Guadalcanal P-39 Eduard 1/48

[Second Air Force]

The last couple of days have seen small movement on these.......the wings and horizontal stabilizers finally fitted and filler applied:

Guadalcanal P-39 Eduard 1/48

 Also, this was the time to decide how much weight had to go into the nose to keep the airplanes on three wheels. Thankfully Eduard molded the fuselage with the forward gun fairing separately--mostly to allow different cowls depending on the version built. This makes a great opening for me to add my favorite ballast, lead shot that I've had for so many years:

Guadalcanal P-39 Eduard 1/48

I should mention, and I forgot this earlier, that I added a small sheet of styrene sheet to each nose compartment above the propeller driveshaft so that the weight won't fall out the bottom.

After determining the amount of ballast the appropriate nose pieces were glued on and work continued on filler for wings and fuselage seams:

Guadalcanal P-39 Eduard 1/48

[Jicehem]

Hello,

Good work. To ballast the nose of P-39 is often a problem. Thanks to the choice of gun cowlings, Eduard facilitates the work.

Jicehem

[draken35]

Excellent!!!

[Second Air Force]

Yes, I really like that Eduard has this "hatch" for ballast! I have an earlier issue kit that included a lead weight precast for the shape of the kit nose. This is really a nicer solution but not included in the Guadalcanal set. No problem though to use my "ammunition".

[modellius]

nice use of " ammunition ", great work so far

[Second Air Force]

So long since I last worked on these....... Finally these two have received a first coat of grey primer for inspection and corrections. After the surface is satisfactory the canopies will be masked and installed prior to the next painting steps.

Guadalcanal P-39 Eduard 1/48

[Jicehem]

Hello,

Good work. I think the result will be amazing.

Jicehem

[draken35]

[Akinator98]

Nice work mate! 

[Second Air Force]

Thank you for the encouragement, my friends.

Last night was devoted mostly to fitting the transparent canopy sections. In this area I must say the ancient Monogram kit has a nicer method to installing the clear parts in that the rollover structure (behind the pilot that goes over the top) is part of the fuselage halves. I spent more time fitting and testing the Eduard canopies in order to get a good fit and even then required some filler on both kits. It isn't a huge problem, but the old Monogram goes together easier in this area. After fitting the transparencies a coat of interior green was sprayed for the inside framing and also on the variety of landing gear components and doors:

Guadalcanal P-39 Eduard 1/48

Next up was to prepare some wheels, and here the Eduard product really shines! Some plastic wheels for the out-of-box machine and the Brassin parts for the fully detailed one:

Guadalcanal P-39 Eduard 1/48

Here is one wheel fully assembled, note the excellent detail showing through the openings in the outer face:

Guadalcanal P-39 Eduard 1/48

[No.1]

I guess that molds deteriorate during the time and this cause problem in fit. But Brassin always work

[draken35]

Great work anyway!

[Second Air Force]

I guess that molds deteriorate during the time and this cause problem in fit. But Brassin always work

Well, I learned from building these that I must be extremely careful with the fuselage and cockpit assembly. The first one was wider across the area just behind the door openings than the second one, and that made a difference in how the rollover structure on the clear part fits. By doing a little filing on the cockpit bulkhead just behind the seat the fit should be near-perfect, and I'll do that on the next one I build.

[modellius]

getting better and better every time

[Second Air Force]

Thank you!

S l o w l y moving ahead....... Finally some painting of major components on both builds:

Guadalcanal P-39 Eduard 1/48

Guadalcanal P-39 Eduard 1/48

Honestly, it's taken me some time to select the two paint schemes--Eduard sends decals for eight very interesting machines and I've had a hard time picking the first two for this review.