Hello!
I've just completed a 1/72 P-38J Droop Snoot by Dragon. This particular variant of the famous Lightning was a pathfinder modification to lead a formation of bomb-equipped P-38s on accurate altitude-bombing runs. The mod was accomplished by removing P-38s guns and installing a Norden-eqiupped cabin in the nose of the aircraft.
Like it's been written many times on the net, the Dragon's P-38 is plagued by really poor fit - especially where the wings join the booms. You'll need a lot of time and putty to build it right, and you will have to rescribe lots of panel lines in process. If you plan to build a P-38 in 1/72 take another manufacturer's kit. If you plan to build a 1/72 Droop Snoot, you have to watch out, for the Dragon's kit also has it's problems here. Their idea on tackling the Droop Snoot is to replace the nose cone with a glass part (that doesn't look right in my opinion), and putting a PE floor (of a totally wrong design) and a bomb sight inside. You are left with old panel lines (complete with case ejector ports) and no side windows neither.
I bought this kit really cheap in Germany (about $8), so I decided to give it a hand - I rescribed the front fuselage, filled the ejection ports and added two side windows, also added a few details inside. I relocated the antenna from under the nose to behind the left main gear bay, and added another antenna forward of the windscreen, made of a guitar string.
The kit OOB has the props designed to be glued in place - I converted them to rotary to better protect them from damage. I also rescribed the thread on the tires. I painted the model using Gunze metalics (Mr. Metal Color) and Humbrol paints, and also a Future-based black wash. The decals went on all right using MicroSet and a MicroSol/Mr. Mark Softer mixture.
The model really needs a lot of weight in the nose to keep it from tail-sitting. As the nose is hollow, you have to put the weight (lots of) in the engines.
OK, enough writing - here are the photos:
So that's it - hope you liked it. Thanks for looking and have a nice day
Paweł