What's the best P-40 Kit?

Hey Jaypack55,

I recently purchase P-40B Tiger Shark kit from Revell and asked similar question to folks here.  Look at the link and you should have a basic idea of what you should be purchasing.

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Ditto what m1garand said on the -B.... that thread covered it pretty well.

I haven't built it, but I saw a friend's build of the Hasegawa -E model.... it's a beautiful kit. I have AMT/AMTech kits for the -F, -K, -F/L and N, and while I haven't built them, all look nicely detailed (though not as nice as the Hasegawa kit).

Rummage around Hyperscale and Modeling Madness for reviews- they have a lot of good info on P-40s. 

And remember- Spitfires and P-40s: You can never have enough!  

 the Hasegawa build up nice the hobby craft required more work

Thad

I did the Arii P-40E and was very happy with it especially considering the low cost

then built the AMT/ERTL P-40N and found that to be a very nice build and with a low price tag also. They offered the the F as well.

Next I did a resin XP-40Q-2 from Planet models, that took a little more work and had a high price tag but turned out very well

I used the Hasegawa P-40K for my video, that was a nice build with a mid-range price tag

Other kits in the stash that I have looked over include the Trumpeter P-40B but it has some issues with shallow cockpit and rivet lines. The Revell P-40B has a very accurate outline but has raised panel lines. Some modelers don't like that but I don't find them to be a huge problem. If you can find any of the AM Tech kits these are basically the AMT/ERTL kits with some new pieces tossed in like resin tails (long tail F) or nose (Merlin Engined) or some new plastic parts. The basis of these kits is all good and the add-ons are of top quality work. Hasegawa employed modular technology when they did their K and now you can pick up an E which is really the same kit with a different tail plug. In addition to this Griffon does a Klimov P-40 nose for use with the Hasegawa P-40E that makes for something a little different. Eduard recently released a profit-pack P-40N/M that includes so many neat little details that you just have to say "Wow" when you open the box. Price is a little higher than the other plastic P-40 kits for this one but well worth it. That pretty much covers the basic kits, once I start talking about aftermarket goodies I could write a book on all the options there. Best thing is to decide which model you are going to build today and then scope out the extras you want for it.

I recenty finished the Eduard P 40 profipack kit. It is the old Mauve kit reboxed  with all of the goodies you could want. Resin interior photo etch canopy masks and great decal set. The only glitch with the kit is the fuselage needs to be spread open with a piece of sprue to make it fit nicely agiants the wing joint. Once you install the right width piece of sprue the joint it fits perfectly. I was extremly happy with the kit and the fuselage is the only gripe I could find with the kit. Though it was not hard to fix it was very unexpected because of the high quality of the rest of the kit.

                                                                      Soulcrusher

(all of these kits are 1/48th scale) 

the old Airfix (E)kit is "cute" in that it has an engine you can show off.

quick,cheap and easy but not too accurate.

the Revell (E)kit was so simple I built it while listening to an 80-minute music CD!

I would describe this as a fun kit but not too accurate.

despite what many poeple say I still prefer the Monogram B/C kit,although it has "issues" it is reasonably accurate and very reasonably priced. (watch out for the wing/fuselage joint,if you do the flaps down you will see into an empty fuselage)

AMT/ERTL/Amtech family (E,K,M,N) actually all come from the same mold and are reasonably priced and reasonably accurarte.

I would consider these as bargains, as the Hasegawa kit is truly superb but twice the price.

the Mauve/Eduard M,N are also quite excellent and if you can find a Mauve original (Ebay?) the kit is just slightly less detailed than Hasegawa and much better priced as you don't have to waste money on resin and photo-etched pieces you are not even going to see when the model is done. (Eduard profi-pack)

the Hobbycraft kit (P-40B) suffers a major error as the whole nose section is too low.

I haven't built the Trumpeter kit(s) yet so I can make no comment.

I haven't got a Hasegawa N yet so I can't say anything about that but the E is the best P-40E in 1/48th scale !!!

My favorite WW2 fighter......these are 1/48

 The Monogram P-40B is the oldest but still the best and cheapest P-40B/C. This one has resin cockpit and gear wells....

