A friend and coworker returned to our shop after some time out due to surgery. That day, we spent our lunch break talking about World War Two aircraft, and I showed him my collection via photobucket (to heck with PB). The next day, he gave me this kit. He said, "I want you to build it and display it, because I'll never have the time."
IMG_18881 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
It's a great kit, and I was excited to take it on. The cockpit, radio compartment, and nose gear bay join to make one interior structure. It's one of those assemblies that will go together easily with slower-drying cement. It's also good to use a fuselage half to help align the interior parts.
IMG_1922 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
The pit was relatively easy to paint, but that big nose-weight took some slight filing to fit.
IMG_1928 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_1929 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
The canopy took three tries to get right. It included some slight pressure while the white glue dried.
IMG_2022 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
The kit supplied express masks for the black non-skid on the wings, the black mouth outlines for the nose art, the landing gear wheels, and the windows. I had trouble getting the masks to stick to the windows. I gave the canopy piece a dip in Pledge Floor Care Finish (formerly Future), and I applied the masks about a day later. Maybe I should've given the canopy piece more time before applying the masks. I used Tamiya tape where needed.
IMG_2025 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
Then I started painting. Interior Green went over the canopy and clear side doors.
IMG_2026 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
Then I gave her a black base.
IMG_2027 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
The underside got a mix of flat white and Japanese Army Grey (Tamiya XF-14)
IMG_2039 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
The brown color is Tamiya Flat Earth XF-52.
IMG_2042 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
The green is Tamiya OD (XF-62).
IMG_2046 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
One thing I didn't like about this kit was its propeller assembly. The kit propellers come as individual blades, which are assembled onto the hub. The pitch angle of the blades are set by the modeller to 37 degrees. It's a challenge to see 37 degrees of pitch angle on a 1/48 scale prop, but I did my best. I thought I had a picture of the assembly, but I'm sorry. I just can't find it.
After some Light Blue (XF-23) on the tail and prop spinner, I applied some Future. Then the decal work started the next day. This kit has beautiful decals, which was a treat. My previous build (Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat) had horrendous decals. These were a joy, but they took a while. There were many small stencil decals for things like inspection ports, access panels, escape handles and fuel fill caps. I started with the big decals, and I worked my way through the small ones.
IMG_2072 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2073 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2077 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
The model got more Future for a gloss coat, and it got a panel-line pin-wash with Windsor and Newton Artist Oils thinned with mineral spirits. The exhaust and gun port smoke residue was done with Tamiya X-19 Smoke. I made an error here. I planted my big, fat thumb in the right wing smoke residue when it was still wet. Then I set the model down in my holder which marred the exhaust smoke residue down the fuselage. Then I made the mess bigger by trying to fix it quickly.
IMG_2084 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
I huffed, set it down, cracked a beer, then I decided to come back to it the next day. Here's how she turned out.
IMG_2092 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2094 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2095 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2096 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2097 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2098 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2099 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2100 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2101 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2102 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2103 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2104 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2106 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2109 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2110 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
I put the Airacobra on the shelf next to my Wildcat. It seemed fitting, Army and Marine Corps fighting together throught the South Pacific. One was at New Guinea, and one was at Guadalcanal.
IMG_2111 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
IMG_2113 by Christopher Ridle, on Flickr
But, that didn't last long. I packed up the P-400 and took it to work this morning. I gave it back to Stu.