With my Avias almost done, the postman arrived very timely last week with my next build. Or rather buildS but more on that later!
The latest from Arma Hobby, a P-39Q Airacobra! There are other kits in 1/72 out there but most are very old and the only “semi-modern” one, the Academy kit, looks nice in the box but they lost it when it comes to accuracy.
An interesting bunch of marking variants. The top one (the same one that flies by the Golden Gate bridge in the box art) is Bud Anderson’s aircraft before he went to Europe to fly Mustangs. He is the last living triple-ace and he turned 100 this last January. Like all centenarians keeping up with the times he of course has a webpage well worth visiting!
Two packed sprues of plastic parts.
Some 3D prints, I’ve never tried them before so this will be interesting!
Clear parts.
There is also three ball bearing balls that goes into pre-cast positions in the plastic to avoid tail sitting. Another first I would say !
Arma makes nice models but somehow I get the feeling that they are even better at marketing! When I pre-ordered the P-39 I immediately got the suggestion that I should buy a Bud Anderson-combo, getting a P-51B in “Old Crow”-markings as well. So, even if I have already done two of them here we go again!
Another really nice box art.
And not only “Old Crow”, this is the 8th AF-boxing we all have been waiting for!
Stay tuned, I’ll probably make a start on these already this weekend. And I will of course build them the way God intended - as a Bud Anderson combo!
I am keeping my fingers crossed that Arma turn their considerable talents towards the TBM Avenger for their next kit! But will happily watch how they’ve lifted the bar yet again on the P-39
@Russelle Avenger? Not a bad guess really, it will be interesting to see what comes after the D-Mustang. I have a nagging suspicion that it will be another Japanese aircraft, not based on any facts though!
@Dan I’m not a whisky-guy but that old distillery seems to be a fascinating place!
Some interior work done, the famous ball bearing balls in place using a drop of super glue.
The seat and the breech blocks are 3D-prints, details is on par with very good resin but the plastic is rather brittle (there is a bonus glue joint on one of the breech blocks…) and it feels a bit “soapy” and difficult to glue. The VMS Black CA worked though and I should really quit complaining and embrace modernity…
The only major fix yet was exchanging the cannon for an aluminium tube O. D. 1 mm. Nothing wrong with the original but it was easier to exchange it than to clean up the seam lines !
Making good progress here, Magnus. Yep, the 3d printed stuff is a bit different to regular styrene for sure, a little bit soapy, bit more brittle, but easy enough to work with
I do hope for an Avenger: The Hasegawa issue is getting a bit long in the tooth and is costly too ; it would round out the “Midway” trilogy nicely, what with Arma’s F4F and Flyhawks’s SBD already released…
@Dan I googled the distillery, creepy but fascinating!
@Russelle That reminds me, I have to get that Flyhawk SBD!
Things are moving forward but slowly, I haven’t felt like painting so most of the work has been cleaning up parts and assembling as much as I can but running out of parts to work on I have no choice, I’ll probably at least will get to some primer today ! The Mustang is at the same stage but since you can follow the building process here II’ll start posting photos when I get to the paint stage on that one as well!
Some minor modifications (metal tube gun barrels) and filling some sink marks on the tail planes…
…and using black VMS super glue to fill in some detail that wasn’t present on the original aircraft. Works very well and I love the fact that the black colour makes it so easy to see what I am doing.
It’s not yet time for the New Year’s Resolutions but I can offer some Christmas Greetings today at least!
I haven’t taken my time posting much lately but there has anyway been some progress with the usual routine stuff. These require a minimum of filling and sanding but there is still some work of this kind to be done. I’ve also cut masks and I’ve done the major markings, camouflage is now next! So I deemed them ready for Santa to do an inspection later today !
Regarding New Year’s Resolutions, building more and more frequent postings are on the list!
@Russelle and @BlackWidow Thanks a lot, I’m happy you haven’t lost patience with me and my lousy build pace !
Christmas holidays really makes wonders when it comes to building efficiency, between family and food and walks in the snow (oh well, it’s at least frosty outside…) I’ve managed to do a fair bit of painting!
As usual, peeling off the masks is major fun…
…and now I’m preparing more of the same for the D-day stripes!
The P-39 hasn’t been forgotten either…
…and quite a bit of the markings were possible to mask…
…but for the rest I’ll have to resort to decals. If you look closely, you’ll see that I’ve failed to line up the different layers of mask perfectly, this will be touched up using a paintbrush.
The Mustangs is said do have been painted using British paints so it is a lot greener than the classic olive-drab P-39.
At this time of year family commitments must come first, even if that means frosty walks in the snow In other words you shouldn’t worry that we’d lose patience
Removing the masks is my favourite part of the build too, where all the hard work pays off…
Your choice of greens looks well researched and I can’t spot the misalignment of any of the painted on markings
@Russelle I promise, there were a few white edges around the markings, they were however taken care of with a pointy brush and some paint!
Mustang decals all finished with just a quarter of a million stencils for the lower surface left to do on the P-39. Which I, in line with my usual New Year’s resolution to become a better human being, of course will do. Probably finished before Easter if I’m lucky…
I should have posted this one yesterday really, it was Bud Anderson’s birthday. He turned 101!
Note the checkers around the Mustang nose, one of those scary things. You have to paint the yellow, then the red checkers come as a decal in two parts, one upper and one lower. And fit is just great! Thanks Arma! Also note the classy whitewall tires, according to the pilot one of his mechanics painted them using barn paint ! I brush painted them using off-white Vallejo paint, it just felt right!
Undersurfaces. All masking to be removed tonight and then it’s time for all the loose stuff like landing gear and covers.
Really neat work Magnus, great stuff! I just keep seeing good reports on the Arma Hobby kits, just might need to investigate one of the 1/48 Hurricanes soon I think!
!
But will happily watch how they’ve lifted the bar yet again on the P-39 
; it would round out the “Midway” trilogy nicely, what with Arma’s F4F and Flyhawks’s SBD already released… 
In other words you shouldn’t worry that we’d lose patience 
