This kit from
AMtech
is of the 1/48
P-40K-5/Kittyhawk III. This kit was originally tooled as a P-40E by
AMT/ERTL and issued by AMtech.
This kit is a
different version of the AMtech P-40 kit with a resin tail made for AMtech
by Black Box. It includes 5
sprues of light
gray styrene, one of clear styrene parts, enough decals to make one of four
different P-40K-5/Kittyhawk III's. There are also additional
markings for P-40E's should you choose to not build this as a P-40K and
save the resin tail in your kit stash for a later date.
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The first thing
I always consider when buying a kit is quality of the moulding. This
kit has delicate recessed panel lines although a few of the panel lines
will need a tiny bit of rescribing due to release pin marks on the fuselage in
easy to get at locations.....but these marks are VERY, VERY tiny and will not
slow you down in the least. Don't be put off by this....the beautifully
done panel lines will impress you.
The review
sample I got contained a second set of fuselage halves....these are
identical to the other set in the kit......I can only guess they give you
an extra set of fuselage halves incase you really muck-up cutting the
fuselage when trying to install the larger resin tail. I can't
really imagine many people having problems, but it is always nice to have
a spare fuselage set.
The main
landing gear wheel well bays look good and contain a minimal amount
of detail. The shell ejection holes on the underside of the wing are
opened up and look very crisp and well moulded. One thing you can't
see in the photo is the impressive recessed detail of the panel lines etc
on the top and bottom sides of the finished wing. This is one very
sweet looking kit and the panel line detail is sure to please anyone that
buys it.
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Click on
images below to see larger images
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The decal
options are for 4 different aircraft flown by the US and Australians.
Decal option #1 is a P-40E-1
41-36504 flown by an unknown American Training squadron out of Randolph Field,
Texas in mid 1943. This aircraft is overall Olive Drab on top and neutral
grey on the underside with a red and white prop spinner. This aircraft has
no artwork.
Decal option
#2 is a Kittyhawk Mk. III flown by No. 450 Squadron during 1942 with the
RAAF. This
aircraft is a Middle Stone/Dark Earth camo pattern with Azure Blue on the
underside with a red prop spinner. Artwork on this aircraft includes
a Kangaroo with boxing gloves wearing a classic Aussie hat.
Decal option #3 is
"Death on Wings" which is a P-40K-5 flown by the 64th Fighter
Squadron of the 57th Fighter Group out of Egypt in late 1942. This aircraft
is overall Sand on top and neutral grey on the underside with a red prop
spinner. Artwork includes a black scorpion on a white background on
both sides of the tail and a skulls head with wings on the left side of
the engine cowling with the text "Death on Wings". The
text "Death on Wings" is provided in white and yellow....due to
the lack of a confirmation of the correct colour for this text.
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Decal option #4 is a Kiyyhawk
Mk.III with No. 450 Squadron, RAAF out of Libya in 1942. This aircraft
is Dark Earth and Dark Green camo on top and Sky grey of Sky Blue on the underside with a red prop
spinner. Artwork includes a red crest with a white dog and a swastika
on it on both sides of the lower engine cowling.
The decal sheet for the P-40E
AMtech kit is included which gives you more decal options if you want to build
the earlier P-40, but no instructions were included for these markings and I
suspect this decal sheet was included for the National insignias than for the
alternate early P-40 artwork markings.
Canopy parts
include 4 pieces.....The glass is very clear and has nice delicate
framing. This will look excellent once it's masked and
painted. |
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crystal clear canopy packed in a
separate bag to avoid canopy scratches
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Below are some details photos of
various cockpit parts. Detail is quite good and will respond well to
drybrushing. The seat even has very fine seatbelts molded on them, but I
would be tempted to make some out of masking tape belts or use photo etch
belts. Side panel detail is good and I'd have little need to improve upon
it.
All panel lines are beautifully
done finely recessed
lines....not too deep or wide.....just right. The landing gear is well
done and simple.....just like on the real P-40.
Click on
images below to see larger images |
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fuselage side showing
rivet and panel line detail |
landing
gear leg |
This is a side
view of the resin tail show it's beauty. There is some paper thin
flashing in the hinge joint that needs to be cleaned out....which will
takes seconds with a shape X-Acto blade. The resin tail fits inside
the existing fuselage after you cut off the tail from the styrene fuselage
halves. You will need to thin the inside of the fuselage to get the
resin tail to fit......not a big deal and particularly easy if you have a
dremel.
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resin tail |
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I did some
dryfitting of the main parts and the fit at critical areas such as the fuselage
halves and the fuselage to wing root joint was very good and will require little if any filler and
I expect this kit to build up quite well.
The instruction
sheets includes 9 pages of instructions. Line drawings are clearly laid
out and include painting instructions. Plus details about where to cut the
tail off the fuselage halves and how to fit the resin tail.
It's good to see
this release from AMtech of this later P-40.
Click on
images below to see larger images |
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P-40K
-- DEATH on Wings markings |
Kittyhawk III
-- Kangaroo markings |
Now the important
part.
This is a limited-availability kit and will ONLY be available in the
US at Hobby Lobby shops in the coming weeks. So don't delay if you want a
copy of this model.
The
kit WILL be available to our international distributors, but in very small
numbers. In the US you can only get it at Hobby Lobby. If there is no Hobby
Lobby nearby, modelers can purchase the kit directly from AMtech
for US$29.98 (kit plus shipping via Priority Mail USPS).
I'd like to thank AMtech
for the review sample.
Steve
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