best 1/48 early p-38 lightning

I have the Academy Glacier Girl kit. I havent finished it yet but from all the test fitting that I've done its not all that bad of a kit, for the most part the parts fit is great. Only real problem I have seen so  far is when attaching the booms to the wings, will need some filler there. I remember someone saying something about the canopy not fitting right either but I havent touched those parts. 

Not sure about the Hasegawa kit, someone did tell me it was more expensive for a little more detail. I do not know from personal experience.

ww2psycho

I have the Academy Glacier Girl kit. I havent finished it yet but from all the test fitting that I've done its not all that bad of a kit, for the most part the parts fit is great. Only real problem I have seen so  far is when attaching the booms to the wings, will need some filler there. I remember someone saying something about the canopy not fitting right either but I havent touched those parts. 

Not sure about the Hasegawa kit, someone did tell me it was more expensive for a little more detail. I do not know from personal experience.

I built most of the Glacier Girl kit before it was shot down by our yellow lab...and honestly I found the kit infuriating. 

The cockpit detail is no better than the ancient Monogram kit. Oh, wait, it was a two-part steering yoke. Other than that it feels like a direct copy. The nacelle intakes are solid (lazy). The wheel wells, while boxed, lack any detail worthy of the name. Tiny parts like the tail weights have ***-poor locating holes/pins. The canopy is five pieces that don't play well together, and there's no hinge for the top canopy, so if you want to pose it open, you either have to fab one or find a way to glue two opposing curves together with perfect alignment.

It's not a terrible kit, but it felt very lazy and sloppy, and honestly put me off Academy kits for awhile.

If you can find the Monogram Pro-Modeler F/G/H, it's the Hasegawa kit, and usually goes for less on eBay and the like. But I've heard it's no picnic, either.

Honestly I'd be shocked if someone didn't announce a new-mold P-38 in the next two years. 

Hey Mike, The complex twin boom nature of Clarence Kelly Johnson's design unfortunately makes any Lightning a challenging build .  I've never built the Academy version but have done the Hasegawa example once and it was no "shake and bake" kit.  I hear the Academy is more user friendly but the Hasegawa is more accurate and detailed.  Apparently the Hasegawa kit is the only one with the correct upturned wingtips.  Check e-bay for deals.  That said, if you find the Pro-Modeler P-38 F/G/H there, its actiually a reboxed version of the Hasegawa kit now offered in the Bouganville markings. I personally prefer accuracy and recently bought the Hasegawa P-38 with the intent of building Rex Barber's plane.  

Hope this helps,

Joe

P.S.  Does anyone know where I can get my hands on a set of decals for Robin Olds P-38?.....

The Academy has the upturned wingtips, too, FWIW

Does it?  My bad.  I read that on a Hasegawa P-38 review somewhere so I thought I should mention it.  Actually, I don't know much about the Academy kit. 

Joe

Yes, I too prefer accuracy. Hasegawa kits are sooo expensive. >50USD with shipping. Add to that a eduard PE detail set for the cockpit as Hasegawa cockpits are nortoriously devoid of detail.

is this so of the Hasegawa P-38G?

thanks

Im not huge on accuracy at my point in modelling, I just like to finish kits right now. I hope to pick up a hasegawa kit sometime. just not anytime soon.

straight from the box hasegawa wins as for as detail. if you want to spend extra $$ on resin then grab the academy kit. i've read that the hase kit has boom problems but i test fitted the main fuselage parts with no problems what soever. this may because it's the newest boxing of the 38G. it's the the same kit though. 

If I did get either kit, probably would go with the eduard zoom PE interior set as opposed to a resin cockpit.

Maybe I can find a good deal on ebay........

Not having built my Revellogram kit yet to give an opinion but you would think for such a well known and popular a/c there would be a better offering out there.

mike_espo

If I did get either kit, probably would go with the eduard zoom PE interior set as opposed to a resin cockpit.

Maybe I can find a good deal on ebay........

Hey Mike, Thats probably wise.  I put a True Details cockpit in mine and It was a real pain.  Lots of sanding to get it to fit.  Keep in mind, if you choose the Hasegawa kit, the instrument panel will be hidden under a coaming (unless you cut it out and alot of pilots did remove this), which will be really hard to see once assembled.  I wouldn't spend too much time detailing it and just focus on the side panels and seat (my opinon of course).  I'll post some pics of my in progress Lightning.

Check these out:     

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eduard-Zoom-FE224-Hasegawa-1-48-P-38F-Lightning-/230597455569?pt=UK_ToysGames_ModelKits_ModelKits_JN&hash=item35b0adeed1

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=EU4224

Hope this helps,

Joe

Reasoned

Not having built my Revellogram kit yet to give an opinion but you would think for such a well known and popular a/c there would be a better offering out there.

