Last P-40Es

The P-40E-1/Kittyhawk IA flown by CAPT Andrew Reynolds of the 49th FG is actually a Kittyhawk IA - the Lend-Lease version of the P-40E-1. When the 49th FG arrived in Australia in March 1942, there was not much attention paid to whether the P-40s the unit was issued were "American" or "otherwise." The fact this is actually a Lend-Lease airplane is shown by the RAF serial number, ET903. Thus, the airplane was painted in "U.S. equivalent colors." Curtiss used DuPont enamels, and mixed a pretty good equivalent for Dark Earth; I did this using Gunze-Sanyo "Dark Earth" with a couple drops of Gunze-Sanyo "Cocoa Brown" to give it a more brown tinge. I used Gunze-Sanyo Medium Green FS34092 for the Dark Green, and Tamiya "Sky Grey" for the lower camouflage color. I also used the camouflage pattern shown in the old Camouflage and Markings booklet for the Curtiss P-40 in RAF service, which is different from the pattern shown in the markings instructions of the kit; this is in accordance with photos of the "Eagle Flight" this airplane was part of. The Three Guys Replicas decals were included in the AMTech kit. I used the Falcon P-40M vacuform canopy.

The P-40E-5 was released by AMT as their "P-40K," but they managed to produce the earlier enlarged vertical fin that was used by the P-40E-5, rather than the larger one used by the P-40K. Using a set of ProModeler decals, I was able to create Col. Robert L. Scott Jr.'s second P-40, "Old Eliminator" which he flew as CO of the 23rd Fighter Group in the fall of 1942. This kit also utilized the Falcon P-40M canopy (the Falcon "P-40E" canopy was for the Otaki kit, and would not look right on these AMT models)/

15 additional images. Click to enlarge.