P38 lightning, just tired of it

I built the 1/48 Academy P-38E (maybe F?) about 9 years ago, and thought it was a great kit. The fit was excellent, as I recall. Of course, I was wrestling with a bunch of rough (but cool!) Otaki kits at the same time, so maybe in comparison the Academy kit shined.

Hmmm...Ive got the P-38 Academy 1/48. There was no warped at all... The booms was really good..hmm..

I just destoried my P-38 this past weekend but it was the haswaga P-38F kit. It was going great up to the point of actually putting the thing together. Dry fitting seemed to so that it would be fun but no..when go to glue the thing together it would not line up at all. One boom was higher than the other so the tail plane would not line up. After two days of working to get the booms and the tail plane to line up and not doing so....I had enough and the plane took a nose drive into the floor. I then snapped the booms and what ever else surived the impact and through the thing in the trash. I did keep a few part but most of it went to the dump. Now that kit was a piece of @#$#. I hadn't had so much frustration in a kit since the Monogram Invader kit that went righ back into its box after two weeks of fighting with it.
Anyway I have an Academy P38 E in the closet that I will try someday and I have heard that it is a better kit than the Hasawaga one. But I kind of scared of it right now because I am starting to think there is no such thing as a nice P-38 building experience. Afraid the Academy kit might prove me right on this thought. Too bad because I have alot of cool P-38 markings. WIsh Tamyia would come out with their own family of P-38s. But I doubt that will ever happen. But I guess I can keep dreaming though, it better than the P-38 nightmares I have been having. Anyway where's that P-47, nows that a fun kit.

Thank you for confirming. The booms are a nightmare as is the tail sitting even. I know I know, dry fit. I dryfitted til the cows were on the horizin, don't matter. It stinks. Tamiya, Accurate, please give us a 1:48 P38. Then it will be a nice kit. Cool looking plane although I cannot imagine how it was so maneuverable. I guess it was.

No P-38 kit is easy, but the 1/48 Academy kit that I built was well molded and the fit was good. It's not as well detailed as the Hasegawa kit, but it is an easier build. The Hasegawa kit can be a real bear if you don't fit the wheel wells in the booms absolutely perfect. Anyone wanting to build a P-38 should buy or borrow Bert Kinzey's P-38 Lightning "In Detail & Scale" books, Vol. 57 & 58. Vol.58 ( Part 2 of the series ) probably offers the best construction tips for building the Academy and Hasegawa 1/48 kits, as well as the other kits available in various scales. These books are very excellent references and very worthwhile to any P-38 modeler.

Hey nsclctl;
I've built just about every 1/48 scale P-38's, and with Academy's their a hit or miss with the fit I built the P-38E and it went together like a dream but the P-38J fought me tooth & nail to the end but I was victorious, the kit came out fairly nice even though the rough time it gave me, as for the Hasegawa kit that even more rare for those almost go together by drop a tube of glue and paint in the kits box and shake a voila a nice P-38, but even the best has their days too, the only advise is to keep plugging at her and you'll be empressed with the out come from all that trouble it has givin you

Hang tight! The Trumpeter P-38 in 1/32 scale is just around the corner, guys!

The Trumpeter 1/32 P-38 has landed. Saw one today at the LHS and it looks awesome in the box. Didn't buy one but I was tempted. Just have no idea where I would put it once built.

Don't feel bad.. Dragon's 1/72 P 38 was a nitemare also.. Poor fit,, landing gear doors .. my gosh... Sit was all wrong.. waste of good plastic. But we may be lucky, Academy is doing a 1/72 P 38 this year.... Hope it's not Dragon's kit..

I built Monogram's P-38J/L a long time ago, in my build-it-in-1 hour phase, and it seemed pretty good to me... Even as I look at it now, ther's no gear bay detail, but the booms lined up without any snapping or bending the @#**!!!! out of it.

uh oh, now im worried... I just ordered a resin cockpit and decals for my Academy P-38 J, hope mine isnt as bad as all that... I remeber building one a long time ago, must have been revell or something, and i just wanted to make a GOOD one... well we'll see when i get started on it i suppose.

Jus6t finished this last night. Absolutely the worst build of my recent model building era. I hated this kit from day 1. I know it was just me. We did not get along. The plnae is warped, the tail is down on one side and up on the other. Wheel wells look terible and I did not weigth the front of the plane down, so, it is in the air. Unless Tamiya or Accurate comes out with one, that will be the lone P38 in my collection. Just a miserable experience. I was even looking a going over to tanks and trucks after this. Oh my God I was desperate. Now will move on, take a break and build a Fokker DRVII.