IMO the Revell kit is flawed, but better than the Academy if only for the reason that it's almost as "good", but something like 30 years older. 

I am kind of surprised nobody's taken another crack at it, though. I think it's the only major U.S. fighter of the war that hasn't seen a significant new boxing in years.

As I was telling one of the guys at the LHS (they've got a Pro-Modeler F/G/H for $35), I feel like it's one of the very few subjects out there where I'm not happy with any of the kits. And certainly the most prominent.

Well, I can't compare the Hasegawa and Academy kits, but I did recently build the Academy F5-E, which employs the basic components of the other Academy P-38's.  It's a really doable kit.  I agree that the Eduard interior Zoom helps build a great cockpit.  It also comes with screens for the engine intakes which aren't all that hard to open up.  All three wheel wells build up nice and beg for a little extra plumbing.  The booms fit well with good alignment.  Sure there was some fill work around the nacelles, but that is a rather complicated joint from front to back.  If there was a breakthrough improvement to be made in the next great P-38, there is where it would be made.  Here's a few photos from the building process that show a little bit of the components as they started to go together.  It really was an enjoyable build.  The skeptics have made it way too scary.

lawdog114

mike_espo:

If I did get either kit, probably would go with the eduard zoom PE interior set as opposed to a resin cockpit.

Maybe I can find a good deal on ebay........

 

Hey Mike, Thats probably wise.  I put a True Details cockpit in mine and It was a real pain.  Lots of sanding to get it to fit.  Keep in mind, if you choose the Hasegawa kit, the instrument panel will be hidden under a coaming (unless you cut it out and alot of pilots did remove this), which will be really hard to see once assembled.  I wouldn't spend too much time detailing it and just focus on the side panels and seat (my opinon of course).  I'll post some pics of my in progress Lightning.

Hey Mike, heres some pics of my in-progess P-38.  This is what the True Details Cockpit looks like should you decide to go this route instead. 

Joe

Was wondering if the new Hasegawa P-38g Bougainville has better fit regarding the booms....I heard this is where the Hasegawa kit is lacking.

mike_espo

Was wondering if the new Hasegawa P-38g Bougainville has better fit regarding the booms....I heard this is where the Hasegawa kit is lacking.

i have this new boxing kit and i did dry fitting on the main fuselage parts with no problems. 

NIce. I think I ll go with the Hasegawa offering then....with the eduard PE fret.

Hey Mike, you have inspired me to break out my 1/48 Hasegawa P-38 (in PM boxing) and commence work again.  I'm going to build it in Rex Barber's markings.  I painted the gear wells, glued the center fuselage pod and booms which so far, have been fairly painless. I'll advised accordingy when I go to attach the booms to the wings since this where it gets tricky (if i remember correctly).  I also put a bunch of fishing weights in the gun compartment to keep it on its wheels when complete.   Heres some pics. 

Joe

Joe, Nice work to get up and running quickly on this one.  It looks to me like Monogram, Academy, and Hasegawa all addressed the wing/boom attachment in the same manner.  Your photograph shows the shape of the boom attachment.  All three manufacturers use essentially the same shape.  I'll be anxious to hear your take on the Hasegawa fit.  I previously stated that the Academy wasn't that bad, but did need some fill and rescribing.  Boom alignment was good.  Good luck,  we'll all be watching.  Rick

i would love to start on my P-38 but i've been building way tomany props. A-4E time. 

I built quite a few Monogram P-38`s and don`t remember having any trouble with the booms not fitting right like the Academy and Pro Modeler/ Hasegawa kits.  On the PM kit, the boom fit was so horrible that I had to hold one of them over a burner to heat it up enough to bend it into alignment!  As fit vs. detail goes, I`d go for the better fitting kit everytime...you can pick up resin and PE cockpit sets relatively cheap. Just my .

Len

Wabashwheels

Joe, Nice work to get up and running quickly on this one.  It looks to me like Monogram, Academy, and Hasegawa all addressed the wing/boom attachment in the same manner.  Your photograph shows the shape of the boom attachment.  All three manufacturers use essentially the same shape.  I'll be anxious to hear your take on the Hasegawa fit.  I previously stated that the Academy wasn't that bad, but did need some fill and rescribing.  Boom alignment was good.  Good luck,  we'll all be watching.  Rick

Hello, I thought I would post some pics of my progress on the Lightning.  Although I did not experience the common misaligned boom problem that reportedly requires hot water to fix, it did need quite a bit of sanding and rescribing where the booms attach, much like the others I suppose.  As I previously mentioned, I think the design of this plane itself in makes kit engineering challenging for any manufacturer.  I do think Hasegawa could have done a better job with the fit, which is rough to say the least.  I also haye the famous Hasegawa inserts so they can get mileage out of their kits.  The Intakes on this version fit poor and don't not fall on natural panel lines, therefore, they will require sanding and filling as well. 

