KH P-39 Airacobra

[Martinnfb]

Just in case Snooks 2nd.

[Peterpools]

Martin

Thanks for the pics, they are awesome and will come in very handy as I button up the fuselage and start the exteior portion of the build

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Peterpools]

COCKPIT PRIMING AND BASIC PAINTING

Slow but steady progress. The other night the proverbial light bulb lit and it dawned on me since I followed Eduard’s instructions and glued the cockpit PE floor into place, every bulkhead that went from the PE floor to the fuselage roof would now be too tall and most likely needed to be saved down- not positive yet as I haven’t done the test fitting but it sure seems that way. It just might have been easier to not use the PE floor at all but way too far into the front office to backtrack.

I’ve become more aware of the harmful effects of paints, solvents and glues as I’ve been going through chemo therapy and made it a point to learn and understand what is harmful and those paints and glues with the least harmful effects. My go to paints has been MRP, Mr Color and other lacquer based paints and primers but lacquers are high on the harmful list and I’ve decided to go back to “pure” acrylics and am now using Ammo by MIG and Model Air and if nontoxic, with little or no smell and less harmful effects (fingers crossed) then lacquers and solvent based paints, I think I'm on the right path. I still airbrush with the extractor on (spray booth) and wear a good respirator.  

Still parts need to add and then all the light weathering and dry brushing is next, as well as adding the Eduard Fabric seat belt set.

The Instrument Panel:

All the details were removed as per the Eduard instructions and the PE added using Micro Kristal Klear instead of CCA and a nice improvement over the kit offering. What I still can’t do is install the small PE ‘T’ handles and levers – just impossible for me. I’ve discovered ANYZ detail resin parts and they look like the answer to adding small cockpit parts; switches and levers. Will be ordering some for future use.

The Center Portion of the Front Office.

I’ve added the bulk of the parts (PE and kit) to the cockpit floor as I planned and it’s looking busy enough for me. The PE seat looks good, fills the bill nicely, fabric seat belt set to be added as the seat has not been glued in place yet and is just sitting in place.

The Car Doors.

PE panels needed a bit of clean up removing some errant CCA, polished out, primed and painted.

I’m still planning on only having one access panel open for the engine with all the other access panels closed up and of course I’m expecting fit issues but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Thanks for checking in

Peter

 

 

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[Kaireckstadt]

Wow Peter,

great progress on the pilots‘ office!

Lots of work put into it but the results are worth the effort you invested.

The IP looks really beautiful as do the doors and their PE-detail. When the seat has its buckles and a little weathering is added this will become an awesome pit.

Also really nice fotos and description of the assembly steps. 

Didn’t know up to now how really careful you have to be regarding which paint, glue and other things you want to use. But I think that your careful choice and other safety measures you took will reduce the risk for your health drastically. 
It‘s really good that you are back to the bench and join your builds with us.

Can‘t wait to see the progress of your beautiful build! 

Like you always say:

Keep em coming!

Kai

 

[DocRob]

Awesome progress Peter, the pit looks beautiful with all the added detail.

Cheers Rob

[Martinnfb]

This is such an inspiring work Peter. I really want to pull out my Airacobra from the shelf of doom and slap some paint on it. I probably should finish something

[Peterpools]

Thanks Kai

So very much appreciated. Taking my time and trying to work things out as I go and being extra careful as to the health issues associated with our paints and glues, as I just never knew. Can't wait to finish up the front office and do a bit of light weathering, adding life to the office as well.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Rob for the very kind words. Going slow and enjoying the scenery along the way

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Peterpools]

Thanks Martin so much. Absolutely grab your P-39 from the SOD and join the party - sure would be fun

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[harv]

Great work so far Peter!!....

harv

[Peterpools]

Thanks Harv

For this build, my motto: Stay the course and finish - no matter what.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Bomber_County]

You’re storming along on this one, so clean and immaculate, never done a 39 ….looking forward to the next instalment…..

[Peterpools]

Thanks Phil

Going a bit slower then planned but still making progress. Still worried on how the floor PE is going to mess up the front office fit when joining the fuselage halves together, just have to wait and see - fingers crossed.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

 

[Clunkmeister]

Hey Peter!  I didn’t read all the comments yet, so maybe someone said something, but as you probably know from other build threads, the kit seems to develop big fit problems in the nose, and IF you cram in all the gun junk, it gets worse.  A while ago, I taped together the nose on one in my stash and it fit well enough, but it seems like it was designed to be opened up.  A bit of creative fitting, bracing, shimming, filling, sanding and rescribing will fix it.

And as a bonus, it becomes extremely difficult to find room to cram in the nose weight IF you cram in the guns. 
 

I have one on the SOD, about half done, just ran out of gas. The rear fuselage is all chopped up and I’m reassembling the pieces. 
There’s plenty of work there.  

Mine will be VVS, of course. This plane was a serious Ace Maker in the hands of Russian pilots against the Luftwaffe. 
It took on all comers and won.  Along with bombers and transports, the latest edition 109s and 190s fell in great numbers to its guns  

As I’m sure you know as well, despite what we have been led to believe, the Cobra was never a tank buster for the VVS.  The US never supplied AP rounds VOR the 37mm, just HE, which were pretty much firecrackers against armor    It was a dedicated air to air interceptor and general fighter and a so,utely shined in that role.

