Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

Eagle Strike's 1/48 scale Birds of Prey Pt.1 are available online from Squadron.com

Eagle Strike 48-147 is the first of two sheets covering the Curtiss P-40 family. 

The sheet provides full markings for four machines from various theatres of war.  The individual aircraft are as follows. 

P-40N 43-23194 of the 7th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group based in the Middleburg Islands, New Guinea in 1944.  Unusual for that theatre, the machine is in overall natural metal finish but it still sports the white empennage and wing leading edge theatre markings.  The spinner is yellow and white with a dark blue band and the fin tip is yellow with a dark blue band.  The supplied markings comprise:

• The blue band for the spinner.  Great move Eagle Strike as these things are not easy to mask evenly!
• Stylised 34 plane-in-squadron number
• Abbreviated serial for the fuselage
• Full serial number for the fin and rudder
• The yellow tip and blue band for the fin and rudder tip.
• A complete set of national insignia.
• The data block stencil

P-40F-1 41-13970 "COUNT PISTOFF" of the 66th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Group at Gambut, Libya in November of 1942.  The aircraft is in sand upper surfaces with neutral grey under surfaces with a red spinner.  The supplied markings comprise: 

• Red 95 plane-in-squadron number for the nose
• The name "COUNT PISTOFF" in black for both sides of the nose
• Yellow serial for the rudder
• Large white 95 plane-in-squadron number for the fuselage
• US ARMY titles for the lower surfaces of the wings
• Red, white and blue fin flashes
• A full set of national insignia
• The data block stencil

P-40N (no serial given) of the 89th Fighter Squadron, 80th Fighter Group, India in 1944.  The machine is in faded olive drab upper surfaces with medium green splotching to the edges of the fin and rudder, horizontal stabilisers and wings and neutral grey lower surfaces.  The spinner is in red and the left hand side engine access panel appears to be a replacement as it is in a darker shade of olive drab and lacks the 80th fighter Group's well known skull nose art.  The supplied markings are sparse and they comprise: 

• The skull markings for the nose – a complete one for the right hand side of the nose and the previously mention abbreviated one for the left hand side.
• White 61 plane-in-squadron number for the fin and rudder.
• A complete set of national insignia.  The left had side fuselage insignia is partial as the aircraft appears to have a replacement hatch cover.

P-40N-25 (no serial given) flown by Lieutenant Joel B. Paris of the 7th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group.  The placement sheet advises that the aircraft probably wore dark green and dark earth upper surfaces over neutral grey lower surfaces.  The spinner is dark blue with a white stripe.  The machine also wears the white empennage and wing leading edge theatre markings.  The fin and rudder also bears a dark blue stripe.  The supplied markings comprise: 

• The white stripe for the spinner
• Nose art consisting of a flight helmeted skull on a black disk with a bloodied scythe.
• White 7 plane-in-squadron number for the nose
• Pilot's name in white for the fuselage side beneath the windscreen
• The name rusty in black on a white curved background for the canopy rail.
• The blue stripe for the fin and rudder.  This marking is also supplied in black.  My bet is that the one to one scale aircraft wore the blue stripes as blue was the colour worn by the 7th Fighter Squadron's aircraft.
• A full set of national insignia.

The sheet also includes two comprehensive set of stencil data 

The placement guide is the industry standard A-4 sized sheet and it shows left hand side colour profiles of each option on the front and smaller upper and lower surface plan views of each option on the back.  There is also a four-view line drawing of a P-40N showing placement of the stencil data.  The placement guide carries a short discourse on the likely colours worn by these machines and refers the modeller to the book "Sam's Combat Colors #3" by H.C. Bridgewater for a fuller explanation. 

The decal sheet and placement guide come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag.

The decals themselves have been "Printed in Italy".  Everything is in perfect register and there is an absolute minimum of decal film surrounding each design. 

The recommended kits are the Otaki (they haven't produced a P-40F or N as far as I know) AMT and Mauve ones.  Add the forthcoming Hasegawa ones to the list.  Whilst Hasegawa have not yet announced a P-40N you can bet your bottom dollar that they will eventually produce the whole P-40 family following their initial forthcoming P-40E release in 2005. 

An excellent sheet as far as I'm concerned.  It provides full markings for four different machines in a variety of finishes. 

Recommended.

Thanks to AeroMaster / Eagle Strike Products for the review sets

On-line sales are available from the AeroMaster Products / Eagle Strike Productions web site.
 

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2004 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 22 October, 2004
Last updated 23 October, 2004

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