Time for some more punishment, with a look at the Airfix Dogfight Doubles boxing of the 1/72 P-40 and Zero kits.
The larger box is about the size you'd expect to find a 1/48 single engine fighter in. A sturdy cardboard tray inside holds the following -
Separately bagged kits of the P-40B and Mitsubishi Zero; once again, the plastic here is exactly the same as the standard AVG Hawk and Zero boxings. So all I'll say here about them is I think they are pretty good value for dollar kits. There is plenty about them on the internet already.
A third bag contains a black plastic display stand that can hold both of the aircraft, and a small sticker that goes on the nameplate molded into the stand base that identifies both planes.
The last bag contains the goodies - a small tube of Humbrol glue, Humbrol #0 and #4 brushes, and 8 of the tiny 3ml pots of Humbrol (#s 11,33,64,81,85,90,128,155). More about that paint in a bit...
Also included were a combined set of instructions with full color paint and decaling guides for both aircraft, a combined decal sheet for both planes, and a small Airfix flyer catalog and club info sheet. Unlike the starter sets I have seen, the Doubles boxing decal sheet has all of the small stencils for both aircraft included.
The markings are for two well known machines of the Pearl Harbor attack, Lt. Welch's P-40B of the 47PS 15PG, and the Zero of Lt. Saburo Shindo off the carrier Akagi. Once again printed by Cartograf, they should prove perfectly usable based on past experiences with their decals from Airfix kits.
While the decals are an improvement over the ones I've seen in the starter sets, the instructions are still lacking in the painting directions department. Unless you are already knowledgeable in the subjects, you will likely have questions, as Airfix tries to limit themselves to the included paints again, despite the box warning that additional colors may be necessary.
While the exterior of the P-40 is catered to pretty well, the closest color Humbrol has for the grey-green of the Zero is Beige Green/Sky #90. Not too bad, but it definitely a tinge greener than I would like. The interior of the P-40 is called out as the previously discussed 81 pale yellow. The interior of the Zero is recommended as Humbrol 226 - US Interior Green!
But wait a minute you say, there is no 226 in the set. And you're right, there is not. A pot of #64 grey that is not even called out for either kit is among the eight, though. A mistake in my set, or is it like that in all of them? Anyway, #78 is the usual recommended interior green for British A/C, and Tamiya uses that color as XF-71 for both British and Japanese Navy interiors. So why not include that color instead?
It doesn't end there, though. The metallic blue-green aotake finish of the Zero gear well and door insides is not even mentioned; no direction at all is given for painting the Zero's parts in those areas. Probably because Humbrol does not make anything like that color in its range, but it just another typical example of the many compromises, errors, or omissions in the painting directions of these kits. Additional references are definitely recommended.
Once again, this set is not really targeted to the serious hard core modeler. It is not as bad a value as the starter sets, though. The kits have an MSRP of $7.50 each, and the stand $12. So that is $27 of the $30 the set sells for. So the rest of the accessories are only about $3 this time, better than the starter sets.
If you like the markings provided, and want the stand, this is not a bad set. Otherwise you may want to look elsewhere and get some aftermarket decals for the standard boxings of the kits.