Hermon Rector takes a look at Hasegawa's P-40N featuring spectacular "15,000th Anniversary" decals.

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

I NEED it

Any detail sets for this spectacular plane??

Cheers Nick

Oh, almost forgot

The price of the kit

Cheers Nick

Nick, the prices vary from $61.00 USD to over $75.00 USD.
There are some detail sets that fit the E model interior that should work fine on this N model. Here is a link to one of them"
http://store.spruebrothers.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=sbm&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=208477199&Count2=125617623

Honestly, this kits OOB detail is more than enough to work with. The only thing that would make it better would be a resin seat and some seat belts.

Hermon

Thanks for the link
In aircraft building, I always see if the seat has no seatbelts or if it's "fat"

Cheers Nick

'15,000th Anniversary'? So the P40 was in production for fifteen thousand years, eh? My goodness, that's quite a success story!

Hi Tim

No - it only felt like it to the pilots waiting for more modern replacements! But I remember reading how in mock dogfights an experienced P-40 jockey flew rings around neophytes in their brand new P-51s - a classic case of knowing how to use your own aircraft to its best advantage and forcing your opponent to fight on your terms.

All the best

Rowan

A pilot friend of mine once told me that the 10 hours he spent flying a P-40 were the worst 10 hours of his flying career
Horses for courses I guess.
I must say though, I love the markings!
Nige

Hi Nige

I'm pretty sure the P-40 pilot I read about was keen to switch to Mustangs too - the point he was proving was that it's very much the pilot, not the plane - someone who knows how to exploit the strengths of his own aircraft and deny his opponent the chance to do likewise will usually win the day, even if he's flying a supposedly "inferior" machine.

Interestingly, I was reading RAF flight test reports about WW2 fighters not long ago and the P-40 series didn't fare at all badly - a bit sedate, maybe, but generally well viewed by service test pilots.

Just how much opinions can vary is clear with the P-39 Airacobra. I used to know a 601 Sqn pilot who still cursed the thing 30 or so years after he'd been delighted to see the back of it - but Ivan Gaidenko rated it as his favourite fighter in his interview for Pen & Sword's Barbarossa, Retreat To Moscow!

All the best

Rowan

Wow! What a bunch of haters.
Yep, the P-40 wasn't as beautiful as the Spitfire. Not as fast as the Mustang....and on and on, but she's still my favorite WWII fighter. I guess it's because I have family history with the AVG. My old uncle told me one time when I was a little kid that the P-40 he flew was "the kind of girl you married, not the kind you took to the party."
I guess that summed his experience up pretty well. Dependable and available, that was the P-40.

Hermon

Hi Hermon

Well, Douglas Bader apparently preferred the Hurricane over the Spitfire - just don't tell Mal that!

All the best

Rowan

That was Col. Robert Baseler, CO of the 325th FG 'Checkertail Clan'. As usual, I'm late to the party, posting this only 5.5 years after the thread!

Cheers Fred

That's him! Even a few years "late" (is it REALLY five years already! Eeek!), you always bring useful info to any discussion - and a reminder of just how tasty this kit is very welcome.

I never did get one of Hasegawa's P-40s, and I reckon I really ought to...

All the best

Rowan

Thanks Rowan.

I still have plans to build every one of them!

Mal Mayfield - I want to see masks for this paint scheme :-)

I never got a chance to build this kit since after I completed the review I promptly sent it to Australia to the waiting hands of one of our resident staff members (Aussie Reg) to build. Must say though, he did a brilliant job of bringing her to life.

One day I will get the chance to return the favour, I will send you a nice little '57 Chev to build !

The generosity of the folks here on the Kitmaker network never ceases to amaze me, it's a great forum.

I built this kit for the P-40 Workhorse Campaign back in 2011, finished pics about halfway down THIS PAGE .

I used Kitsworld decals, which went on nicely, but the port noseart has since peeled up and curled. The kit itself went together really nicely IIRC, would highly recommend it !

Cheers, D

But Geoffrey Wellum prefers the Spitfire Wasn't Bader "sponsored" by Hawker?




No problem Matt, but I have a life now!




Yes so would I Damian, I have just started building the P-40E as a Kittyhawk 1 which will be in 112 Sqn markings. The only issue with this kit, at the moment, is the seperate tail; which was lambasted when the kit came out. I have simply fitted the tail halves to the relevant fuselage halves instead of the kit method of joining them then adding the complete unit to the complete fuselage. The fit is not perfect but very much better when approached this way. I just have some cleaning up of the joint line to do and your uncle is Bob The cockpit really doesn't need anything, apart from seat belts as it is very well detailed. There does seem to be a slight issue with the wing to fuselage join in that, during dry fitting there is a step at the complicated join, but I'm hopeful that this won't be the case when everything is together and I offer up the wing as Hasegawa's fit is useually pretty good, we will see