OK, Here is my rendition of Hasagawa's 1/48 P400 Airacobra. Its painted in the Markings for the 374th FG, 67FS in Guadalcanal. The US Army took these birds after the English rejected them for whatever reason. Exhaust and powder stains were done with Mars Black oil paint from Grumbacker(sp?) and the rest of the finish was Testors ModeMaster Paints. So have a look and all coments are welcome. STUG




Thanks for looking, Comments and questions are welcome. STUG

Your build looks good.

This is a kit I am really, really tempted to get. What are your thoughts on it after building it? Are the decals you used from the kit or aftermarket? Any things that gave you trouble? Any thoughts on the kit would be appreciated.

Thanks, and again, nice work.
Leon

Thanks comment. Myimpression of the is that its a great kit. I only wish that Hasagawa would provided someting for seatbelts. otherwise it all went together well. I used the it decals which were easy enough to place with just water but once microsol as applied stuck instantly where they were set. I noticed this with all of Hasagawa's kit decals though. So it should be nothing new to Hasagawa fans. I would definately build another though with aftermarket decals for a Russian lend-lease bird. An altogher great kit. STUG

Looking good Steve. One minor comment though, your wing guns need painting.
An interesting site; http://www.ghspaulding.com/guadalcanal.htm
The reasons the British rejected the P-400 for combat in Europe: (not in order)
1) Visibility from cockpit in adverse weather conditions very poor; in heavy rain the RAF pilot's notes said; (i)lower door windows
(ii)reduce speed to 150 mph IAS
(iii) lower flaps 1/4
(iv) select fine pitch
(v) watch temperatures

2) Poor performance above 15,000 feet. The air intake behind the canopy, for aerodynamic reasons stopped working properly at certain flight angles; the engine was forced into giving lower power as it was starved of air. The small wing didn't allow good high altitude manouverability.

2) Badly designed canopy - low, non jettisonable roof (the similar earlier Hawker Typhoon 'car door' canopy was much better) and poor entry/ exit in emergency

3) Low servicability.

4)The RAF had access to sufficent numbers of Spitfires by the time the P-400 became available.

That looks good.
How did you make the exhaust stains? I would guess either pastels or painted on with an airbrush.
I can't think of anything missing, except for the cannon barrel going through the spinner.

Thanks for the comments. First I didn't paint the barrels for one good reason and it's note another comment as well. That kits was started while liing in VA. I moved in mid construction and lost the barrel for the spinner, So all are going to be replaced with tubing soon.
Now the stains were a great experiment and they took five minutes to do. I always had troble with gun ports and airbrushing the stains. So I decided to try oils. Rowan and few others hinted at them for wood grain and oil streaks on engines, I found they work well for just about everything. Just put a little dab at the barrel with one brush, then with another pull the paint in the direction of airflow till the desired tone is reached. The same goes for the exhausts except from not just doin the tips i also made line above and below the row exhausts. the used varios shaped brushes to thin out and blend the paint. STUG