Complete - 1/48 Academy F-5E Lightning

I built that one a few years ago to honor my wife's deceased grandfather, who was a line mechanic (I think) in the 26th Photo Reconn Squadron based out of New Guinea, among other locations.  My primary reference was the books by Bert Kinzey (P-38 Lightning in Detail and Scale), the second volume of which includes some color photographs of the wheel wells on an F-5E.  I cannot state that the photographs are representative of an actual F-5E during the war, but all of the photos were green zinc chromate.  That's how I painted my particular model as well.

According to the IPMS Stockholm site, the wheel wells are primarily in Neutral Gray with other colors as well.

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/02/stuff_eng_interior_colours_us_part2.htm

Hope it comes up, Bob. It's most excellent. Lots of color photos.

I was digging around in the box, looking everything over before getting started and looking at my cockpit references when I decided I'd need to add some detail in there.  I grabbed a Hasegawa P-38J kit out of the stash to compare cockpit parts and discovered the previous owner hid a True Details cockpit in the box that was designed for the Academy kit.  Deciding the Hasegawa cockpit was good enough out of the box, I decided to use the TD cockpit here.  Finally got everything painted.

And here it is all together

That cockpit is great looking. Where did you get the seatbelts? Are they molded into the seat or are they added later?

Pit and IP are looking sweet!  Finding that AM pit was a stroke of luck. 

I can't believe it's been two months since I've posted any progress.  The last couple months have been kind of tough.  I found out that my kidney function is dropping again so now they're looking at a transplant.  I went through the whole evaluation process and they determined I'd be a good recipient, and a few people have come forward that are willing to donate.  Between being tired all the time and appointments, I hadn't had much time for the bench.  Then at the end of last month my mother in law passed away kind of suddenly and we've been driving half-way across the state a lot lately. 

Anways, she's starting to look like an airplane now.  Still have some filling and sanding to do.  I also found some bits to use for the cameras in the nose, I just need to figure out how to get them attached.

Well, It sounds like you do have a ray of good news as far as the transplant goes. I really hope that all comes together seamlessly for you! I’m glad you are managing to find some solace at the workbench. She’s Definitely looking like a plane now.

Ahhh I love these planes. Yours is looking good so far! So what are your plans for NMF, alclad, foil, something else? Inquiring minds want to know lol

Thanks for checking in Mongoose, sorry I didn't respond sooner.  I'm planning on beating this one one up with weathering as the conditions in the Pacfic weren't kind to these birds.  That being said, I'm just going to spray it with rattlecan silver then weather it so it doesn't look too cheap.

Here's a pic of the inside of the nose with my makeshift cameras inside (they're just some leftover bits from some Warhammer 40K kits). 

I put some fishing sinkers and some bb's in the ends of the nacelles to keep it from tail sitting and closed her up.

I finally have paint on.  The bottom had some kind of strange wrinkling on it, I'm not really sure what was going on there but I've fixed it the best I could.  At least it's on the bottom where not too many people will be looking at it.  I primed with flat black, then sprayed Testor's silver out of a rattlecan.  After that dried I picked out a few panels with a couple shades of silver and aluminum.  Since this plane was in the South Pacific at the end of WWII, I'm chipping a bit more paint than I usually do since those birds really took a beating from the elements.  

I also got the props done as well.  There's still a little bit of touching up to do here and there.

Not too shabby, Silent Bob! Nice to see you’ve made some progress. And me, haven’t even started mine for the GB... looking forward to seeing how you wrap her up!

Decals are done, and they were terrible.  I don't have many Academy kits in the stash, but I'm going to have to see if the decals are made by them or printed by someone else.  If they are Academy decals I'm getting aftermarket.  These were some of the worst decals I have used.  The Micro Sol just cracked them and comepletely destroyed the upper national insignia.  Luckily I had a spare one that was the same size in my stash.  One of the decals on the tail shattered in the water, but thankfully it was easy enough to paint the red and white stripes.  I'm at the point where I just want this build done.

Got the superchargers on and weathered with pastels.  I noticed that I missed some seams on the bottom.  If I ever build this kit again I'll have to remember to tackle those better.

Apart from the health issues, you've done a cracking job so far...great looking pit.

All the best for when you go forward with a kidney transplant and may it bring you many years of good health following the procedure.

Cheers

Thanks Martin, I really appreciate it.  Here's hoping I can get the transplant done quickly.  I really don't want to end up back on dialysis.

On a more positive note, I'm calling this one done.  She's not perfect, but good enough for me.  It might be awhile before I tackle another P-38, they're pretty tough to build.  Any comments/criticisms are welcome.  To recap she's in the markings of the 8th Photo Recon Squadron, based in the Philippines in 1945.  Thanks for following along!

Nice job on the model. I wish you good luck on the health issues.

Looks good from where I’m sitting! P-38s are tough, but man they look so cool!!!

Best of luck with your health! I’m sending good vibes your way. 

Looks good! Hope the health thing goes ok