Post by chbessexboy on Jan 30, 2024 10:13:13 GMT 12
Back in September 2021 I wrote about this Airfix Kittyhawk:
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496767744_b0b61a6eda_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496888935_6f3c873a8b_b.jpg)
I'd painted it as a rather anonymous USAAF P-40E, but now it could do with reworking.
Here it is with the actual bag header:
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495579087_efaaea60a2_b.jpg)
According to the top left hand corner it was the eleventh 1/72 kit in the collection, and "79c" in the opposite corner tells me I would have purchased it at Bunkers Toys in Hastings. Considering that it's still giving pleasure, it was a wise investment!
But what to do with it now? A gentle de-riveting and a rub down for a new coat of paint would be a start. Then what identity to assume? How about sending it to Russia?
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496468361_ff9a992834_c.jpg)
Lend-Lease aircraft in the “Great Patriotic War” hold a bit of a fascination for me. In many cases they were not considered suitable for the European theatre, but they were a big step up from the I-16s that were left after the German onslaught. In the hands of skilled Russians, with the incentive of defending their own country, P-40s were often more than a match for some of the hastily trained Luftwaffe pilots they encountered.
This set of AML decals titled "P-40 in Stalin's Sky" featured five variants: two “K”s, two “N”s and fortunately one “E”.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496618943_3e390b4baf_b.jpg)
I started by carefully removing the propeller so it wouldn't get broken. This was followed by the tail wheel (because the gear doors looked like a couple of bricks), the main gear, drop tank, then the cockpit glazing and gun sight - which was massively over scale. Luckily the fifty-year-old glue didn't put up much of a fight. That was as far as I would go, it being just a makeover and not wanting to erase what provenance remained. I decided not to refit the gun sight, but made a more realistic instrument panel top. Some card also produced the distinctive curve to the engine cowling.
I was surprised to discover I had originally painted it as Airfix intended – a Kittyhawk IA of 112 Sqn in the North African Campaign.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496468741_331150882d_b.jpg)
Now it was being flown by Lt. Colonel Alexander Andreevich Matveev, commander of 154.IAP, Leningrad Front, summer 1942. He flew 181 missions, had 12 encounters with the enemy and scored 5 victories. And that is as much as I know about him - Wikipedia being unsurprisingly silent with its naturally American bias.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495580042_1eae16bc12_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495580357_7a10c7f95f_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495580842_d37d2c2204_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496770809_fa6eb0debf_b.jpg)
I didn’t plan on having consecutive Soviet fighters featured, but it may come as no surprise that I have a number of builds “on the go” and this was the next to be completed. However, this little P-40E has had much more time spent on its rebuild than it took to make it in the first place.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495581827_7b6a43f036_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495582032_a62d868b3b_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496767744_b0b61a6eda_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496888935_6f3c873a8b_b.jpg)
I'd painted it as a rather anonymous USAAF P-40E, but now it could do with reworking.
Here it is with the actual bag header:
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495579087_efaaea60a2_b.jpg)
According to the top left hand corner it was the eleventh 1/72 kit in the collection, and "79c" in the opposite corner tells me I would have purchased it at Bunkers Toys in Hastings. Considering that it's still giving pleasure, it was a wise investment!
But what to do with it now? A gentle de-riveting and a rub down for a new coat of paint would be a start. Then what identity to assume? How about sending it to Russia?
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496468361_ff9a992834_c.jpg)
Lend-Lease aircraft in the “Great Patriotic War” hold a bit of a fascination for me. In many cases they were not considered suitable for the European theatre, but they were a big step up from the I-16s that were left after the German onslaught. In the hands of skilled Russians, with the incentive of defending their own country, P-40s were often more than a match for some of the hastily trained Luftwaffe pilots they encountered.
This set of AML decals titled "P-40 in Stalin's Sky" featured five variants: two “K”s, two “N”s and fortunately one “E”.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496618943_3e390b4baf_b.jpg)
I started by carefully removing the propeller so it wouldn't get broken. This was followed by the tail wheel (because the gear doors looked like a couple of bricks), the main gear, drop tank, then the cockpit glazing and gun sight - which was massively over scale. Luckily the fifty-year-old glue didn't put up much of a fight. That was as far as I would go, it being just a makeover and not wanting to erase what provenance remained. I decided not to refit the gun sight, but made a more realistic instrument panel top. Some card also produced the distinctive curve to the engine cowling.
I was surprised to discover I had originally painted it as Airfix intended – a Kittyhawk IA of 112 Sqn in the North African Campaign.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496468741_331150882d_b.jpg)
Now it was being flown by Lt. Colonel Alexander Andreevich Matveev, commander of 154.IAP, Leningrad Front, summer 1942. He flew 181 missions, had 12 encounters with the enemy and scored 5 victories. And that is as much as I know about him - Wikipedia being unsurprisingly silent with its naturally American bias.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495580042_1eae16bc12_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495580357_7a10c7f95f_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495580842_d37d2c2204_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496770809_fa6eb0debf_b.jpg)
I didn’t plan on having consecutive Soviet fighters featured, but it may come as no surprise that I have a number of builds “on the go” and this was the next to be completed. However, this little P-40E has had much more time spent on its rebuild than it took to make it in the first place.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495581827_7b6a43f036_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53495582032_a62d868b3b_b.jpg)