Modern P-39 Airacobra kit?

Hasegawa or Eduard. The Eduard it kit has a few fit issues, one of them the clear canopy part doesn't fit well at all. Upside of the Eduard kit is it comes with pe and masks and better decals if you order the Profipack kit. If I had to choose myself I'd get the Hasegawa kit with whatever aftermarket I feel like.

The Hasegawa kit is also supposed to have fit problems with the fuselage on the lower surfaces.

This, although three years old now, was helpful.  

www.cybermodeler.com/.../airacobra.shtml

But I'm resolved not to buy any more kits until I'm done with the one I'm working on!  Doing otherwise is how I ended up with a huge stash of unbuilt armor, more than I could finish in this lifetime I think ....

ProModeler made the P39-Q that can still be easily found on Evil-bay. I have one I will be starting on in a few months. Having looked at the kit it appears to be a decent quality but I have not attack the build yet so i can't speak to fit issues.

Brandon, the ProModeler P-39Q is the original 1964 Monogram P-400 with an extra sprue for the underwing gun tubs and a 2"x2" piece of PE.  I bought one off of Ebay 3 months ago, and it is exactly like the P-400 my brother got from the basement of Pennywise Drug in 1972.

I could swear that the original Monogram release of the P-39 came with the underwing gun pods. But I know that the Pro Modeler kit came with a PE fret and things like ground crew figures and weighted tires.

Way back in the day the Monogram P-39 did not come with the underwing guns. The more recent non Pro Modeler releases have a sprue for the underwing guns. A decal option for the Q is not included. You could go aftermarket decals and build the Q.

I have an 89 CAF boxing and it does not have the ProMod sprue with the gun tubs, 2 figures and barrels.

Yes, I built that one a few years back and those parts were not in that issue. Buy I could swear that one of the 1970s "White Box" issues had the gun pods. I went and had a look at my Promodeler  boxing and immediately saw the new sprue and old mold mods.

What I do recall was it had multiple options for versions and markings. RAF camo or OD P-400s, OD P-39D, and a Lend Lease Soviet OD P-39Q I believe... I built a few, but always made  the camo'd  67th FS P-400 on Guadalcanal.

richs26

Brandon, the ProModeler P-39Q is the original 1964 Monogram P-400 with an extra sprue for the underwing gun tubs and a 2"x2" piece of PE.  I bought one off of Ebay 3 months ago, and it is exactly like the P-400 my brother got from the basement of Pennywise Drug in 1972.

stikpusher

What I do recall was it had multiple options for versions and markings. RAF camo or OD P-400s, OD P-39D, and a Lend Lease Soviet OD P-39Q I believe... I built a few, but always made  the camo'd  67th FS P-400 on Guadalcanal

Stik, I rummaged around a actually found an instruction sheet dated 1969 for the P-39. You could build the P-400, P39D1 or D2 and the P-39L1.

Must say I had the Eduard kit out and did quite a bit of dry fitting and found the cockpit to be only slightly over size but very easily fixed. I have the Hase kit too and if I had to choose between the two - the Ed kit will get the nod every time.

richs26

....from the basement of Pennywise Drug in 1972.

That wouldn't happen to be the Pennywise Drug that was in Caldwell, Idaho would it??

jelliott523

richs26

....from the basement of Pennywise Drug in 1972.

That wouldn't happen to be the Pennywise Drug that was in Caldwell, Idaho would it??

I remember them, they just closed their doors for good. Sad to see it go. 

That was the one on 2nd Street South in Nampa, not the one on 12th Avenue.

@richs26 & BrandonK...  I used to shop at the Pennywise at the corner of Kimball and Cleveland.  I'd always head to the basement while whoever I was with would shop upstairs.  Afterwhile, they quit carrying as many model kits, the next best place was Kings.  Ohhh the memories!  

Kings!! I used to haunt their basement all the time for models. But, they are all gone now. Or even Ralph's Toys and Hobbies?

Ralph's in the Mall.  I would gaze up at the $20 Mono B-17G, but that was kind of pricey for a kit at that time.  When you could get a Revell 1/32 fighter for $5.

Never built the Hasegawa kit but have done 4 of the Eduard kits.  As mentioned above about the issue with the clear part fit the fix is very easy.    The cockpit  size comment may be related but it's more the shape of the fuselage halves.  A light sanding of bulkhead at the back of the cockpit, inside the arrows below is needed mostly for a good clean gluing surface.  Scrape the paint off the inside of the fuselage for good gluing surface as well and clamp it at the arrows   Glass fits perfect.   I think the cockpit fit is less of the issue.  I had to do the same clamping with a resin cockpit replacement and the glass fit perfect that time too.

