Well ive had a tricky time with the canopies on this little bugger. The canopies are commendably thin and clear but in the case of the main section , a bit too thin!!! The overlapping bit at the rear of the main part is that thin ,I accidentally went through it while cutting the tape masking the windows. I think its a very thin piece of the moulding and anyone considering this kit should bear this in mind when masking or handling these clear parts. The 2 curved rear side windows are a bit troublesome too, they are a great fit but you have to be careful how much canopy glue you use or it will wick underneath and be seen from outside as these have no frame round them. Normally I would have attached these last off but the main canopy overlaps them (the aforementioned thin bits!) so theyve got to be masked and go on now. Anyway the canopies are on and im just in the process of filling the step in front of the windscreen . Apart from the clear parts needing a bit of careful handling ,the rest of the assembly has been great , ive even managed NOT to break off the very fragile guns !

[ATTACH]75790.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]75791.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]75792.IPB[/ATTACH]

[flyjoe180]

Looks great Tony. For a starter kit that's a pretty tricky canopy system to deal with.

[Dave W]

Looks good Tony.its not finished yet so plenty of opportunities to break the guns off!.

[Guest]

Looks great.

Francesco

[yak face]

Well Ive been very busy with work in the house so havent been in the shed much at all lately ,so apologies if anyone thought this one had disappeared!! Ive got the colour on after a bit of a disaster - I first sprayed the underside with Vallejo Game Colour Steel Grey as to my eye it looks a better match than the recommended Humbrol 157 (this colour has always been contentious). All good so far ... then i thought I'd try the new Humbrol acrylics for the top colours , the problem being I didnt have any Humbrol acrylic thinners so thought I'd use Vallejo airbrush thinner , its still acrylic so should be ok right? WRONG!!!! it reacted horribly , clogging the brush and separating on the model , giving a see through , runny , chalky mess!!! I resisted the very strong urge to send it on a one way mission against the wall , and left it to harden while i contemplated Plan B. After a few days I sanded the mess and re applied all the colours (yes even the underside , the paint had seeped under all the masking !)in Vallejo paints and here it is , waiting for the decals ! tony

[ATTACH]78027.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]78028.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]78029.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Alan 45]

That's coming along nicely

[Dave W]

The desert camo looks good and the guns are still on!.

[Guest]

The trials & tribulations of model-building rears its ugly head again Tony! Still you'd never know & the build lookseexcellent thus far. Dunno how you do it in such small scale!

Cheers Patrick

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Tony

Just caught up with this.

Got to say the detail on this little kit looks pretty impressive. That's not just glossy-eyed nostalgic bias that makes me say that. I'm so glad that Airfix are (seemingly) doing so well it's nice to have an brand that you grew up with still holding it's own in a competitive market.

That said I don't think Airfix should be dumbing down the paint call outs just because they only supply 4 paint colours. Surely anyone that buys these kits realises there's a few other colours to make this aircraft realistic? And those that don't realise won't care anyway!

That aside, the surface detail does look good for an aircraft in this scale and you're making a fine job of the finish.

As for the paint and thinners debacle, I would not expect a build of yours to go without a hitch! There's always some scrape that you always magnificently get out of!!! This is no exception.

Keep up the great work Tony.

All the best

Paul

[flyjoe180]

Nice work and recovery Tony. Bit of a pain with those paints, but you have recovered the situation nicely. Know what you mean about houses and no modelling too...