Ha! yeah.  It hasn't been so bad actually.  I have been reading into a lot of the issues with construction.  Mostly trying to avoid the more common pitfalls.  I tried not to rush too much and took care of what was needed for each step.  Granted the cockpit was the only issue...so maybe I just got away with one this time. =]

I don't see any issues with boom alignment.  That looks great!.  From what I recall, its the Hase kit that has boom issues and the Academy is easier in that regard. I could be wrong.  I look forward to your NMF.

Joe

Tried to get as much done as I could tonight since I'll be out of town through the weekend. As it happens, I almost couldn't have done more to make a mess, spill paint, and gunk up my AB.  =[

I did make some progress however.  I got the other nacelle painted in White Aluminum just like the other side.  The radiators were done in Polished Aluminum, but I will be masking these again and coming back over them in places with the White Aluminum as well.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here's the top of the nacelle.  Same as before...the inner panels will get a coat of OD Green later on.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

I paint in the direction of how these panels would be riveted onto the frame of the aircraft.  So far I'm very happy with how it turns out.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

I've outlined more of this painting method in the NMF GB still going on as well as my 1:48 Tamiya Mustang WIP.  I'll go into a little more on the next post.  =]  That's all for now.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome. =]

Nice work so far. Careful with masking over the highly polished Alclad.  Its not as strong as the others and my pull up on you.  Run the tape on you pantleg a few times so it loses some tackiness.  

Joe

Thanks for the reminder Joe.  I certainly know better, but it never fails...I start cruising along and it eventually happens.  This time I was ready. =]

So I managed to get a lot done today.  This update is a bit picture heavy.  Some of this was a step by step process so I kept a few in-betweeners in here.

This is the upper surface mostly completed.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

As outlined before, I paint in sweeping motions in the same direction as the the rivets are riveted into the ribbing of the plane.  This is done lightly at first until I find something I'm happy with or if I'm referencing a photo until it matches what I see.  I may still go back on some of this as it nears completion.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

The lower surface.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Lower wing surface.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Finally got the nose painted.  I followed the same pattern of masking and painting as before.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Detail of the upper surface.  This will all get lightly buffed to assist in weathering.  You don't need to do it, but I found it helps to create the worn look of a warplane.  Again...here less is more.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here's a good view of how masking the big panels off and painting with the rivets can help to show more of the metallic characteristics.  In the instance of the stressed skin, I think it's working quite well with it.  I do feel I could improve the stressed skin effect in it of itself.  This was the first time trying this and I was fairly confident I could pull it off so I just went all in.  I'm content with this attempt, but in the future I will try to smooth out some of these rougher edges.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here's one thing I wanted to showcase.  In virtually every NMF Lightning I've seen, they have this bend in the metal revealing a difference in shade on the door to the cannon bay.  I'm not entirely sure why it occurs.  Maybe somebody out there can fill in the blanks, but here what I've done is to lightly set up the metal tones on the door...then mask over the part I need darker and with the same Alclad shade I just paint the opposite area a little thicker.  I use this same technique at various places on the wings as well.  It's an easy way to vary your panel shading without having to change Alclad colors.  =]

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

And that's where I'm stopping for tonight.  I'm hoping to push through and get this wrapped up by the weekend. Just to recap, White Aluminum on the Nose and Middle undersurfaces, and booms/nacelles, hori/vert stablizors.  Duraluminum on wings.  Polished Aluminum on radiators and top of the pod.  Helps to set if off away from the wings...purely an aesthetic choice.

Comments, critiques...

Outstanding work there!

Looking good, sir. I've not heard a single good thing about this kit. :P You're doing a bang up job though. The NMF is really nice on this one.

Now that I think about it, I don't think I've heard anything good about any P-38 kit....lol.  Very convincing NMF.....Nice work.

Joe

I'm just now seeing this.  Nice lookin' P-38 so far!

Looks good thus far, very convincing looking NMF.  Yeah, I've always been somewhat fascinated with the P-38 airframe and the success it had, I'd think it would have been less so.  Multi-engined fighters had very limited success in WWII.

dflu78

Looking good, sir. I've not heard a single good thing about this kit. :P You're doing a bang up job though. The NMF is really nice on this one.

Bvallot: Yours is looking great. can't wait  to see it finished.

Ken

I have to say, I am very happy with this 1 48 Academy P 38 kit. Here is mine in OD & invasion stripes. we got our orders changed. Instead of going the PTO, we went to the ETO.

