Sunday, February 24

Eclipse Model Design P-40M/N perforated intake plates reviewed

Want to update your P-40 M/N series fighter from Hasegawa in 32nd scale? Well it has no engine so there must be something can do to jazz up the nose? Well to add to the block treads,fishtail Exhaust Pipes,Curtiss Electric Wide-Chord Propeller and all the other bits Eclipse Model Design are making for this aircraft the finishing touch is here with perforated plates for your Alison ‘s cowling – we review it for you..

1/32 Curtiss P-40M/N Perforated intake plates
Product no.: EMD A32008
2 parts in Grey resin
Price £3.50 excl. VAT or delivery


The hasegawa P-40M/N model kit in 32nd is very nice. A few parts have seen the attention of the aftermarket manufacturers. This month we see a new part from Eclipse Model Design in the UK. They have made us a new set of perforated intake plates for the Alison engined aircraft.

A small selection of pictures to show hollow this plate should look
The more powerful Alison of the ultimate P-40 needed a lot of cooling, and the perforated  intakes helped the engine breath, now EMD has cast a set of neatly holed resin gills to jazz up your bird.
A picture from EMD showing the plates in place – imagine my friends!
The resin is two parts of grey left and right handed parts. Simple to identify by the helpful “L” & “R” on the inside of each grill so placement is fool-proof. The resin itself is perfectly cast (it has to be seeing the parts are so small) There are fifteen perfectly round and spaced holes for the grill and six perfectly formed screws in each plate. The finish of the grills is excellent and far better than you could get with the kit.
The ol' Giant penny trick I love so much
No imperfections or bubbles are visible in the resin front or rear. The small casting attachments are on the edge of the plates so they are removed very easily. The holes are actually tapered inwards so they are strong and thin at the presentation end - smart thinking by EMD and Grey Matter who cast the plates.
The only preparation you will have to do is to remove small casting part of resin as well as a thin undercoat should see these ready to paint up on your P-40 pretty quickly.
This is a great addition to your P-40 – it comes in a small package so postage is minimal and the grills only cost £3.50 – so I think you have probably already made your mind up!

Adam Norenberg


Thanks to Eclipse Model Design for sending this product for us to review