The Little World

It seems no time at all was needed  to mbuild the new P-40’s for the Northwest Staging Route. They are already sitting on the hardstand at RCAF WET DOG jostling for space with all the other planes heading for Ladd AFB. I have taken advantage of the additional fuel tanks as ferry tanks but opted for the unpainted ones.

The short-tail No.38 is familiar to everyone as a variant of the type that equipped the AVG in China. People expect to see these aircraft with the shark mouths painted on the side of the engine cowling but there are still plenty of photos of the time that show them with a plain finish – mostly before they get to active units. I like a good shark mouth but find that eventually they get a little tiring – particularly on modern aircraft where they appear as if they have been tacked on. At least the P-40 has the nose and radiator grille to justify the look.

The long-tail version No. 49 is new to me but I am rather liking it. the improvement in rear vision for the pilot is dramatic and the extra length of the fuselage seems to give it a better proportion. I hope they didn’t make life hell for the ground crews by changing the insides too much.

Note that Hobby Boss made sure that the wheel hubs and exhaust stacks were also different for the two versions. The two insignia styles overlap for the time period that the Northwest Staging Route diorama displays. And I avoided the rather garish skull decal that was provided. It did exist, but I feel it has been overdone in models.

And Yay! I did not bust off the plastic pitot tubs. Yet.