Revell 1/72 P-39 Airacobra ++Finished++

[John]

I mentioned in my Airfix Bf109 thread that my friends had a desert-camouflaged RAF P-39 Airacobra. My memory of it is that it was based on the cover painting of a Commando Comic called "The Cobra's Nest", the plot of which involved a squadron of RAF P-39s deployed to the desert to interdict the Afrika Korps supply columns. Exciting stuff and actually quite plausible. This is the cover:

 

 

I don't know if they had the Airfix or Revell kit but I knew this was a cool plane and I needed to get one. For some reason I don't really remember seeing the Airfix Series 1 bagged Airacobra locally, but the local model shop had the Revell kit in this boxing:

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-great-britain-h-640-bell-p-39-airacobra--155734

 

The kit had a particularly cool feature in that it had a separate engine cover. That was the last part of the kit I had, at the bottom of a spares box, moulded in a nice light turquoise plastic. I don't think the model was ever painted.

 

I've never built another 1/72 Airacobra but I've built the Monogram kit and I have a couple of Eduards. 

 

Happy memories of this kit then, so when I saw this on the 'Bay the temptation was too much:

 

 

Not the original but an early 1970s 3-in-1 reboxing. I had a few of these, mostly WW1 aircraft. 

 

I like the P-400.

 

John

[modelling minion]

Nice choice John, I do like an Airacobra.

I never built this kit but did build a few Airfix ones and have since built the 1/48 Monogram one ( a great kit ) so I'm interested to see how this one goes together.

I think most of us on here were inspired to build a few models based on Commando comics, I know I was!

[John]

But Percy, it's green...

 

 

not Revell GB's attractive turquoise plastic this time.

 

There's that cool open engine hatch:

 

 

I'm going to fix it closed this time,

 

John

[dogsbody]

My first Revell P-39 was from one of those triple kits:

 

 

 

A few years later, I replaced it with this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[TonyW]

Nice choice. What scheme will you be going for?

 

 

I've never built the kit but I have one in my collection. It's the UK issue, with Brian Knight artwork. It's shown here, bottom left...

 

 

[John]

8 hours ago, dogsbody said:

My first Revell P-39 was from one of those triple kits:

 

 

 

A few years later, I replaced it with this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

I've never seen that set, it would have been on a birthday or Christmas list if I had 🙂

2 hours ago, TonyW said:

Nice choice. What scheme will you be going for?

 

 

I've never built the kit but I have one in my collection. It's the UK issue, with Brian Knight artwork. It's shown here, bottom left...

 

 

Yep, that's the one I had. Nice collection. It's only within the last couple of years that I found out that Revell GB released their own boxings of the Wildcat and the P40. I had both kits but with US markings. I've no memory at all of the GB kits as I would certainly have bought them if I'd seen them, particularly the Kittyhawk. 

I'm thinking the Guadalcanal option for the P-39 this time although that could be, as they say, subject to change 😀

John 

[John]

Going together nicely. Needs a bit of sanding here and there and there's some flash but no real issues:

 

 

John

[modelling minion]

Thats come together very quickly John, and very nicely too, not a nasty gap to be seen anywhere.

[John]

A coat of Humbrol 23 to act as a primer and kill that green plastic:

 

 

John

[PeterB]

Hi John,

 

Looks like a nice kit. I built most of the 1960's Revell UK issues from both WWI and WWII, but not the P-39, Your boxing looks good as it includes the P-400 I always fancied building though it is a bit of a stretch using the same airframe as the P-39Q I suspect, as according to my Mushroom Models book it was virtually identical to the P-39D but with longer 20mm cannon protruding through the spinner. The prop may have been different (Curtiss Electric on the D replaced by an Aeroproducts one on the Q?), not sure about that, and some P-400 in US service seem to have a 12 stub exhaust as in the P-39F I think, though the RAF ones seem to have had only 6 stubs. I notice it mentions "extra parts" on the box top?

 

 The only "cobra" I built was the Airfix one, but I now have 2 Hobbyboss ones in my stash - the Airfix one seems to have serious shape problems and the prop is way too small so I binned it. The main problem I have noticed with kits of the P-39 is that according to my books the Russians were not fans of the underwing 50 cal pods and yet manufacturers always always show them in place, but the pic on your boxing looks to have got it right I think. The Hobbyboss kits are supposedly a P-39N and a P-39Q but I can't see any difference, except for the decs! Depending on the model, the engine mounted cannon and 2x50 on top of the nose should be supplemented by a slightly staggered pair of wing guns - 30cal I believe, though these were removed if the gondola mounted 50 cal was fitted in the later marks.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited May 17, 2020 by PeterB

[Dansk]

Supercool feature for that generation being able to have the engine displayed eh John? Great progress you have made with this. 

Who doesnt love those old revell box illustrations @TonyW? Theyre so great.

[John]

I think Nick Millman has suggested that the never released FROG kit was the least bad of the 1/72 P-39s shape-wise. 

I've only ever seen Russian moulded examples on here and they're pretty rough. 

For some reason I don't remember seeing the Airfix kit that frequently when I was young, which would be why I had the Revell one.

