I've been correcting and super detailing the Kittyhawk P-39 since it was first released, and this is how far I've gotten. It's mostly my own fault, as I chose to correct some of the shortcomings of the kit with a good deal of aftermarket and by chopping up a Special Hobby Airacobra for correction parts. i just finished adding the Special Hobby belly to the Kittyhawk fuselage and upper wings, so I thought I would crank out my first-ever iModeler post.

23 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Thanks, Tom; The jury is still out on markings, but at this moment I am leaning towards a P-400 from Guadalcanal. I think the British camo scheme and the shark teeth might be just what it needs to make it pop.

Does that plane fit in your garage?! I don't know what scale the plane is, but it looks BIG because of the details. I'm sure it's NOT, but it looks like it's MUCH bigger than it would seem to be in the pictures!

WOW ! This is fantastic.

Hi John
You're doing a fantastic job, and I am looking forward to the end result.

Question for you, since you are "Into" this one, in your opinion, how would this kit build up OOB? I have the kit, and have been toying with building it. Thanks in advance!

Freddie from LI

Thanks Bernard and Freddie. Freddie, Accuracy and shape-wise, I was a little disappointed in both the Special Hobby and Kittyhawk 1/32 kits, but I think Kittyhawk is the better of the two for an OOB project. It will look the part and the fit and engineering are pretty good. While it’s not a Tamiya kit, I would recommend it.

Wow - heck of an effort going into that one! Looking great!

Thanks for the nudge, Tom. I've been plugging away at it steadily, though my progress hasn't yet been very photogenic, so I only recently took more pictures. I've ben able to add the lower wings and start work on the cockpit.

The biggest progress since the last post is my P-39 has devolved into a P-400. I finally committed to markings; I just couldn't resist the RAF Camouflage and sharkmouth of the Guadalcanal Airacobras. So, I've started adding details specific to P-400s: the blue position lights behind the cockpit, an additional light under the left wing (sadly, I'll be painting over the nearby red green and amber lights, as they were not installed on P-400s) and cockpit details. I've got resin twelve-stub exhausts from a Special Hobby release, and I'll borrow a Trumpeter P-40B prop for the Curtiss blades on the P-400.

Another big part of the progress was building a jig to set the wing dihedral and insure general alignment as I put it all together. It doubles as a great handle and protects some of the underside details, so I'm leaving it taped in place until painting begins.

16 attached images. Click to enlarge.