I am in the early stages of an Australian Kittyhawk IA, or “E” model. Some questions…
Landing Gear…Natural metal finish or something else?
Would these aircraft have been delivered with national markings already applied? I have seen some photos of overspray’d US markings then the Aussie national symbol…I know there were differences from unit to unit and aircraft to aircraft. I am trying a 77 Squadron P40E. Early '42. The situation at this time was acute and I would imagine the aircraft were rushed to service, hence quick oversprays of national symbols as well as camo jobs…with this would the edges of the camo have been soft due to “quick” masking?
I am not exactly sure when 77 transferred out of Kittyhawk IA’s but I want to weather the model as much as possible…harsh South Pacific conditions and from what I have researched these birds took one hellacious beating…
Hi Joe,
For the landing gear, I’d go with natural metal. Most photos of P-40s seem to indicate this was the case.
The national insignia would more than like have been applied in the field, once the P-40 was assembled. It appears the P-40 would have been shipped in a crate, with the insignia included in it to be laquered onto the plane once assembled.
The camo was painted via rubber or wood mats at the factory, so thus would be hard-edged. I can’t see the Australian’s painting over a perfectly good camo scheme unless the plane had major damage or was undering an overhaul. In early '42, all that mattered was getting those planes into combat ASAP.
If you are doing a 77th SQN Kittyhawk, I recommed you read this:
http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/p40e1cresswelldk_1.htm
HTH,
Mark
I’d also read THIS, as that piece by Dave Klaus, as is the case with much of his work, is full of errors…
Fade to Black…
Wow…thanks to both…interesting to get two sides to any story…