Sometime in the 1970s I began to develop a desire to build prototypes. I knew about the P-51D, but what about the P-51A? What about the P-1? I knew there had to be such a thing, so I started collecting books. I found what I wanted, and used the old Monogram P-6E kit as a basis for conversion. I built the XPW-8B, which was the prototype, and then the P-1 and P-1B. The first one is missing and I converted the other two for wargaming. After my friend Rocky died his oldest son donated all of his models to our gaming group. This included a bunch of my stuff which had been at his house. Today I took pictures of them for a friend to see what my hobbies were, and thought I'd post them here. The propellors are broken and they's seen thirty-six years of wear and tear, but they still survive. I didn't even wipe the dust off, but the original work is still holding up.
Curtiss P-1 (1928)
Curtiss P-1B (1929)
Together
The P-1B on its back, so you can see the intricate double-wire rigging
