RainierHooker Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 Brothers from other mothers: IMG_4750 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4751 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr The P-35 was a sensation in the mid-1930s. The plucky little firm belonging to Russian-American Alexander Seversky beat out the monolithic Curtiss Wright Corporation in the 1935 USAAC fighter competition. Some very advanced ideas and some shrewd marketing made the stubby little fighter quite the buzz in the press. Unfortunately, the engineering never really worked in practice. For example, using the whole wing as a fuel tank was novel, but leaks created some very real safety and operational concerns. A protracted development, the inability of the small Seversky company to meet production demands, and some political snafu's meant that by the time the P-35 was actually ready for service, it was too old, too slow, and too small in number to do the job. In the end, the USAAC bought the plane that the P-35 beat in 1935. The Curtiss P-36 by this time had been developed far beyond the capabilities of the Seversky. None of that mattered though, the P-35 was a darling of the industry, she was shown everywhere, she turned up on the racing circuit, her silhouette became the de facto American fighter plane in ads and copyright all over. For about five minutes... During that five minutes, some Italians must have been looking. In 1938 the new Reggiane firm submitted a design to the Regia Aeronautica for a fast, maneuverable, & modern fighter. That design touted all of the forward thinking and abilities of the P-35. And another thing; it looked like a P-35. Same wing & tail shape. Same proportions & layout. Same use of the wing as a fuel tank. Some say it was a copy. Some say it was a coincidence. Some say engineers from Seversky "shared" engineering data. Some say other things. In any case, it was a success... for about five minutes. After the Re.2000 out performed anything else the Italians had, it was revealed that the wings leaked fuel. And the small company was unable to quickly develop & deliver the aircraft in quantity or quality. I built these two models side by side. Both are in 1/72. The P-35 from Special Hobby, the Re.2000GA from Sword. The WIP can be found here: The Re.2000GA (the "GA" was the long range version of the Re.2000) was built largely out of the box except for some scratch detailing in the cockpit and engine and the addition of a falcon vacuform canopy cut up to be displayed open. It is finished in the distinctive camouflage scheme of the 377a Squadriglia Autonomo's second section as operated in Sicily in 1943. The P-35 was somewhat more modified. The kit’s engine was replaced by a Quickboost resin R-1830 (intended for an Airfix C-47) to which I added scratch built pushrod tubes & an ignition harness made from styrene rod and fine wire. As the kit’s canopy could only be built closed obscuring the detailed cockpit, I used the kit's slider as a mold to produce my own, plunge-molded from thin PETE plastic and posed open. The aircraft is finished as a 94th Pursuit Squadron P-35 in one of the unique temporary camouflage schemes applied for war games in 1940. Paints were a combination of AK Real Color, Vallejo Acrylics, and Tamiya. Weathering was a combination of acrylic and oil washes, AK panel liners, and Tamiya weathering powders. Antenna rigging is EZ line. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainierHooker Posted January 16, 2022 Author Share Posted January 16, 2022 More pictures! IMG_4710 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4711 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4714 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4713 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4716 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4717 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4718 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4720 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4722 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4724 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainierHooker Posted January 16, 2022 Author Share Posted January 16, 2022 Più fotografie! IMG_4733 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4734 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4736 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4738 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4742 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4741 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4743 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4745 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4748 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4725 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr IMG_4729 by Evan Bailly, on Flickr 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 Great set! Especially I like you well worn finish. BTW - Sweden used both of them so it would be possible to compare them with the same markings, Regards J-W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainierHooker Posted January 16, 2022 Author Share Posted January 16, 2022 8 hours ago, JWM said: Great set! Especially I like you well worn finish. BTW - Sweden used both of them so it would be possible to compare them with the same markings, Regards J-W Thanks, I enjoyed this build so much that halfway through it, I ordered Sword's Reggiane boxed-set (that includes two Re.2000's, a Re.2001, two Re.2002's, and an Re.2005) and Special Hobby's J-9 kit so I can do a Swedish part "Två" in the near future. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 They both lobe really nice mate,........ superb job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRK4m Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 14 hours ago, JWM said: BTW - Sweden used both of them so it would be possible to compare them with the same markings, Here you are 😀 https://docer.tips/151-samolot-mysliwski-republic-p-35.html Page 2 of 32 Cheers Michael 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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