Hill's angels: 1/32 Trumpeter P-38

excellent job. despite the issues you had it came out stunning.

Bob

You did a good job a kit that has alot of fit issues. I build it two years ago and I was extremly disappointed in just about every aspect of this kit considering the price. I understand why you went with the resin cockpit. The kit supplied cockpit is very sparse. I do'nt blame you for going with the OD scheme. To build it in NMF requires many hours of filling polishing and rescribing. Overall I think you did quite well on a sub-par kit.

                                                                                           Soulcrusher

I built that kit last year so I can relate. I think that was the least fun I've had building a model... ever. Horrible.

I see what you mean about the canopy but it actually blends well with the look of the aircraft which is very nicely weathered. Mine has lots of mistakes as well but you came through so welcome to the club!

I don't want to be rude and litter your thread with my pics but just as one horrid model builder to another here's how mine turned out:

http://www3.telus.net/public/niallc/P38%20Lightning/finished/

 Mines trying to look like a museum piece so very different than you. What was I thinking doing a NMF????

Good looking Lightning.  Your efforts paid off.

Regards,  Rick

Thank you Gentlemen for all the comments.

sfcmac:  How tough was the fit?  Almost every main assembly had some fit issues that had to be dealt with. The major concern was assembling the the upper and lower halves of the wings while simultaneously aligning the booms and keeping correct dihedral.  If you can pat your head, rub your belly, sing the national anthem and dance the jig all at the same time, you'll have no problems.    Take a look at Soulcrushers build in the P-38 Group build for a much more detailed play-by-play of the issues that he faced (and successfully overcame, BTW).

oddmanrush:  I don't know exactly what fogged the canopy.  I'm open to explanations.  All I know is that I painted the interior and then glued on the canopy a while later.  It was clear when assembled and the next day was fogged. 

MaxPower:  "canopy actually blends well with the look of the aircarft.."

Thank you.  That's what I thought but obviously couldn't say that it was intentional.  No, Really!! I meant to do it that way....    I got lucky.

 Don

I think NMF on WW2 planes is overrated.  Your ship looks like a real bird of prey, a true warbird!  It is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!!!

Brian

That is one beautiful P-38, sir, and it looks like a show-winner to me!!!

Note- CA super glue will fog up clear parts as it cures, maybe that's what you experienced.  But I can't see it from your photos.  Nice job all around!

That is one beautiful no, BEAUTIFUL job on that P-38.  I did notice one small thing, though.  Both ailerons are deflected downwards...Still, If I could do one half that nice I'd be happy with it.

Ray

 My goodness! I have been building models for more than 50 years and I have never done as good a job as you have!  Great job and thanks for sharing!

V/R, Razor

I can see one obvious and glaring problem with your build....

You didn't give it to me when you were done.

Aside from that, I see darned near perfection.  What an amazing job!  Now THIS is how a model should look!!!!!!!

Eric

Again,  thanks to all who responded for the very encouraging remarks. 

 Ray:  with the exception of the fowler flaps which are glued in place, all other control surfaces are moveable.  I see what you mean.  They probably ended up slightly deflected as I was positioning the plane for photos. 

 Moon Puppy:  depending on which panel lines and rivets you are referring to, it might be more my error than Trumpeter's.  I had a lot of sanding to do on the nose and gun panels to get a smooth fit.  Scribing isn't a strength of my modeling at this point, so some of the irregularities that you see may not be Trumpeter's fault.

 Don

No way dude, if anything the ones that you worked on looks better than the untouched deep lines from Trumpter. Has me thinking about how to fill them in some on a Trumpeter build i'm doing. Like I said I have read that Turmpeters rivits and panel lines are overstated and I think it really shows up on the nose and around the gunports. I don't think anyone could blame that on you. Shoot, I think you nailed the finish and I can't see any of the trouble spots you talk about.

Did you do a WIP on this anywhere?

Moon Puppy wrote:

Did you do a WIP on this anywhere?

Sorry, I didn't.  My references were several other WIP and review threads:

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=17285

http://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/Trumpeter/p38/p38.html

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=5696&hl=lightning

http://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/p-38/p-38.shtml

And I followed Soulcrushers build in the P-38 Group Build forum.

Most of the difficulties that I encountered are documented in the articles above, but if there is anything specific that you want to know, I'll do my best too recall. 

 Don

I have to say it was nine months well spent!

The paint finish is outstanding, I envy your painting skills!