Sgt Savage Warhawk, Tamiya Metallic Red and Gloss Aluminum spray paint, Gundam panel lining and weathering markers, custom Flying Tigers stickers

I'm a huge fan of World War II aircraft, but there are precious few of them compatible with GI Joes. Thankfully, the Sgt Savage line included a P-40 Warhawk, that was unfortunately severely lacking in detail.

I acquired a Sgt Savage Warhawk off ebay, and painted the propeller metallic red in homage to the Flying Tigers squadron colors. Due to the absurd bulkiness of the gatling gun on the undercarriage of the toy, and the excessively toy-etic look of the all green plastic, I painted the underside of the P-40 and its wings in Gloss Aluminum. The original stickers were all cleaned off the plane and replaced with slightly larger Flying Tigers and Hell's Angels stickers, whilst the shark mouth nose also had to be replaced, though a slightly smaller size sticker than the original, to line up with the new two-tone look.

"Long before GI Joe came into existence, other elite military units existed that would pave the way for an international elite fighting force. The Flying Tigers squadron was one such unit - made up of pilots from the Army Air Corps, Navy, and Marine Corps, recruited under presidential authority. The Flying Tigers achieved tremendous success against the Imperial Japanese in the Southwest Pacific and Chinese theaters of World War II. Their trademark shark-faced nose art remains the one of the most distinctive images of the era. In order to enhance its volume of firepower against faster enemy aircraft, the Flying Tigers' P-40 was armed with a top-secret, experimental gatling gun mounted on its undercarriage, allowing the Flying Tigers to maintain air superiority!"

The Warhawk is accompanied by a similar two toned Durant Plastics 1933 Ford Coupe.