Republic P-43 Lancer by Dora Wings
1/48 scale
Kit No. DW48029
Price: $32.00
Decals: Four versions, all U.S. Army Air Corps
Comments: Two-part canopy, engraved panel lines and recessed rivet detail, detailed cockpit and wheel wells; photo etch fret and paint masks included
History
The Republic P-43 Lancer was developed from the Seversky P-35. It was an interim design whose continuing evolution led directly to a world-class fighter, the P-47 Thunderbolt. Although the U.S. Army Air Corps had ordered 77 P-35’s in June 1936, the Seversky Aircraft Company continued to pursue development of the type as a private venture throughout the late 1930’s, producing one-off examples that experimented with different powerplants and enhancements.
The most significant of these was the AP-4, which served as the basis for future Seversky/Republic aircraft.
The AP-4 featured fully retractable landing gear, flush riveting, and most significantly a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-SC2G engine with a belly-mounted turbo-supercharger, producing 1,200 hp (890 kW) and good high-altitude performance. The turbo-supercharger had been refined by Boeing as part of the development program for the B-17 Flying Fortress, and the improved performance it offered was of great interest to other aircraft manufacturers. Although Alexander Seversky lost control of his company in 1939, which subsequently reformed as Republic Aviation Company, much of the work begun under his leadership continued.
Prior to Seversky’s dismissal, the company had signed a contract for a new U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) fighter, incorporating the best qualities of the preceding XP-41 and AP-4 models. It would carry an air-cooled Pratt & Whitney R-1830-35 radial engine with a turbosupercharger. Alexander Kartveli (also credited with the later P-47) headed up the design team. Armament was improved to two .50 caliber machine guns in the upper cowling, and two .30 caliber machine guns, one in each wing. The wings were elliptical in their general shape and the air scoop for the turbosupercharger was installed in the cowling itself under the engine (a feature the P-47 design would copy). A “tail-dragger” undercarriage and single vertical tail fin completed the appearance of what was shaping up to be a promising fighter.
The design was finalized as the YP-43 (no “X” designation was used in the program) and given the name of “Lancer.” It flew for the first time March 1940. The prototype YP-43 was passed on to the Army in September of 1940 and was the first of thirteen test aircraft. One of the early deficiencies exposed was a bad tendency for the aircraft to “ground loop” (and flip onto its back in extreme cases) which forced an adjustment to the height of the tail wheel. While Republic struggled to perfect the P-43 design, Army observers had noted the speed at of advancements in European fighter design. Interest in the P-43 waned as the focus moved to a more advanced model – the P-44 “Rocket” (which become the P-47 Thunderbolt. The P-43, while it represented an important evolution in fighter design, was more or less obsolete before it ever had a chance to fight.
Having invested both time and money into the P-43 program — and to keep Republic production lines running pending the arrival of the P-47 — the Army pushed for the procurement of the still-serviceable P-43 as a basic trainer. A contract for 54 of the type was drawn up based on the YP-43 standard and another 80 aircraft emerged from an earlier order for the P-44-1 model – these becoming the “P-43A”. The powerplant for this mark was a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-49 air-cooled radial and deliveries began in September of 1941. An additional 125 aircraft were then ordered as “P-43A-1” and intended for service in the Far East (China/Japan). These included a provision at their fuselage centerlines for an external fuel tank or bomb and primary armament was 4 x 0.50 cal heavy machine guns — two in the nose, one each in the wing.
In all, 272 Lancers were delivered from 1940 through 1941. It proved reliable if unspectacular (featuring a top speed of 323 mph) and featured modern qualities such as a wholly-enclosed cockpit, metal skinning, retractable undercarriage and aerodynamic streamlining. Most notably its turbosupercharger gave it an impressive service ceiling of 31,500 feet. Certainly the Army’s desire for air-cooled, radial-engined fighter types, which had the Lancer’s other design characteristics helped the retention of the P-43 in secondary roles. It was undeniably an improvement over previous company offerings even if it could do little against the more advanced fighters coming out of Germany and Japan. For most of its service life, the P-43 was stuck in secondary roles and shipped to the more remote theatres of war rather than being pressed into service as a front line mount. The primary operators became the Royal Australian Air Force, the Republic of China Air Force and the United States Army Air Corps.
In the China-Burma-India Theatre, P-43s performed in the fighter role as ground strafers, interceptors, and along with P-40’s as bomber escorts — in the latter two roles they were favored because their turbosuperchargers allowed them to reach higher altitudes than the P-40’s. Because of their small numbers (Chinese sources indicate only about 40 aircraft arrived safely to operational fighter squadrons during the whole year of 1942) and distribution among the squadrons, seldom did more than one or two P-43s fly on any given mission. An exception occurred on December 14th when four P-43s joined fourteen P-40s in an escort mission to Hanoi covering the P-40s in a successful combat. On December 30, 1942 three P-43s gave top cover to six P-40s on a mission to Lashio, Burma, enabling the P-40s to claim one of six Japanese fighters encountered.
