JohnnyK

I used Testors' Matt Aluminum Metallizer paint straight from a rattle can. I then used Testors' Metallizer sealer.  Using paint is less of a hassel and I've found the foil does not stick very well when it is cut into really thin pieces. Plus, I fear that if I used foil I might slip with the hobby knife and ruin the canopy.

 

I figured you had a good reason! Makes sense to me, just have to look out for the pesky liquid mask call outs!

I think there was a reason for the “Christmas tree” rocket mounts explained in one of the P-38 books I have (Walk Around and Detail & Scale), but I can’t remember it at the moment, and I don’t have access to my books. Some help I am... I’m sure someone else knows too. 

This kit has an interesting arrangement for its rockets. Five rockets are hung in a rack.

The back of the rockets were solid plastic. I used a drill to make an open exhaust nozzel.  The rockets were painted silver with a white nose. I used a black dry brush to add some dirt to the rockets.

Almost finished with the foil. This thing should be finished by the end of this week. The top photo shows the foil in different colors. Bare Metal Foil has a natural grain and if the foil is rotated the light reflects off the different direction of the grain causing a change in color. 

I used Testors' Matt Aluminum Metallizer paint straight from a rattle can. I then used Testors' Metallizer sealer.  Using paint is less of a hassel and I've found the foil does not stick very well when it is cut into really thin pieces. Plus, I fear that if I used foil I might slip with the hobby knife and ruin the canopy.

JohnnyK

Thanks for following my build. It is unfortunate that this build is taking so long to complete. Applying foil is a long process.

 

You still manage to build WAY faster than me, and I don’t have foil as an excuse!

I’d imagine the reason the mask doesn’t cover everything is due to the curvature of the parts. Can’t get the mask to form the way they need with full coverage. Glad you were able to rectify the SNAFU on the B-24 turrets without much trouble!

What paint did you use for the canopy? Why not foil?

Time to take a short break from foiling. On to rockets and canopy.

I used a precut mask from Eduard for the canopy. The mask makes life much more easy.

HOWEVER, when using Eduard masks, it is real important to pay attention to the notation for "liquid mask". For some dumb reason, Eduard's masks may not protect all of the areas that require protection from paint. I just used a piece of tape to cover the noted area. The following picture shows what happens when I ignored the requirement for a liquid mask on a B-24 turret.

Those two big blobs of paint with the blue arrows should not be there. Also, the triangular shaped blob of paint on the right hand turret should not be there. I ignored the requirement for "liquid mask". I fixed the problem by soaking a paper towel in Purple Power and placing it on the paint After about 15 minutes the paint was soft enough to be removed by a blunt toothpick. You can see on the bottom photo that the paint came off without damaging the clear plastic.

Rambo

This is looking really good, you're a mad man with this foil

 

My next build will be a German tank covered in foil!!! Hahahhahahahaha!!!!!

Thanks for following my build. It is unfortunate that this build is taking so long to complete. Applying foil is a long process.

Thats coming along nicely Johnny. =] 

Very encouraging!

Oh wow, that looks fantastic!!!

Okay, I'm finally making some progress. The foil on the top of one wing is finished.

After I applied the foil I used a round toothpick to enhance each rivet and the seams at the panel lines. One of the things that I like about foil is that the molded-in details remain crisp. Sometimes paint softenes the edges of the details.

I used my rivet tool to add additional rivets.

Looking good so far

I think that the nacelles are going to be the most difficult parts to foil, especially around the wings. I guess that we shall see.

Cool, seems to me the fuse and booms would be the hardest part to foil considering the complex curves as opposed to the flat surface of the wings and tail planes. 

I started adding foil to the booms. Not too difficult and not too exciting. In fact, kind of boring. Adding foil to the wings should be more fun.

I've always been happy with how Alclad looks on my stuff. I've had problems before but it's always the undercoat, not the Alclad itself- the undercoat has to be perfect or any blemishes stick out like a sore thumb.

On the other hand nothing looks more like metal than real metal, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the foil works for you. 

Gamera

I'm not sure of the correct colour of the cockpit but what you've got looks pretty  fine to me! 

