Seversky AP-7 Jacqueline Cochran, 1938 Bendix winner - Modified 1/72 RarePlane vacuform

Here is the Seversky AP-7 as flown to victory by Jacqueline Cochran in the 1938 Bendix air race.

A RarePlane P-35 vacuformed kit of old (in fact the first, no-surface-detail issue of it) was used as a base for this model (there was a later, much more detailed release). 

The modifications and detailing needed were extensive, and I invite you to have a look at the development of the construction here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2020/10/rareplane-172nd-seversky-vacuform-kit.html

Decals came kindly from a set that was commissioned by Morgan Girling, of the Seattle area, my gratitude to her. The decals have some minor inaccuracies, a couple are a wee-bit off size, and the "13" on the fuselage clearly shows in photos a light color outline. The number itself may have not been black as depicted, as it doesn't seem to quite match in hue the "Sever/Sky" motif. Anyway, nitpickings.

If pursuing to replicate any of the several Seversky racers and civil models, attention has to be paid to a number of details, as they clearly differed from one another regarding marks, landing gear, canopy, antennas, side fuselage hatches and fuselage windows.

If any of the existing kits in the market (the already mentioned much more detailed version of the Rareplane vac kit, the MPM injected kit, etc.) is used as a base for these racing/civilian models, any military equipment has to be removed and changes made. I purchased -but discarded- as a potential base kit for these builds a resin Choroszy P-35 / S-2 (Frank Fuller #77 racer) as it had inaccuracies, molding problems, flawed and incomplete decals and detail-matching problems in the belly area. 

Checking your kit against photos (not just profiles of plans or drawings) of the actual plane is a must if your goal is to obtain a reasonably accurate model.

Bear in mind that, as it is often the case, the same plane may change during its life regarding details and marks.

Racers are especially attractive and a wonderful option for those kits languishing in the stash that can be adapted to represent them, usually with only a few changes, providing a spiffy model and an exciting story to go with it.

If you go for the RarePlane vac version (still present in the second hand market after all these years), remember to look for the later, more detailed version, and not the plain one I used, as the latter will make you work quite a bit more.