MPC 1/72 P-40 Warhawk by Brad Hagen

MPC 1/72 P-40 Warhawk
by Brad Hagen

I'm always on the lookout for older P-40 models at a good price, I ran across this one on eBay, with shipping & handling, it was less than $10. Not sure how old it is, still looking for a date stamp.

It comes in a small but sturdy box, the artwork is okay, but nothing special. Typical of the time, one side of the box shows an alternate paint scheme and the other side shows different features of the model.

The model is pretty simple, the wheel wells are just open holes in the wings and the cockpit is virtually nonexistent. I'm not sure what the availability of 1/72 aftermarket cockpits are, I'm not even sure if I could see that small anymore! The model comes with a pilot, years ago, pilot figures where bad, this one is worthless. There is also a drop tank with the shackles which should look nice on the model.

I test fit the fuselage and the wings together and they seemed to fit together nicely with no visible gaps, I haven't tried the wings to the fuselage yet. The canopy is nice, just a little on the heavy side, but a dip in Future should help its appearance. The detail on the fuselage and wings is fairly subtle, the rivets are raised when they should be flush, it will be up to the builder whether they want to remove them or not.

The model also comes with a clear plastic disc which is supposed to represent a spinning propeller, that never looked realistic to me, but maybe someone who is artistic could draw on at propeller blur. It also comes with a nice sturdy looking clear stand, I wish more airplanes would come with these again!

The instructions are easy to understand, and as can be seen, this is a model that would go together very quickly.

The model comes with markings with a typical shark mouth and the Flying Tiger decals, and also comes with early US markings. It also comes with some nice looking tiger stripe decals for the wings and tail. Kids may enjoy the colorful decals.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a very quick and easy build, this would be a good model as long as you keep the canopy closed. By the time you would buy an aftermarket cockpit, and it would probably be cheaper to find a newer model with a decent cockpit already. This would be a good model for kids to start with, especially with the colorful markings.

I am personally leaning towards building it with the tiger stripe markings and picking up an HO gas station model and then mounting the P-40 on the roof as was popular from after the war into the 60s. They were usually painted in bright colors and were good attractions bringing people into their station. Should make for a colorful and unique model.

Recommended for a quick & fun build or for kids getting into modeling.