1/72 Curtiss Goshawk II by Monogram

        Yet another addition to my collection of aircraft with spats this one also falls into the "Yellow Wings" sub category. There was a period of about fifteen years when a desire to be the most garish air force on the planet overcame the U.S. high command. Flying surfaces were painted a bright yellow-gold and many tailplanes were painted to match ot decorated in even louder colors. This all ended when we joined the party of the Second World War but it certainly makes for some fancy-looking models. 

       One of the last U.S. carrier biplane fighters the Curtiss Goshawk II was the culmination of a long line of Curtiss biplanes that served the armed forces. It never saw combat under U.S. colors but a number saw combat under Colombian colors and fifty-two fought for the Chinese against the Japanese in the early years of the Sino-Japanese War. A detailed Wiki can be found here.

 

the hazards of Ebay, it looked OK in the cellophane

 but upon arrival I found that it had gotten wet and moldy

 

the kit went together like a breeze, the decals were another matter 

with enormous effort I was able to salvage the roundels but the rest was a write-off

 

I learned the hard way to paint and decal the model before attaching the top wing

these are the kit decals which appear to have been decent quality before they got wet

 

 

I wasn't able to rescue the remainder of the decals as you cane see here,

after this mess I gave up and pirated decals from another model

 

 

Starfighter Decals come with this limited-run kit from Mark's Models 

they are top-quality and were a dream to owrk with

 

 

so, there it is, not quite "Straight Out Of The Box"  but close 

 

I plan on building a few more in Chinese markings for Check Your Six

 

a good looking little model that really captures the spirit of the aircraft

 

and there are the spats, of course!

 

the only interior details are the decal instrument panel and the pilot

 

the Monogram design of molding the kit with both the cabane struts and landing gear

 cast as part of the fuselage make aligning the upper wing simplicity in itself