Arma Hobby 1/48 P-39Q Airacobra
By Jacob Russell
Arma Hobby has just introduced a brand new 1/48th scale Bell P-39Q Airacobra kit. It comes in a sturdy open-ended box with a separate inner tray and an evocative painting of a P-39 taking off from a tropical airstrip. The kit consists of 86 injection molded parts molded in gray and clear on 3 sprues, 3 3D printed resin parts and 3 lead weights. You also get a set of canopy masks and a decal sheet. The plastic parts are flash free and the sprue attachment points are well located, making it easy to remove parts from the sprues without damage.
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The surface detail is excellent. It consists of finely recessed panel lines on the fuselage and wings. Rivets are confined to the wing roots and the middle of the upper wing. Sink marks are present on the upper wings. This is due to the detail molded on the wing's inner upper surfaces. The cockpit is well depicted and it will look great with an oil wash and dry brushing. The 3 weights are added to the front of the cockpit before joining it to the fuselage halves.
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The cockpit doors unique to the P-39 are separate parts, designed to be depicted either open or closed. The horizontal stabilizers, fin and rudder are engineered as 4 parts each and they look great. The stalky, spindly tricycle landing gear is well executed. Arma Hobby engineered this kit to depict most P-39 variants. This is reflected in the inclusion of 3 different propellers and 2 styles of exhaust stacks. The under wing stores are confined to a drop tank and a bomb both of which mount on the lower wing pylon. The 3D printed parts are new landing gear doors.
The kit includes 3 different decal options, all of which have Silver Grey rather than black propellers:
"219551", P-39Q-1 Airacobra, 46th Fighter Squadron, 15th Fighter Group, Makin, Gilbert Islands, late 1943. This plane was painted Coral Sand over Sky Blue with a black spinner.
"220746", "White 152," P-39Q-10 Airacobra, Lt. Clarence "Bud" Anderson, 363rd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, Oroville, California, October 1943. This P-39 was painted Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with an Insignia Red band aft of the Olive Drab spinner.
"42567", White 67," P-39Q-15 Airacobra, 68 GIAP, 5 GIAD, winter 1944-45. This Soviet P-39 was also painted Olive Drab over Neutral Grey. The spinner and fuselage band were painted AMT-7 Blue. The fuselage band was outlined in White and the rudder trim tab was also White.
The decals (printed by Techmod) are very well printed, in register, and have accurate colors. They are crisp and bright with minimal carrier film. The instrument panel, seat belts and stencils come on the same sheet. The instructions are well illustrated with a logical, clear build sequence and include a parts map. There are color callouts for Hataka, AK Interactive Real Colors, AMMO (MIG), Mission Models, Humbrol, Vallejo and Tamiya paints.
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Conclusion
I like Arma Hobby's new Bell P-39 Airacobra kit. It is accurate, well detailed and the 3 decal options are cool. You can model most, if not all P-39 variants with the kit's contents and build a contest winner right out of the box. Why not also visit Arma Hobby's website and download digital 3D files to print upgraded parts such as a more detailed seat, main wheels and front landing gear? I recommend this kit and I would like to thank Arma Hobby for the review sample.
References
P-39 Airacobra in Action, Aircraft Number 43, by Don Greer, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1980