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Bell P-63E KingCobra 1:48


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I reviewed this one and went straight on to building it, mainly because I fancied it (in a non-biblical way), so off I went.  It's pretty much OOB apart from a few alterations I made to the wing-mounted landing light and due to a few of my own screw-ups, and of course you have to bear in mind that it's a short-ish run kit, which always needs more care and attention to fit and finish than a mainstream kit.  It's my first try at an all-over natural metal/silver finish, and I'm reasonably pleased with how it has come out :) The exhaust staining is perhaps a bit over-done, but I think it adds a bit of drama to the scheme, and the red spinner also helps to lift it a bit too.  I chose to paint the gear legs green as an accent, although many examples have silver legs, but green ones are seen.  What else?  Paints were Gunze, with Alclad white Aluminium as the main shade, which needed straining due to this weird degradation that seems to occur with their metallics, which renders then gritty in the bottle after a few years in stock.

 

Anyway - on to the pics:

 

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I'm sure I've probably forgotten a few things, but I'm certain the world won't stop spinning as a result, and as I'm not competitionally inclined, I don't care now I've called time on it ^_^  You can see the build thread here, and thanks for watching ;)  I'll be appearing in an Me.262 ST Group Build here next if you fancy heckling as I go along :tease:

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Nice model!

When I was a nipper I was fascinated with the Airacobra/Kingcobra, probably because it was a little odd and I still have a soft spot for it, so it's always a pleasure to see a good-un.

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Cheers Gorby - I also liked it, and can remember being a bit disappointed that it was considered a bit lacklustre by the allies, while the Russians seemed to really like it :shrug:

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33 minutes ago, Mike said:

Cheers Gorby - I also liked it, and can remember being a bit disappointed that it was considered a bit lacklustre by the allies, while the Russians seemed to really like it :shrug:

Yes I have read that, but I believe it was mainly because the allies mainly need it for high altitude, where it didn't perform well, and the Russians used it at much lower altitude, where is preformed much better. I don't know how true that is.

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13 minutes ago, Gorby said:

Yes I have read that, but I believe it was mainly because the allies mainly need it for high altitude, where it didn't perform well, and the Russians used it at much lower altitude, where is preformed much better. I don't know how true that is.

Eastern front was mostly under 10,000 ft and the P-39 worked well in that envelope, note I'm on this tablet and don't know how to copy links but note that iirc the second and third high scoring VVS aces flew them, the other common myth is they got used for ground support, though if Google up VVS aces they were flown by many.  

 

They both also served as trainer's into the fifties as the tricycle UC was great for jet pilots

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Thanks for the kind words & likes guys :)

 

5 hours ago, Stew Dapple said:

I seem to recall that there is a P-39/P-400/P-63 Group Build coming up later this year... 

I think mine might be over 25% complete :(

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19 hours ago, Mike said:

Alclad white Aluminium as the main shade, which needed straining due to this weird degradation that seems to occur with their metallics, which renders then gritty in the bottle after a few years in stock.

Well done... nice work!

 

I think that the Alclad have problem of "age"... because I had the same problem times ago... I had to throw everything... Now, I will buy Alclad only if I need of it...

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1 minute ago, matteo44 said:

Now, I will buy Alclad only if I need of it...

I think I'm going to have to follow the same tack unless I can find a more stable alternative.  It's a shame, but if you saw my shelves stacked with bottles that may or may not be ruined, it's a substantial investment to leave to go grainy. :fraidnot:

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Nice one.  I've always liked the shape of the Cobras.  Had an .049 control line semi-scale Airacobra when I was a kid.  Sturdy little blighter, as I remember... Took a lot of "unscheduled landings" and kept coming back for more.

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2 minutes ago, Mike said:

I think I'm going to have to follow the same tack unless I can find a more stable alternative.  It's a shame, but if you saw my shelves stacked with bottles that may or may not be ruined, it's a substantial investment to leave to go grainy. :fraidnot:

:(:(

I saw your shelves stacked ... and I image the big problem :weep:... but I saw that not all bottles became old... I remember that I had throw White Aluminium, Dark Aluminium, Steel... but other bottles are good even now... Pale burn metal, Jet exaust... :shrug:

Maybe this problem is only in a type of products?  I don't know... :hmmm:

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1 minute ago, matteo44 said:

:(:(

I saw your shelves stacked ... and I image the big problem :weep:... but I saw that not all bottles became old... I remember that I had throw White Aluminium, Dark Aluminium, Steel... but other bottles are good even now... Pale burn metal, Jet exaust... :shrug:

Maybe this problem is only in a type of products?  I don't know... :hmmm:

I have found that the darker shades were most prone to clumping, but after an issue with one of the lighter ones, I've taken to straining them all.  It's a bind, but what can you do?  I don't know whether it's my imagination, but I also think there might be some reduction in the paint's durability too :hmmm:

 

3 minutes ago, Uncle Pete said:

Nice one.  I've always liked the shape of the Cobras.  Had an .049 control line semi-scale Airacobra when I was a kid.  Sturdy little blighter, as I remember... Took a lot of "unscheduled landings" and kept coming back for more.

 

I had a generic control-line plane as a kid, and just as I managed to get it off the ground the first time (years after construction - mostly by my dad), it nosed over and sheared off the fuel needle for an engine that was no-longer available in the pre-eBay era :(

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2 minutes ago, Mike said:

years after construction

Mine was a plastic ready-to-fly job.  I built a few C/Ls and they all shared the same grim fate, never held up like the RTFs.

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Stupendous!  

 

Great finish and I particularly like the exhaust staining effect.

 

Regards

 

Dave

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