Quickboost has added the P-51D propeller to their line of resin aircraft accessories. The blades are molded separately from the spinner and a tool is provided for the proper blade pitch during installation. This latest addition is molded in a grayish resin, smooth, seamless and bubble free. One thing of note is that they are easy to remove from the mold block taking only a couple of minutes with a saw blade to remove them.

The package states that it is for the Tamiya kit but it should work with any other P-51D kit. In comparison with the Tamiya kit parts, I don’t really see all that much of a difference in the final product, the difference that does stand out is in the assembly. The Tamiya blades are molded together with the pitch set and will have to have the mold connections removed and sanded down. This can be a little slow and tedious especially when there are 3 of them between the blades, trying not to accidentally cut one off.

Background

Dave Johnson bought this kit from a swap meet or mail order. He let me build it and review it. Then it goes back to Dave. This saves me from taking up my already meager shelf space.

The Aircraft

The kit calls itself a P-39, and it is. But it’s also a P-400, which was the Export/RAF version of the Airacobra.

The P-39 was notable for the engine mounted behind the pilot and the 37 mm cannon in the nose. The 37 mm made it a great strafer, and the Russians got their money’s worth out of theirs. The other great trivia fact: The cannon was built by Oldsmobile.

Our friend, Ross McMIllen, has never been one to rest on his laurels and for the month of June, 2011, he has given us 6 new offerings.

Here is another aircraft upgrade set from Quickboost. The latest addition is for the Academy P-40 Warhawk. It is up to their usual standards; molded in a grayish resin, smooth, seamless and bubble free. One thing of note is that they are really easy to remove from the mold block because of a nice perforation. It only took me a couple of light passes with my saw blade to make them fall away instead of launching into the air becoming snacks for the carpet monster.

I must admit that I was a little confused with this set because it comes with every antenna that a P-40 Warhawk ever had on it, so you can replace the existing one in the kit or make any other variation including the “football“ housed loop that some warbirds used. I looked through my reference library and found some great walk around photos of these antennas. My reference was from The Aero Series 3, Curtis P-40, Aero Publishers, Inc 1965.

Might as well get this over with right now - THE BEST MUSHROOM BOOK I HAVE READ!!!!

OK, I'll admit it - the Silver Wings era is my favorite, and in that, the Gamecock is high on my list - so I'm a bit prejudiced. But this book is much more than I expected - it is very well written, very well organized, and very well illustrated. The Grebe and Gamecock are 1920's aircraft; built in small quantities, never saw action - so there simply isn't that much around on them. The author has gone to great lengths to dig out that information and then cover it in a complete and well-organized manner.