1:48 P-39N Airacobra Canopy Mask (Arma Hobby)

Masking stencils for the P-39N cockpit

The stencils cover the clear parts of an Airacobra model and uncover only the frames. The cockpit of this aircraft is not an ordinary sliding canopy but an assembly of doors and fixed windows, so there are more pieces than on other fighters of the period. The set is in the form for the outer side.

A fighter with the engine behind the pilot's back

The Bell P-39 had a V12 engine housed behind the cockpit and drove the propeller through a long shaft running under the seat. The freed nose received nose gear, which was exceptional at the time it came about, and a cannon firing through the axis of the propeller. Without a turbocharger the machine ran out of breath at altitude, but low over the ground it was among the decent hunters. The N version was one of the most numerous and the overwhelming majority of them went to the Soviet Air Force, where the Airacobra became a popular and successful type.

Doors instead of a sliding canopy

The glazing sits in automobile doors on both sides of the fuselage, and with it goes a fixed rear section and windows in the spine. Work from the large windows to the small triangles and leave the doors for last, because they are the hardest to handle. If you want them open on the model, fit the stencils before you glue the hinges on. Look against the light to see whether every window is covered completely; an uncovered corner cannot be put right under the paint.

Who the set is useful for

• builders of Second World War fighters
• for models in Soviet as well as American colors
• where there are too many frames for outlining by hand
• for a cockpit built with the doors open