Today the various bits n pieces were put together.
A little paint chipping at the usual places (walkways & ammo loading panels), some exhaust stains and dry pastel for dusting the wheels and lower surfaces.
I opted to add the belly drop tank, since the 'N' model airacobras used them almost always, due to their shorter range. All gun barrels were replaced by brass tubing of various diameters (larger for nose cannon)
The kit was then placed on a quickly built airfiled base with a soviet ground crewman ('defected' from an ICM Luftwaffe crew kit) giving an 'all clear' before engine start up.
An oil barrel was also painted, weathered/rusted and placed in the scene, with the USA inscriptions highlighted, so as to accentuate the 'Lend/Lease' nature of the plane (and its consumables).
Time is April 1945 and place is the borders of the 3rd Reich, during the start of the Berlin offensive.
This was a really nice kit, I will be building more in the (very near) future.
I hope all is well with Mach1, whom I wish to thank for this fun build opportunity.
Some pictures of the completed build.