Pat-Riot II 1/48 Eduard P-39 Airacobra

[CheshireGap]

Seems a long time since I posted a WiP, and indeed it is - I have been very unproductive since the start of the pandemic, for various reasons, but at last one kit (out of the 4 on the go) is coming close to a conclusion. Its Eduard's 2021 Weekend boxing of their Airacobra, and I am going for the box-art scheem, Pat-Riot II

There are no photos of the early stages, suffice to say the cockpit is standard but with a Quickboost seat and a Yahu IP to liven things up. There was a lot of dry fitting and in the end I used a piece of sprue to spread the fuselage and reduce the gaps at the wing roots

 

 

Cockpit overall looks good, the after market seat certainly adds to it

 

 

 

Wings on, and as usual its out with the re 3M putty to solve the gaps - love this stuff, quick to dry, and sands so easily to a smooth finish

 

 

I decided to fully rivet again - it seems to add something even if strictly the effect is over-scale. All panel line and rivets were washed with black now, before painting

 

 

 

 

Then it was out with the underside colour, tbh the box art looks so close to RLM76 I decided to use that and broke out an old bottle of Tamiya - no primer, all straight on to the plastic to make the most of that panel line wash

 

 

For the topside, I used MRP Sabbia (the Italian Sand colour), with just a slight dash of yellow & red to make it more fleshy, over some pre-shading - this is after the first coat

 

 

And this is the final effect, a little lost under the lights

 

 

 

Decal time! 2021 boxing, I hear you muse, does that mean it has the new decals with the removal carrier film? I wondered the same, and turns out it does! Give them 24 hours to dry and be very careful with a cocktail stick and broad grip tweezers and this really does work. Here's the serial number with carrier removed for the painted on look.

 

 

Much easier than masks But don't worry if you don't fancy trying it, even left on these are some of the best decals with a carrier film that very nearly vanishes - here is the other side with the carrier film still on:

 

 

Mot of them will come off in one peice, such as this stars and bars piece, the stencils though are getting all a bit small, and the sheer quantity increasing the risk of damage, so I am only removing the more obvious of those

 

 

That brings things mostly up to date, there is a Kitty Hawk 1/32 version of the same also under way as a nice comparison, though that will be done in a European or Eastern Front scheme, will get a WiP of that going soon.

Edited August 21, 2022 by CheshireGap
Refining some sentences

[providence]

Excellent building and painting so far! I like very much your riveting, I'm sure it will added depth in your weathering.

 

Regards

 

Providence

[CheshireGap]

Finishing line in sight, all decals on and film peeled off, pastel work and chipping, then sealed with a good layer of gloss. A little oil streaking with thinned Starship Filth, and I am going to call a halt to the weathering and start adding the small bits.

The only wash is a bit a Tamiya black in the ailerons, flaps and elevators, the rest is pre-shading and pastel work.

 

Up next are the wheels, pitot, centreline tank and gun barrels!

[Shorty84]

Nice build. The P-39 is one of my favourites (tricycle landing gear, aft mounted engine, car doors, ... what's not to like?). The Eduard decals are fascinating. If the removal of the carrier film works, they really look like painted.

 

I hope you don't mind if I add a piece of unnecessary information. If you want to show the 'car doors' open, the most common (and realistic) way would be to just have the starboard door open as only this side was used for entering or leaving the cockpit. The reason was that on the other side there were some items mounted on the floor and you could easily trip over them.

When looking at photos you'll notice that almost always only the starboard door is open.

 

Cheers

Markus

[CheshireGap]

On 28/08/2022 at 19:27, Shorty84 said:

Nice build. The P-39 is one of my favourites (tricycle landing gear, aft mounted engine, car doors, ... what's not to like?). The Eduard decals are fascinating. If the removal of the carrier film works, they really look like painted.

 

I hope you don't mind if I add a piece of unnecessary information. If you want to show the 'car doors' open, the most common (and realistic) way would be to just have the starboard door open as only this side was used for entering or leaving the cockpit. The reason was that on the other side there were some items mounted on the floor and you could easily trip over them.

When looking at photos you'll notice that almost always only the starboard door is open.

 

Cheers

Markus

Thanks Markus, but because of the poor fit on mine both doors will be open, albeit not the same on both sides!

I am actually calling this done now, wheels and associated doors are on, prop on, aerial rigged, looks good to me. First finish in two years, working from home over the last two years killed my mojo only just getting it back and this one has helped (there is a Revell 1/48 Mossie that took up a lot of time and is probably going to end up on the Shelf of Doom as everything around the nacelles is so poor).

 

 

 

 

Overall a good kit from Eduard, not up to their current standards, it lacks some finesse but presents no real problems aside from the poor fit of the canopy (too narrow on mine).