Thanks for the all the nice words everyone. =]  I think I've definitely found my groove with the Alclad line of paints.  One more update for now.  I've finally got everything painted so here it is.  Just these two pictures on account of all the above views.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

And here is a detail of the turbosupercharger from Quickboost.  It's settling in there quite nicely.  I did go over the paneling around it with a Stainless Steel, but I don't think it changed much on account of the White Aluminum that was somewhat heavy and underneath it.  I also hit the darker inside area with Jet Exhaust to keep it heavily shadowed.  The AM part from Quickboost lays flat on the kit parts and I didn't really have the time to cut any of this out and scratch something deeper for it.  But the AM part is cut to look as though it sits deep. Sooooo.... =/

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

That's that! Next up is the anti-glare panels and decals/weathering.  

I needed to fix the canopy and windscreen before moving further.  So I wanted to take advantage of showing something new I'm trying.  I broke down and just got the Eduard canopy mask, but after I popped them all of and fixed them to the glass, I thought about placing a strip of Tamiya tape down over the empty set and cut out a new mask to place on the inside to the glass.  Not sure if others do this...but it's not too shabby.  You may need to supplement some of the gaps you find if your cuts aren't quite right on or if the geometry is different due to the curving shape.  I might stick with this.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

I also wanted to show a couple of pics from inside the office before I close all this up.  Here it is:

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

I noticed some overspray on the back of the seat from my primer.  I'll be fixing that up.  =]

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

More to come... =]

So, I've been waiting around for some time now for my new light box to film with so I can stop taking these high contrast photos of everything.  Well, I'm still waiting on it, but I figured I could drop a few more for now since these work out well enough.

These pics are of the canopy put together.  It did go together without much fuss.  Patience was the key.  =]  The inside "seam" that you see present on the underside of the glass is a tad thicker than I wanted.  Not by much, but at this scale it sure amounts to more.  I'm okay with it though on account of the fact that the outside canopy is in Polished Aluminum.  I did try to dirty up the top on the inside where hands would go to open the canopy door, but I'm not sure that I'm totally pleased with the result.  If anybody out there has something they do that works well, I'd be all ears.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here's a better pic of the Turbosuperchargers. I used the Alclad Jet Exhaust as a color to start and then mixed a little Exhaust Manifold with mostly Pale Burnt Metal to lightly coat around where I've noted discoloration from photos.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

And here's what I mean by high contrast in my pictures. I can't wait for the mail to come in.  =P

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here I thought I'd just throw in the anti-glare surfaces just to show with the rest.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

I left the coat a little lighter on the panels for the nacelles since those would actually come off.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

And that's it for now.  Comments and suggestions are always appreciated.  =]

Very nice, and very inspirational .  i have to add this kit to my stash and someday attempt to do as well.

dflu78

Looking good, sir. I've not heard a single good thing about this kit. :P You're doing a bang up job though. The NMF is really nice on this one.

I meant to comment on this before Dflu78...sorry I'm just getting to it now.  Truthfully, I haven't found this kit to be much of a problem at all.  Save for the problem (that I no doubt created) with the AM cockpit...the rest of this build has been a breeze.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone.  There are a few things that I do wish I'd paid attention to a little better before starting.  The landing lights differ depending on the version you're building. There is no cut-out or molded light.  For the version I'm building I need to drill out a light on the left wing.  Really wish I would have caught that sooner!! =[  So that's one thing I'd say to look out for.  They do offer a glass piece for the light on the leading edge if you're modeling one like that.  You'll just need to cut out that spot before hand.  But otherwise, this has been a rather enjoyable kit to build.  

Jay:  Thank you.  That's very kind for you to say.  This Lightning is definitely far from perfect but it is my first and I am pleased with it.  I still have a couple of things to clean up here.  The next one will certainly be a bit more involved.  I'd like to showcase the gunbay and an Allison engine with all the Lockheed modified fixings.  =]  But first things first...I have a P-40B to complete.  =D

I forgot to mention Dflu78...the props are a little peculiar.  If you want them to spin at all, it seems you need to attach them on the rod that's provided, then place a spacer that fits snug onto it and locks it in place and then glue the prop spinner onto the rest of the prop assembly.  For a NMF, this means taping off the nacelle after you've fixed everything...sanding your seam since it shouldn't be there and then doing your NMF paint over what you've cleaned up.  The problem with that is it becomes difficult to move around the prop blades while sanding and smoothing.  So it's important to get it right the first time...unless you're handy with Milliput.  

My two cents on the props.  That's the only part I feel iffy on Dflu.

