Anigrand Craftswork 1/72 XP-62 Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Curtiss developed a design for a heavily armed fighter that could achieve 468 mph at 27,000 feet. Their proposal for this design was submitted at the end of April 1941, and the aircraft was to be powered by a 2300 horsepower Wright R3350 engine, armed with either eight 20mm cannons or 12 x 50 caliber machine guns. The aircraft's lines drew from an interesting hybrid of their P-40 Warhawk and the SB2C Helldiver.

While the aircraft showed enough promise to win the company an order for 100 aircraft, the outbreak of the war, engine and cockpit pressurization issues delayed production to the point where it made more sense for the production lines to be used to produce other aircraft that were in desperate need at the time.

Anigrand Craftswork has produced another interesting prototype from the footnotes of aviation history, this time the Curtiss XP-62. As the description above says, this was to be a heavily armed gunfighter.

As usual, the kit is packaged in their robust compartmented bags that keep parts from floating around during shipment and getting damaged in the process. The clear resin canopy is separately packaged.

The fuselage is hollow-cast and sectioned left-right. Add the low-mounted wings to the fuselage, the tail surfaces to the rear of the aircraft, and that large radial engine inside the cowling, and you've got the basics done. What will take a little time is building up the counter-rotating propeller on the spinners. Mount the prop to the engine, add landing gear, a seat and yoke to the cockpit, close the canopy, and you've got your heavy fighter!

This set of decals are typical generic markings sized for use on this kit.

If you are a collector of prototype combat aircraft, especially those that never made it beyond concept or early prototype, the XP-62 will be another nice addition to your scale flightline.

My sincere thanks to the US importer, Nostalgic Plastic for this review sample!