The wing trailing edges are thick but fixable by sanding the flat glue surface on the inside.  Careful to keep them parallel so there's no gap.  Main LG struts need to be cut about 1/8 shorter to give the plane a more nose up stance on the ground.

I nice feature is the preformed nose weight.  Not sure if that come in he weekend version but its in the dual combo and the profipack.

And FYI to help prevent the "detail oriented" guys off your back  The pilot usually entered from the right side since it was a pain in the rear to climb over the throttle quadrant.  So if you do  an open door it's usually the right.  It was amazing how that ...hmm.. "discussion" got out of hand so fast  

richs26

Ralph's in the Mall.  I would gaze up at the $20 Mono B-17G, but that was kind of pricey for a kit at that time.  When you could get a Revell 1/32 fighter for $5.

I loved going to Ralph's, I'd beg my parents every time we went to the mall to take me to Ralph's.  Then when I worked in the mall later on, the place had left and the only Ralph's was the one at 5 Mile and Overland.  I miss that place, their selection seemed huge!!

There is supposedly a new place in Nampa on Garrity that I'm going to try to find.  The person who told me about it said they thought that they had model kits.  If I find it I'll let you know.

how much does the kit supplied nose weight weigh?

I don't have an answer for that, maybe someone else does but it's a pretty good size chunk of metal.

wing_nut

Never built the Hasegawa kit but have done 4 of the Eduard kits.  As mentioned above about the issue with the clear part fit the fix is very easy.    The cockpit  size comment may be related but it's more the shape of the fuselage halves.  A light sanding of bulkhead at the back of the cockpit, inside the arrows below is needed mostly for a good clean gluing surface.  Scrape the paint off the inside of the fuselage for good gluing surface as well and clamp it at the arrows   Glass fits perfect.   I think the cockpit fit is less of the issue.  I had to do the same clamping with a resin cockpit replacement and the glass fit perfect that time too.

The wing trailing edges are thick but fixable by sanding the flat glue surface on the inside.  Careful to keep them parallel so there's no gap.  Main LG struts need to be cut about 1/8 shorter to give the plane a more nose up stance on the ground.

I nice feature is the preformed nose weight.  Not sure if that come in he weekend version but its in the dual combo and the profipack.

And FYI to help prevent the "detail oriented" guys off your back  The pilot usually entered from the right side since it was a pain in the rear to climb over the throttle quadrant.  So if you do  an open door it's usually the right.  It was amazing how that ...hmm.. "discussion" got out of hand so fast  

"The pilot usually entered from the right side"

jelliott523

richs26

Ralph's in the Mall.  I would gaze up at the $20 Mono B-17G, but that was kind of pricey for a kit at that time.  When you could get a Revell 1/32 fighter for $5.

I loved going to Ralph's, I'd beg my parents every time we went to the mall to take me to Ralph's.  Then when I worked in the mall later on, the place had left and the only Ralph's was the one at 5 Mile and Overland.  I miss that place, their selection seemed huge!!

There is supposedly a new place in Nampa on Garrity that I'm going to try to find.  The person who told me about it said they thought that they had model kits.  If I find it I'll let you know.

On Garrity you say? I live less than 2 miles from Garrity, I would love to have something closer to go to rather than a 30 min drive to Boise since Hobby Lobby only has Revell. 

BrandonK

jelliott523

richs26

Ralph's in the Mall.  I would gaze up at the $20 Mono B-17G, but that was kind of pricey for a kit at that time.  When you could get a Revell 1/32 fighter for $5.

I loved going to Ralph's, I'd beg my parents every time we went to the mall to take me to Ralph's.  Then when I worked in the mall later on, the place had left and the only Ralph's was the one at 5 Mile and Overland.  I miss that place, their selection seemed huge!!

There is supposedly a new place in Nampa on Garrity that I'm going to try to find.  The person who told me about it said they thought that they had model kits.  If I find it I'll let you know.

On Garrity you say? I live less than 2 miles from Garrity, I would love to have something closer to go to rather than a 30 min drive to Boise since Hobby Lobby only has Revell. 

Supposedly, I will have to ask my co-worker about it to find out the name again.  I too live really close to there, I'm just behind JCPenney.  I did go into the Hobby Lobby in Nampa the other day and I was tempted to pick up the new KC-135R by Minicraft, that is until I saw the $44 price tag for a 1/144 scale kit....uh no chance in Hades I'm paying that much for a 1/144!