The Academy/Hobbycraft version has major shape problems, http://www.kitparade.com/features00/p40brb_1.htm  but can be fixed......

The Trumpeter isn't too bad but the rivets are too heavy handed for some folks.....

The Hasegawa P40E/K/M/N series are very good but can be tricky to build.....

The The AMT/AmTech P/40 series are also very good value, not quite as nice as the Hasegawas but a lot less expensive....

 I have a Mauve P-40M but haven't built it yet.  When I do another -B or -C it will be a Monogram (Revell). If I do a later P-40 contest bird I'll use a Hasegawa kit. When I feel the need for another P-40 variant for my shelf I'll use an AmTech kit.

I usually do a couple P-40s a year......

Guys-

Those are sweet looking P-40's!  Every one of them looks very nice.  I am currently building the Hasegawa -E.  I started it when it first came out, and put it aside countless times due to all of the re-scribing to be done.  After seeing Espins WIP, I was compelled to finish it.  After a couple of nights with some super glue and a re-scribing tool, it's finally coming together.

Daywalker wrote:

Guys- Those are sweet looking P-40's!  Every one of them looks very nice.  I am currently building the Hasegawa -E.  I started it when it first came out, and put it aside countless times due to all of the re-scribing to be done.  After seeing Espins WIP, I was compelled to finish it.  After a couple of nights with some super glue and a re-scribing tool, it's finally coming together.

I'm really looking forward to seeing some pics! 

ruddratt wrote:

My only P-40 build so far is the old 1/48 N-version by Mauve. I installed a resin cockpit from True Details (one of their better ones IMO), resin wheels, and some AM decals from Aeromaster. I loved that kit! The only issue was the wing-fuselage joint, and I fixed it the same way soulcrusher did.

  but I used the kit wheels and decals. 

Roy

espins1 wrote:

Daywalker wrote: Guys- Those are sweet looking P-40's!  Every one of them looks very nice.  I am currently building the Hasegawa -E.  I started it when it first came out, and put it aside countless times due to all of the re-scribing to be done.  After seeing Espins WIP, I was compelled to finish it.  After a couple of nights with some super glue and a re-scribing tool, it's finally coming together. I'm really looking forward to seeing some pics!

Thanks Scott!  I'll post some soon, hope it looks as good as yours does!

A couple of years ago, I built the now extinct Pro Modeler P-40E I picked up at Sun'n Fun.  The wing fit to fusalage required A LOT of work.  I added True Details weighted tires, Eduards gun sight, fishing line for the wire antenna.  Overall, it turned out pretty nice.  I bought the AMT/ERTL E kit and the Hasegawa version as well.  Haven't built either, but by the looks of it, the Hasegawa kit looks better designed.

My grandfather would be proud of all you. He was a design engineer for Curtiss-Wright aircraft in St. Louis and was responsible for the design of the hydraulics and landing gear on the first three or four models of the P-40. He also did some work on the XP-55 Ascender (one of those really cool looking "pusher" planes that just never panned out). The only kit I ever saw for it in 1/48th, my preferred scale, was from the Czech Republic and it sucked all around.

Thanks Grandpa. It looks like you left some work worth remembering.

Daryl Huhtala wrote:

My favorite WW2 fighter......

Are you sure they're your favorite WWII bird?

Nice looking builds! 

Jaypack55 wrote:

Last night I ordered the Eduard profipack and the Navair -F (anybody know anything about this kit?)

The Navair kit is apparently a rebox of the AMT P-40F.  The AMT is a nice kit although there are some inaccuracies, especially with the cowl flaps.  There's not much of a selection of P-40F/L kits out there.  If it were me, I'd go with AMtech's P-40F over Navair.  It's also a rebox of the AMT molds, but has the nice resin nose and excellent decals.  I wouldn't hold my breath for a new-tooled F/L anytime soon.  Hasegawa doesn't appear interested in doing it, simply based on how its P-40 breaks down.  Too bad-it's my favorite version of the Warhawk.

Lots of nice models displayed on this post, that's for sure!

