Zotz 1/32 “North African Warhawks” P-40F/L Decals now available!

[Bill M.]

I just received my copy of the new Zotz 1/32 “North African Warhawks” P-40F/L Decals. And you can get them too—Eli Raphael of Zotz tells me that they are now available to order. The cost is $25.00 USD with $9.00 USD shipping to North American addresses. For shipping to Europe it is an additional $2.00 USD and to the rest of the world, it is an additional $3.00 USD. Eli only takes Paypal. His paypal address is zotz17@yahoo.com. By the way, Eli tells me that he made a short run of these decals, so if you want a set, I suggest you move quickly.

 

As to my impressions and thoughts on this decal set, I have to admit that I am a little biased, as I provided input to Eli on it. Also providing input were Carl Molesworth, author of various books on P-40 markings and Raphael Jumentier of France, who helped with the French markings. But, here is what I think of this sheet. First, they are very precisely and cleanly printed with extraordinary detail. As to the markings, I think they are quite accurate and reflect the most recent research and recently discovered photos of these airplanes. The first plane on the sheet is a short-tailed P-40F named “Miss Fury”, flown by Capt. Whittaker of the 57th FG. Recently unearthed photos have shown “Miss Fury” to have markings on the rudder as shown on the sheet. Also, photos show “Miss Fury” to have been painted with either three or seven kill marks at various times in its career. This decal sheet will allow the modeler to do either version. The second plane on the sheet is a French P-40F named “Madkot”. It was flown by Polish-born French pilot Constantin Vladimir Rozanoff, the commanding officer of the Free French “Lafayette Squadron”. There is a set of markings for a P-40L of the 325th FG “The Checkertails”. This particular aircraft is the famous “Duchess of Durham IV”. This set of markings includes the data and kill marks in the cockpit area and the “My Gal Sal” marking on the right side of the nose. Finally, there is included a set of markings for P-40F “Sweet Bets” of the 79th FG. Included are the accurate markings for the cockpit area as well as a detailed “Dopey” marking for the rudder. Due to the excellent photo coverage of this particular plane, Eli was able to very accurately do all of its markings as they were pictured. All in all, being a dedicated MTO P-40 fan, I could not ask for more in these decals—they are superb.

 

I am sure some of you are wondering what to do with a P-40F/L decal sheet when there are no 1/32 P-40F/L kits on the market. Well there is happy news there as well—Derek Bradshaw in the UK is busily working on a conversion set for a Merlin-powered P-40 to fit on the Hasegawa line of kits. He expects it to be out soon. In fact, it was because of this conversion set that Eli Raphael agreed to do the decals. I have also provided some assistance to Derek and have seen photos of the masters as Derek works on them. I have to say the masters look spot on accuracy-wise. In fact, I think I am safe in saying that it looks like it will be the best and most accurate P-40F/L conversion in any scale. Look for it to be marketed soon by way of Warbird Productions/ Grey Matter Figures. Like I said, I do not have any fianancial stake in all this. I like P-40F/L’s and have long wanted a good one in 1/32 scale. It looks like it will finally happen. To say I am enthusiastic would be an understatement.

[Bill M.]

Here are a couple of scans of the instructions. This is the first page...

[Bill M.]

...and the second page...

[rafju]

To say I am enthusiastic would be an understatement.

 

+1

and i would have like to thanks two french "specialists" who gave me information and confirm into their documentation about "MadKot": Jean-Jacques Petit and Christian-Jacques Ehrengardt allias "CJE".

 

can't wait ...

Thanks Eli

 

Go on Derek!

 

raphael

[Eli Raphael]

Thanks for posting the news Bill!

 

Yes guys,

Operators are standing by to receive your orders!

[Bill M.]

There was a post above asking about the decals and the conversion set. I thought it would be helpful to post my answer here as well--

I see the Zotz decals are ready. When and where will we see the conversion kit?

The conversion kit should be out soon. Master modeler Derek Bradshaw in the UK (a member of this forum) is hard at work at finishing up the masters. Having seen pictures of the masters and a few updates from Derek, I feel safe in saying that they are going to be great and will be the best Merlin-powered P-40 conversion available. What I have seen looks spot-on. When Derek has completed the masters, I understand that the conversions will be marketed by Grey Matter Models under their newly acquired Warbird Productions. Warbird Productions is Vasko Barbic's old line of resin accessories which Grey Matter is presently marketing. Derek is doing the conversion set for Vasko. Hopefully, either Derek or Vasko might want to chime in here as to any of the details, particularly if I got any details wrong.

 

Yes, the decals are available. I have already received a set and I have to say they are superb, as we have come to expect from Zotz. They are accurate and well-researched as well as well printed. I was thrilled when I received my set. Now, I have to confess that I was involved in helping Eli Raphael in doing this set of decals, along with Carl Molesworth and Rapahel Jumentier of France (also a member of this forum). Eli Raphael took the provided information and research and put together a great decal sheet. With the decals and the upcoming conversion set, it looks like we will soon be able to build an accurate and impressive 1/32 scale model of the P-40F/L Warhawk, something that has not been possible before.

Bill M.