1/48 Eduard Profipack P-39 Airacobra

by Héctor Alonso Saez

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MOUNTING:

This model kits is the Profipack version from Eduard. Profipack version from Eduard should be seriously taken into account as they use to have more decorations and even some improved photo-etched parts. This model can only receive praising as is nearly as good in quality as a Tamiya’s one. The model has been constructed Out Of the Box, and after just one sanding session the model is ready for the painting booth. 

PAINTING:

I am used to painting the entire cockpit tub in black and afterwards painting all the inside base-colour this way, we get a shade in all the corners. We use Tamiya Flat Green (XF-5) as base colour and Lemon Green (XF-4) to light up a little bit. Seatbelts are painted with Khaki Yellow, and buttons and buckles are painted with Humbrol Silver. Finally, Radio equipment and cockpit panel have been painted in black. 

This is the part of the hobby I enjoy the best. 

I begin the painting pre-shading all the remarkable lines of the kit with black or brown painting in order to get a weathered look of the plane when we finished it.

The gear wells are painted with Gunze Interior Green (ref: H58) and when painting is dry I mask the wells. 

I follow painting the under surface with Tamiya Dark Grey (XF24) and enlighten a little bit with Grey (XF-25). Once this is finished and painting is dry we mask it to prevent any paint spoiling the under surfaces.

We begin the camouflage with the lighter colour, (Ocean Grey) preparing a mixture with Tamiya (XF-18 50% XF-21 15% and XF-24 35%.) aprox. and then we add some Sky Grey (XF-19) to lighten up the base colour (thanks for the painting mix to Julio C. Cabos).

Click on images below to see larger images

Camouflage is been done with floating masks made with Tamiya’s Masking Tape

We follow our job with another camo colour, in this case I have used Gunze H309 lighting it up with Tamiya Buff. Don get too worry if you lighten colours up  too much as they will get duller when we coat the varnish, in fact that was what happened to me with this kit. 

Once painting is finished, we proceed decaling the plane, after protecting the painting with a glossy coating of Tamiya Gloss Varnish and after sealing the decals with another glossy coating of varnish we begin panelling the plane.

We use a mixture of Umber Raw and Black oil paintings diluted with Humbrol thinner for panelling the plane. 

Chipped painting is carefully applied with silver enamels and a very thin brush.

Oil leaking in the under surfaces has been applied with a flat brush moving it against the plane movement. 

Plane exhausts have been drilled with an X-acto Blade, and have been painted with Tamiya XF-64 and then they have received a washing with Black Oil paintings. The Fuel Combustion of these engines leaves greyish coloured markings in the fuselage that we tried to resemble with several coats of highly diluted Navy Grey. 

Well, that’s what I can say of this really good model that I  suggest you all to build. 

Finally I would like to thank my friend Alex Sánchez for all the advises he gave me

about the model and for sharing all his knowledge about this kit with me, as he made a wonderful construction of a P-39 Airacuttie that boosted me to make my own Airacobra.

Héctor

Photos and text © by Héctor Alonso Saez