1/72 Hobby Boss Hawk 81/P-40B

In honor of Flying Tigers ace, David Lee "Tex" Hill

by Billbuccaneer   on Oct 4 2007

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The legendary Flying Tigers ace, David Lee "Tex" Hill suffered a fall and is in hospital in San Antonio, Texas, as I write this.  Let us all hope and pray for his recovery. 

I bought the Hobby Boss P-40B kit precisely because I wanted to model Hawk 48, an airplane assigned to Tex in 1941. The kit is remarkably easy to assemble; it comes with a complete fuselage.  The fit is excellent.  It requires some scratch building, as it lacks a control panel, landing gear doors, and a few other bits.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

The autographed photo above of Tex Hill is a cherished possession.  I searched far and wide for Flying Tigers decals in 1/72, and finally found some on ebay.  The brand was "Crazy Modeller" and they came from China.  The figures are from a 1/72 ESCI flightline crew box.  I drilled out the air intake above the nose, and inserted pencil lead to replicate the .50 caliber machine guns.

Billy 

 

Photos and text © by Billy Calzada, aka 'Billbuccaneer'