Hasegawa 1/48 P-39Q/N Airacobra

[rm6239]

Painting figures has been driving me crazy lately, so I decided I needed some glue to plastic time.

Digging through the stash, I decided I wanted to build a plane and this one jumped out. It has also been awhile between blogs, so I'll be blogging the build.



I'll be using the Eduard PE cockpit set and Quickboost exhausts.

The Bell P-39 Airacobra is an interesting plane for a number of reasons. First the engine is behind the pilot. Second it has a 37mm T9 cannon that runs through the centreline of the plane and shoots through the tip of the propeller. Third it was the first fighter fitter with a tricycle undercarriage and lastly it has "car doors" to enter the cockpit.

The following is from Wikipedia.

The Airacobra was one of the first production fighters to be conceived as a "weapons system"; in this case the aircraft (known originally as the Bell Model 4) was designed around the 37mm T9 cannon. This weapon, which was designed in 1934 by the American Armament Corporation, a division of Oldsmobile, fired a 1.3 lb (610 g) projectile capable of piercing .8 in (2 cm) of armor at 500 yd (450 m) with armor-piercing rounds. The 200 lb, 90 inch long weapon had to be rigidly mounted and fire parallel to and close to the centerline of the new fighter. It would be impossible to mount the weapon in the fuselage, firing through the propeller shaft as could be done with smaller 20mm cannon. Weight, balance and visibility problems meant that the cockpit could not be placed farther back in the fuselage, behind the engine and cannon. The solution adopted was to mount the cannon in the forward fuselage and the engine in the center fuselage, directly behind the pilot's seat. The tractor propeller was driven via a 10-foot-long (3.0 m) drive shaft which was made in two sections, incorporating a self-aligning bearing to accommodate fuselage deflection during violent maneuvers. This shaft ran through a tunnel in the cockpit floor and was connected to a gearbox in the nose of the fuselage which, in turn, drove the three- or (later) four-bladed propeller via a short central shaft. The gearbox was provided with its own lubrication system, separate from the engine; in later versions of the Airacobra the gearbox was provided with some armor protection. The glycol-cooled radiator was fitted in the wing center section, immediately beneath the engine; this was flanked on either side by a single drum shaped oil cooler. Air for the radiator and oil coolers was drawn in through intakes in both wing-root leading edges and was directed via four ducts to the radiator faces. The air was then exhausted through three controllable hinged flaps near the trailing edge of the center section. Air for the carburetor was drawn in via a raised oval intake immediately aft of the rear canopy.

The fuselage structure was unusual and innovative, being based on a strong central keel which incorporated the armament, cockpit and engine. Two strong fuselage beams to port and starboard formed the basis of the structure. These angled upwards fore and aft to create mounting points for the T9 cannon and propeller reduction gearbox and for the engine and accessories respectively. A strong arched bulkhead provided the main structural point to which the main spar of the wing was attached. This arch incorporated a fireproof panel and an armor plate separating the engine from the cockpit. It also incorporated a turnover pylon and a pane of bullet-resistant glass behind the pilot's head. The arch also formed the basis of the cockpit housing; the pilot's seat was attached to the forward face as was the cockpit floor. Forward of the cockpit the fuselage nose was formed from large removable covers. A long nose wheel well was incorporated in the lower nose section. The engine and accessories were attached to the rear of the arch and the main structural beams; these too were covered using large removable panels. A conventional semi-monocoque rear fuselage was attached aft of the main structure.

Because the pilot was above the extension shaft, he was placed higher in the fuselage than in most contemporary fighters, which, in turn gave the pilot a good field of view. Access to the cockpit was via sideways opening "car doors", one on either side. Both had wind-down windows. As only the right-hand door had a handle both inside and outside this was used as the normal means of access and egress. The left-hand door could be opened only from the outside and was for emergency use, although both doors could be jettisoned. In operational use, as the roof was fixed, the cockpit design made escape difficult in an emergency.

