F2H-2P USMC Photo Banshee

An old Monogram P-38 drop tank with sheet styrene and some Apoxy Sculpt putty added makes for a pretty convincing photo flash bulb pod.  

I used dividers to equally space or “walk out” the pattern of flash bulbs.  

Flash bulb holes were drilled and countersunk.  

These holes were later filled with white glue, painted chrome silver and covered with a generous drop of Micro Krystal Kleer to simulate all the flash bulbs.  

Most of the camera detail cannot be seen once everything is closed up.  

At least the camera “lenses” I added give some detail behind the windows.  

What started off as a folded wing display turned against me—frustration led to pinning the outer wings in place with brass rods. Too many fiddly bits and a poor design by Kitty Hawk.  

Painted stripes with a little bleed-through, which was later touched up.  

The grey Flory wash is applied, left to dry and then wiped off in the direction of airflow with a damp cloth.  

The Flory wash left a faint grey highlight in all the recessed details. Subtle—just as I’d hoped.  

Landing gear was very fiddly but super glue strengthened the joints.