I am just curious. I really don't stray into ya'lls site very often. But with the plethora of Messerschmidtt, Mustangs, Lightnings, Zero's etc,etc, HOw many 48th scale kits are available of the Airacobra? I know n the ship field there are 20 or so different kits of the Bismark ranging from 1200 to 350 scale. with at least a dozen in 700 scale alone. I would imagine this kind of holds true in the airplane field as well with every tiny variation and paint marking you could think of for a P-51 of an ME 109 availalbe in at least 4 or 5 scales. Is the Airacobra well represented or is it kind of one of those panes that just never has much appeal?

Hi Blaster76

I can think of three manufacturers, off the top of my head, that do Airacobras in 1/48th. Monogram was the first, Eduard came out with a whole range of P-39 variants (P-400 - P-39Q I believe) and now Hasegawa has released a P-39.

MPM had a couple P-63s in 48 as well.

I am sure someone can add to this but it is a start.

Airfoil

Also Monogram's Pro-Modeler. It is their 35 yr-old kit w/ some P/E, weighted tires, a few other goodies.

I would say it 'below average' in terms of how many kits and how many manufacturers there are who make the P-39.

The most popular (In WWII terms) are probably things like the Bf109, Fw190, Spitfire, P-51, P-47, Zero, P-40, Hurricane etc.

When it comes to the different paint schemes etc that tends to be more to do with the after-market decal companies and the rarer aircraft sub-types are often available as resin conversions.

Lee

Hi Steve,

I just picked up Eduard's 1/48th P-39. It is the dual combo kit with two planes, Photo Etch, lots of decals, and masks for $45. I have not started it yet, but based on what people have said about Eduard and the kits contents, I think it is going to be a sweet build. I'm going to build it for the "Tank Buster" campaign.

-Derek

The Hasegawa P-39s are very good indeed, although the rudder detail is overdone, in my opinion. The wings and control surfaces are also much thinner in cross section than the Eduard kitsets, and the surface detailing is crisper.
There isn't a lot wrong with the Eduard kits; the biggest let down are the waaay too thick trailing edges to all control surfaces. Lots of optional parts for the money.

NIce to see that the venerable old warrior didn't get lost in the fame of it's more prolific counterparts. I knew about the ancient Monogram kit, but thought it might be out of production. Might pick up a Hasegawa version, I've always liked their kits. Thanks for the input fellas