The complete armament fit consisted of the T9 cannon with a pair of Browning M2 .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns mounted in the nose. This would change to two .50 in (12.7 mm) and two .30 in (7.62 mm) guns in the XP-39B (P-39C, Model 13, the first 20 delivered) and two 0.50 in/12.7 mm and four 0.30 in/7.62 mm (all four in the wings) in the P-39D (Model 15), which also introduced self-sealing tanks and shackles (and piping) for a 500 lb (227 kg) bomb or drop tank.

Because of the unconventional layout, there was no space in the fuselage to place a fuel tank. Although drop tanks were implemented to extend its range, the standard fuel load was carried in the wings, with the result that the P-39 was limited to short-range tactical strikes.

To read more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_P-39_Airacobra

Well enough info, time to hit the plastic.

cheers

Rossco

[UKguyInUSA]

Sweet! Nice choice of plane and manufacturer....this should be good!

[rm6239]

UKGuy, hope so mate, this is my first ever Hasegawa kit.

Well like most planes first you work on the cockpit. I did make a mistake here, I didn't get the right green, the P-39 used a colour that is called Bell Green internally, I didn't get it right, if you look at the first picture, the colour I should of used on the cockpit is in the lower right near the wheel.



Apart from the colour I quite like the way the cockpit has turned out. I put a drop of future on the dials to give a slight shine.














cheers

Rossco

[UKguyInUSA]

Wow, Rossco....that Eduard PE cockpit set really sets it off....great start so far, looking forward to your next update!

[HistoryRider]

Neat work!!!!! I build the Eduard kit, I am curious to see how this turns out!

[Willem]

Hi Rossco. Looks a good kit and that interior is looking sweet.

Good stuff mate.

[Jamesday1998]

looking good so far! the cocpit is coming along nicely and it looks very good!
kutgw:)

[rm6239]

UKGuy, cheers mate, the kit cockpit was very good but with those car doors to be left open I thought I would go the extra with Eduard.

History, thanks mate, I wouldn't mind getting my hands on the Eduard kit myself someday.

Willem, thanks mate.

James, I'm really happy with it.

Been jumping all over the place with the build, Propeller is done and drying under it's future coat, some work done on the lower wing section, only bit of filler needed so far (this is a known problem with the Hasegawa kit though). I'll get some pictures up later today.

cheers

Rossco

[rm6239]

Pictures are a bit late but I decided to get the cockpit mounted.



The problem area.



Hoping to get some bench time this weekend, to get the doors and canopy masked.

cheers

Rossco

[AchtungPanzer]

Very nice - super work with interior, cockpit . Keep it up mate

[modelismo]

Hello rm6239

Nice work and painting on your cockpit. The model is progressing well.

JiP

[UKguyInUSA]

Coming along nicely...you'll soon be priming and pre-shading this baby!

[rm6239]

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated.

Well I suck at masking but over the weekend I got the doors and the canopy masked.



Looks a bit like a rednecks jalopy at the moment . I also spent some time fixing up a few seams.



Only one of the doors was used for normal operation the other being an emergency door, I think it was the right door but I will have to confirm that. Also have that nasty little gap along the cockpit which I will have to try and fix.

Doors done internally, except a slight fix needed where I removed the mask on the left door.



cheers

Rossco

[modelismo]

hello rm6239

Your masks, does not seem well cut off. You should put your paper on the glass and then mark the edge with a toothpick and then cut with a scalpel blade which is new.
If you leave it like that, the amounts will not be regulars and it will ruin all the work you've done and that would be unhappy.


JiP.

[HistoryRider]

looks like it's progressing nicely!! keep up the good work!!

[Jamesday1998]

this build is coming along nicely!!
i have always wanted to build a p39 because they are just strange aircraft!
i will be watching this one closely
kutgw

[rm6239]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the comments.

Got on a bit of a roll on the weekend and forgot to take pictures , here's where I'm up to.









There were decals for the red nose and the black walkways but I wanted to paint them, gives a better look, most times .

cheers

Rossco

[rm6239]

Finished.



















Made a very n00b error but I'm happy with the result.

cheers

Rossco

[Willem]

Fabulous job mate.

Love the faded top colour.

[rm6239]

Thanks Willem.

Rossco