Hands up out there if you don't know anything about the P-40E...... Well, since I see no hands, I guess that there is no need to go into detail on the history of the aircraft. Suffice it to say that it was the best aircraft available to the USAAF in the early years of the war. Though not the most nimble, it was rugged and a good performer at low altitudes. Many pilots became aces flying this plane and it was an excellent ground attack platform despite having a liquid cooled engine (which is prone to damage from small arms fire....coolant leaks, you know).

The Warhawk/Kittyhawk has been kitted in this scale by a number of different model companies over the years, but this one is still the best P-40E out there (the Academy kit is a long tailed P-40M/N). (Note: I have recently been informed that Academy makes a P-40E kit. Though I haven't seen it, I'd be willing to bet it is based on the Hasegawa kit) A kit that is now over 20 years old, it was one of the second generation models from Hasegawa that included engraved panel lines as standard equipment. Though lacking in cockpit and wheel well detail compared to today's models, it has the benefit of being well engineered and devoid of all those fussy bits that are so common in even the simplest of today's kits. All it really needs to be a true winner is a cockpit detail set and a vac canopy.

Hasegawa kits were imported in the US by Minicraft when this was a new kit, so Minicraft did little other than insert instructions in English and give us a new box. Everything else was the same. Later reboxings by Minicraft had different decals. Your options are a centerline drop tank or bomb. You even get a pilot, which is rare nowadays.

Instructions are basic but more than adequate. No FS color callouts, just generic color names. Decals are for two aircraft. One is a RAF 112 Sq aircraft in desert colors. The other is a 49 FG P-4O from New Guinea in the early days of the war. The decals themselves are thick, but useable and this set is a bit off register.

If you are fed up with the multi-variant or short run kits that are so prevalent, take a break and try a kit that is nothing fancy, but gives a great model in exhange for a bit of glue and paint! If you don't like the kit decals, there are many, many options available in the aftermarket.

Here's a look at the completed model using kit decals.

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!

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