Hasegawa 1/48 Curtiss P40E Warhawk

Model, Article and Photos by Joe Frazier

Introduction:

Anyone who builds model airplanes is probably acquainted with the Curtiss P40 series of World War II fighter aircraft.  Not as legendary as the P51 or P47, it nonetheless ranks as one of the war’s great aircraft, serving on all fronts with American and Allied Units for the entire duration of that conflict. Perhaps the most romanticized and recognizable of the P40 series was the P40 B/C of early “Flying Tigers” fame, but this review centers around Hasegawa’s truly excellent P40E.  A lot of interesting historical facts about the Warhawk as well as other P40E model reviews can be found in the reference section shown at the end of this review.

General Remarks:

Early criticisms of the kit centered on the way the kit fuselage was broken down to accommodate later kit versions. Thanks to several very helpful reviews by others who built this kit (see References below), I had no trouble with these areas, and will say more later during remarks about construction. The kit is in many ways truly remarkable with regard to fit and detail. Newer versions (N and K) are already out, with others hopefully to follow soon. It would be great if Hasegawa would decide to do a B/C version which would have the same accuracy and detail as these other new releases.  The only really accurate P40B at this time is the dated Monogram kit.  Both Trumpeter and Hobbycraft molded a B version, but both have received lukewarm reviews.

 Construction:

Construction of the kit went very smoothly from start to finish, but there are several areas where care has to be taken:

 Fuselage

1. I found that gluing the four sections of each fuselage side v-e-r-y carefully on each of the two sides worked very well to solve the so-called panel line fit. My sides lined up very well, and I did not lose any panel line detail during the process. I do think the key is to dry fit and use time, patience, and a minimum amount of glue.  I included a picture to show where the lines merge and used a darker paint than the primer to show how well they ended up matching.  In all fairness to Hasegawa, I personally think they took a lot of criticism about the way they tooled the fuselage halves which was really not called for, but that is just my opinion.

2. I would recommend sanding down the rivets inside the side canopy windows. They are very prominent, and will not allow the clear side parts to fit flush.  However, if these recesses are sanded, the clear parts fit very nicely and fit deeper into the fuselage window recess. I think this gives a s better appearance.

Wings

The wing gun plugs need to be fitted carefully to ensure that they end up flush to the bottom surface. They fit just fine with a little attention.

Be sure to dry fit the wing to the fuselage area and pay attention to the level of dihedral you want the kit to have.  I only used a bit of filler on the wing to fuselage upper join, and a bit at the rear lower wing fuselage join as well. These are very easily filled and sanded with no detail loss. What tiny loss which resulted from sanding glue seams along the upper wing to fuselage join was easily rescribed.

 The machine gun inserts will fit well with a little fiddling.  I used a little filler to make a smooth join.

Cockpit Area

The cockpit is a work of art as it is. Some may want to use one of the available resin sets to add even more detail, but the area is fine with the kit parts.  I did add the excellent Ultracast seat with molded harness, but the kit seat together with photoetch harness would also be just fine.

You can use the kit decal for the instrument panel, but I chose to use ModelMaster enamels and silver pencil for some of the fine details.

I replaced the center canopy with a Squadron vacuformed piece. It is crystal clear and sits much better than the kit clear part.

Landing Gear

I thought this was one of the really outstanding features of this model. Everything fits to a “T” and there are even little locating pins and matching holes to align the struts with their locating positions. I broke one main strut late in construction, and these locator holes made an otherwise difficult repair easy, since they gave alignment and strength to the broken part. The fact that these holes were perfectly drilled out and the locating pins exactly the right size to fit perfectly is pretty amazing when you think about the molding process.  State of the art!

You may end up needing just a touch of filler around parts A11 and A 12 (the “caps” on the front of the landing gear housing).

I added brake lines made from fine wire to further enhance the appearance of the model.

Painting, Weathering, Decals, and Finish:

I chose the markings of Major E. F. Rector, 76^th Fighter Squadron, 23 Fighter Group, China, July 1942 and used the earlier Chinese Nationalist markings which were later replaced with US markings.  I painted the Dark Earth color and then used reference manuals to plot out the camouflage outlines for the Dark Green topside areas.  Lots of dull and time consuming work, but my references clearly showed a hard finish to the camouflage edges. The bottom area was painted Neutral Gray.  All three colors were lightened 10% for scale effect. Model Master enamels were used throughout. 

I used Windsor Newton oils thinned to the consistency of water to fill panel lines, and after they fully dried, wiped away the excess outside of the panel and rivet areas. Then I sealed the model with a coat of flat and used pastels and oils to enhance panel lines, exhaust areas, shell ejection chutes, etc. A coat of gloss was applied and allowed to dry before applying decals.  The “teeth” decal which goes under the fuselage in front of the radiator was too large to fit well. I cut smaller teeth from white decal stock and fitted them in place  Finally, several finish coats of matte clear were sprayed over the model.

Final Assembly: 

All the remaining parts were now added. I filled in the spaces around the prop base where it met the spinner openings and sanded them smooth to cover some small gaps.  Machine gun barrels were painted gunmetal, and exhausts were painted rust. Red, brown, grey and black pastels were brushed on to create a burnt finish.

Final Comments: 

I cannot say enough good things about this model kit.  What few items there might be which need some correcting are well within the skills of even novice modelers and certainly will not cause even minor construction problems.

The attention to detail, cleanness of molding, and accuracy of outline make this a singularly attractive addition to the line of P40E kits available on the market.  I personally think it deserves a place at the head of the line.  It was a pleasure to build, and I will certainly also build the N version later on.

A word of thanks to the other reviewers whose writings helped me build a better model based on their recommendations. I have listed them in the references below.  Also, many thanks to Brent Theobold at Roll Models for asking me to do this review, and to Rick Ruble for his editing and publishing of the final article.

Reference:

Reviews:

Tom Cleaver, Hasegawa P40E Warhawk, Model Madness, March 2005.

Andy Garcia,  Hasegawa P40E Warhawk, Model Madness, December 2005.

Tom Norrbohm,  Hasegawa 1/48 Curtiss P-40E, Roll Models, July 2005.

Scott Van Aken,  Hasegawa, 1/48 Curtiss P40E, Model Madness, February 2005.  

 

Booklets:

Bert Kinzey, Squadron Signal Publications, P-40 Warhawk in Detail and Scale, 1999.

Squadron Signal Publications, Curtiss P-40 In Action, No 26, 1976.

Lou Drendel, Squadron Signal Publications, Walk Around P-40 Warhawk, No 8, 1996.

 

         

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