One interesting bit of info that flies against decades of “expert” info.  As the wall came down and the East regained their freedom, VVS historical info became available to the west. Cobra kills were compared to German loss records, and after the dust settled and all the numbers got added up, the lowly, much maligned P-39 Airacobra that apparently was a real slug in US hands, turned out to be the single highest scoring aircraft type from any service, at any time, in the entire history of manned aerial combat. 
Higher than the Bf-109, Spitfire, F6F, F4U Corsair and variants, P-51, P-47, Fw-190 and all its multitude of variants, higher than all others, even the superlative Fokker D.Vll from the second dreaded Fokker Scourge. Kind of hard to believe, but it’s true. Larry Bell’s mid engined laughingstock that the AAF tried and successfully succeeded in neutering right from the get go had the last laugh  

I’m looking forward to seeing this come together. It’s a mojo sucker, but it’ll be worth it when done, and Kitty Hawk kits, when finished, seem to do VERY well at contests. 

[Peterpools]

Hi Ernie

Thanks for the information on the P-39 (amazing stats) and the kit itself., as it surely has turned into quite a project and maybe all the cockpit PE wasn't a good idea now that I think about it - just added to all the fit issues! I was on the fence about the gun bay and after reading your post, I'm planning on leaving it bare to the bones and using it for weights. Might even close up the engine bay as well, as it isn't that interesting ..  see what happens.

The Eduard fabric seat belt set finally arrived and that's the next project. 

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Martinnfb]

I actually like when aeroplane models are all button up, so the nice streamlined shapes are uninterrupted .

 

[Peterpools]

Martin

Right with you

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Peterpools]

DECISIONS AND MORE DECISIONS

 

 

 

I’ve been mulling over the options I still have on the P-39 and finally made my decisions:

Engine Bay … closed up – While I did build and paint the Allision V12, nothing that special and surely not in the Tamiya, ZM league of detail. Glad I bought the Eduard resin exhaust set which will make life a lot easier adding the exhausts.

Gun Bay … closed up ... while not bad on the details, I rather use the space for leads weights to prevent a tail sitter.

All the other access panels will be closed as well and after dry fitting, fit wasn’t bad at all, but filler and tweaking will be needed. I washed all the kit parts with Dawn at the start as it was loaded with mold release and the parts still feel a bit slippery, with 3M masking tape fresh from the roll, not sticking very well.

Both doors and the interior floor portion pretty much done as I was planning on doing, with the cockpit walls up next on the build list. Once glossed a pin wash was applied using Tamiya Black Panel Line Wash – I’m planning on switching to using oils for the washes in the future. 

I’m not a fan of super flat matte clear as it’s just way too dull and lifeless; my preference is either a semi matte clear or semi gloss clear, which seems to help portray the feel of metal under the paint.

Seats belts are a combination of the kit PE for the shoulder belts and Eduard Fabric for the seatbelts and both still needing a bit of weathering. The IP and seat are just resting in place and need to still be glued into place after a bit more tweaking and a little more cleanup. The seat was my first shot at building one from Brass PE and it came out better than I expected.

I’m amazed that just a few months ago, I couldn’t paint,  hold small parts or use the Tamiya Extra Thin brush very well and was determined to use modeling as a form of therapy and am happy with how far I’ve come.

Next up both cockpit walls and start working towards closing up the fuselage.

Thanks for checking in

Peter

 

 

 

 

 

[JohnB]

Looking good Peter. That kit is a PITA to build. I did one and started another but put it on the SOD. Too much aggravation! Whenever I decide on another P-39 it'll be a Special Hobby kit. Still some issues but not nearly the SOB to build. (When I saw "Hobby Boss P-39" on the header I said to myself I was not aware they HAD a 1/32 P-39 kit LOL).

I hope any info you find on my KH build will be of help.

[DocRob]

You are a brave man Peter and your P-39 will look great, given what is to see right now. It's good to hear, that you build and paint the P-39 to such quality, where you said, some month ago, that would have been impossible.  Modelling is always about decisions and it's always a good idea to adopt to the obstacles of a kit and the KH P-39 seems to be no easy breed. I'm eagerly peeping in, as I have a Special Hobby one and learn a lot about the type here.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Hi John

How right you are - the kit is pretty bad but I'm grinding my way through it and hopefully 'llI actually finish it. Guess I'm going to take a mulligan on the manufacturer, which I change to KH and not HB! Thanks for pointing it out.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Peterpools]

Thanks Rob

Absolutely not an easy build and everyday a candidate for for the SOD. I'll keep plugging along ad give her my best shot. Just like John said, the SH kit would and is a much better choice.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Kaireckstadt]

Comparing your situation a couple of months ago and today you made such big steps forward. Unbelievable that you were in such a sad condition compared to today!

But the good thing is that you are back to the bench and deliver work in such beautiful quality. As Rob said: when you build a kit you have to take decisions which variant you want to build. God decision to close the compartments you mentioned. Will underline the sleek appearance of the bird. Looking forward to seeing the next post! 

[JohnB]

1 hour ago, Peterpools said:

Hi John

How right you are - the kit is pretty bad but I'm grinding my way through it and hopefully 'llI actually finish it. Guess I'm going to take a mulligan on the manufacturer, which I change to KH and not HB! Thanks for pointing it out.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

LOL Peter. I thought you had already figured that out.

[JohnB]

Back a few years ago when I first saw this kit I thought, being Kitty Hawk, it would be a winner. NOT SO! BIG disappointment to say the least. I know Peter you will certainly make a silk purse out of a sows ear here.