Can't wait to see it done....looking great

Joe

Thanks Joe.   I've got some in-betweener pics that I might post, but honestly some of that stuff is nothing new or different that warrants attention.  Not very exciting.  I might show the part about the props to illustrate what I was speaking about above.  Mostly, I'll just skip ahead to the finalé.  You're not missing much with the last bit of weathering.  Once I get the lighting right...I'll post them.

Okay.  I've finally managed to wrap this up and clean off my bench.  Since this kit from Academy has a tricky way of doing the props, I thought I'd drop a couple of quick photos of what I came up with and share what I might do next time.  So buckle up and strap in cause I'm going to load this post with pictures! =D

To start...this is what the Academy kit sets up for the props.  If they would have just formed the cone a little higher up it would have negated the need to remove the seam it leaves behind and the panel line they have could take it's place.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

This time around I wanted to ensure that these props would spin, so before I placed the stopper onto the prop assembly I put a drop of mineral oil onto the rod that receives the prop.  Just occurred to me as I was doing it and it works like a charm. =]  As far as taking care of the seam here, I wasn't having the same luck with the CA I was using for some reason so I tried my hand at some Milliput for the first time and man that stuff is sweet.  I think it made all the difference.  To paint the cone of the spinner, I cut a 1/2 in circle and placed over the cone to mask it for paint/clearcoat/flat finishes.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

I went back and scratched away a little paint here and there to show the work that would've been done by removing it to get to the props themselves.

Okay. So that's that.  Next time I think what I might do is to use a tube cutter to cut the bottom half of this cone to match up the first part of the prop assembly and take care of the seam before I even place it on the plane.  That way the painted part of the cone can be painted and then glued on after if you're careful about such things.  Either way it will make it loads easier to take care of the seam if it's something that's important to you.  That's my thoughts on that.  Did I mention I have perfect hindsight. lol 

And here's the finished set of pictures.  I have found that my new lightbox doesn't exactly accommodate planes larger than a that of a single engine fighter at 1:48.  So I apologize for some of these.  I did the best I could with what I've got.  Next time I do one this big I'll try something a little different.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Here's a detail of the seam cleaned up. I also replace this intake with an Albion nickel tube.  Some were just the piping and not a sleeker intake.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Detail of static pitot tube.

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

For the radio aerials, I have finally found the way I always want to make these!!  I forget who it was on here that turned me on to EZ Line, but I did pick up the smaller gauge it comes in and it has made all the difference.  This combined with the Albion tube set has allowed me to keep from pulling my hair out and has made this part of the build much more rewarding. I start by cutting two short lengths to act as the turnbuckles(term?? the word escapes me...any help here is appreciated. =]) and a longer one for the main attachment to the back of the cockpit.  I slide the EZ Line through the smaller tube and place a drop of glue on each end of it to secure it's place along the line.  Next, I secure the line to the vertical stabilizer with a small dab of CA.  I pulled an appropriate length of line and passed it through the longer piece of tube and the left about a half inch here and doubled it back through being careful not to pull it all the way out.  I place a drop of CA on the rear side to lock it down and then twist up the forward part of the line and tack it down with a dab of CA carefully onto the back hinge just behind the canopy door.  Then, I pull the line taut so that it's equidistant on each side, repeat with the other smaller tube, and secure the line.  Simple.  I've never had a radio line come out so well before and be so tough to breaking.  I have to laugh at how happy that makes me.  =]

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

image by brittvallot, on Flickr

Figured I'd show those spinning props too.  =P

Any and all thoughts are welcome.  Aside from the cockpit debacle, this was a very rewarding kit to build and with a little extra TLC here and there you'll get more bang for buck.  I'd recommend this kit to anyone to try and do.  Thanks for stopping to look. 

Looks Great   I also recomend this kit. It makes a great model, no matter what version you build it into.

Nice work!  The weathering on the metal looks good

Thanks guys.  Greentracker, it really wasn't so bad a kit even for a first-timer like me.  Just be patient and tackle those booms first and the rest pretty much goes together.  =]

Fly-in:  I'm hooked on these NMFs now.  I can't wait to do another one.  I need to hurry up and get moving through this P-40 GB so I can do another one.

great job,weathering of metal looks great

One of my favorites. Good job. Turnbuckle is good enough for me. Bob

Awesome Der Gabelschwanz Teufel!  Your supercharger stains are convincing as well.  Thanks for taking us along for the ride with another ghost pilot.  

Joe

Sweet build!

I ditto the comments concerning the NMF.  Great shading work to bring out variations in the color.

Well done!

Gary

Great looking build!!  

Yes, she's gorgeous!  The weathering on the NMF is indeed superb!

And those masks for the front of the spinners- I've tried painting them with a brush and never got them even- I'm going to have to swipe your technique there.