Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

The P-40 may be best known as the aircraft flown by the American Volunteer Group or Flying Tigers in China, but Curtiss' fighter served throughout World War II on nearly every front. To keep the plane competitive with advancing enemy technology, Curtiss constantly improved the P-40 changing engines, armament, cockpit glazing, and fuselages. That, along with the fact that it served with most Allied air forces makes the Warhawk a consistently popular modeling subject.

Those variations are shown well in Curtiss P-40 Warhawk — The Famous Flying Tigers Fighter by David Doyle, part of Schiffer's Legends of Warfare Aviation series. The 112-page hardcover has chapters on each variant of the aircraft, starting with the XP-40 and the early P-40 through P-40C. Larger chapters detail major variants like the P-40E, F, K, M, and N and naturally get the most attention, but Doyle takes time to detail lesser-known variants like the D and L. Most of the pages are dominated by large photos of the planes including the cockpit of several variants. Wartime images reveal camouflage and marking variations and especially the weathering on these workhorses. You'll get a good feel for how paint chips and scuffs as the crew walks around the wing roots, how the finishes fade in the South Pacific sun, and how the exhaust stains sweep back along the fuselage.

I have several P-40s in my stash and this book has inspired me to get started on one.

~Aaron Skinner, Editor of FineScale Modeler