Eduard 1/48 P-400 Airacobra (2024)

Eduard 1/48 P-400 Airacobra

The P-39F was the second production model of Bell's Airacobra to seeoperational service. It was the USAAF equivalent of the Airacobra I/P-400, witha 20mm Oerlikon cannon substituted for the 37mm Oldsmobile weapon. Externally itwas distinguishable from the P-400 by the use of a three-bladed Aeroproductspropeller in place of the Curtiss Electric propeller used by all previousAiracobras. The P-39F saw extensive service in New Guinea and North Africa.

For further historical comments on the Airacobra, refer to the preview of this kit.

Eduard's Airacobra comes on two sprues of light tan plastic, and include allthe different propeller blades and spinners and exhausts to do all versions ofthe airplane up to the P-39Q if the modeler leaves off the underwing machine gungondolas of that sub-type (which in fact were often left off on operations tosave weight).

While the kit is a P-400, I opted to make a P-39F from it, using the SuperScale decal sheet 48-499, which includes a very wild-looking P-39F,"Air-A-Cutie," with some of the most stupendous "nekkidbabe" pinup nose art to decorate a single-seat fighter in the entire war.

The model goes together as well as any recent Tamiya or Hasegawa release, andI used no putty at all during construction. The only "complaint" I canregister is that the trailing edges of the wings are a bit thick; five minuteswith a sanding stick solves this problem for any modeler who isn't all thumbs.

I started with the co*ckpit, airbrushing all the parts "Bell Green."Having seen the P-39N being restored at Yanks Air Museum, and studied the photosof this plane in the Detail & Scale book, I determined the color wasreproducible using 50-50 Gunze-Sanyo Field Green FS34097 and Green FS34092. Ialso painted the landing gear, gear door interiors and gear wells with thiscolor. I masked both sides of the clear plastic co*ckpit doors and painted theinterior this Bell Green.

I then assembled the co*ckpit per instructions, differing only in that I usedthe ProMaster decal sheet with the P-39 instrument panel, and a set of Eduardseat belts. I slipped the weight into position and knew there was enough weightto make the model sit back a bit as P-39s did when they didn't have full fueltanks. To me, it's a more rakish look. The fuselage went together with noproblems.

I then assembled the wing per instructions, painting the radiators beforegluing them in position in the lower leading edge of the wing. I opted to havethe exhaust gates open, and posed them about halfway down.

The wing assembled to the fuselage with no problem, and I then glued the horizontalstabilizer in position. I estimate it took me about 4 hours toaccomplish what is described above, including time for the paint to dry and theinstrument panel decal to set up. After letting things set up overnight, it wastime to go to the paint shop.

Painting:

I pre-shaded the model with flat black over all panel lines, then painted thetip of the vertical fin and the spinner flat white. I then painted theundersides with Gunze Sanyo Neutral Grey. I painted the upper surfaces withGunze-Sanyo Olive Drab 41; I lightened this with white and went back over it tosimulate sun fading. When all was dry, I shot two coats of Future and let it setovernight.

Decals:

To do the nose art, I attached the co*ckpit doors in the closed position witha drop of cyanoacrylate. The SuperScale decals went down with no problem, thoughI used several coats of Micro-Sol to get the nose art to completely settle down.I used the kit decals for the stencilling. When all this had set up, I washedthe model to get rid of any setting solution residue, then shot another coat ofFuture.

Final finishing:

I used Tamiya Smoke to simulate exhaust staining and gunfire residue, thenused a very small brush with Testors Model Master Aluminum metalizer to makesome paint chips in the obvious areas. I painted mud on the wheels, assembledthe landing gear and fit them in position. When all this was done I shot severalcoats of Flat Future overall to get a flattened, sun-faded finish one wouldexpect to see in New Guinea.

What a honey of a model! The Airacobra may not have had the best operationalrecord of the war, but it was certainly one of the best-looking airplanes of thewar aesthetically, and the tricycle landing gear makes it look very distinctive.There's going to be a Profipack version with decals for other users than the US,and the usual Eduard photo-etch detail fret. However, like the company's recentreleases in World War I airplanes, the "basic" version is more thanacceptable. I think Eduard has found themselves a "tentpole" model forfuture releases. They are going to do "Cobra I" and "CobraII" with resin conversion parts; all you air race fans can thank me forconvincing them to try this (please buy them when they come out and prove I wasright that air racers will sell).

I am sure there will be more than one of these on my shelves in time. Anyonewho is contemplating returning to the hobby after laying off through earlyadulthood should have no trouble creating a really nice model with this kit.

Thanks to Eduard for the review kit.

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