Curtiss Hawk 75A-4 by AML

1/72 scale
Kit No. 72009
Cost: $22.00
Decals: Three versions – American, British and French
Comments: Engraved panel lines, multi-part vacuform canopy, separately mounted rudder

History

Design work on the Curtiss Hawk 75/P-36 began in November 1934, and the type first flew on May 1, 1935, entering 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.

The Hawk 75 was bought in large numbers by several countries and built under license in a few. The subject of this kit, the A-4, was the fastest of the series, with a maximum speed of 323mph (520km/h). The largest export customer was France, which took delivery beginning in 1939 of the A-1,2,3 and 4 versions. Despite the Hawk 75’s deficiencies — it was not a truly modern fighter — it is credited with destroying 311 German aircraft during the Battle of France. Few of the A-4 version wound up in French hands, since they only began to arrive on June 3, 1940 on the eve of the French collapse and concurrent with the Dunkirk evacuation. Some were flown from France to Britain by French pilots in violation of their surrender instructions.

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. When the British took delivery of Hawk 75’s initially intended for France, they improved their firepower by fitting them with six .303 Browning machine guns, three in each wing. Other RAF modifications included an armored glass panel for the pilot’s windscreen.

Great Britain received 227 Hawk A-4’s from the diverted French order as well as those flown in from France around the time of the French surrender. Two of them were intensively tested at Boscombe Down and found to be very maneuverable but not equivalent to the Messerschmitt Bf109. The RAF kept them in reserve against a possible German invasion, and when the invasion threat diminished, the Hawk 75s were transferred to Commonwealth and other Allied countries — just as the Germans would shunt off many of the Hawk 75’s they were able to capture to Finland.

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

AML’s Hawk 75 is injection molded in grey and consists of 24 plastic parts, 24 resin parts providing detail for the cockpit, machine guns, wheel wells and landing gear doors, a photo-etch fret providing 21 brass metal parts, including but not limited to the cockpit instrument panel, seat straps, rudder pedals and gunsight, a separate film insert for the instrument panel dials, and a vacuform canopy. The kit features engraved panel lines, boxed in wheel wells, and an option for one of two engine cowlings. The fuselage halves feature internal raised sidewall detail for the cockpit. One note about the cowling, whichever version you choose, it is divided into halves and will require a bit of skill at seam hiding.

There are separate parts for the cowling lip and the rudder, and there is a radial engine provided that is of average detail. The landing gear likewise are average in their level of detail. The kit includes resin parts for a seat, cockpit floor and rear bulkhead, instrument panel, control yoke, as well as the nose of the airscrew. The aforementioned photo-etch fret adds another layer of detail, along with the film insert. One notable feature is the option for either a Mohawk IV or P-36 G canopy, both vacuform. According to the illustration in the instructions, the windscreen of the P-36G canopy has a more dramatic slope, and the windscreen of the Mohawk IV has heavier framing.

Markings

Decals are provided for American, Burmese, Free French, and New Zealand aircraft, all during World War II. The American version is a P-36G, circa 1942, featuring a paint scheme of olive drab over neutral grey, serial no. 2108995, and is part of an order of 30 such aircraft initially bound for Norway. The Burmese version (Mohawk IV) was an aircraft of No. 155 Squadron based in Burma as of late 1943 and bears a paint scheme of Dark Earth and Dark Green with a Medium Sea Grey fuselage band just ahead of the tail unit, with Yellow wingtips on the upper and lower wing surfaces. It includes unusually small fuselage roundels (white circle against a larger blue circle), and red, white and blue roundels that are reminiscent of RAF markings of World War I.

The Free French version is an aircraft based at Tuslane, Syria as of 1942, and bears a camouflage scheme of Dark Green and Dark Earth over Medium Sea Grey, and includes decals for Cross of Lorraine roundels and the red-white-and blue tri-color on the rudder. The Royal New Zealand Air Force version, serial no. BS795, is for an aircraft based at Cuttack, Burma during 1943, piloted by Flight Lt. Keith Mac Even. It bears the standard British camouflage scheme of Ocean Grey and Dark Green over Sky, and also features a Medium Sea Grey fuselage band just ahead of the tail unit, with Yellow wingtips on the upper and lower wing surfaces.

Conclusion

Overall the impression is one of a kit that at first glance looks deceptively simple, yet will likely involve a fair amount of effort and build up into a highly detailed model aircraft. Highly recommended.

References

aviation-history.com
aviationsmilitaire.net