Mark 

I'm a bit old-fashioned, I guess, in that I have a long-term love-affair with the old Monogram P-40B/C - the last time I built it, I did it as one of the first RAF Tomahawks in UK/temperate camouflage - I did a diorama, with it nosed over.  I sacrificed a few rare Bandai 1/48 soldiers, including a poor bloody PFC digging it out while a bike-riding sergeant looked on smugly.  I detailed the hell out of it (so the flaps could drop, etc.), not with after-market but with old-fashioned scratch-building, and was quite pleased - and it took a few awards at regional events in North and South Carolina, which was gratifying.  I also enjoyed (as someone else noted) the Otaki (now Arii) kit of the P-40E - very, very good for the price.

I also used the Monogram P-40 to help me detail and correct the  very old AMT P-36, converting it into Clair Chennault's personal Hawk 75M with the fixed gear (hand-carved from the gear from an ancient Lindbergh Stuka).  For years, the AMT kit was the only 1/48 P-36 game in town - a truly awful kit in many ways, but I'm hooked on the P-36 and especially early P-40s, and for many years, that meant AMT and Monogram.  Today, there are great kits of both planes in many larger scales, and I've got a whole shelf of unbuilt kits.

 Right now, I'm in the process of moving (and will be selling off about 2/3rds of my unbuilt kits to "fit" the rest in my new home), but I've got a 1/72nd Airacuda resin kit on my bench, along with a couple of long-term projects:

 A.  An ancient resin conversion of the old Monogram F4F (nowhere near as salvagable as their P-40) into an FM-2 Wilder Wildcat

 B.  A weird-assed conversion of a 1/200 (Hasegawa? - I forget) B-52H into Dale Brown's "Old Dog" Megafortress

C.  Conversion of the very old He-115 kit in 1/72nd into the prototype as shown in William Green's book

 D.  An obsessive paper-airplane conversion of the Heller Connie into the XB-30

E.  A fever-dream creation of a P-47 version of the P-82 Mustang - a cobbled-together mid-'43 fantasy long-range escort fighter to help the B-17s survive until the Mustangs could arrive (if I go "all the way" I'll do one as a razorback escort fighter, one as a twin-fuselage Jabo and one as a super-long-range upgrade of the P-47N - I've got the plans for all three drawn, and plan to do a test-shot in 1/72nd before I start cutting on 1/48th plastic).

 Probably more, too, but this is enough.  This is my first post here, and if I bore you to tears, maybe my last <g> 

Ned (who won his first IPMS contest in '66 - Atlanta, Jr. Division - and who's been modeling long before that - not bad for a guy as young as I am

Jaypack55;

Well for the Early P-40's the Revell-o-Grams is the oldest and is more accurate on the exterior even though it has raised panel lines and the instrument panel is that of the later versions, it's most likely you best one out there, the Academy/Hobbycraft even though it's newer and has recessed panel lines the center wing is WRONG for this version, it's not deep enough for the radiator ducting aft of the cowling, and the interior is very sparse,and is in dire need of an AM cockpit. the Trumpeter kit even thought it's the newest kit on the block it has way to many rivets, and the same with the cockpit but it's also very expensive compaired to the Academy & Revell kits,

For the later P-40's; Arii, Revell & Promodelers are the oldest and of these 3 the Arii's is the best and will be a very nice item when you use the True Details P-40 resin cockpit set and tires, and now we'll get into the newest batch of late model P-40's AMT/Ertl's & AMTech's are the same molds and are very nice but the cockpits are lacking and the True Details P-40 Resin cockpit set, & tires really set's them off, but the Mauve/Eduard P-40's are a touch better and line up closer then the AMT's but they are pricey compaired to the AMT's line up, now we come to the top dog the Hasegawa's runs of P-40's they are by far the best so far on the market but their only down fall is they are pricey but you get what you pay for, they pretty much don't need any AM stuff but the AM weighted tires are the only thing you'll need to get a museum quality kit and a show stopper so you choose your P-40, I myself would go for the Revell-O-Grams Early Model P-40 (with some work) and the Hasegawa's Late Model P-40's from E-N for now, then if Hasegawa comes out the the early version then that too will be the best choice of Curtiss' most produced prised fighter

My Hasagawa 1/48th E:

Trumpeter 1/32 scale P-40B is the one I have .At contest tables their is no match from any other P-40 models.