My rendition of "Beautiful Lass," John G. O'Neill's P-38G aircraft in New Guinea during 1943, is now complete.
The focus for this build was to convey the heat, wear, exhaust and especially the marks left from the tape used to protect the seams during transport over the Pacfic. I used the Exito decals profile as well as photos as my guide for painting and weathering.
The profile highlighted quite a bit a color variation on the OD areas as well as chips and scratches in heavy wear areas.
2mm Tamiya flexible tape was applied over the main seams, followed by a light, dilute flat black shading to represent the varnish residue after tape removal.
The Exito decals were flawless and some of the Tamiya kit stencils were used. I only applied X100 gloss in the areas where decals were applied.
I tried a pin wash with diluted black paint instead of the usual Flory wash, which worked well with the color scheme. The panel lines are very refined and precise on this kit.
The final flat coat was Model Master Flat Clear Lacquer.
Exhaust staining was applied using dark yellow, white, gray, black, brown and khaki colors, built up slowly.
I sequenced the build to add the guns, exhaust and canopy after the main painting and weathering was complete.
EZline was used for the antenna, which was rigged before the canopy was attached. I always paint the cables RLM 75.
The profile indicated very heavy exhaust staining with residue apparent on the vertical tail fins as well.
Chips and scratches were applied with silver pencil. The profile had a excellent detail on the rivet patterns and was followed for the wear marks.
I was impressed with the cockpit details - the armored front glass, gunsight, armored front plate and canopy framing is all remarkably detailed.
The P-38 is such a sleek airframe. I was surprised how big it is compared to a Mustang or 109.
The nose art decals are certainly a highlight on this scheme. Something was needed to spice up olive drab over neutral grey.
Thanks for looking!