And nice to see how well everything lined up. Good luck with the foil, I think it's probably the best looking NM finish but I always chicken out and just use Alclad II... 

 

I'm not sure of the correct colour of the cockpit but what you've got looks pretty  fine to me! 

And nice to see how well everything lined up. Good luck with the foil, I think it's probably the best looking NM finish but I always chicken out and just use Alclad II... 

There are a number of companies that make adhesive backed metal foil. The only one that really works for foiling airplanes is Bare Metal Foil. The other brands are just too thick and have too much of a shine. Some modelers make thair own foil by applying "foil adhesive" onto aluminum foil. I have never had much luck doing that. The most economical way to purchase Bare Metal Foil is to buy it directly from the company. 

Very cool. Looking forward to seeing how your foil turns out. I’ve often wanted to try it myself but never knew if they’re were varying qualities of it....which ones might work better depending on your subject. 

Now comes the tedious part of this build, applying Bare Metal Foil. The foil needs to be applied to each panel separately. The result will be a relistic looking panel joint that does not need to be highlighted. A detailed look at how I apply foli can be found here:  http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/tools_techniques_and_reference_materials/f/13/t/179536.aspx

Before applying tha foil I taped over the cockpit and the painted nose so that they would not be damaged during the foiling process. I also painted the wingtips because it is difficult wrapping foil around curved surfaces. I may foil those anyway.

The foiling process started at the tail. After the foil was applied, it was given a single stroke with steel wool. Rivets were aded to complete the task. I have a feeling that it is going to take a long time to foil this model. There are numerous, small, odd shaped panels on the fuselage, especially around the main wings and engine nacelles. 

The filling and sanding of the seam between th two fuselage parts went pretty fast. The anti-glare panel was painted flat black. Eventually I'll do some weathering to it. I like the look of the PE seatbelts. Next up is adding the Bare Metal Foil.

I should have spent more time reading . Early P-38's had their cockpits painted Interior Green. Later versions had their cockpits painted Chromate Yellow Primer. The photos below are of a "J" versiion.

My model is a P-38LO and I painted its cockpit green. Oooops! It should have been painted yellow. Better luck next time.  

The "P-38 Walk Around" document also mentioned that factory specifications required that the interior of the airframe was painted CYP, including the interior of the wheel wells. Well, I got that one correct. Most restored P-38's have the wheel wells painted aluminum or silver. 

I took the clamps off and the airframe is straight as can be Everything looks to be in proper alaignment.

Nice tight seams. The two halves of the airframe slid a little out of alaignment at the right boom and to the left  of the cockpit.  Additional alaignment pins would have prevented this. A little putty and sanding will fix this. Overall, the two sides of the airframe went together really well.

The wheel wells were painted Testors' chromate yellow which were given a light wash of black and rust. The two copper wires were painted blue and glued in place with epoxy. 

Weights need to be added to the nose to prevent the plane from sitting on its tail. I added a plastic bag filled with fishing sinkers on the bottom of the fuselage and solid weights to the top of the fuselage. I always write the word "weights" inside of the model so I don't forget to add weights. The cockpit was painted with Tamya cockpit green and Testors' flat black with silver highlights. The seatbelts are from Eduard.

Lots of clamps were used to hold the two parts of the fuselage together while the glue dried.

Don,

The Walk Around series offer an amazing amount of detailed information. Lots of detailed photos and documentation. It would take hours of time looking at the internet to duplicate the information in the Walk Around.

JohnnyK

 

 

Before I go on, I need to mention that this document is the real bible for anyone building a model of a P-38. It describes the differences between the different versiions of the plane, the correct colors of the cockpit and wheel wells. It talks about the cooling systems, the guns, just about everything. You can find it on-line here: https://www.scribd.com/document/220399447/Walk-Around-P-38-Lightning-No-30

 

 

 

I love the walk around series.  I always felt they were directed specifically at model builders.  Either the authors/editors were modelers themselves, or else did a good survey of what modelers were looking for in reference materials.

I'm glad that you are enjoying this thread.

The cockpit has been assembled and painted. I plan on assembling the fuselage today and filling and sanding the seams this weekend. If things go good, I'll start foiling Monday.