cowl, and there’s
two choices provided,
either open or closed.
The tail planes and
rudder have guiding slots
for a solid joint and for the
correct alignment of parts. I
chose to display the cockpit
with the slid-back hood, so
only the windscreen was added
at this stage. The cockpit
opening was stufed with
packaging foam to protect from
overspray. All small details,
such as the pitot tube,
landing gear, wheels
and propeller were
prepared for painting.
These get ixed in
after painting, along with
the exhaust pipes, which
are designed to slide into
their respective openings
at the end of the build.PAINTING AND
MARKINGS
The kit ofers four marking
options, three USAF (Africa/
China/India) and one Soviet.
I’m always drawn towards
aircraft with red stars, so I
chose ‘White 23’ of 436 of
the IAP (Fighter AviationRegiment) from 1943. After
pre-shading the model, I
sprayed Gunze acrylics H72,
H73, and H332 according to
the instructions. The base
colours were brightened up
with White H11 for a faded
appearance. To achieve smooth
colour demarcation lines, Iused Uhu Tac sausages. With
the paint job complete, I
coated the surfaces with
Alclad Gloss in preparation
for the markings. The decals,
printed by Cartograf, are
lawless in every respect. After
a wash with artists oils, I sealed
the model with Alclad Matt
Cote, so as to accentuate the
panel lines and add some grime
and streaks to the underside.CONCLUSION
The Special Hobby P-40K is
a very promising kit, and it
relects the increasing quality
of Special Hobby kits over the
last few years. The detail
level is very good, and
so is the general it of
parts. I think it might
be one of the nicest of
their 1/72 scale kits to
date. Special Hobby’s
sister company
CMK has released a
slew of resin detail
sets, such as cockpit
parts, diferent wheel sets
with difering tread patterns,
stylistic variations on the
basic pilot’s seat, and separate
control surfaces. But even
without any aftermarket
enhancements, you can count
on this kit to build into a very
nice model of the renowned
Warhawk. Thanks to Special
Hobby for the review sample!SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER 20191/
17