1/72 P-40E "Star Dust"

I built this scheme back in high school using the old Monogram Pro Modeler kit. I always liked it and I've always wanted to build a better one. 

Kit side panels, really nicely detailed. I really enjoyed painting these. 

Instrument panel has surface details for the dials, plus the decal sheet includes instrument faces on a clear background. The gauges fit perfectly over the molded in detail. Seat belts are from Kits World. Better looking than just regular decals, but I'm not completely happy with them. 

Carb intake on left fuselage half was short shot. I squared up the intake on the panel line and then glued a small piece of sheet styrene to the end. Once it fully dried, I was able to cut and sand it to shape. Pretty happy with the results. 

Been a while since the last update and I missed a bunch of pictures. This is bottom coat of neutral gray over the preshading. 

Neutral gray underside done along with a Hasegawa "N" and an Airfix "C". 

Decals applied to all three. 

Starting the weathering on the "E" and the Airfix "C" 

More weathering. Experimenting with the chipping and playing around with some AK weathering pencils. 

All finished up. Not perfect, but I'm pretty pleased with it. Loving the Special Hobby kits. I picked up quite a few more for the stash. 

One of my favorite parts of the new Special Hobby kits. Someone finally got the intake correct. Compare to the Hasegawa/Academy kits and you'll see what I mean.