Customer Reviews

1/72 P40M/N Warhawk

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The Curtiss P40 was a single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. In its various guises it was named the Warhawk (all USAAC marks), Tomahawk or Kittyhawk (where operated by British Commonwealth and Soviet air forces, depending, again, on the Mark). It served with many Allied air forces and in pretty much every theatre of the war and, operated by the The Flying Tigers (volunteer American airmen serving in the Chinese air force) it distinguished itself against the Japanese. Although its performance meant that it struggled against contemporary high performance fighters it did nevertheless manage to hand out some punishment as an air superiority fighter, at times suffering severe losses, but also taking a very heavy toll on enemy aircraft.

There are various kits of this good looking little plane in 1/72 and 1/48 including an Airfix offering in much the same price band. I'm in no position to comment with any authority on that kit but I understand it to be fairly elderly so it may be a little rough round the edges. This Academy version is certainly a high quality piece of plastic with finely engraved panel lies (very fine - care will be needed to keep them alive and well), razor sharp trailing edges and some nice detailing in the 'pit. I'm about half way through building the kit and have encountered no problems in construction - the various parts pretty much fall together with virtually invisible seams and there is likely to be no need for any filler.

It comes with the option to build two versions, the Allied air force P40M Kittyhawk III or the P40N Kittyhawk IV, the differences being in slightly different canopy configurations and different main gear wheels. The decals allow you to complete it as a USAAC machine (which would be a Warhawk - are you keeping up with this?), two RAF Kittyhawks or an RAAF machine from the Pacific theatre. The USAAC and RAF decal set include the distinctive sharkmouth designs for the chinscoop. You may gather that some care will be needed to ensure that the correct decals are matched to the correct design differences. The kit also includes a nicely represented centreline bomb (which can be replaced with an auxilliary fuel tank)

A very nice little kit indeed.

Don't forget the styrene glue and canopy glue as well as the Micro Sol and Micro Set decal setting solutions. The RAAF machine should be finished in Deep Green topsides with a Neutral Grey underside. The interior should be finished in Yellow Green.