Cutting Edge Modelworks

1/48 P-40 Warhawk Part 4 P-40E's M's & N's of the CBI decal sheet

Product # CED48172 for $8.99

Product Article by Steve Bamford on Apr 5 2004

 

 

 

This new decal sheet from Cutting Edge Modelworks includes markings for four different 1/48 P-40E's M's & N's.  The recommended kits for these decals is the 1/48 AMT P-40N and AMTech P-40E.  The four P-40's features in this sheet are from the CBI or China/India/Burma theater of operations during WW2.  

The first aircraft is a P-40M flown by Capt. Paul Royer of the 25th FS, 51st FG out of Yunnanyi, China in 1944.  This particular has a Tiger mouth on the lower sides of the nose.  This Tiger mouth is quite different from a sharks mouth in appearance.  Directly behind the Tigers mouth is the text "Miss Julie".  This aircraft has 3 Japanese kill markings and the national insignia are American.  The paint scheme is Olive Drab on top and Neutral Gray on the underside.  There is some Medium green around the edges of the tail/rudder.  The prop spinner cone is white and there is a diagonal white band on the rear part of the fuselage.  An extra set of kill markings has been included for the right side, but it is not sure if they were on the actual aircraft.  The serial numbers on the tail were applied over a fresh coat of Olive drab which isn't as faded as the rest of the aircraft.  On the tail is the white serial number 214.

The second aircraft is a P-40E flown by Maj. Ed Rector, CO 76th FS, 23FG out of Kweilin, China in 1942.  This appears to be an ex-AVG Flying Tigers aircraft.  The Chinese national insignia are painted over (these are dark green circles and provided as decals).  The upper surfaces are a British camo pattern of Dark Earth and Dark Green and Sky Type S or Pastel Blue on the underside.  This plane sports a classic Sharks mouth as well as 5 Japanese kill markings....extra kill markings are provided in decal form for the right side, but it is not believed this plane had kill markings on the right side as well.  On the side of the fuselage behind the cockpit is the classic flying Tiger artwork that was used by the AVG Flying Tigers.  On the fuselage is the white serial number 104.

The third aircraft is a P-40N-15 42-106238 flown by 1st Lt. Carl Hardy of the 16th FS, 51st FG in  China in 1944.  This particular has a Sharks mouth on the lower sides of the nose.  Directly behind the Sharks mouth is the white text "KLAWIN KITTEN".  This aircraft has 1 Japanese kill marking and the national insignia are American.  The paint scheme is Olive Drab on top and Neutral Gray on the underside.  There is some Medium green around the edges of the tail/rudder.  The prop spinner cone is white.  An extra set of kill markings has been included for the right side, but it is not sure if they were on the actual aircraft.  On the tail is the white serial number 367.

The fourth aircraft is a P-40N-5 flown by Capt. Wang Kuang Fu of the CACW 7th FS, 3rd FG in  China in 1945.  This particular has a very aggressive looking Sharks mouth on the lower sides of the nose.  Directly above the Sharks mouth is red text in Chinese which reads 'Tai Gong Jin' in Chinese.....the first two characters are 'Tai Gong' and can be considered to have the meaning of "an experienced sophisticated and farsighted great-grandfather".  The last Chinese character is 'Jin' which means "present day" in Chinese.  The paint scheme is Olive Drab on top and Neutral Gray on the underside.  There is some Medium green around the edges of the tail and the rudder has blue and white stripes. On the tail is the white serial number 663 and on the side of the fuselage is the capital letter "I" and the number  "3".  This plane wears Chinese national insignia.

The decals were flawlessly printed and the clear carrier film is trimmed very close to the crisply printed colored areas.  The colours look good and will cover very well.  The artwork is interesting to say the least.  

The instructions are clear and includes 3 view drawings and an extra 2 pages of text instructions is included with a small bit of info about all of the planes as well as helpful tips for decal application. 

A very nice decal sheet and highly recommended for all the P-40 builders and especially modellers interested in the P-40's that operated in China.

I would like to thank Cutting Edge Modelworks for providing me with this review sample.

Steve

Click on images below to see larger images of the instruction sheets

 

Photos and text © by Steve Bamford