I had quite a few of the Revell fighters but by no means all of them. They scored big in 1969 because their Spitfire, Hurricane and Bf109 were Battle of Britain era versions and looked like the ones from the film whereas the Airfix versions were later. 

I liked their WW1 kits, in fact I think the first WW1 aircraft I built was their Nieuport 28.

John 

[PeterB]

Hi John,

 

Yes there were some very passable Revell WWI kits in the 1960's, including the Fokker Eindekker, Sopwith and Fokker Triplanes, MS "Bullet", Nieuport 17 and 28, SE5A, a Camel F1 and the Spad XIII, not to mention the Albatros DIII and Fokker DVII all of which I still have. They filled quite a few gaps and where they duplicated Airfix their kits looked better - until they released the Pup and DH4, Airfix had a problem with skinny crew and ditto interplane struts as I recall.. The WWII batch suffered a bit from the removable engine cowlings/panels and in some cases opening cockpits which made them a bit "toy like" but at the time they seemed a good idea and I loved them. Besides the Airacobra I think the only other one I did not get was the Stearman PT-17 "Kaydet". Again they filled a lot of gaps in the Airfix range of the day - I-16, PZL-11A, P-36, Ki43, 61 and 84, Mc 200 Saetta, Tempest and F2F-2 to name a few. As you say their Spit Mk1A and Bf 109E were very good for the time, though I seem to remember their Hurricane was not so good with a flat lower rear fuselage, and their Fw-190A always looked a bit small to me, but hey - they were cheap and they fairly "churned them out" - half a dozen new kits a year if not more!

 

Happy days

 

Pete

Edited May 17, 2020 by PeterB

[dogsbody]

The first aircraft kit that I ever built was the Revell 1/72 Nieuport 17, in the Fall of '66. The next one, a Christmas gift, was their 1/72 Albatros D.III. And that's how it began.

A few years later, I did a Revell Fokker D.VII, then a Sopwith Triplane. I have a Tripe in my stash now.

 

 

 

 

Chris

[alt-92]

On 5/16/2020 at 11:15 PM, John said:

not Revell GB's attractive turquoise plastic this time.

No idea what you mean by that.... 

[Graham Boak]

I enjoyed that series as well, although some more than others I must say.  Their P-51 was definitely too small, and I feel their Zero was too - although I painted that in a lighter green from Hisairdecnews which may be influencing my dislike.  On the other hand, their Tempest seemed too big (with awful rockets) unfortunately that never lasted into the days of later kits to compare it to - but then, the Tempest was a big brute.  I never liked the Spitfire probably because the wings were too small although it did take a much later second buy to confirm that - straight to bin, but that was much later.  As were the I-16's wings but I didn't know any better about that one until Bill Matthews did an article in Flying Review.  I didn't care for the Hurricane but have no single reason why... did like the P-47 and most of the more exotic ones, although the Ki61 did seem a bit stalky.  Yet to finish a Saetta, probably because of the colour scheme, despite getting decent span tailplanes for a donated Frog MC202 (which went into an Re2005 in the days when you had to make such exotica yourself).  Did like the Kaydet and always intended to do another in Air Corp colours or even RAF roundels - there are lots of modelling options for the Stearman if you can get various engines and transfers, none of which I have tried.  But I think you mean F2A.

 

I've tried to comment on them mainly as I saw them at the time of release, rather than what I know now and what else is available now.  I think the Stearman is probably the only one worth buying now since the better (but a bit more difficult) Pavla one disappeared from the market, but the P-36 is quite nice.  Basic but acceptable for aircraft modellers rather than cockpit or wheel-well modellers., but you can always add such details if there's a good base to work on.

[John]

5 hours ago, alt-92 said:

No idea what you mean by that.... 

Exactly how I remember it!

 

John

[AdrianMF]

They had some great box art back in the day. I think my favourite was the DH2 - pushers looked really bizarre to my younger self. (still do, in fact). I built their Corsair and FW190 quite recently and really liked them.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[TonyW]

We are straying a bit from Johns build here, but an overview of the Revell series his plane came from is a nice backdrop to watching him work!

 

Here's a few of the series, all with that wonderful Brian Knight artwork.

 

 

 

 

[John]

The Airacobra needs a faded version of the Temperate Land Scheme, which in this case is Humbrol 72 Khaki Drill and 86 Light Olive over HB4 Duck Egg Blue:

 

 

It's still drying in this photo.

 

John

 

[John]

A bit of a tidy up of the camouflage and some gloss on the upper surfaces:

 

 

I also painted the tail fin in OD, Humbrol 108 in this case.

 

I've repainted the underside in Humbrol 122 Israeli pale Blue, which is apparently a reasonable match for the US supplied Sky. I've also filled the original stand slot and cut another one further aft as the drop tank interfered with the stand arm.

 

 

John

 

 

 

[modelling minion]

Looks great John, certainly different to the usual OD over NG.

[John]

The Revell decals are very good, settling down well with Humbrol Decal Fix. Some of them are still wet in this shot:

 

 

John

[modelling minion]

They look great John, one of my favourite shark mouths that one.

[AdrianMF]

Nice scheme! (and build)

 

Regards,

Adrian