Kittyhawk Bell P-39Q/N Airacobra. 1:32

[Shar2]

Bell P-39Q/N Airacobra
KittyHawk 1:32

The P-39 Airacobra was designed in 1937 in response to a tender by the U.S. Army Air Corps. In many respects the P-39 Airacobra was an unusual aircraft. The basic idea was to install a powerful engine as close as possible to the aircraft's centre of gravity in order to improve maneuverability and stability. An Oldsmobile T-9 37 mm cannon fired through an opening in the propeller spinner. The P-39 was the first American fighter to fitted with a freely rotating nose-wheel. The Airacobra also aroused interest in the British Air Force; the RAF however later rejected the aircraft. The Russian Air Force also expressed strong interest in the aircraft and initially took delivery of 179 units. The U.S. Army Corps also equipped some of its newly formed units with theP-39, including the 8th and 35th Fighter Groups which operated out of New Guinea. Often underrated in the West the P-39 proved to be an exceptional aircraft in the Far East. Its top speed of 580 km/h was sufficient to dominate an A6M Zero in a dogfight.

The Model
There’s something about the P-39 that even get’s my normally maritime modelling juices flowing, and having a new one released in 1:32 is always good to see. The kit comes in a very attractive top opening box with an artistic impression of the aircraft in flight high above the clouds, (not the normal operating area for a P-39, but there you go). Inside, there are four double sprues of light grey styrene. Thankfully, Kittyhawk haven’t folded these over, as is their usual modus operandi as the box is big enough to have them laid flat. Also included in the kit is a sprue of clear styrene, a small etched sheet and two decal sheets. The mouldings are very nicely reproduced, but, and it may just be me, the details are a little soft. It may just be the styrene, or my eyes, but they are lacking some sharpness seen in other manufacturer’s releases. There is also a small amount of flash, although, thankfully, this is only seen on the sprues themselves, rather than the parts. There an awful lot of moulding pips, which will make cleaning up of parts a little more time consuming. The kit does feature a lot of the interior with a lot of panels that can be left open to show it all off, which in this scale gives the modeller a great opportunity to really go to town with the super detailing, yet detailed enough out of the box for the less ambitious/OCD modeller to enjoy. The instructions are a little messy, but clear enough to see what goes where, just needs a little careful reading to fit all the parts in their correct positions.

Construction starts in the middle, with the assembly of the lovely little Allison engine. The block and cylinder heads all come as two part sub-assemblies, which are then glued together, followed by the exhaust manifolds, a large two part cooling fan, crankcase, fuel pipes, carburetor, and a host of smaller items. With the engine assembled, construction moves to the cockpit. The long floor section also includes the floor for the gun bay and engine bay and is fitted out with the joystick, prop shaft extension, and a couple of control boxes. The cockpit area is then fitted with the two spent cartridge chutes, and three part seat, which is provided with a full harness. In the gun bay area, four two part oxygen tanks are fitted, whilst in the cockpit area the throttle quadrant, complete with trim wheel are glued into place.

The gun bay is assembled from a selection of trays, braces and semi-bulkheads. The top tray is fitted with a couple of radio/navigation boxes, whilst fitted under the tray is the 20mm cannon, which is made up of two parts and glued to the three piece ammunition tray. The instrument panel consists of two styrene parts onto which the various decal panels are added. The completed panel and rear cockpit bulkhead are then fitted into their respective positions within the cockpit area. The two machine guns fitted above the 20mm cannon are glued to the two piece ammunition tank, after which they are fitted into the gun bay, along with the 20mm ammunition belt and its two guides, whilst the engine assembly is fitted behind the cockpit bulkhead. Above the engine the radio tray is attached to the cockpit bulkhead and is fitted with radio set and control box. The nose wheel bay is now assembled from seven parts and fitted with the nose wheel oleo, which has a separate scissor link and fitted with the two part wheel, and the nose leg retraction actuators. The propeller hub is assembled from five parts and fitted to the forward end of the gun bay via the propshaft fitted earlier.

The fuselage halves are then detailed with the fitting of several fuse boxes and the radiator core before the cockpit/gun bay/engine assembly is glued to one half of the fuselage. Aft of the engine there is another tray, this time fitted with what looks like a gyro compass unit. This tray fits in the top half of the rear fuselage, whilst there is what looks like a piece of fuselage structure fitted behind that. The fuselage can now be closed up.

The propeller is made up from a separate back plate, two piece hub and three separate blades. The spinner is then attached and can be fitted with one of two styles of cannon muzzle depending on the mark being modelled. The roll over hoop is then fitted aft of the seat along with the engine and fixed gun bay panels and the propeller assembly. The cockpit canopy is attached and the removable gun bay panels fitted into place. With the fuselage turned upside down, the radiator exhaust ramp is fitted, along with the oil cooler ramps, rear fuselage panels, two piece DF aerial loop and two piece rudder. The cockpit doors have separate clear parts and can be posed open or closed.

The main wheels consist of two part wheels, single piece oleo, two piece scissor links, upper and lower outer bay doors. The single piece main wheel bays are glued to the upper wing sections, along with the four piece gun bays, after which the wings can be closed up and fitted with the separate flaps, which can be posed retracted or deployed, machine gun pods, with separate muzzles, identification lights, navigation lights, oil cooler intakes, separate ailerons, plus the upper and lower machine gun bay doors. The completed wings are then joined to the fuselage, along with the horizontal tailplanes, complete with separate elevators and the upper fuselage panel is attached. The inner main gear doors are then glued into place, along with their actuators. The modeller has the choice or loading the aircraft with either a single bomb or drop tank. Both are made from two halves and fitted with two cradles before being attached to the centreline.

Decals
There are two decals included in the kit, one large and one small. The larger of the two contains all the national insignias for the four countries schemes included on the paint charts, along with the id markings for each option and the stencils for one aircraft. Whilst beautifully printed in very bright colours and mostly in register, the centre spots on the French and Italian roundels are slightly off centre making them look a little droopy. The Soviet stars and US Stars N Bars are perfect though. The smaller decal sheet contains the instrument panel decals, and the banner, playing card and crest markings for three of the colour options. The options provided are:-

• P-39Q, GC 111/6 “Travail”. Armee de l’Air
• P-39Q-5-BE “Snooks 2nd”, 71st TRS, 82ns TRG, 5th AF, USAAF
• P-39Q-5-BE, 1st AE, 30th GvlAP, 6th IAK, Co of 1st AE, 1st Lt. A. P. Filatov, 1945
• P-39Q, 1st AE, 213th GvIAP, Co of 1st AE Assistant, 1st Lt. M. I.Orlov
• P-39N-1-BE, 9 Gruppo, 4 Stormo, Italian Co-Belligerent AF, June 1944.

Conclusion
This is a very nice new kit of the P-39Q/N with plenty of detail and marking options. Overall a quality kit, although it is let down by a very slight softness on some of the details, whilst at the same being beautiful and crisps in other areas. The interior detail is very well done, and will provide a good base for those modellers who wish to add more. The choices of markings is good, just a shame that all the roundels aren’t centred. Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of and available soon from major hobby shops

[Learstang]

Excellent review! It's nice to see they included a couple of Soviet options in the markings.

Regards,

Jason

[charley420]

Hmm could be tempted

[Smiffy]

Excellent. Saw this kit on Hannants site & was wondering if it was just a rebox of the S/H kit.

May just pick one up, now. Thanks.