Curtiss Hawk 75A-1,2,3,6

AML

AML's 1/72 scale Hawk 75A is available online from Squadron.com

Reviewed by Brett Green

AML of the Czech Republic has released at least thirteen 1/72 scale kits but it is a new name for me. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to open the very sturdy cardboard box of their 1/72 scale Curtiss Hawk 75A-1,2,3,6 kit to find high quality, multi-media contents.

One sprue of low-pressure injection moulded parts provide the 24 main parts including the wings, fuselage, optional cowls and tail surfaces. The plastic is quite smooth but not too brittle - very nice quality. The engraved surface detail is consistent, but the fabric effect on control surfaces is slightly overdone. 

Almost 40 parts are supplied in pale yellow resin. These parts include the cockpit, seat, undercarriage details, alternate engines and machine guns. All the resin parts are beautifully cast, and some are incredibly fine.

The small photo-etched fret supplies the two styles of instrument panel, harness, rudder pedals and airframe details. 

The vacform canopy looks very, very thin. Extreme caution will be required when cutting, handling and securing these parts. The side windows will be especially tricky.

The excellent decal sheet has markings for two French, three Finnish, one German and one Vichy Hawk. The decals are in perfect register and the colours look great.

Seven pages of the twelve page instruction sheet are dedicated to these colourful markings. The instructions are in black-and-white. Construction is adequately called out in 8 steps using exploded view diagrams. 

Being a limited-run kit, the Hawk does not include locating pins or some of the other luxuries of modern mainstream models. Care will be needed when aligning the main parts, and the butt-joined tailplanes will probably require reinforcement. There are some gigantic ejector pics on the inside surfaces of the fuselage and wings that will need to be removed before assembly too.

This is an impressive model from AML, and with the wide range of markings will appeal to many modellers.

Recommended.

Thanks to Squadron for the review sample.