Bronco Aircraft 1/48 Curtiss P40C Warhawk USAAF Fighter Kit

In 1937, Curtis Company replaced one of its previously developed P36 fighter jets with Allison V-1710-19 liquid-cooled engines. The military project code for this aircraft was XP-40. The aircraft successfully flew for the first time in October of the following year and reached a high speed of 587 kilometers per hour. In April 1939, the P-40A ordered by the U.S. Army was put into production, and the B and C models were successively improved in the following years. Among them, P-40C (also known as Hawk81 A-2) adds a self-sealing fuel tank on the basis of B, which effectively improves the overall protection of the fuel system. At the same time, a ground weapon rack is added, which can mount auxiliary fuel tanks or light bombs. The main weapons are two 12.7mm machine guns and four 7.62mm machine guns on the main wings. The US Army Air Force is equipped with 193 P-40Cs. Most of these aircraft are deployed to Hawaii and the Philippines in the Pacific. On the day of the outbreak of the Pacific War, U.S. troops stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and Clark Base in the Philippines were attacked by Japanese naval air forces. Although the losses were heavy, the P-40C piloted by Captain Ken Taylor was forcibly lifted into the air to face off and scored the record of shooting down two Japanese Type 99 carrier-based dive bombers. After the United States entered the war, some P-40Cs were deployed to European theaters such as the United Kingdom and Iceland. With the continuous addition of new aircraft, the relatively outdated P-40C gradually withdrew from the frontline forces.

• Highly detailed plastic pieces molded in gray and clear.
• Photo-etched parts.
• Detailed cockpit with the instrument panel.
• Waterslide decals.
• Illustrated instructions.
• One decal sheet with markings for 6 versions
• 1) P-40C "12/31P", 39FG, USAAF, Selfridge Field, Michigan, 1941
• 2) P-40C "337/44P", 44PS, 44PG, USAAF, Bellows Field in Hawaii, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941V
• 3) P-40C "62/18P", 20PS, USAAF, Clark Field, Philippines, 1941
• 4) P-40C (Hawk 81A-2) "7", 23FG, 14AF, USAAF, China, 1942
• 5) P-40C Lt. Ken Taylor "155", 47PS, 15PG, USAAF, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
• 6) P-40C 33FS, 8FG, USAFF, Iceland, August 1941