[1250ships]

Suprised there hasn't been more talk on this one. OK you P-39 experts, were there any external differences from the P-39 to the P-400?


HA1704 P-400 AirCobra 347th FG, 67th FS, 13th US Army Air Force, Guadalcanal 1942

[Cavtanker]

And as a follow-on, how about the differences when compared to the P-63?

[kb466]

The P-400 was an export version of the P-39 which was meant for the British market, hence the British serials and colors. However, the British did not want them and so the USAAF took them over. As to differences, the exhausts were different- more "outlets" than standard, though I believe some early P-39's had this. Also, the cannon was a 20 mm rather than a 37 mm. The effect was that the barrel was longer protruding from the nose. There may have been other differences but those are the major ones as far as I know, and they are not that significant.

As far as similarity to a P-63, they were completely different airplanes, though they looked superficially the same. No way are you going to get an accurate P-63 from a P-39 mold.

Maybe some Airacobra experts can weigh in on all this as I am not one myself... and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[Cruver Collecter]

Originally Posted by 1250ships

Suprised there hasn't been more talk on this one. OK you P-39 experts, were there any external differences from the P-39 to the P-400?


HA1704 P-400 AirCobra 347th FG, 67th FS, 13th US Army Air Force, Guadalcanal 1942

Right off hand I can think of three possible differences. First being the 20mm on P-400 as compared to 37mm on P-39 models. Second would be difference in exhaust stub layout. The P-400 had 12 exhaust stubs where as the P-39s had only 6. Third being that there may also have been some slight differences in the .303 and .30 cal fairings on nose armament. First two would be fairly easy fixes, and for the most part doubt most folks would even notice the difference between the .303 & .30 cal nose gun fairings.

[no4mkit]

Well kb and CC have already nailed it, though I'd say that many P-39's were converted from 37mm to 20mm so that alone would not be a reliable indicator of P-39 vs P-400. The exhaust stub arrangement is the most obvious one that I can recall without referencing any books. And kudos to HM for doing the P-400 in such a cool scheme, I'll be adding this one too. My Soviet P-39 is in transit and I can't wait to see it!

[Ara1]

Probably a radio difference as well, per other Lend-Lease agreements.

[Cruver Collecter]

Originally Posted by Ara1

Probably a radio difference as well, per other Lend-Lease agreements.

I am not sure that Bell was so chintzy on the radios. In the book Attack of the Cobras Soviet pilots were really impressed with the P-39s radio equipment (Could have something to do with their homegrown equipment being crap though).

[1250ships]

Pending seeing some photos of the mould in general and this model in particular I'd have to say this is the one I'll probably buy.

[leeG]

Originally Posted by 1250ships

Pending seeing some photos of the mould in general and this model in particular I'd have to say this is the one I'll probably buy.

Oddly enough, this is the first version I'm lukewarm on. Probably because I prefer my shark mouths on Bf110s and P-40s.

I have the first two on the way and will be ordering the RAF version. I hope they get around to doing one in olive drab with early war marking (red circle in the middle of the star) and a French version (my neighbor's dad flew them for the Free French). But then again, this one may grow on me.

[lanslide]

Well this is a good model (I got the 1st two). However - sadly there is no representation of the nose guns at all. Just smooth fairing indentations with no guns whatsoever. This is the livery I want the most.