Russian Airacobra decals?

[dahut]

At the hands of the Russians, the P-39 chalked up more combined kills in WWII than any other American aircraft.

To honor that, I'd like to find a set of Russian Airacobra decals.

Scale: 1/48

Location: South Carolina, 29070

To spend $10-25+ for a set to just yield one model... With a sheet full of holes leftover, well, it seems a little daft.

Anybody have some hanging around I could pick up on on the cheap?

Edited November 26, 2014 by dahut

[PFlint]

I could probably be persuaded to part with an Aeromaster sheet......

[dahut]

You would be doing your country a great service if you would...

Okay that's probably too much.

PM inbound.

[dahut]

I'm never sure if messages are getting through....

[PFlint]

you've got a pretty good sense of humor. :)

[dahut]

I'm hoping that's a good thing....

[Jennings]

Whatever you do, just don't fall into the trap of putting blue circles with red stars over them. Bell delivered the vast majority od P-39s with *white* circles and red stars, which the Russians overpainted with any manner of green paint, not blue. It's an old chestnut that just won't die regardless of the mounds of evidence that refutes it.

[dahut]

Thanks Jennings.

I recall that, vaguely, so the reminder is welcome. Good to see you active still and I shall heed.

[zeus60]

Email sent.

Stacey

[dahut]

Whatever you do, just don't fall into the trap of putting blue circles with red stars over them. Bell delivered the vast majority od P-39s with *white* circles and red stars, which the Russians overpainted with any manner of green paint, not blue. It's an old chestnut that just won't die regardless of the mounds of evidence that refutes it.

Something else i recently read is that the Russians removed the wing guns on their Airacobras to obtain a better roll rate.

The reason for this was because they didn't employ the P-39 solely for ground attack. That idea is oanother of those "chestnuts" that persist to this day.

We didn't value the P-39 early on, against targets like the Zero, and it lacked a turbo so it had no high altitude legs. The assumption we make, then, is it wasn't much good against its contemporaries. But the Russians rather liked the Bell and fought air-to-air with it a lot. They developed tactics

specifically suited to the P-39, in fact.

In this regard, they appreciated the improved handling the gun removal offered.

Does this jibe, in your mind?

[PFlint]

guns were removed from the P-39Q as these had .50 cal in pods under the wings.

so you can find many "gun-less" wings on P-39Q's

wing guns were usually retained on the N and older models.(as seen in many photos)

as for the blue circles , the first machines transferred from the USAAF were P-39D's

these usually had a red star painted over the white one

as Lend-Lease deliveries began they switched to "Delivery Stars" -- a red star inside a white disk

the white was over-painted in the USSR with AMT-4 (medium) Green.(Sukhov's machine is a rare exception)

[dahut]

Good news.

Lotsa possibilities

Edited November 27, 2014 by dahut