Another Rigby P-39 version

[rockpaperscissor]

This one is a bit different as the livery is not based on an actual aircraft. In my last Rigby thread I got to reminiscing about the classic comic strips that were featured in the Sunday newspaper editions of the times, and I wanted to feature a vintage comic character as nose art on this P-39.

I decided on Daisy Mae Scragg from "Li'l Abner" for obvious reasons. My thought process moved from Daisy Mae to hillbillies in general to Appalachia to the southern states, and finally to the confederacy. I decided to deck this P-39 out as an alternate history Confederate States of America Air Force fighter.

In this alternate history, the American Civil War didn't happen. The issue of secession was decided in the courts rather than on the battlefield. In this timeline, the first state to secede was Virginia, not South Carolina. The secession was challenged by the United States federal government, but since Virginia (along with New York and Rhode Island) included the right to leave the Union as part of their ratification agreement during the 1897 Constitutional Convention the challenge against the State by the United States government failed. This decision by the Supreme Court opened the door to secession by other states since, per the Constitution, all member States are equal with none having more or less rights than any other. So the country split peacefully. As Territories became States some joined the United States, some joined the Confederate States. The question of slavery in the Confederate States of America was resolved shortly after its formation by economic pressure from her main trading partners including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain and France.

So much for the alternate history lesson. I've built nine different Rigby airplane kits, and I think the P-39 is my favorite. It was also one of the earliest Rigby models, featured in newspapers on December 1, 1940, a full year before America's entry into the war. The model requires a weight in the nose to keep the tail off the ground - I epoxied a short fat screw in place before closing up the nose discs. Like all Rigby kits, the finished model is easily identifiable as a P-39 despite its lack of fidelity to the real thing. I had a lot of fun with this one.

[Wyvern]

Fantastic builds!

Wyvern

[rockpaperscissor]

Thank you, Wyvern These Rigby kits are so simple, yet so enjoyable to build. I have a couple of other P-39 kits that offer a lot more detail. I'm thinking of recoloring one of them as the CSAF "Daisy Mae".