Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten)
You are on a roll my friend ! 🙂
I have 3 of the old Monogram kits that I had started about 6 months ago, so I will definitely be watching for updates on these two.
At the time, I wanted to build some P-39 / P-400 planes. So I started working on them and did some research on the type. Unfortunately something came up, (spinal surgery) and I didn't get any further than what you see here.
I have assembled the cockpits and cleaned up / assembled the fuselage halves, so they should go together fairly quick. I wanted to make a Pacific P-39 / P-400 model, and also one from a nearby somewhat local Florida based WW2 Army training field. The last model of the trio would end up as a Russian Lend lease aircraft. That was the plan anyhow.
Mine are from the 1989 edition, and they were part of the Confederate Air Force / Ghost Squadron release.
I have not built / completed one of these Monogram P-39 kits since I was a kid, and that happened somewhere around 1974 / 75 era when I built a Monogram White Box version. It had decals for "Hells Bells" and if I remember correctly, it had a large shark teeth mouth on the nose, was painted in British colors with US insignia, and "US Army" under the wings... Those were the days !
Several months ago I picked up this book "Pacific Profiles Volume Six" by Michael John Claringbould. It covers the P-39 / P-400 Allied Fighter units that operated in the South and Southwest Pacific during 1942-1944. It is a treasure trove of valuable information, and it is loaded with a lot of original photos, and it covers the unit histories in detail.
It's also loaded with accurate well researched color profiles that were based on actual photographs and years of painstaking research as the author traveled to these various former battle sites.
You are a good man to build these kits as a gift for your friend.
