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Late War P-40E Kittyhawk

2 OTU RAAF

Boring Old Silver No. 3

 

Red Roo Models

 

S u m m a r y
Catalogue Number: RRD4832 Boring Old Silver No.3  -P-40E Kittyhawk
Scale: 1/48 (also available in 1/72)
Contents and Media: Two decal sheets plus instructions
Price: RRD4832 AUD$9.95 from Red Roo Models website
Review Type: FirstLook
Advantages: Interesting subject; good instructions; thin decal film.
Disadvantages: Individual markings must be trimmed from sheet.
Recommendation: Recommended

 

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly


HyperScale is proudly sponsored by Squadron.com

 

FirstLook

 

For the uninitiated, Red Roo Models is a company out of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia.   The company is run by a modeller, Mr Gary Byk and they produce a whole range of products including books, decals, and resin conversions that predominately cover aircraft operated by the Australian Defence Force.

The subject of this review is from their Wombat's Burrow range quaintly called "Boring Old Silver" (a limited run series 200 of each).

 

 

The featured aircraft is A29-28, an early Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk assigned to 2 Operational Training Unit, Mildura, South Australia and flown by the Flight Leaders of C and D Flights in late 1945.  Typical of "war weary" machines operated by the RAAF, it has been stripped of its camouflage (as I understand it, this was done so that a close watch could be kept on the airframe for signs of fatigue and stress cracking by the airframe fitters). It does however retain the white empennage and wing leading edge New Guinea theatre recognition markings.  It sports a yellow spinner, a non-standard black anti-glare panel and leading edge to the radiator intake, and a red band around the rear fuselage.  The supplied markings comprise:

  • Red CD (for C and D Flights) and individual aircraft letter A.

  • WWII RAAF national insignia in six places.

  • Black A2 and (28 being the remnants of the aircraft serial not removed when the camouflage was stripped).

  • White circle backgrounds for the national insignia.

  • White C D and A letters.

The repetition of the code letters and the backgrounds in white is due to the method by which the decals were produced (using a thermal dry ink printer).  You will need to apply these first then overlay them with the appropriate decal. The finished marking will be the same as conventional decals.   You need to take care though as the decal film is thin and will tear easily.  You can counter this tendency though by using plenty of water to float them into place.  You will however require time and patience but the end result is well worth the effort.

The placement guide is an A-4 sized sheet that shows colour profiles of the left hand side, a scrap top view of the nose, and tops and bottoms of the wings as well as a short history of the aircraft and full and comprehensive instructions on how to apply the decals.  The decal sheet and placement guide come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag.

A nice sheet for a uniquely marked aircraft.

Recommended for those with patience!

Postscript

For a look at the rest of Red Roo's offerings, head on over to their website at http://www.redroomodels.com/

Thanks to Gary Byk at Red Roo Models for the review sample

Red Roo Models books, decals and accessories are available at Red Roo Models Website

Text and Images Copyright © 2004 by Rodger Kelly
Page Created 17 August, 2004
Last updated 17 August, 2004

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