ChuckD Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 (edited) Finally, the Special Hobby 1/32 P-400 is complete! This kit is pretty rough and is more or less and upscaled version of the Eduard 1/48th scale P-39. As such, it doesn't fit together all that well, and the details are pretty chunky. To make matters worse, both the build and the paint processes fought me at pretty much every turn. This is the second time I started a SH P-39 of some variety... the first attempt yielded me nothing more than a paint mule because the kit fit is so lousy. In any case, I'm really happy with how it ultimately turned out, though it took ~6 months to get here. I added the Eduard PE seatbelt and interior set and used a set of Montex masks for the goofy-but-historically-accurate shark's mouth. Is it perfect? No, but I'm pretty stoked. This is meant to represent an aircraft of the 67th Fighter Squadron as it fought desperately to hold the line against the Japanese on Guadalcanal. The P-400 is the British export version of the P-39 and featured a 20mm Hispano Suiza cannon in place of the more traditional 37mm refrigerator thrower. Rejected by the British, they were transferred to the USAAF who dubbed them (no doubt tongue-in-cheek) P-400's because that's supposedly the top speed the aircraft was supposed to be able to reach. P-39s and P-400s were handled roughly by the Japanese in the Guadalcanal campaign, and without a supercharger, they couldn't climb high enough to hit the bombers they were built to intercept. Nevertheless, their pilots fought valiantly despite their fighters' inferiority and were pivotal in stopping the Japanese advance in the SW Pacific. I have a thing for underdogs and the P-39/P-400 is pretty much defines "underdog." There's a saying that goes, "the P-40 and P-39 didn't win the war, but they sure as hell made sure we didn't lose it." Edited June 21, 2020 by Gewehr 43 Dpgsbody55, Trak-Tor, mc65 and 34 others 37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBrown Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 Exceptional, very very cool! ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 Really excellent; I like it a lot. ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 A very nice Cobra. ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Love this! Great show. Sincerely, Mark ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Great job, I really like that one Cheers Dennis ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Love the Airacobra in those markings, then you add in the history... really nice model. ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckD Posted June 22, 2020 Author Share Posted June 22, 2020 Thanks! I kinda have a *thing* for the Airacobra family. Such a neat concept, just so poorly realized. But, in places like New Guinea and Guadalcanal, it was crucial in stemming the tide of the IJA and IJN despite its many shortcomings. As I'm on a huge early-Pacific war kick, I've been working on building as many examples of Guadalcanal combatants as are available in 1/32 scale. Kagemusha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Very cool! I like the paint and weathering a lot. Well done! ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZPetrP Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 The your Airacobra looks very nice. Great job. Congratulation. ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveculp Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Beautiful Airacobra! I've always liked the P-39 for some reason, maybe because it looks like such an engineering challenge. BTW, looking at the grip on the control stick I see what you mean by "scaled up 1/48 parts"! Special Hobby must think the pilots flew with two hands on the stick. JayW and ChuckD 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Beautiful P-400 Chuck! Weathering, painting and cockpit are all first class. Given how terrible the fit is on this kit you did a terrific job. I attempted to build the same kit some years ago and it ended up in my version of the "shelf of doom" - the trash can. Great job! Ernest ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themongoose Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 Oh man you paint color and camo really caught my eye. Superb! Like the chipping on the doors and the cockpit as a whole for sure. ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 Really nice. Thanks for sharing this with us. ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dpgsbody55 Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 Nice Airacobra, and very well detailed. Good work. Cheers, Michael ChuckD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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