Curtiss P-36 / Hawk Model 75 by AZ Model

1/72 scale
Kit No. AZ7570
Cost: $28.00
Decals: Three versions – all Armee de l’Air
Comments: Engraved panel lines, multi-part canopy, separately mounted rudder

History

The Curtiss Hawk 75/P-36 first flew on May 1, 1935 and entered service with the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1938. Ostensibly a modern monoplane design with an enclosed cockpit and fully retractable landing gear, it was nonetheless underpowered and — even by the standards of the late 1930’s — lightly armed. Its basic appearance was not unlike Curtiss’ subsequent, more famous design, the P-40 Warhawk, and it sported a heavily framed canopy and raised fuselage spine. Though not a particularly impressive aircraft by any standard, the P-36 Hawk was nonetheless a serviceable mount that could – at the very least – help Western air forces struggling against more advanced Axis aircraft in the early stages of World War II.

In the early 1930’s, the US Army Air Corps realized biplane development had reached its zenith, and that the next generation of pursuit aircraft would be monoplanes. The introduction of the Boeing B-9 monoplane bomber in 1931 brought home the fact that the new generation of bombers were faster than current American biplane fighters. The Boeing P-26 Peashooter was the first American all metal, pursuit monoplane, but it was a tentative, conservative, and ultimately interim design with its open cockpit, fixed landing gear, and wire supports.

In 1935, Curtiss, Seversky, and Northrop submitted aircraft for a USAAC design competition. Each aircraft ushered in a completely new era of American fighter design, featuring enclosed cockpits, retractable landing gear, all metal construction, hydraulic systems and more powerful engines.

Seversky entered a fixed-gear, two-seat SEV-2XD fighter, but switched to the single-seat SEV-1XP, after eyeing the Curtiss Model 75 and Northrop 3A, both of which had retractable landing gear. The switch by Seversky was allowed since its 2XD was badly damaged on the way to Wright Field for the competition set for June 18, 1935. Despite protests from Curtiss, the final fly-off was postponed until April 1936, after the Northrop 3A crashed into the sea.

The delay allowed Seversky to modify its entry, with a different tail-plane and engine, designating it the SEV-7 (which ultimately became the P-35), while Vought submitted a rebuild of the Northrop 3A as the V-141. Consolidated now entered the competition, submitting the P-30, while Curtiss submitted the Model 75 with a new Wright XR-1820-39 Cyclone engine. The Seversky Aircraft Corporation won the USAAC’s competition, and Curtiss was awarded a contract for just three examples of its design, powered by a de-rated version of the 1,050-hp (783-kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-13 Twin Wasp radial engine for testing and evaluation under the designation Y1P-36.

The prototype Model 75 was of all metal construction, except for the fabric-covered control surfaces. Parts of the outer wing were sealed to provide flotation in case the aircraft were ditched in the water, and it was equipped with hydraulically operated, trailing-edge split-flaps.

The main landing gear retracted and swung aft from the leading edge, then swiveled 90 degrees, so that the main wheels would lie flush in the undersurface of the wing, unlike the Seversky P-35, which had half of the wheel exposed to the airstream. The 90° swivel landing gear was a Boeing development that was also adopted for the Vought SB2U Chesapeake and F4U Corsair, for which Boeing received a royalty for all such installations used by other manufacturers.  Armament was the USAAC standard of the day, two machine guns (a single 0.30 caliber and a single 0.50 caliber) firing through the propeller arc. This was inadequate compared to the contemporary Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, both of which entered service in 1937 with Britain and Germany respectively, but the US would maintain this standard for at least a few more years.

Although the P-36 failed to match the performance of its contemporaries, it would be the principle US Army fighter until 1941. During this period, designers had yet to realize the full potential of the radial air-cooled engine. Later an attempt would be made to upgrade the Model 75 by installing an Allison V-1710 engine, but this modification failed to provide enough additional power as was in any event superseded by the Curtiss P-40.

Compared to the original Model 75 prototype, the Y1P-36 was much improved with increased fore and aft cockpit visibility and the introduction of a retractable tail wheel. Service testing of the Y1P-36’s was so successful that the Army awarded Curtiss a contract for 210 production P-36A’s on July 7, 1937 — the largest US military order since the First World War. Delivery began in April 1938, but by the time the United States entered World War II, the P-36 was already obsolete. Circumstances compelled limited use of P-36A’s in the opening stage of hostilities with Japan at Pearl Harbor and in the Philippines, but they were soon relegated to a training role, for they were no match for Japanese Zeros.

Export Hawk 75As were supplied to the French Armee de l’Air as the Hawk 75A-1, A-2, A-3 and A-4, but most were transferred to Britain after the fall of France in June 1940, being designated respectively Mohawk I, II, III and IV. It is interesting to note that the French throttles were configured to operate in reverse of standard variants—pushing the throttle forward reduced power.

The P-36 was not – amazingly – fully retired until 1954, from the Argentine Air Force. Despite the 215 or so P-36s produced for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), the Hawk made more of a splash in foreign hands (as the Hawk 75 and Mohawk flying with the French and British air arms) which accounted for 900 examples.

The Kit

AZ Model’s Curtiss Hawk H-75 is injection molded in grey plastic and is presented on three sprues. It contains 60 parts, including four clear parts for the canopy and windscreen, which will facilitate displaying the finished kit with the cockpit open if the modeler so desires. The cockpit floor and rear bulkhead are nicely detailed with raised relief, as are the fuselage interiors which feature sidewall details. The pilot’s bucket seat is uncharacteristically and realistically thin, and the main instrument panel bears sufficient detail to render a decal unnecessary. The control yoke and pitot tube in particular are uncommonly detailed for this scale.

The airframe exterior features crisp engraved panel lines and rivet detail, and the rudder, ailerons and elevators all have subtle fabric effects, with the rudder being separately molded. The double radial engine is fairly detailed, and the separate cap for the front end of the cowling has its own engraved detail as well as well-machined apertures for the forward firing machine guns. The landing gear doors are realistically contoured and the propeller appears to have perfect dimensions. The one-piece wheels feature circumferential tread, and the landing gear are nicely detailed for their size. Separate parts for boxed in wheel wells are also provided.

Markings

The markings are in-house by AZ Model and have a flawlessly glossy sheen. They should be trouble-free with the exception of the tri-color for the rudder, in that the red portion at the aft end may require a bit of trimming. Decals are provided for any one of three Armee de l’Air fighters serving with a Czechoslovakian squadron operating from Suippes airfield during the French Campaign in the Spring of 1940. First is a Hawk H-75C1 No. 61 of Escadrille GCI/5, flown by its commanding officer, Alois Vasatko; second is a Hawk H-75C1 No. 254 of of Escadrille GCI/5, flown by Frantisek Perina, who scored 11 victories; and third is a Hawk H-75C1 No. 140 of Escadrille GCI/5, shared by pilots Josef Duda, Frantisek, Chabera, and Otto Hanzlicek. All aircraft sport a camouflage scheme of Dark Earth, Green and Blue Grey over Light Blue Grey. Colors are identified by Humbrol codes only.

Conclusion

This is a crisply detailed kit of an important early WWII fighter. Highly recommended.

References

• aviation-history.com
• aviationsmilitaire.net