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1/72 HobbyBoss P-39 Airacobra


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Nothing special here, really, just wanting to participate! :bounce:

My Eduard 1/144 FW-190 started to annoy me and, after a visit to Hyperscale, I realized I should've completely assembled it before priming instead of trying to paint some parts while still on the sprue. Oh well.

This build is the first one I'll have completed after 20+ years away. It's not perfect by any means. Nor is the kit. It's a Hobby Boss "Easy Assembly" so it's not really a "serious" kit. That's fine by me because all I'm doing is getting my basic skills back and learning how to do things I'd never done as a kid (like filling gaps).

It went together very easily, and dry fit together pretty well. In hindsight, I should not have painted the nose gear before assembly, since I'll probably just have to repaint it after priming and painting, but it's part of the cockpit assembly so I ended up painting it. Cockpit was brush-painted with Tamiya acrylics and a Vallejo umber wash, so you're not missing anything - and there is literally no cockpit detail. A seat, a control stick, and a blank "instrument panel" that I painted gloss black. No raised detail, no decal for gauges. Nothing. :huh:

I got overzealous on some parts, particularly one of the tailplanes, and sanded the detail right off it (see Pic #2). Oh well. That's why I'm starting on a cheap kit! Same with scribing. It's just a little too small for my Trumpeter scriber, I think, and I ended up leaving the panel line in some places and scribing the plastic. Guess I'll touch with thinned Tamiya Basic Putty and try to scrape off any excess with a #11 blade instead of sanding.

This baby, unsurprisingly, is an awful tail-sitter. I'm gonna try coating some fishing weights in PVA glue and rolling them into the nose and hopefully they'll stay put after a couple hours in the same position. The instructions have some pin and tube assembly fitting into the back of the propeller spinner so it can spin after construction, but it's too loose and sloppy. I'm just gonna tack it in place with CA and then run Extra Thin around the rest of it.

Pointers and constructive criticism are much appreciate, as like I say, I'm just trying to rebuild my basic skill set after a couple decades! Cheers, lads. ^_^

6NtGivB.jpg

t4glWO3.jpg

2CIEpqM.jpg

Gonna try to finish filling, do more sanding, and try rescribing with a template tomorrow.

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Nothing wrong with a 'easybuild' kit. They are good fodder for skills development and make pleasing models- I love them. They're also a good way to use up aftermarket decal options to create squadrons of aircraft cheaply.

Just a quick pointer- with this kit, make sure you mask the front wheel well before you spray any primer/surface colour- it WILL find it's way up through the cockpit and on to the inside of the canopy. Don't ask how I know...

Will

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Ha, thank you for the pointer, Will! I will admit, I had planned to wrap masking tape around the front gear and ... that was it. I was going to leave everything else open. I might try shoving some tissue paper up the gap so I can still prime the nose gear doors. I have an airbrush (Iwata NEO) but I'll admit that it still terrifies me. I'll be priming with Tamiya rattle can and maybe touching up with Vallejo primer through the airbrush if necessary.

I need some Olive Drab paint, so I guess it's off to HobbyTown USA (ugh, yes there is actually a nationwide chain of hobby stores in the US called that). They're pretty much useless for anything but paint, but them's the breaks. I should research how to make a pin wash, too. I'm surprised at how detailed the panels are on this model for the price.

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I'm going to mark this with the included Soviet decals (even as a kid I was always more interested in "their side" than "our side", but I'm rapidly developing an obsession with B-24 Liberators).

I was wondering if anyone had any favorite / unusual P-39 markings that they could recommend (for a future build in a larger scale where it's worth spending for extras, upgrades, PE, etc).

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Oh nice! That is what I call a complete aircraft history. I had the good fortune of living in Moscow for a year about a decade ago and the amount of history there is astonishing. I wouldn't trade my year in Russia for much of anything. Good ol' 42911 just may be my next (edit: next P-39Q) build. Probably try to do it in 1/48 though.

Edited by caszerino
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Fantastic start!

Welcome back to the hobby....I returned after an hiatus of more than 30 years and it's just brilliant.

Love the Airacobra!

Get some lead in the nose so she's not a tail sitter :coolio::coolio:

If you haven't done it yet try and find a sneaky way to do it!

Great subject you've chosen....I couldn't resist and built one here's a snap

10384219_293900524105079_746373777641117

Good luck and have a great time.

Cheers

bruce

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Thank you for the kind words, Bruce, and thanks for sharing your Airacobra! Very nice! I've dipped the canopy in Future, that's been drying for about 35 hours now so should be good in the morning, I've masked the nose gear, done most of the gap filling (I finally bothered to actually read the tube of Tamiya Basic Putty and learned it can be thinned with lacquer thinner, so I squeezed some into a sealable container and made sort of my own Mr. Surfacer 500 while I wait for my actual Mr. Surfacer to arrive from Hong Kong) and scraped off the excess putty. Now I just need to sand, try my hand and re-scribing (that tailplane where I sanded off the detail is a lost cause, sadly), and then, finally, I think I'll be ready to prime!

I wasn't thinking yesterday and I went ahead and glued the prop spinner on. Tacked it with CA and then welded it with Extra Thin ... before I'd put any weights in the nose. :banghead: So I think what I'm gonna do now is Blu-Tack a couple fishing weights up through the nose gear bay. Hopefully they stay put, if not I'll have to use CA or PVA or figure something else out. Now I just need to order some weights, as obviously I'll be using a lot of them!

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