Flying Red Horse - Chuck Tucker Bendix P-63 Kingcobra - Modified 1/72nd Dora Wings with Draw Decals

Photo from SDASM Photostream

Being built in parallel with P-63 Kingcobra “Easter Egg” racer model, here is P-63 “Flying Red Horse”, also using a Draw Decals set. In fact, they were both one and the same plane, with the same registration; Red Flying Horse being flown first at the Transcontinental 1946 Bendix race, whilst Easter Egg flew in the 1949 as a pylon racer, both times piloted by Chuck Tucker.

Besides the usual demilitarizing, the wingtips have to be removed and two fuel tanks added. To add interest I purchased a resin aftermarket engine and cut-out one of the fuselage side panels. This is the third Dora Wings P-63 I build, and all the shenanigans and virtues of the kit were already described in the two previous building articles:

Easter Egg:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2024/01/bell-p-63-kingcobra-easter-egg-racer.html

# 55 Winner of the Sohio Handicap Trophy Race, 1948:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2023/08/bell-p-63-kingcobra-sohio-trophy-racer.html

As with Easter Egg, do not use the horizontal tail described in the decal sheet but the one with inset elevators. The kit provides both (I used Dora’s C/E double feature boxing, removing the ventral fins).

 

Where is a proper tip tank when you need one?

Finally found the right wingtip tanks in a Lightning kit:

Styrene stick lengths are glued to the wingtips to be later carved to shape. The ailerons have been cut to size and other sub-assemblies are seen in progress. The smooth transition from wingtip to tank will be addressed once the tanks are installed via a properly-angled pylon:

 The wingtips are carved to shape. The tank is positioned to see how it looks:

The tanks are given pylons shaped to wingtip and tank contours, at the angle shown in photos. Fine adjustments will be done once the glue is set, then the tanks will be blended-in with the tip:

Interior and engine are put in place and the fuselage halves are glued together. As with the other two Kingcobra I built, the carb air intake inserts will need a bit of tiding-up at the seams:

 Delete this bump:

Wing tip tanks, wing and horizontal tail on. "Easter Egg" to the right:

The kit as some little bump molded in front of the nose bay that also needs to go (the kit's drawing depicts the spinner cannon that needs deletion too):

The weight is on and the little part that caps the fuselage nose is glued in place (bad fit as you can tell by the putty). If at this stage you realize that you have forgotten to add weight, guaranteeing a tail-sitter, you could still -maybe- add little lead pellets (about 1mm diameter) through the opening seen in the photo. The fact that Dora designed the nose LG leg and bay as they did, created the need to mask the area (uncomfortably). A plug-in-later nose gear would have been much more convenient. An odd design choice:

Primer:

Once the white was airbrushed to the wings, these are masked to apply the base for the metal color:

Gloss black applied, now waiting for the Alclad metal paint. The ancillaries were also painted at this time:

Metal color applied:

Masks off:

More masking and more painting:

Elevators and rudder were given a slightly whitish metallic hue, not really discernible in the photo:

The landing gear legs have a locating socket, but the fit is quite indifferent; pity as these parts need positive securing and alignment. Do better next time, Dora:

Decaling. The Draw Decals sheet behaves nicely and the images are sharp and printed in solid colors. Doors, flaps, antenna still to go:

A note on a small detail that hints at perhaps at someone in the computer design area at Dora as not being very familiar with airplanes. The spinner backplate for some reason follows (unnecessarily so) the cut-out on the spinner for the propeller blades, instead of being a perfect, "sealing" disc. Unfortunately I realized this during the photography sessions:

In reality, if anything, the backplate could have had protuberances to embrace the blade, and not a cut-out. As mentioned before, the axle provided doesn't fit in any position:

These are the types of mishaps, oversights and glitches that I hope Dora weeds out in time. All can be easily or relatively easily corrected, but you have to spot these things first, which is not always the case.

Ready. Photo session and posting of the completed model article when weather and chores allows:

To be continued...