This year is turning into the year of the P40 for me with another just finished today.

Earlier this year i built the old Monogram P40B/C as one of the Flying Tigers. I'm not one of the soppy Monogram "nostalgia" sort of people (i think much of the old Monogram thing is simply US modellers waving the Star Spangled Banner!) and i don't rate most of them as great model kits...and the P40B/C is not their best either. Unfortunately no one else has made a better one so far! It's about time Hasegawa did one in 48 scale as far as i'm concerned. I think i had to use more filler on this model than anything i've ever built...including the Roden He111B. Not many pics of this one because it isn't worth it.



In contrast i love these newer Hasegawa kits. The P40N is from the RAAF campaign...more pics in that thread.





And todays completed model, P40E of Robert L. Scott. I simply wanted to do this aircraft because i like the modified Flying Tigers decal that was adopted after they disbanded and became a regular USAF unit. Decals are from Sky Decal.

The "N" is the easier P40 to build from the Hasegawa kits...the fuselage inserts and tail seemed to fit a bit better. With the "E" i found to avoid a step around the fuselage inserts i needed to creat an easy to fill gap along the top spine just after the sliding canopy section. Otherwise they are pretty easy models to put together. I'm not certain i have the antenna config correct for this aircraft...it tended to vary for P40's and i haven't seen a good enough pic of this aircraft to make it out clearly. I will change it if something new comes to light!

All paints Gunze like usual.









P40's are my favourite US WW2 aircraft and i like the Hasegawa kits...clearly superior to what has come before in my opinion. BUT a new tool Merlin powered version and B/C is really needed!
These Hasegawa kits seem to be disapearing from my LHS shelves. So today i went and secured two more at yesterdays prices...as the next round of re-pops are bound to be at least 30-40% higher in cost. Because they can. Next up will be a MTO P40K and a RNZAF P40N-1 (using the M boxing).

Andrew

Very nice builds.

In deference you the Monogram kits, no they're not that good, _today_. Those first generation kits are 40 plus years old. The fact some are still worthy builds is a testament to how cutting edge they were in the '60s and '70s.

Just happened to pull out an old Monogram JU87D (which I shelved because it seemed to be so hopelessly wrong in shape) When putting it next to a Hasegawa G-2 I just purchased I was really stunned at just how close they were in scale a shape.

Those Monogram kits aren't Eduards by any means but a few of them still surprise me with their build potential.

Cheers,
Fred

Great builds, Andrew!!!

I also like your Monogram! .. have you tried a Trumpeter kit with a replacement pit? I do not have one of those, but would be curiuos if they are worth a try ....

all the best

Steffen

Thanks Steffen! Actually until you mentioned it i hadn't hought of using the Trumpeter kit with a replacement cockpit. But maybe it's worth a look. I don't like the surface detail on the Trumpeter kit much- it's not their best model kit by a long way! But they are cheap and next time i see one i think i'll buy it for a closer look anyway.

Secretly i'm hoping that Special Hobby will come to the rescue with the 2 missing links in the new tool P40 range. They did a new Merlin P40 in 1/72 last year...surely they will do one in 48? And the B/C would be good choices for them as well in my opinion.

Andrew

Well, Trumpeters "Mad Riveter" is an annoying feature of these kits. I just had another look at their nice MiG-3 ... but all those holes ... it will need a few layers of primer too tone down that effect a bit.

I would like to know if they met the shapes nicely or not? Being one of the older kits (before Stevens Intl. went mad) it can be quite cheap. if you have to buy from newer release/ import lots it is of course not... also I am not sure what cockpit sets are available. One was from CE but I am not sure there are more ...

all the best

Steffen

The P-40 model making machine grinds on. Today the P-40K is finished. I just had to do a non OD/NG scheme so they don't all end up the same colour. This is the aircraft of "Jay" Overcash of the 64 FS/ 57 FG. The unit was far better known for it's use of the Merlin powered P-40F. However when supplies of the merlin powered aircraft ran out they began to receive the P-40K instead. Oddly, despite the reputation of superiority that the Merlin had over the Allison engines the performance difference between the F/L and K's was insignificant- especially at the altitudes that combat was occuring at in Tunisia.

Next one will be a RNZAF N-1.







Andrew

Beautiful model Andrew!

It is amazing how some of you guys (and some girls too) just push one model after the other out of the model hangar! great stuff!

all the best

Steffen

Bravo on a fine group of builds! I am a great fan of the P40.Might i sugest you to consider an RNZAF P40 in your next lot of builds? We were a large Kittyhawk operator during the war and there are some interesting markings and paint choices.

Love that P40K, looks amazing! Really like you work mate.

I have the Trumpeter P40 with the aires cockpit set in the stash and I'm sorely tempted to do it once the 190 is finished now!

Howard

Thanks for the comments guys.

Mike: You wish is my command...i'm already well into an RNZAF P-40. The first "Gloria Lyons" aircraft, which was an N-1. I should be getting the paint onto it this weekend hopefully.

I think after that one i'll give the P-40's a rest for a while...anyway i've pretty much exhausted the shelf stock of my LHS of the Hasegawa kits anyway!

Andrew

Excellent news! You are building one of our best known RNZAF birds and i look foward to seeing her in her warpaint.I have three sets of decals from a Kiwi company called Ventura so i am currently stockpiling P40s to build them with.my fav P40 is an RNZAF bird called ' Silver Barge' she was a pimped out N model used as an airfield hack in natural metal finish (only one of three in the RNZAF)

Hi Andrew!

