A pair of Kingcobras

[Sesquipedaliac]

This GB is a good excuse to go through a few of the 1/144 kits in my stash, starting with the 1/144 scale P-63 by Dora Wings.

 

My version of the kit came bagged with separate instructions, not sure if that's how they're normally supplied.

 

There appears to be enough plastic to make two Kingcobrae, one a P-63A and the other a P-63C. There's a lot of good engraved detail and some pretty small fiddly bits I'm looking forward to losing.

 

The kit included canopy masks, which is always nice. The decals also look alright. Probably won't use most of them, I'm hoping to build the kits in "what-if" schemes: one of them in markings of the 35th FG, 5th AF in the Philippines in 1945 (with the black IFF bands on the fuselage and wings), and another in Chinese AF (RoCAF) markings. I'll dig out some of the aftermarket decals when we get to that point.

 

The instructions are nicely printed, but some of the parts aren't marked, and some of the parts on the sprues aren't referenced.

[Marklo]

Welcome to the GB. Nice choice.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Welcome to the build with your King cobra. I love the P-39/63 series almost as much as I love the Corsair. This should make a fine looking build when done. 

[Sesquipedaliac]

Haven't had a chance to post since finishing this build... Got a bit carried away; small scales can be fast builds.

 

There's a good amount of detail, almost too much, inside the cockpit (given what can actually be seen at the end of it). It all fit together pretty well, though.

 

Here's a view in the middle of attempting to fill the nose with weight. Unfortunately, I was unable to get enough into that space so they're both tail-sitters...

 

And here they are buttoned up, ready for some seam removal:

 

Not a whole lot that can be seen there.

 

They were painted with Vallejo metal color and Tamiya acrylics. The included masks were near-useless, refusing to conform to curved surfaces. I ended up using them as a template for cutting my own markings with Tamiya tape.

The P-63A (left) is in a fictitious livery inspired by markings of the 5th Air Force in the Philippines in 1945. The decals were taken from the kit and performed well.

The P-63C (right) is also in fictitious Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) markings. As far as I can tell, they didn't actually receive any P-63s, but I don't think it's a huge reach to hypothesize that some could have been sent there post-WW2. The roundel decals were from Mark I models and the others were from a BestFong 1/144 P-51 decal set, originally portraying a P-51D flown by Captain Cheng Sun T'ing of the 17th squadron, 5th BG. As usual, the BestFong decals performed wonderfully.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Well those look nice, like both sets of markings. Good to know the BestFong decals work. Ive been looking at their F-100/104 sets. 

[ajmm]

Great choice of colours! Really smart looking. Beautifully built too. 

[Sesquipedaliac]

On 9/12/2025 at 12:00 AM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Well those look nice, like both sets of markings. Good to know the BestFong decals work. Ive been looking at their F-100/104 sets. 

 

Thank you! BestFong decals are among the best I've ever used. I've got some F-100 and F-104 decals of theirs in my stash too.

 

5 hours ago, ajmm said:

Great choice of colours! Really smart looking. Beautifully built too. 

 

Thanks! In my opinion P-63 is one of those "could-have-been's," but alas poor range and V-1710s being late to the supercharger party prevented it... It sure looks right to me, though.