Anyways, I thought I would introduce my method of checking seams.  I use a silver Sharpie (which got a real workout on this kit).  When done sanding a seam, I run the pen along the line and it seems to magnify any spots missed.  I think it works like a charm and saves time on primer.  Here she is:

I am a fan of twin boom A/C (P-38 in particular) and I find similar problems in every one regarding the booms.  Engineering the join of the wings to twin booms so that they fit perfectly in every kit is nearly impossible.  Having built about 15 P-38s in various scales from varied manufacturers, I have found that there isn't any one manufacturer that is clearly better or worse in this area.  Check out this great P-38 tip on Swanny's site.  It is a little complicated for my taste if done exactly as shown but it is a great demonstration of the concept of P-38 assembly.

The Academy kit is not bad other than what has already been noted and can be simply addressed if you so choose.

Mike,

I've built all the different makes of the P-38 in 1/48 scale The ancient Revell-o-Grams, Hasegawa's, Minicraft's and the Academy's. For the early 1/48 scale P-38's would be the Academy's they have the most correct shapes, most people think the Hasegawa kits are the best but not in this case. I've had the chance to look over the REAL GLACIER GIRL here in San Antonio and the Academy was the best match for the Lightnings. Yes the P-38 is a complex kit and all of them have their issues but I recommend going with the Academy kit.

Here's what I commonly do for my 1/48 scale P-38's:

Academy P-38E/F at $ 29.00, Squadrons Crystal Clear Academy P-38 Canopy set at 7.00, True Details P-38 Cockpit at 12.50, True Details P-38 Wheels & Tires set at 5.50. with this in total comes far less then the Hasegawa kit with same updates (at $75.00) and you'll have a really nice rendition of a P-38E/F/G/H Lightning for about $55.00 total a good $20.00 less.

lawdog114

Wabashwheels:

Joe, Nice work to get up and running quickly on this one.  It looks to me like Monogram, Academy, and Hasegawa all addressed the wing/boom attachment in the same manner.  Your photograph shows the shape of the boom attachment.  All three manufacturers use essentially the same shape.  I'll be anxious to hear your take on the Hasegawa fit.  I previously stated that the Academy wasn't that bad, but did need some fill and rescribing.  Boom alignment was good.  Good luck,  we'll all be watching.  Rick

 

Hello, I thought I would post some pics of my progress on the Lightning.  Although I did not experience the common misaligned boom problem that reportedly requires hot water to fix, it did need quite a bit of sanding and rescribing where the booms attach, much like the others I suppose.  As I previously mentioned, I think the design of this plane itself in makes kit engineering challenging for any manufacturer.  I do think Hasegawa could have done a better job with the fit, which is rough to say the least.  I also haye the famous Hasegawa inserts so they can get mileage out of their kits.  The Intakes on this version fit poor and don't not fall on natural panel lines, therefore, they will require sanding and filling as well. 

Anyways, I thought I would introduce my method of checking seams.  I use a silver Sharpie (which got a real workout on this kit).  When done sanding a seam, I run the pen along the line and it seems to magnify any spots missed.  I think it works like a charm and saves time on primer.  Here she is:

Wow! Beautiful work! The Hasegawa kit looks great. Don't look like u had any problems with the boom assembly.

plus, there's a lack of lightning builds.

Yamamoto was knocked to ground because of this bird.

Not to dredge up an old thread, but I'm looking at the Minicraft 1/48 rendition of 'Yippie" on ebay, and I'm really tempted because of the orange/red paint.... What's the consensus of that kit?

7474

Not to dredge up an old thread, but I'm looking at the Minicraft 1/48 rendition of 'Yippie" on ebay, and I'm really tempted because of the orange/red paint.... What's the consensus of that kit?

 

why not post a new thread about that particular kit? Yippie is not an early P-38, but a late model, IIRC...

DoogsATX

 

 

Reasoned

Not having built my Revellogram kit yet to give an opinion but you would think for such a well known and popular a/c there would be a better offering out there.

 

 

 

 

IMO the Revell kit is flawed, but better than the Academy if only for the reason that it's almost as "good", but something like 30 years older. 

I am kind of surprised nobody's taken another crack at it, though. I think it's the only major U.S. fighter of the war that hasn't seen a significant new boxing in years.

As I was telling one of the guys at the LHS (they've got a Pro-Modeler F/G/H for $35), I feel like it's one of the very few subjects out there where I'm not happy with any of the kits. And certainly the most prominent.