Reviews : Academy P-40E Warhawk

I normally like to work in 1/48th scale but my wife purchased this kit for me and I was very pleased. Academy did a great job with this effort as the fit was fantastic. The cockpit is not accurate but gives enough detail in 1/72 scale and you could work to make it better. Panel lines are nice and the final product really looks good. As mentioned, the most impressive attribute of this model is the fit. It could almost be a snap together kit as the vertical stablizers line up easily, the fuselage fits very closely to the main wings (no filling), and the landing gears are strong enough to support the model. I did have a slight problem with the tail gear but it was fixed quickly. Just a general note: When working with the very small parts I would highly encourage you have a mat underneath you. Dropping parts into a carpet can ruin your day. I completed this kit in about 10 hours and its extremely easy to put together and to make it look good. Highly recommended for new modelers or those just getting back into the hobby. Have fun.

Almost everything about this kit is perfect. The fit is perfect. The finely engraved detail in the cockpit and panel lines is perfect. The landing gear is solid. Even the tiniest parts, like the landing gear doors, go on easily; the tail planes and wings fit onto the fuselage with a snap, and the glue is only there as insurance. I enjoyed building this kit so much I ordered another Academy Kittyhawk. (Both this and the P-40M/N kit are essentially the same, only the fuselage is different. Both kits contain alternate canopies, bombs, and drop-tanks for whatever version you prefer). The painting instructions were a bit generic, but generally accurate. The decals look quite good on the sheet, but are a bit thick and require some careful attention to get them right. I used the RAAF option and didn't have too much trouble, but that giant tiger head decal looks tricky.

This is an excellent kit. All the parts fit well with minimal flash, etc. It builds out into a very accurate representation, to my references. The cockpit has minimal detail, but that's to be expected in 1/72 kits in this price range. But it has great exterior detail; including the wheels and wheel wells, bomb, guns and shell ejection ports, recessed panel lines, etc. The decals are great and went down well and conformed with just a touch of setting solution. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and include nice paint scheme instructions as well. I really enjoyed building this kit and it looks great with the rest of my WWII 1/72's on the shelf. Go for it. You won't be disappointed.

Fairly easy model to assembly. I choose to use the decals for the one with the big tigers on the front. Recommend placing them before putting the prop and exhaust stacks on. I choose to model this plane inflight so I built the gear retracted. No instructions on how to do this included but it's pretty easy to figure out. FYI, this kit does not include any pilot figures. The trees also include a lot of parts that aren't used (extra windows and fairings). This was my first attempt at weathering a model and it was a nice simple kit to try it out on.

This Academy version is certainly a high quality piece of plastic with finely engraved panel lies (very fine - care will be needed to keep them alive and well), razor sharp trailing edges and some nice detailing in the 'pit. I'm about half way through building the kit and have encountered no problems in construction - the various parts pretty much fall together with virtually invisible seams and there is likely to be no need for any filler.

This was a fun kit to build. Like most of Academy's 1/72 single engine WWII kits, it isn't hard to put together. The directions are clear, decals went on well. Quite a few of the sprues are common with the other Academy P-40s. There are decals for a few different aircraft so there is some choice.

this kit was incredible. all of the pieces fit beautifully. I had no issues with fit or problems with the instructions. it was easy to paint and it was a quick build. the only issue I had was the large nose decal was difficult to fit. other than that, flawless.

I built this model with some Eduard photo etch and masking kit extras. What a fun build. I'm thinking of buying another one using some after market decals from cartogragh. Academy's decals sometimes will not activate on decal setting solutions.

Excellent fit. Good detail. Great little fascimile of a P40E. Gear up requires surgery with my trusty exacto to get wheels in the wheel bay. Turned out nice in Aussie drag....