The latest Airacobra P-400 model kit is an unusual but very interesting version of this fighter: an aircraft manufactured in the USA on British order, with British equipment and camouflage, requisitioned by the Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor and sent to the area of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific at that time: New Guinea and Guadalcanal jungle.
Compared to other American Airacobras, they stand out with very interesting colour schemes - they have a British two-tone camouflage - made with American equivalents of the British colours Dark Green, Dark Earth and Sky, in addition, we chose planes with shark mouths, giving them a predatory look.
These ex-British Airacobras had to operate in extremely difficult conditions, on muddy field airstripes, in a tropical climate. Their engines without superchargers and with British oxygen installations, for which the Americans did not have masks, made it impossible to operate at high altitudes. Although they took part in fighter combat, including shooting down the legendary "Zeros", they were the most effective as ground assault planes. Their cannon and the ability to carry bombs allowed them to perform murderous, precise dive attacks on Japanese positions. A substitute for napalm was also used: auxilliary fuel tanks filled with a flammable mixture of oil and gasoline.
The Arma Hobby P-400 Airacobra model kit in 1/72 scale includes plastic sprues universal for various Airacobra versions and an additional fuselage nose 3D-printed in resin - suitable for the P-400 version. It replaces the plastic nose and its use does not require any interference with the shape of the model. The model has a precisely reproduced cockpit interior and wheel wells, as well as separate doors that can be made in closed and open positions. The model can be made with two types of bombs or an auxilliary fuel tank.
The renowned German modelling magazine "Modell Fan" at the Nuremberg Fair awarded the 1/72 Arma Hobby Airacobra model kit with a gold medal and the title "Modell des Jahres 2023" ("Model of the Year 2023").
