Centered around a nose-mounted 37mm cannon firing through the propeller hub and powered by an Allison engine behind the cockpit, Bell’s P-39 was unique. Although outclassed by the Zero and Bf 109, the Airacobra helped hold the line early in World War II until new fighters came along.
Nicely molded in light gray plastic, Kitty Hawk’s 1/32 scale P-39 is free of flash but has some ejector-pin marks. Options abound, including separate flaps and control surfaces, detailed gun bay in the nose, well-appointed cockpit with posable doors, Allison engine with detailed bay, wing gun options, separate access panels for the radio compartment and oil-tank bay detail, and a bomb and drop tank for the centerline rack. Wow!
The interior construction mirrors Bell’s design: A large, flattened U-shaped floor occupies the fuselage to which the engine, cockpit, and gun-bay parts attach.
Construction began with the engine. The individual exhaust pipes comprise two parts that I found difficult to remove from the sprues without damage.
The assembled pipes are handed, but the instructions are not clear on which side of the engine they attach — the part numbers are the same! Photos indicate the pipes should be parallel with the ground.
The gun bay, with 37mm cannon, .50-caliber machine guns, and associated equipment, went together easily.
Cockpit detail includes photo-etched seat belts, but the back wall is solid rather than having the armored glass used on most P-39s.
After attaching the nose-wheel bay to the floor, I installed the interior assembly in the fuselage along with the oil tank and its shelf and radio.
The fuselage closed around all the detail without problems until I added the nose. The upper panels (parts D19 and D22) were out of whack; I suspect the problem is the gun-bay details. If I aligned them at the front, the panels rode high at the back in front of the windscreen. But positioning them in front of the windscreen meant they didn’t sit right upfront. Choosing the first option, I filled the gaps with styrene, putty, and super glue.
More problems showed up during canopy installation. Diverging from the instructions, I suggest working from back to front installing GP2, then support E6, and finally GP1.
The kit provides optional spinners and cannon barrels for the 20mm or 37mm guns used by the P-39, but the instructions don’t indicate which parts to use — they just indicate the option. I used parts D9 and D21 for the 37mm cannon.
The kit includes a directional loop antenna used on some Soviet Airacobras, including a thick mounting plate molded under the fuselage. It takes careful sanding and rescribing to remove the plate for an American P-39.
Parts are provided for both in-wing .30-caliber and pod-mounted .50-caliber machine guns. But the instructions state that it should be one or the other, not both. Separate ammo access doors are supplied, but I’m not sure both would be present in each configuration. If you build the P-39Q, fill the leading-edge muzzle ports.
Significant gaps mar the wing roots. I believe the separate leading-edge intake inserts (parts A15 and A16) are too wide, so the wings don’t fit flush. To avoid the problem, install the inserts after joining the wings and fuselage. Oddly, the kit omitted the pitot tube from the port wing.
Decals provide markings for five P-39s: two Soviet, and one each French, Italian, and American. I had to build the last, Snooks 2nd, flown by Medal of Honor recipient William Shomo. The plane was named for the wife of the crew chief, Sgt. Ralph Winkel, a member of my IPMS chapter (and our resident P-39 expert!) Note: Apply personal markings only on the starboard side, not both sides as in the instructions. Missing is Calif., which should follow Fresno under the exhausts.
My primary reference was Bert Kinzey’s Detail & Scale Vol. 63: P-39 Airacobra (Squadron/Signal, ISBN 978-1-888974-16-4). I also found Bell P-39 Airacobra by Artur Juszczak (Mushroom Model, ISBN 978-83-916327-9-6) useful.
I finished my P-39 in 45 hours. I had mixed feelings upon completion. Fit issues complicated the build, but I was pleased with the amount of detail. Kitty Hawk’s Airacobra is not for beginners, but I recommend the kit to experienced modelers.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the February 2016 issue.