Mark I Models MKM144144 Curtiss H-75A/Mohawk IV Allied 1:144

Curtiss H-75A/Mohawk IV 'Allied Pilots' The Curtiss H-75 was the export version of the American P-36 Hawk (Curtiss Model 75) fighter of the mid-1930s. The biggest foreign customer was France, taking deliveries of aircraft designated the H-75A-1, 2, 3 and 4, with the first planes entering service in the spring of 1939. They were modified for French Air Force usage and fitted with different equipment and armament. Of the fourth French sub-variant ordered, the H-75A-4 (H-751), only a handful reached the country before it surrendered to Nazi Germany in June 1940, while the rest of 190 a/c were taken over by the RAF as the Mohawk IV. These aircraft were sent to overseas and used in India and Burma while a great number of them was also supplied to the Sou th African Air Force. The H-75/Mohawk was a single-seat, all-metal low-wing monoplane with fabric-covered control surfaces. It had a retractable undercarriage with the main landing gear rotated 90° to fold flat into the wing. The A-3 variant was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp two-row radial, while the Mohawk IV was equipped with a Wright R-1820 Cyclone single-row radial engine; both were fitted with Curtiss Electric propellers. The armament consisted of two machine guns in the nose and another two guns in each wing A small bomb carrier was also mounted under each outer part of the wing. The Curtiss H-75 was used most extensively and successfully by the French Armee de l'Air during the Battle of France. A number of aircraft were also later used by the Free French Air Forces in Africa. Colour schemes included in the kit: 1) Curtiss H-75A-3, No.230, White O, flown by Sgt. Marcel Milan, Free French Air Forces (Forces aeriennes francaises libres, FAFL), Bangui airfield, Ubangi-Shari, French Equatorial Africa (Afrique-Equatoriale francaise, AEF), May 1941 2) Curtiss H-75A-3, No. 329, flown by S/Lt Lubomir šlehla, Pilot's School, Free French Air Forces (Forces aeriennes francaises libres, FAFL), Kasbah-Tadla airfield, Marocco, North Africa, 1944/45 3) Curtiss Mohawk Mk. IV, 2537 (ex-RAF Mohawk Mk. IV, BJ536), flown by the Flight Commander, No.3 ?Fighting Wasp? Sq., South African Air Force, Alamata airfield, Ethiopia, Africa, summer 1941 4) Curtiss Mohawk Mk.IV, BB928, White Z, ?Cymru am Byth?, flown by Sq Ldr Charles Jeffries (OC), No.155 Sq., Royal Air Force, Agartala airfield, Northeast India, January 1943 Two injection-moulded kits are supplied in this box and each kit contains 27 parts and four clear parts (the cockpit canopy, rear windows and a landing light). A comprehensive decal sheet is included.