P-40F/L Long Tail

AMtech

Reviewed by Brett Green

AMtech's P-40F/L Long Tail Warhawk may be ordered online from Squadron.com

In common with their earlier P-40E release, AMtech has licensed the use of AMT's original P-40 moulds for their new 1/48 scale P-40F/L Long Tail Warhawk kit.

It is worth noting a few fundamental differences between the early-release P-40E and this new P-40F/L. Firstly, the initial release of the P-40E had some noticeable mould flaws that required correction prior to construction.

This time, the parts are perfectly formed. There is no noticeable step at the rear fuselage and no mold scars blemishing the surface.

The other major difference is the inclusion of an all-new resin replacement nose.

The shape, detail and panel line arrangement of this nose is far more accurate than the original parts on the AMT moulds. AMtech has taken plenty of time and made several revisions to ensure that accuracy and fit are as good as possible. The casting is really first-rate, with crisp panel lines (in the right places) and impressive undercut detail inside the complex lower nose intake. Check out the woven mesh intake detail in the images below.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Steven "Modeldad" Eisenman has already fitted an earlier version of this nose to the plastic kit fuselage in a Construction Feature here on HyperScale. I am sure that the majority of his observations will be relevant to this production nose too.

Most of the remaining parts in the new AMtech 1/48 scale P-40F/L are common with the AMT P-40 sprues, including a number of redundant parts for different variants. The important exception is the new fuselage. The combination of the long tail with the Merlin powerplant was never released by AMT although, with the inclusion of the resin nose, the majority of modellers will chop the forward fuselage off!

AMtech's 1/48 scale P-40F/L Long Tail comprises 65 parts in pale grey styrene and 4 parts in clear.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Surface detail is crisply engraved and the kit cockpit detail is adequate. However, if you have superdetailing in mind, Cutting Edge has already released a P-40F/L cockpit in resin that will compliment the kit nicely. Relevant options include a drop tank and wing-mounted bombs.

The clear parts are impressively thin and free of distortion, but the canopy will ride high when in the "open" position.

To their credit, AMtech has listened to criticism of mould problems with their first P-40 release and ensured that those problems were not repeated with this kit.

They have also added significant value to the original, inaccurate AMT P-40F/L moulds with the inclusion of their very attractive and accurate resin nose.

It is great to see moulds of these neglected but significant modelling subjects put to use with such forethought. I look forward to building AMtech's new 1/48 scale P-40F/L Long Tail Warhawk!

Recommended.

Thanks to AMtech for the review sample.

AMtech models are available from good hobby shops and online retailers. For more information about AMtech future releases, please see their Preview page here on HyperScale or visit their website at http://www.amtechmodels.com

Review and Images Copyright © 2003 by Brett Green
except Title Image Copyright © 2003 by AMtech
Page Created 13 January, 2003
Last updated 22 July, 2003

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page