Cdn Colin
In that case I'll try extra hard not to foul it up! How many of these kits have you built over the years?
The whole Cactus Air Force stroy is fascinating, especially the ArmyAir Force's role in it.
Uncle John stayed with me and my wife for a couple months last winter.. I picked his brain pretty much clean (figuring I may not have another chance..)... The stories he told of life and the conditions on Guadalcanal were mind-boggling.. And I've been in some real sh*t-holes around the world, believe me.. (He STILL hates rice to this day, lol..)
There's only so much one can out into words, spoken words anyway, and without the sights, sounds, and yes, smells of a combat zone, the words just don't tell the whole story... No civilian who spent his life in Ft Living Room can say honestly, "I know what ya mean."... (And it's not the civilian's fault..)
Anyway, I managed to convince him to do an "Oral History" of life in the Cactus Air Force for the CAF's American Airpower Museum and sent it off to Midland, ricky-tick, lol..
I think I've built that P-400/P-39 at least ten times in my modeling lifetime, lol.. The last one was about two or three years ago..
Would't be right if'n I left John out of the shot, lol..
Another thing about John.. He's 5'11" tall.. The max-height of a pilot that a P-38/P-400 cockpit was designed to hold was 5'8', lol.. He spent some long, uncomfortable hours in that bird..
During the "Battle of Bloody Ridge", he flew several missions that day, providing CAS for the 800 Marines on the ground that were fighting against over 6000 Japs... BTW, by then, September '44, the original squadron-strength of 14 Airacobras in the 67th was down to five flyable P-400s, due to the Japs constant shelling of Henderson, and only enough fuel for three that day...
Heck, rather than type, here's a story about the guy that flew that P-400 you're building..
http://www.ghspaulding.com/guadalcanal.htm
I didn't know about this stuff for years and years, until after I'd retired from the Army... He'd always say something like, "Yeah, I flew P-39s in the PTO" or, 'Yep, the 'Canal was a real headache. Them Marines really got hammered and we got shelled about every night"... He did tell the tale of "Washing Machine Charlie" several times though, and always was funny about it..