**** DONE: 1/48 Curtiss Hawk 75A-2 - Aircraft in Foreign Service WWII

[Vic Balshaw]

Thanks again folks, you're all too kind.

+ 1 cushion on the seat was probably yellow, with, on the front, black letters "COUSSIN FLOTTABLE" .
No cushion on the seat back
The safety belt (type B-10) was a single belt, not a harness

Thanks again kind sir, not sure if I can achieve such a change at this juncture, I could probably get the harness straps off but not so sure about the seat back cushion which I'd added as I have pictures showing a seat back cushion. We will see.

Have you any more gems of info up your sleeve that I should know about!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Not much achieved today folks, we have the sick daughter with us, usual stomach cramps and sickness, she has been here since Saturday and it would seem that on top of her normal stomach and digestion problems, she had caught a particularly nasty and virulent stomach virus. Not very nice and it tears my heart to see here in such pain and not being unable to do something for her.

Anyway, onto the model. I've put the instrument panel together and an uninspiring panel it is from the pictures I have. The machine guns also sit either side of the upper panel and the rudder bar framework also attaches to it.

I've also had ago at putting a bit of panel ribbing on the tailwheel doors, again uninspiring. Am also not concerned about that little sink hole in front of the wheel pivot hole. If all goes well I'll be making a small leather protection garter which will cover this.

Also had a go at bringing the seat into line with the comments of my new found French connection. Sorry waroff but I'm not going with the little yellow seat cushion, for I'm sure I read somewhere that the seat well was used for the parachute.

 

[Crimea_River]

Very nice Vic and best wishes for a speedy recovery for your daughter.

 

[Wayne Little]

Same here Vic...hope she can recover quickly...

 

[N4521U]

The pit is lookin mighty fine Vic.
And Flaps,,,,,,,,, woah!

 

[Wurger]

 

[waroff]

Not much achieved today folks, we have the sick daughter with us, usual stomach cramps and sickness, she has been here since Saturday and it would seem that on top of her normal stomach and digestion problems, she had caught a particularly nasty and virulent stomach virus. Not very nice and it tears my heart to see here in such pain and not being unable to do something for her.


Also had a go at bringing the seat into line with the comments of my new found French connection. Sorry waroff but I'm not going with the little yellow seat cushion, for I'm sure I read somewhere that the seat well was used for the parachute.

Health is a priority


no worry Vic,
during the battle of France, french pilot used Aviorex802 or Lemercier 552, both models was parachute back, so the cushion seat was used.
I think that the parachute seat began to be used from 42/43 with US a/c in north africa

These two weeks I'm travel Thailand, I will follow your work but I can't post pic from my HDD


Edit:

the light that is reflected in the wing and the flap may suggest that these inside surfaces are aluminum color as recommended by Curtiss

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Thanks Waroff, aluminium was my intended choice for the flaps, though they will be primed first possibly with the interior green.

Off to Thailand then, business or fun. Enjoy anyway. I was only there a month ago on my way back from the US and Portugal, stayed three nights at the Banyan Tree, it was very humid.

Thanks for looking in guys, hope to get it sewn up today and start on the externals.

 

[T Bolt]

The Thai Air Force Museum is where they have the Hawk 75N in the pics I sent you Vic. It's also where they have the remains of the only known surviving Flying Tigers Tomahawk still in existence, a wreck pulled from the jungle a few years back. It's ironic that it was shot down wile on a mission to attack the Thai airfield where it is now on display. From what I've seen on the internet it looks like that museum is a very interesting place with a lot of one of a kind aircraft.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

The Thai Air Force Museum is where they have the Hawk 75N in the pics I sent you Vic. It's also where they have the remains of the only known surviving Flying Tigers Tomahawk still in existence, a wreck pulled from the jungle a few years back. It's ironic that it was shot down wile on a mission to attack the Thai airfield where it is now on display. From what I've seen on the internet it looks like that museum is a very interesting place with a lot of one of a kind aircraft.

Maybe I should have looked it out when in Thailand on the way home last month instead of just lounging by the pool. Mind you we were tired after two months of constant travel, we needed the rest in order to finish the last leg.

 

[woody]

Looking good Vic hope your daughter recovers quickly.

 

[javlin]

Like what I see Vic

 

[Wurger]

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Thanks guys. Slack day yesterday, stuffed by hay fever but hope to get cracking on it later today.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Well it's now later today folks, so without further ado…………………….

Have decided to have a go at making the navigation and visibility lights. There just blobs of moulded plastic on the kit but in reality, they are coloured lenses over the bulbs. As you can see from the arrow point, the mould is kind of small, so it's a bit of a challenge.

I have also got the boy buttoned up with rudder and tail planes fitted. Need to add some PE or wire here, but this will come later.

I took the pic of the housed engine for as we all know, pics don't lie and I wanted to see what it really looked like through the lens and not just my biased eyes.

Also started on carving out the flap housings, not a hard job though I will have to add a bit of tapered Evergreen behind the lower flap to hide the gap between upper and lower wing. Looking at a cutaway I have the back of the flap looks to be nicely rounded, so maybe a half round strip will do the job. Will look at that tomorrow.

 

[Wurger]

 

[imalko]

Cool stuff Vic. Like your work.

 

[Crimea_River]

Me too, but damn, doing those tiny lights with coloured plastic is getting a bit much!

 

[T Bolt]

All the PE is really going to make a big difference!

 

[Wayne Little]

Looks great Vic, I might have a solution to your lense issue there are some eduard etch stuff that has the teardrop shape along the edges just so you can make the lenses, will see if i still have some...