CAMS takes on the Atlantis P-39

Thanks to a manufacturing mistake, CAMS members had a build challenge for the May meeting.

Atlantis molded hundreds of the military version of its P-39 kit in the yellow intended for its racing version of the kit. Rather than throw them away, the company offered them for pennies to IPMS kits for club builds or make-and-takes. CAMS decided on the former (and decided the kit posed too many fitment challenges for the latter).

Members had three months to complete the build with no restrictions on design or after-market parts. Rather than a judged competition, those participating described what they built and the challenges they faced in completing it.

Eight members participated in the display, seven with their P-39s and one with his NASCAR spacecraft build from the prior club build.

Most notable was Stephen Foster’s build, which he completed with his 5-year-old grandson. The stripes taught the youth airflow over an aircraft, and included a new weathering technique: chicken nugget fingerprints.

Brian Daley used the kit as a chance to experiment with some weathering techniques. He also added a variety of photo etch and other after market pieces for the cockpit.

Bill Hensler converted his to a P-40 with some changes in markings and armament.

John Watkins used a set of Russian decals to represent one of the nationalities that used the aircraft.

Among Dick Davenport’s changes were replacing the molded guns with hypodermic needles to bring them more into scale.

Mike Orris carefully painted within the molded-in insignia on the kit.

Chris Klaver (who neglected to photograph his own build at the meeting), built an air racer from the kit with hand-masked racing stripes. He also learned the substantial difference between water and alcohol as a wet sand rinse.

Jason McEntire said he didn’t complete the P-39 yet, but brought in the NASCAR build that was intended for SEMMEX earlier in the year. He was sick and did not attend the event.