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P-400 at Guadalcanal


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This is Hasegawa's excellent P-39/P-400 built from the latest P-39N/Q boxing, but backdated to a P-400. The kit includes essentially all the parts needed for the earlier Aircobra, minus the early propeller and a few bumps and and lumps. I had a set of Montex masks for the markings. These were harder to use than I thought they would be. Read on. 


There is not much to say about the build, that isn't standard for a Hasegawa kit. It was fairly easy, but care was needed to ensure proper fit. I used a little bit of filler on where the back of the lower wing half meets the fuselage, but if I recall, that was it, Painting was also a pretty standard affair. I used AK Real Colors mixed with Tamiya and Mr. Color paints, and Mr. Leveling Thinner.  I ran into some trouble with the Montex Masks and Hasegawa's decals. 
The masks for the US Army lettering, and the national insignia worked beautifully, but I had trouble lining up the different layers of the shark mouth. The result is that I have some white paint showing on the outside of the red lips, and it makes the red paint look "raised", like a thick decal would appear. I tried sanding it down a bit, but gave up. It only shows from certain angles and doesn't bother me enough to fix it. What bothered me more were Hasegawa's stencil decals. They are printed with several stencils to a large shape (for example a line of no walk signs), which is intended to make the stenciling process faster. However, the decals are quite thick, and it took a lot of sanding and feathering of the decal edges to get them to look flat against the finish. I would have preferred to just apply a thinner decal if each stencil separately. The boxing rooster and Hell's Bells decals came with the Montex Mask set, and are excellent.

I weathered the plane to make it look heavily worked, but not completely worn out. These aircraft were on Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942, when supply lines were stretched, and conditions at Henderson Field were less than ideal. The result is a pretty dirty plane, exposed to the elements, and to many hours of combat. There are several sepia and green washes, acrylic glazes for oil and fuel spills,  and tan and brown acrylic inks daubed on with a sponge to simulate mud on the landing gear and where crews walked with muddy boots. 

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Generally not interested in American builds, with the singular exception of the Airacobra. And what a magnificent job you've made of yours. Most inspiring. In the particular love your retro-ing of the kit to a P-400 in the era of the Guadalcanal campaign. 👍🔟

Edited by Bigglesof266
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As the others have said, that is a very nice P-400- I think the  best I have seen in quite a while. Paint colors look spot-on, and the weathering and  scuffng/staining look right on the money for an airplane based at Henderson.. I think I recall reading in Gabby Gabreski's autobiography that the P-400 was considered to be a "P-40 with a zero in its tail!" I also think you got he green that Bell used on interiors, wheel bays, and struts right on the money- well done! :like:

Mike

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6 hours ago, Maginot said:

Very nice result. Weathering is excellent. Being outside my normal area of interest, what colour are the undersides painted?

It's supposed to be Bell's approximation of RAF sky. I used Tamiya sky and i think i added a touch of white

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