Curtiss P-40E of 343rd Fighter Goup, 11th Fighter Squadron

The Hasegawa kit is rather basic in terms of parts, but the panel lines are finely recessed, the surface detail is good, and the details sufficient. Oddly enough, the landing gear can only be completed as lowered. The decals are really good, though, and so is the fit. It was a fun and fast build that was displayed in a little vignette with some Airfix USAAF ground crew. The Airfix figures are, of course, made out of polystyrene, so they are difficult to clean up, and details are lacking

This P-40E is wearing the markings of the 11th Fighter Squadron of the 343rd Fighter Group which fought against the Japanese above the Aleutian Islands in western Alaska between 1942 and 1943. The Aleutian tiger nose art was characteristic of the entire group, and there were other similarities between this unit and the more famous Brothers-in-arms of the "Flying Tigers": the commanding officer of the group was Claire Chennault's son! A very interesting combat diary of the 54th Fighter Squadron, another unit of the 343rd can be found here: https://www.nps.gov/aleu/learn/photosmultimedia/upload/54th-FS-history-all-pgs.pdf