The P-43 Lancer was obsolete upon America’s entry into World War II, mostly retained for training purposes, but a few found their way into combat in the Far East, where some of their design traits were a definite advantage. Early in the war the P-43 was the only American fighter capable of catching the Mitsubishi Ki-46 “Dinah,” a rather fast purpose-built reconnaissance plane, and due to its high altitude capability and relatively high speed, the Lancer itself was fitted with a camera and tasked with long-range, high altitude photo reconnaissance missions until replaced with the Lockheed F-5 , the reconnaissance version of the P-38 Lightning.
But the P-43 had critical deficiencies that kept it from being a first rate fighter in combat. Its armament was relatively light, and it lacked armor and self-sealing fuel tanks. It was slower than the best front line fighters of the Japanese Army and Navy, the Nakajima Ki-43 and Mitsubishi A6M Zero, respectively. In addition, its wing tanks had a tendency to leak and caused a number of in-flight fires, a flaw that plagued it through much of its career and was not remedied until it was modified in the field in China. The P-43 nonetheless contributed to the fight against the Axis in the desperate early days of World War II.
The Kit
Dora Wings’ P-43 Lancer is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 134 parts on seven sprues, including a small clear plastic sprue for the three-part canopy. The kit features engraved panel lines and recessed rivet detail with separately molded control surfaces (rudder, ailerons and elevators). The cockpit is well detailed. There is no detail in the fuselage interiors for the cockpit sidewalls, as there are separate parts for the sidewalls to which multiple parts are cemented representing instrumentation.
In addition, there is a crisply molded main instrument panel with raised detail and a photo etch panel face to augment it. The bucket seat is plain but is complemented by the small photo etch fret which includes seat belts, cooling gills for the engine cowling, and dorsal and ventral ventilation grids, also to be cemented to the cowling. The kit also provides painting masks for the canopy.
The kit includes a double row Pratt & Whitney radial engine complete with an engine mount assembly and a firewall to which the rear end of the P-43’s nose-mounted .50 caliber machine guns are cemented. The cowling is a multi-part assembly (four plastic, and four photo-etch parts, two for the ventilation grids and two for the cooling gills and will likely require effort at seam-hiding. The propeller appears to be a well-shaped three-bladed Hamilton Standard and should not require any sanding or reshaping.
The turbo supercharger which provided the P-43 with high altitude capability is faithfully recreated; this is a four-part assembly which is cemented to the ventral side of the fuselage in the latter stages of construction. The landing gear are exceptionally detailed and are complemented by highly detailed wheel wells.
Markings
The kit decals are by Decograph, printed in the Ukraine, and unlike many decals originating from Eastern Europe are crisply printed with realistic colors, no color bleed, and are fully in register. In short they appear to be high quality decals and exhibit a semi-gloss sheen that should not give modelers any problems. Each of the four paint schemes for which markings are provided is afforded a four-view color schematic in the instructions.
The first is for an all-metal P-43, Black 74, with a red cowling lip and a rudder featuring a blue vertical band and horizontal red and white stripes, and the fuselage sides bear the head of a Native American Chief in lieu of national markings, which appear on the top and bottom of both wings. This is a YP-43 Lancer with the U.S. Army Air Corps, circa 1941. The second set of markings is for a P-43A Lancer of the 85th Pursuit Group based at Portland air base in Portland, Oregon, January 1942 and is painted in the standard olive drab over neutral grey with a yellow propeller hub and a cowling lip that is yellow on top and white on its bottom two-thirds.
The third machine bears an identical paint scheme and the word “Snafu” painted on its cowling in yellow with a yellow serial 16721 on its tail; this is a P-43A Lancer, unit unknown, circa 1942. The fourth version is also in olive drab over neutral grey with a white cowling lip and the yellow serial 131496 on its tail. This is a P-43A Lancer from 1943, unit unknown, and bears the red border on the national markings that U.S. armed forces experimented with during this period of the war. The instructions are clear and well laid out and include a color table providing paint colors in the Mr. Hobby, Tamiya, AMMO MIG, Hataka, and Life Color paint lines.
Conclusion
This is an excellent kit of one of the more obscure American fighters of World War II that saw limited service despite its obsolescence, and until now has been overlooked by kit manufacturers in 1/48 scale. Highly recommended.
References
- www.militaryfactory.com
- www.joebaugher.com
- www.wikipedia.org
- www.aviation-history.com
- www.warbirdforum.com