Lovely Warhawks/Kittyhawks you show us here! The P-40 is also one of my favourite warbirds. In the last 2 years I have built four of them and I think I should build another 2 this year. The planes I made are all in 1:48 and from Hasegawa and Italeri/AMT. They are all from PTO but no Aussie yet. If you don't mind I could also place some pictures of them in your thread ???
Bye
Torsten

Black widow - you should consider building a Royal New Zealand airforce Kittyhawk instead of an Aussie one ( just waving my countries flag here) If you need pictures of references i have quite a few.

Sure Torsten, i don't mind anyone else posting pics of P-40's in this thread at all. I'd like to see them. I should have my next one finished this week sometime as well.

Andrew

Haha! Guess what I have done last year, Mike? Of course I have built a "Kiwi Kitty"! It's that famous "Wairarapa Wildcat" of Geoff Fisken, built out of the Italeri/AMT kit. Has seen some exhibitions since then. Actually there is no exhibition with no P-40 on my table!

@Andrew
Thanks for let me in the show. Please give me a few days for preparing my pictures. What size should the photos have (Pixels, kb)? Sorry for asking but I'm new here ....

Bye from the other side of the world
Torsten

Awesome! Please post up some photos of your build

Okay, I'll give it a first try and hope, the photos are not too big ....
Here we have the Kittyhawk Mk. III (NZ3072) "Wairarapa Wildcat" of No. 14 Sqn RNZAF, as flown by Geoff Fisken at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal 1943.
It's the old AMT Ertl kit which was re-released by Italeri in 2007 with a large decal sheet. I usually build all kits oob and so is this. There is also no weathering on it. You can spoil a lot if you do to much. So my models always look factory fresh or as if they just come out of the aircraft wash.
I used a variety of Revell and Agama Colours, though the Neutral Grey is maybe a little too dark. The white stripes are painted with airbrush, I didn't use the deals. Hope you like my pictures.
Oh, before I forget, this fine ground plate is made by a friend of mine, Mark58, have a look on his webside: http://www.mark58.oxatis.com/Default.asp?PGFLngID=1

Great looking plane Torsten, thanks for posting it.

Thanks for the pics Torsten! Very nice. And the size of the pics is fine as well. I think the forum guidlines are less than 800 pixels wide and yours are 700 so there's no problems there.

Andrew

A great looking Kittyhawk there! I really like the stripes - they look much better than the decal ones i have.The AMT kit still builds into a fine example , i have 2 of the AMT , 3 Hasegawa and one Mauve P40N to build.

And as promised, here is the RNZAF P-40N1. Though N1's were originally intended to have only 4 guns to save weight, the provision was still there for the 6 guns and almost all were either retrofitted or came from the factory fitted with 6 guns. Gloria Lyons had 6 guns, meaning the Hasegawa "M" kit can represent it without any modification...well maybe. P-40N's had smaller main wheels which Hasegawa did miss with their kits, however i'm not actually sure if the early N-1's still had the larger wheels. It doesn't bother me either way!

Gloria Lyons was the name of a New Zealand girl that suffered from Tuberculosis. The SQN adopted her name to one of their aircraft and eventually there were 3 Gloria Lyons named P-40's. My version is the first one i believe.








And i think i'll have rest from P-40's for a while now. Four of them in 6 weeks is a big effort! Anyway my stash has ran out and so has most of the LHS's...

Andrew

Wow very impressive build there One of the nicest RNZAF Kittyhawks i have seen made up.I happen to live very close to where the surplus RNZAF aircraft were scrapped after WW2.Quite sad really , most were flown up there in the 60s ( my father remembers seeing them in formation as a child) where they sat slowly being pulled to bits until there was nothing left.One Corsair sat in a farmers field for years being stripped to keep local cars and tractors running in the area.One of the surviving P40s is in the MOTAT mueseum in Auckland and we took a trip to see it earlier this year.

Four in six weeks ??? How do you manage that? Are you a full time model builder, Andrew? I make one in 4-5 weeks.
Anyway, another fine Kittyhawk from your assembly line! Congratulation!

@all
Thanks for your compliments for my "Kiwi Kitty". I call it that way, because it sometimes appears on exhibitions on a Pacific Dio together with an "Aussie Spit". While Andrew now takes a brake from P-40's (what will you do next?), I will show you my other 3 Warhawks (all american) within the next few days, okay?

Torsten

So, here comes my next Warhawk
It's a P-40 E (White 86 "Star Dust") as flown by 1Lt. Andrew J. Reynolds of 9. FS/49. FG near Darwin, July 1942. He was an ace with 9,333 kills (what a crazy counting!) and the bird is actually a returned Lend-Lease Kittyhawk.
The kit was a limited edition from Hasegawa "South Pacific Aces" (No. 09702) and is great to build as Andrew has already said. Again I used a mixture of Revell and Agama Colours for the Dark Earth/Dark Green/Neutral Grey camouflage. I use only acrylic paints. The 2. decal version by the way is the "Texas Longhorn", flown by Lt. John D. Landers from the same unit. That aircraft looks pretty much the same as the 1. version, it has only Azur Blue on the underside instead of NG. It's not build yet but still to come. My dealer sold it for a couple of weeks for unbelievable 16,50 Euros, so I bought 4 boxes!
Enjoy the little walk around ....

Nice P-40E Torsten! Unfortunately i didn't get that boxing when it was on the LHS shelves.

In fact this weekend i made it into the LHS to get a few more Hasegawa kits, but there was only one left, the Aleutian Tiger P-40E boxing. But one thing that you can always count on with Hasegawa is that there will be many more boxings to come!

Now i'm doing a ship just for something different, but i'm getting a bit bogged down with that...too much brush painting for ships, and i'm not very good at brushes.

When i return to aircraft, maybe it's time for my second favourite US aircraft to get a turn, the P-39/P-400. Once again it's the Hasegawa kit that comes out in front, thought the Eduard kits are good still.

Andrew