Upon opening the box you immediately see that this is a much more detailed kit, a vast improvement of Airfix’s offering, but given the years between them that is to be expected. I really like Academy’s kits, provided they get the shape of the aircraft right, they provide some affordable and nicely detailed kits. I think they stack up really well compared to the more expensive Tamiya and Hasegawa kits in this scale.
So back to the kit, this one offers two options, a USAAF P-39Q or a Soviet P-39N, both from 1944. This means you’ll have to decide which version you wish do before beginning construction as there are differences in the gun layout between them. I however decided to use the Soviet markings from the Airfix kit and make the correct P-39N that kit doesn’t allow you to make. This version also gives you the option of opening one of the cockpit doors and doing a bit of interior detailing. I like a challenge so I decided to add the Eduard photo etch set (SS130) to the kit.
To begin with I started with the cockpit, a simple floor with a rear panel and nice rear window, something which I didn’t expect to be included at this scale.
The instrument panel from the kit was replaced with a photo etched one with a transparency to create the dials. A bit fiddly to stick together but well worth the effort. Lead weight was added behind the panel, plenty of weight is going to be required to prevent this from being a tail sitter.
Painting was mostly done with Citadel paints. For green interiors I use a mix of Kharloc Green and Gretchin Green from the previous incarnation of Citadel’s foundation paints (before they renamed them all last year).
Finally Eduard’s seatbelts we added, I somehow misplaced one of the lap belts (it’s probably stuck to the cat’s foot) and so had to make a replacement from masking tape. Apart from that no real dramas, this is looking like a good build.
So far, highly recommended!
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