AMtech 1/48
P-40F-1 Merlin Engine Conversion

Background

The Curtiss P-40 was a capable fighter in the right hands. While not as fast or agile as many of the aircraft it faced, it had a few advantages that were successfully exploited with the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in China and as well as with allied pilots in the early stages of the war.

The P-40E was an evolutionary outgrowth of the earlier P-40s that saw combat and was itself a capable aircraft. It also had one limitation that its predecessors also faced - the lack of a supercharger for high altitude performance. One solution that was envisioned was to replace the Allison engine with the supercharged Merlin. Since Merlin production in the UK was already at maximum for Spitfire, Hurricance, etc., production, the US Packard Company license-built the Merlin to augment Rolls Royce production. Some of these engines were routed to Curtiss and the P-40F was born.

While supercharging the P-40 sounded great in theory, it didn't perform much better than the normally aspirated P-40E. Nevertheless, almost 700 of these aircraft were built and supplied under Lend Lease to allied air forces.

The Conversion

This conversion is a simple one-piece affair - a solid resin Merlin nose for your P-40. My example is free from bubbles and has some nice detailing cast into the part. The instructions have clear photography to step you through the simple surgical nose job that converts the AMtech 1/48 P-40E and includes templates to scratch-build new cowl flaps.

This nose could likely be adapted to other P-40E kits with a little work. The result is an early P-40F, before the tail section was extended to try to improve longitudinal stability. Of course there is not much point in converting the aircraft into an F-model if there aren't any markings.

AMtech includes a decal sheet from their earlier P-40F release. There are three P-40F-1 Warhawks to choose from:

• P-40F-1-CU, 113898, 66 FS/57 FG, Libya, November 1942
• P-40F-1-CU, unknown, 79 FG, Tunisia, March 1943
• P-40F-1-CU, 114217, 44 FS/347 FG, Guadalcanal, April 1943

Conclusions

If you're looking for a Warhawk that will catch the judge's eye, the P-40F is just what you've been looking for!

My sincere thanks to AMTech Models for this review sample!