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

The Airacobra with car-style doors

Stencils for the cockpit framing of the American Bell P-39Q fighter in 1:48 scale, cut to the glazing of the Arma Hobby kit named in the name of the item.

A fighter built inside out

The P-39 is among the most unusual designs of the Second World War. The engine sits behind the pilot, a drive shaft runs under the cockpit floor to the propeller and a cannon fires through the propeller hub. The aircraft was one of the first American fighters with a nose gear. The most conspicuous thing, though, is the entry to the cockpit: instead of a sliding canopy it has two doors like a passenger car, with wind-down side windows. The Q version carried heavy machine guns in pods under the wings and a large part of production went, after delivery, to the Soviet Union, where the type earned a reputation as a tough low-level machine.

Why this cockpit in particular is a tough nut

A pair of doors means a lot of short angled frames and two separate windows, and the windscreen and the glazing behind the pilot's head are added to that. By hand it takes long minutes to cut and one corner still escapes you. Pre-cut shapes solve that problem. Lay them down with tweezers and check at once that they have seated into the corners of the frame. Anyone building with the doors hinged open should think through the order of work in advance, because the inner side of the windows is barely reachable once the fuselage is glued.

Who the set is useful for

• builders of machines delivered under Lend-Lease
• for models with the cockpit doors open
• everyone who would rather avoid angled frames
• as a basis for spraying the insignia later