Curtiss Kittyhawk Ia, serial unknown/U, Sqn Ldr Richard Cresswell, 77th Squadron RAAF, New Guinea, 1942

This is another one of those “started over a decade ago, not sure when, but pulled off the shelf and finished!” Completed in December 2018.

The Subject

Before knowing Squadron Leader Cresswell’s history, I chose to model this subject because I like the coloring. I also have a thing for P-40’s as I think they deserve better recognition for their contribution. They are as the Hurricane to the Spitfire when it comes to a P-40 versus the P-51.

The Model

This is most likely the Academy P-40E kit, from which these decals came. The model had been built and painted and literally only needed the canopy and decals. Well, to be fair, just the decals but the canopy quarter lights had gotten glue underneath and were ruined which is why it sat on the shelf so long. I wanted to replace them with something better and just never got around to it.

Ultimately I scrounged a spare canopy from my spares box (from what kit?) and these fit closely but not perfectly. I used the original windscreen and canopy but trimmed the quarter lights and finally just said “close enough” as it’ll never go on a competition table.

Summary

My P-40 collection is building, I’ve got quite a few more in the stash to build.

Thanks for looking…