P-51 P-40 Combo AM 1/72 kit #1020-0100

RoR Step-by-Step Review 20120418 – P-51 P-40 Combo AM 1/72 kit #1020-0100
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See the Step-by-Step Review by Kevin Lawton

The P-40 Warhawk first flew in 1938 and when production ceased in Nov. 1944 13,738 had been built.  Anyone familiar with the ‘Flying Tigers’ or who has seen a movie about Pearl Harbor is familiar with the P-40.  The P-40’s flown by the Flying Tigers with their distinctive shark’s mouth are perhaps one of the most iconic American fighters of World War II.

  

The North American P-51D is perhaps the most recognized and famous of all Allied aircraft from World War II.  The P-51 became the iconic aircraft we know today when the British suggested replacing its original Allison V-1710-87 engine with the more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine.  The Packard V-1650 engine (a license built version of the Merlin) powered over 10,000 P-51’s, of which 8,156 were model D’s.  The P-51 finally gave the Allies a fighter that could escort bombers into Germany and back again.

For the modeler: Assembly of the P-40 was not too difficult and the decals were wonderful.  My only real criticism of this kit is the instructions – they consist of a series of too-often photo-copied black and white pictures of parts being fitted to the model making parts locations somewhat uncertain – especially for the beginner.  In the end I would highly recommend this kit to any young or not so young beginner.  Although I spent time filling seams and masking to use an air brush, a beginner with some supervision (especially to fix the warped wing) could forget about the seams, paint the model with a brush, and wind up with a nice looking shark mouth P-40.  Except for the issue with the P-51 wing (which may only be my sample) this is a very easy kit to assemble.  Painting this kit using a airbrush requires a significant investment of time, however a beginner using a brush could eliminate most, if not all of the masking.  I would certainly recommend this kit to any beginner.  A bit of adult supervision might be necessary for the painting, but over all the kit certainly fits the bill – being aimed squarely at the beginner.

 

 

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