AVG Hawk 81 A2 (P-40)

[KSaarni]

Kari if you’re gonna build a long nose (early) P-40, I’d recommend the new Airfix kit. It’s hard to beat. This is more of a “nostalgia” build. Not to mention that I bought it long ago and it sat in my stash for god knows how long. I still remember where I bought it and what with. Just not exactly what year… but a Finnish P-40? Sounds interesting. I presume it was captured from the Soviets?

Thanks for the tip Carlos, I took a look at the reviews of the Airfix kit and indeed, very tempting!

Regarding the Finnish P-40M, yes, captured from the Soviets or perhaps the Soviets handed over it

Quoting from https://plane-encyclopedia.com/ww2/curt ... h-service/

"Although the Republic of Finland was never a recipient or official operator of the P-40, they were still able to obtain a single example from a Soviet pilot who landed in Finnish territory with his pristine P-40M. Serving mostly as a training aid, the Finnish P-40 Warhawk would never see combat against any of Finland’s enemies"

- Kari

[Stikpusher]

Oh it’s the M version. Hasegawa does one of those in 1/48… exactly what you need…

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegaw ... ce--101194



I’m sure the national insignia decals are the correct type as opposed to the box art.

[Stikpusher]

I remember getting a stack of those for my sons cub scout pack. We had a good couple of weeks building those with the boys

Nice! When I was in Cub Scouts, my pack got the Monogram Wildcat kit for us to each build. One of several times that I built that one…

[KSaarni]

Oh it’s the M version. Hasegawa does one of those in 1/48… exactly what you need…

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegaw ... ce--101194



I’m sure the national insignia decals are the correct type as opposed to the box art.

Yes!

- Kari

[jkim]

Way to resurrect a build off the SOD, Carlos! I remember those old Monogram kits when they went to the white box with model photos. Even as a kid, I much preferred the painted box art.

[Stikpusher]

Thanks John. Yeah those white box tops were kinda boring to look at, but the kits inside were good stuff. I’m with you on preferring the dramatic painting box art. In my mind, Revell and Hasegawa had the best artists churning out the artwork.

[keavdog]

I agree on the box art. One of my favorites:

[Medicman71]

I built the Academy one and made the mistake of using their decals. Those grey spots near the nose, that's where the paint peeled up when I tried to remove the decals that had shattered.

[Stikpusher]

Yeah Academy decals are hit or miss. They have some boxings that come with high quality Cartograph decals, and others with some really crappy Academy decals. Did you buy some replacements for your P-40?

[Gary Brantley]

I built the Academy one and made the mistake of using their decals. Those grey spots near the nose, that's where the paint peeled up when I tried to remove the decals that had shattered.

Mike and Carlos, maybe all of us together here would have enough AVG birds to form a squadron!