Reviewed by Brett Green  
 

HyperScale is proudly sponsored by Meteor Productions

F i r s t   L o o k

Eduard's 1/48 scale P-39/P-400 Airacobra kits have been popular among modellers since their recent release. 

Cutting Edge's foursome of P-39/P-400 Airacobra decal sets provide the modeller with seventeen colourful alternate markings.  All are USAAF aircraft except where noted:

CED48143 P-39 Aircobra #1 (4 aircraft)

P-39D "Black 67" from 400th PS, 31st PG, 1941 Carolina Manoeuvers - Olive Drab 41 over Neutral Grey 43 (Olive Drab over Neutral Grey) with white cross markings on fuselage and wings, and Yellow spinner.

P-39N "White 84" Russian aircraft flown by K.M. Ibatoullin of 30 GvIAP, April, 1945 - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with Medium Blue spinner and top of tailfin.

P-39Q "Devastating Devil" from 6th FS, 15th FG, Summer-Fall 1945 - rare scheme of Coral (looks like Salmon or mixture of Desert Pink and Sand) over Light Blue with Red outlined national insignia.

P-39Q "White 20 - Classy Chassis" from 110th TRS, 79th TRG, Gusap, New Guimea - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with spinner, wing leading edges and tail painted White as theatre recognition markings.

CED48144 P-39 Aircobra #2 (4 aircraft)

P-39D "White 16 - Border Buckaroo II" from 110th TFS Gusap, New Guinea - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with spinner, wing leading edges and tail painted White as theatre recognition markings (Yellow fin tip adds a little bit more colour) 

P-39Q Russian aircraft flown from by 9 GvIAP, 1945 - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with previous USAAF insignia and serial numbers painted out in a Dark Green 

P-39Q "Monkey - Kay" Un-numbered aircraft flown by Lt. Leonard Marks of 35th FS, 8th FG, Milne Bay - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey

P-39Q-5 "Yellow 93" Russian aircraft flown by Mikhail Rents of 30 GvIAP, 1945 - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with Blue spinner and fin tip.

CED48145 P-39 Aircobra #3 (4 aircraft)

P-39Q-5 "Snooks" flown by well-known Mustang ace, 1st Lt. William A. Shomo of the  from 110th TFS Gusap, New Guinea. The aircraft is finished in Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with wing leading edges and tail painted White as theatre recognition markings (thin White band also on nose), spinner is Yellow 

P-39K-1 "Fireball" acceptance scheme at Bell Aircraft Corp. October 26th, 1942 - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with large nose-art

P-39Q "Black 248" 'Daisy May' unknown unit & date, possibly flown in a tropical location - rare Overall Natural Metal scheme with Red spinner and pin-up girl nose-art on port side

P-39N "White 19" flown by 97th Squadriglia, Italian Co-Belligerent AF, Campo Vesuvio Airfield -  Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with White recognition bands on nose and rear fuselage.  USAAF insignia overpainted with Italian roundel in 4 standard positions, Italian roundels worn on other 2 positions. 

CED48146 P-39 Aircobra #4
(4 aircraft, 5 schemes)

P-39D "White 30" 'Girlie' of 110th TRS - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with White New Guinea theatre markings on tail unit, wing leading edges and spinner.  Pin-up nose-art on starboard side

 P-39Q-5 'Snooks 2nd' is another another P-39 aircraft flown by P-51 ace Lt. Shomo of 71st TRS, 82nd TRG - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with White New Guinea theatre markings on tail unit and wing leading edges.  Spinner is Yellow

P-39Q 'Little Sir Echo' from 82nd TRS - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with White New Guinea theatre markings on tail unit, wing leading edges and spinner (thin White band on nose).  Interesting sharkmouth on centre-line drop-tank

P-39Q "White 151" (early version) flown by Lt. William "Stubby" Gambill "Gooseneck" 363rd FS, 357th FG - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with entire tail section painted White and Red band on nose

P-39Q "White 151" (late version) flown by Lt. William "Stubby" Gambill "Gooseneck" 363rd FS, 357th FG - Olive Drab over Neutral Grey with entire tail section painted Red (note: Red band on nose is retained).

The modeller has a vast range of decal options for his P-51, P-47, Bf 109 and Fw 190. The P-39 has not yet reached this saturation point. However, any modeller building a P-39 in 48th scale now has plenty of options in national insignia, colour schemes, unit markings and nose-art across these four decal sets.  

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Cutting Edge Modelworks for the review samples..

Review Copyright © 2001 by Brett Green
This Page Created on 04 September, 2001
Last updated 22 July, 2003

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page