So I wanted to update this thread now that I've located and built a few of these, partly with the help of people who posted in the thread.
My original (Quixotic) purpose was to basically complain that some of these planes which should be more widely available aren't. But I gained a lot of benefit from your comments here and was able to find a lot of the models I was looking for.
I got these from a combination of the (very good) local Hobby Shop, some other suburban ones (not quite as good), Amazon, Ebay, Esty and in one case, Scale Hobbyist. I was reluctant to open a new EBay account (having ditched my old one many years ago) but I learned that you can check out as a guest fairly painlessly ... hopefully my credit card won't get hacked.
Anyway here are a few that I found with some brief commentary on the kits and builds.
Pzl P.11c
old Revell Kit (I think from the 1960's) but the kit was only $7
Found this one on Ebay, kit was super simple, something like 8 parts. Made it in two evenings after work. Sadly the 60+ year old decals disintegrated (except one) so this one actually isn't completely finished, it will be done when my aftermarket decals arrive (also via Ebay). Kit was pretty rough though my only real problem was with the wheels which were weak & kind of hard to get to stay in place.
Yak 7
This was a cheaper East European kit, I can't remember which one but I found it on Amazon for about $15.
It was a challenging build as nothing really fit right. Lots of sanding and some putty. But I liked the way it came out. There were a few options, I elected to do the 'long cockpit' version so it looks like what it is, a trainer that was adapted for use as a fighter.
Pe-2
This was a very old Airfix Kit, I think from the 60's. Found it on Ebay for about $20.
Fairly complex kit, old style with the very obvious raised panel lines. I had some trouble both assembling and painting but overall it was a good quality kit, just one of those that you kind of need 3 hands for putting it together. I kind of screwed up the painting and redid that several times. I am fairly happy with it though it's a neat plane. A bit bigger than I expected.
P-40F/L
This is one of the Special Hobby short runs, I think a more recent one (as in 5 or 10 years old I think). Found it on Amazon for about $25
This was a
very nice kit, though it was a first for me in that included some resin parts and a vacuform canopy, neither of which I knew what to do with. Canopy in particular was a big problem for me due to my own ineptitude and I had to do a lot of tweaking (including borrowing parts from another kit) to get things to more or less fit and look right. Steep learning curve on this one and I really almost ruined it but I'm happy with how it came out. I love the Merlin P-40. I bought the other Short Run P-40F double kit (one long and one short tail) which I'm going to tackle when I feel like my skills are developed sufficiently.
P-40K
This was a Sword Double-kit. Very nice kit. Found it on Ebay for about $40 so it was pretty expensive, but worth it.
I did both, one as a 57th FG American (Med Theater) kit and another the plane of a 20 kill Soviet ace named Kuznetsov. These kits were simple but everything fit nicely and more importantly, UNLIKE some other similar kits I have, the planes came out looking like my photographs in terms of the shape.
Ki-27
This was a Hobbyboss kits, as in one of those ones with 5 parts that are quite crude. Cheapish, I think about $15 on Amazon. It felt kind of foolish making it because it's such a crude model but I actually kind of liked how it came out so I guess it's Ok. No cockpit detail or anything.
LaGG-3
This was another cheap East European one, I think maybe Valom? I can't remember. I found it on Amazon for about $20. Built it at the same time as I did the Bf109. Night and day! This was a
rough kit. A whole lot of putty and sanding. Quite a struggle to get it semi-presentable. Still ended up kind of pleased with it even though I lost two of the rockets. I kind of like it now but for the price, we really need a nicer kit available.
Ki-46
This was a Japanasse kit, which I took the precaution of photographing but I can't make out the name of the company. Found it on Ebay for about $25. Beautiful design, but the kit was quite rough for me, though this may be due to my ineptitude. It had several options for cockpits, I chose the cool 'buck rogers' type windscreen, but man... it would not fit. I think I must have done something wrong. After a ton of sanding, putty, cutting with the knife, inserting bits of plastic and so on, I finally got it looking right-ish (from a distance). But I love the plane because it's such a cool plane.
Breguet 693
This is a Heller obviously, who else would do it? More of an experimental plane not one that affected the war much, but I like the design. Kit was pretty rough, bit of a struggle but I was happy with it in the long run.
D3A "Val"
I think this was another Japanese kit, I can't remember though. Almost ruined it by messing up the paint job but it came out Ok.
Bf 109F2
Never could find an F4, and this one is not a Trop, I scratch built a trop filter but the decals are for a unit that was only in France and Russia I think (not in the Med anyway). Beautiful Kit, Zvezda, found it on Amazon. Went together like a dream. Zvezda impresses the hell out of me.
More later (just text probably I think I'm done with photos). Thanks again for all the help!
S
