Description
P-40s of the American Volunteer Group. Note this set includes separate sharkmouths to fit both the Hobbycraft and Trumpeter P-40B kits! The first ship is the Hawk 81-A-2 (P-40B) flown by Erik Shilling, 2nd PS, American Volunteer Group, Kunming, China, 1942. Note this bird was converted to a photo reconnaissance platform by removing the wing guns and installing a camera in the fuselage, with a 10″ hole cut in the belly immediately under the fuselage access door. Also noteworthy is the fact that the white 1st PS fuselage stripe was retained when the blue 2nd PS stripe was added, making a two-color fuselage stripe! The next ship was a P-40E-1 of the American Volunteer Group, China, May, 1942. Of note is the overpainted wing and fuselage US stars, but the underwing “U.S. ARMY” was retained!!! Next is another Hawk 81-A-2 (P-40B), this one flown by John Newkirk, 2nd PS, American Volunteer Group, Toungoo, Burma, December, 1941. Note the significantly different sharkmouths on this ship and Schilling’s bird. The final subject for this set is the P-40E-1 ferried by Flying Tiger R.T. Smith to China in March, 1942. This was one of the original six P-40Es sent to the AVG and shows the white high-viz markings applied in chalk to the top of the fuselage, along with Smith’s “personal” markings also in white chalk.
