Finished: P-38L-5-LO Lightning

Alclad takes second place when I enter .

Wow this thread came back to life!! Thanks everybody.

I did start another thread about the model contest but it didn't do well so just to mention here the Lightning took a silver and Best Natural Metal Finish!!! It was a great day. The awards were almost as much fun to win as spending the day with my daughter was!

jmabx I know you asked about NMFs the other day. That link Swanny posted? I followed his instructions to the letter, using the gloss black Krylon as a base coat.

TLP I allways take very blah pictures on my dinningroom table. You can see my house in the background and it just takes the focus off the model. So I wanted to take better pics. I didn't have any paper to use as a background. I had 2 sheets, one grey the other blue. I found the grey sheet didn't contrast well with the model. Also too much flash was bad. (hence the darker look) This was my first try at taking ok pictures. I thought they made the model stand out well and I liked the way colour of the reflections off the paint. So thanks very much!!

Im not really sure I can add anything to the critique of the aircraft, I think all bases are covered as far as how beautiful it is. Really just an amazing peice of work, I would however like to add that I very much like the look of the pictures, the majority of us go for a very bright almost sterile look that shows off every tiny detail, you definitely taught me something, the lower light level and darker color background really adds some nice dramatic shadows that do wonders for the lines of the aircraft. Great job all around

TLP

Wow, what a shine! I'm assuming that's the alclad polished aluminum showing off those reflective capabilities?

Outstanding work! Your p-38 is such a beautiful plane!

Stunning looking lightning.

From the finish you've achieved, I'd never guess you had any issues at all.

Karl

Great finish on the P-38. Built that kit last year myself, became known around the house as the beast. I'd come in from working on it, Mumbling and grumbling, and the wife would say the beast bit me again. Did finish it, not nearly as nice as yours but got done noe the less.

-Stephen

MaxPower wrote:

Oh I know guys I'm telling you I almost gave up on that kit a few times but it cost so much money I was too cheap too! The engines into the boomes... terrible fit. The booms to the wings... terrible fit. Every seam I sanded required replacing rivets. Gah!! I didn't get excited about the kit untill the first coat of Alclad was on it. It was my first Trumpter. Tell me they are not all like that?

It may be the nature of the beast, the P38's complex airframe arraingment has dogged modelers from the git go. I have the old Revell 32nd P38 and the wing, boom, nacelle layout causes heartaches on final assem here too, the problem is less marked in smaller scales.  That said your build is surely a very fine example of the craft.  The finish is incredable, guess I know what I'll be using on my Hasa 32nd P47.

I'm speechless. It's just awesome!

Beautiful build and finish!  Those bare metal finishes scare the heck out of me.

Mike

MaxPower wrote:

squeakie wrote: looking at the Rolls Royce emblem and then the P38, I had to laugh a little bit. Rolls Royce is now the owner of the Allison Engine Company that made the engines for that bird! Although the other half of Allison still claims the V1710 as well. Anyway I've been hearing rumors that Rolls Royce?Allison is seriously thinking about starting a museum dedicated to products built with the two name plates. That bird would look like a gem there. gary When I was in gas turbine school I learned on the Alison 250. Now I'm all about the Rolls Royce, I overhaul and repair RB211's. So I went big. :D  model geek wrote: Dave, Wow! I need the sunglasses for this one. The NMF is awesome. You've inspired me to try the Alclad on my 1/48 Tamiya P-51D. Good luck on the contest. Who's Dave?? lol. You'll love spraying the Alclad. If you get a good gloss black primer coat the alclad is a ton of fun to spray.   Thanks again guys. The P38s still on my bench I can't stop staring at it!!

I remember the first time I ever went in the plant over over (63 acres under one roof!). Got a phone call a little after midnight asking me questions about how to fix a machine (guy loaded the tool holder in the spindle upside down). So I just jumped in the car and went over there. I got thru the guard shack OK because my ID card was good over there, but nobody showed up to pick me up! I wondered around in there for about an hour and a half, and saw what must have been fifty 250 turbines waiting for test in one area alone. Then I went into this area where they were assembling TF41's and TF56's, and damned near went to jail! Anyway I tell them I'm there to fix a machine, and these guys have never heard of the kind it was (there was only one at plant 5), so I said hey I'm leaving and you guys can figure it out on your own. Ten minutes later about a half dozen people show up looking for me. Fix the machine in about twenty minutes for them and head back north. Man that was a big place and so easy to get lost in. And I almost forgot! They blew up a turbine set in that crazy 100K rpm test! Shook the whole building as I was leaving (like a 500lb. bomb went off two hundred yards away!)

gary

Damn! That plane got sum Bling! " border="0" /> Talkin 'bout a pimped-out ride...

Seriously, fantastic paintjob!

squeakie wrote:

looking at the Rolls Royce emblem and then the P38, I had to laugh a little bit. Rolls Royce is now the owner of the Allison Engine Company that made the engines for that bird! Although the other half of Allison still claims the V1710 as well. Anyway I've been hearing rumors that Rolls Royce?Allison is seriously thinking about starting a museum dedicated to products built with the two name plates. That bird would look like a gem there. gary

model geek wrote:

Dave, Wow! I need the sunglasses for this one. The NMF is awesome. You've inspired me to try the Alclad on my 1/48 Tamiya P-51D. Good luck on the contest.

Thanks again guys. The P38s still on my bench I can't stop staring at it!!

Dave,

Wow! I need the sunglasses for this one. The NMF is awesome. You've inspired me to try the Alclad on my 1/48 Tamiya P-51D.

Good luck on the contest.

looking at the Rolls Royce emblem and then the P38, I had to laugh a little bit. Rolls Royce is now the owner of the Allison Engine Company that made the engines for that bird! Although the other half of Allison still claims the V1710 as well. Anyway I've been hearing rumors that Rolls Royce?Allison is seriously thinking about starting a museum dedicated to products built with the two name plates. That bird would look like a gem there.

gary

Tugcap wrote:

Oooooh, shiney! I like it! Just got my first supply of Alclad that I'll be using on a 1/32 Mustang. I really like the way it looks on your kit. Very nice job.

Now that is a seriously stunning job youve done there. Ive heard nothing but bad things about that kit, but from looking at your job on it, youd never guess. The alclad paint job is the icing on the cake. The various shades really set it off and against the black anti-glare panels.....Awesome.

Good luck at the comp. She looks like a winner to me. Just make sure you write Trumpeter on the card with the model, in LARGE letters LOL.

...Guy

That's an amazing finish. Truly gr8 work. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Dave

She's a Beauty .  Your hard work certainly paid dividends.

Regards,  Rick

jeaton01 wrote:

Nice job, I like it.  And the yoke/aileron displacement is correct.

Yupper, it is... Sorry, Jeremy... The yoke being turned to the left will raise the left aileron/lower the right, thereby dropping the left wing/raising the right for a left bank...

That said, the NMF is a beauty...