1/72 Bell "Bantam" from the Special Hobby XP-77

[Brian da Basher]

In July of 1940, after learning of the fall of France, Sisowath Monivong, the King of Cambodia, died suddenly of a heart attack. His grandson, Norodom Sihanouk, was appointed monarch by the Crown Council. The Japanese were quick to take advantage of the situation and soon controlled most of the vast French East Asian colonies. Before long, the once benevolent Imperial Japanese Army were brutalizing their new Cambodian subjects. The Cambodian people rose up against their Japanese overlords after a radio broadcast call to arms by King Sihanouk in March, 1941 and were eventually able to take back most of the countryside as well as the port of Kampong Saom and the old capitol of Odong.

At first the Cambodians fought the Japanese with old Nieuport Delages and SPADs left over from their former French colonial rulers. These obsolete aircraft weren't a match against a superior enemy and something had to be done.

A U.S. Marine Corps pursuit group commander, Lt. Col. Charles E. Claire, was enlisted to form an American volunteer squadron in May, 1941. Unfortunately, no modern U.S. aircraft could be spared, but the rejected Bell YP-45 point-defense fighter proposal was ordered into production under the name "Bantam". The Bantam was light, made mostly of non-strategic materials and small enough that three squadrons of them along with their pilots and crews arrived at Kampong Saom aboard the merchant ship S.S. Rube Goldberg in August, 1941.

"Sihanouk's Sharks" used the speed and maneuverability of their Bantams (not to mention the intimidation factor of their spats) to great advantage over the Japanese and eventually achieved a 22 1/2 to 1 kill ratio. Col. Claire and his Sharks quickly became famous and almost eclipsed their more well-known countrymen in the Flying Tigers after the Cambodian victory in the spring offensive in 1942 and the liberation of Phnom Penh the following July.

To this day, Col. (later Maj. Gen.) Claire and his small group of volunteers are credited with helping found the modern Royal Cambodian Air Force. One of those Bantams, Old No. 38, can be seen on display at the Khmer Museum of Technology in Suong.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The base kit for this project was the very tiny Special Hobby Bell XP-77. To give you an idea how small this thing is, the wingspan is only about 4 inches (10 cm). Despite the slick packaging and resin extras, it has a very small parts count and is basically like a short-run kit. Here's what it's supposed to look like:



Of course, there was no way mine was going to look anything like the box art when I got through with it. The spats were decided on when I bought the kit, but I also decided to replace the kit prop spinner with the tip of a drop tank for a racier look. I also decided replace the kit exhausts with ones from my spares box and as the vac canopy in the kit was so nice, I merely cut a windscreen from clear plastic. This was a good thing as it allowed me to show off the nice resin cockpit, which I took the time to detail. I also opted to save the very nice resin kit engine and added a blanking plate in the intake. I also added another "oil cooler" intake on the belly and a tail wheel as well as the guns which were cut from landing gear legs.

The first shot shows my attempt at cockpit detailing. Maybe not the best, but passable when you consider the entire thing isn't even as big as my thumbnail.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The entire model, including the shark's mouth, was painted by hand with acrylics. I used Testor's Olive Drab and Polly Scale Light Olive on the uppers and Model Masters Primer Gray on the undersides. The 'pit was painted in Polly Scale Italian Green and the guns with craft-store gunmetal. I used Model Masters Steel dry-brushed over with gunmetal and then Model Masters Rust on the exhausts. The prop blades were done with Model Masters Steel and the shark's mouth and tires with artists acrylics. The decals were from a 1/144 Blue Rider Cambodian Air Force sheet except for the codes and kill markings which came from a 1/72 Flying Tigers sheet.

It was a lot of fun building something relatively simple and taking a break from rigging. I hope you enjoyed my Bantam as much as I enjoyed building it!

Brian da Basher

[HOG]

Hi Brian
Another nice one!

Cheers 
Gary

[Arc3371]

I agree

[kitnut617]

It's fricking awesome   

[Ed S]

Once again, BdB has another beauty.



Ed

[sotoolslinger]

Only you could make what I have always considered one of the uglier Xplanes such a thing of beauty

[Maverick]

I always thought the XP-77 was a neat little ship.  Turned out a treat Brian and as always disturbingly 'real' looking.

Regards,

Mav

[frank2056]

That looks great Brian; I didn't recognize the kit at all in the first few pictures. I thought the donor kit was some sort of Mig-3 or Me 209 kit

I think your version looks far, far better and more "real" than the XP-77

[Glenn]

Hey Brian, if you'd have been a 'hood' in the 'Roaring 20's' they'd have called you 'Spats'!
Great as always.
Glenn

[NARSES2]

I like that 

[Mossie]

Great stuff Bri!  If your making a retro-history of the P-77, can we expect a further leap backward bipe with a radial???

[Weaver]

That's really nice Brian! 

I think what makes it look better than the XP-77 is the open cockpit: it disguises the small size a bit, and loses that "pop-eyed" look the original has.

[lancer]

He's done it again. Amazing little build Brian.