P-40N A29-629, Geoffrey C Atherton, 80 Squadron, RAAF, New Guinea, 1943

This model sat on the shelf of doom for years…and all it needed were the kit decals! To be fair I completed the construction around 2002 just before we moved from California and only last winter did I finally open the box it was stored in. I’d forgotten about it, and when I quickly checked the Academy P-40M/N in my stash the box was empty, save for the decals and instructions! Well, this is an easy one to finish.

Since the July theme is “Down Under”, it’s a natural.

The Subject

Cleopatra III is a somewhat familiar subject to P-40 officionados and is well photographed. Geoff Atherton made ace flying this aircraft when he shot down a Japanese G3M “Betty” bomber on 13th June, 1943 over Milne Bay, while flying out of Horn Island, New Guinea. It was his last kill of the war.

The Model

Unfortunately I don’t remember much other than my notes on the paints used. What I do remember is that this was a very easy kit to build and at the time I’d wished I’d picked up more while I was in Pusan, Korea on a port visit in 2000. I do remember paying a couple of dollars each for a dozen Academy kits, but for some reason I only got one P-40.

Of course, being Academy there is something wrong with the kit, right? Other than the prop spinner I can’t see anything wrong with it. A search online indicates the canopy may also be too tall, but other than the spinner it looks right on my shelf next to other P-40’s.

I used Aeromaster 9043 Neutral Gray and Modelmaster FS 34079 enamels for the camouflage. The decals went on a bit silvery over a coat of Future/Klear, but with progressive coats of Micro Set, Micro Sol and finally Daco Products decal setting solution (red label = strong version) they layed down okay. I purchased Daco at a show years ago and only use it for really thick or stubborn decals as its “hot”. On thin or weak decals it’ll bubble them up and ruin them faster than sandpaper.

I added some True Details weighted wheels, simply because I had them in my spares box.

Summary

I’ll build this kit again in a New York minute! I will look for a better spinner, maybe from Quickboost. For the price it can’t be beat.

Thanks for looking…