1/48 Tamiya P-38 H Lightning 475th FG “McGuire” (Finished)

Glorious work Joe. Your reverse basing along with the painted markings are making for one stunning P-38.

Yup, I do believe my Eduard (Academy) P-38 will soon be hitting the market.

keavdog

Looks great.  Really happy to hear about the fit. 

 

Thanks Keav

tempestjohnny

Oh man. You've definitely hit this one out of the park.

 

Thanks Johnny 

Tojo72

Now I don't want to get one,what's the point,it won't look that good.

 

Your very kind Tojo..thanks 

tomwatkins45

It's really looking great. The Reverse black basing works very well. I'm glad to know the infamous P-38 fit problems in the past have been resolved. Looks like there will be a lot of earlier P-38 kits available on e-bay.

Tom

 

Thanks Tom. All of my Hasegawa kits are slated for eBay. 

Gamera

That looks sooooooooo good!!!!! 

 

I have to pick up one of these- you've convinced me. 

And I still have a couple of Hasegawa and Academy P-38s to build- maybe I should just stick my head in a door and slam it a few times to get in the mood... 

 

Thanks Gamera. Don't hurt yourself...

Mopar Madness

Nice finish LD!

 

Thanks Mopar

BrandonK

The work looks great and I agree that the AK paints look incredible. I too am planning on slowly switching over as I run out of other brands. I agree that black basing is far too time consuming and a good post shade works just as well for modulation. Very nice work, Joe, as always.

Bk

 

Tyanks Brandon. AK real did a nice job with these. 

rooster513

Looking really good Joe! Do you have to thin the AK Real Colors or are they good out of the bottles?

 

Thanks bud. Yes, it needs thinned. They sell their own thinner which works great. 

Hoss WA

Really looks spectacular so far! I think I'll need to add this lightning to my list. Thanks for sharing your technique. 

 

Thanks Hoss...and your welcome. 

TREYZX10R

Looking great Joe! I like the scheme You decided on. Thats a shame about the gun mounting design but I'm sure the metal barrels will look awesome! Mcguire was killed coming to the rescue of 2 new pilots that were about to be bounced by enemy fighters . He was flying while suffering from Dysentary and lack of rest which may have contributed to his forgetting to jettison his wing tanks before attempting the high G turn to intercept the fighters. His P-38 was last seen stalled out and spinning into the jungle too low for Him to recover or bail out.

 

Thanks Trey. Indeed, fantastic pilot. I read that if would have remembered to jettison the tanks, he likely would have pulled of that maneuver.  

JohnnyK

Great looking paint job.

 

Thanks Johnny

I've been reading on the quality of this kit and from what I see it's an all out winner. Then gun install from the rear of the nose cone is a bit surprising but  I'm wondering what the fit of the nose cone to the fuselage is like. Seems like almost all of the glue joins on this kit are along real panel lines which is a MAJOR plus in filling and all. Paint work is lookin' great Joe. Reverse black basing seems to be paying off for you.

As always, enjoying the build. Trying to get my hands on one for the stash.

Interesting comment regarding AK paint, have way too many Tamiya to consider changing momentarily.

Thanks for posting.

After seeing your build of this, and reading the rewiew in FSM, had to order one out this morning.  But will stay with the "Miss Virginia" marking, since it's driver was close to home.

Another of your great works of art

damouav-  ordered mine from scalehobbiest, in stock and today was $59 US + freight

Thanks - Convert $59 USD + Shipping to AUD and its about $5,000,000... 

damouav

Thanks - Convert $59 USD + Shipping to AUD and its about $5,000,000... 

 

It all adds or subtracts from our respective national debts.  Forgot your location.

mustang1989

I've been reading on the quality of this kit and from what I see it's an all out winner. Then gun install from the rear of the nose cone is a bit surprising but  I'm wondering what the fit of the nose cone to the fuselage is like. Seems like almost all of the glue joins on this kit are along real panel lines which is a MAJOR plus in filling and all. Paint work is lookin' great Joe. Reverse black basing seems to be paying off for you.

 

Thanks Joe.  Definitely one of their best kits, if not the best.  The nose fits perfectly.  Almost all seams are on panel lines.  There are seams at the wingroot on the pod, but the fit is fine.  Minor sanding. 

damouav

As always, enjoying the build. Trying to get my hands on one for the stash.

Interesting comment regarding AK paint, have way too many Tamiya to consider changing momentarily.

Thanks for posting.

 

Glad to have ya Damian.  I have mostly Tamiya too. 

goldhammer

After seeing your build of this, and reading the rewiew in FSM, had to order one out this morning.  But will stay with the "Miss Virginia" marking, since it's driver was close to home.

Another of your great works of art

 

damouav-  ordered mine from scalehobbiest, in stock and today was $59 US + freight

 

Thanks Hammer.  Nothing wrong with Barber's ride. It's on my short list too. 

damouav

Thanks - Convert $59 USD + Shipping to AUD and its about $5,000,000... 

 

It's worth $5000.00 if it means never having to build that Hasegawa abomination again.....  My humble opinion

lawdog114

 

 

goldhammer

After seeing your build of this, and reading the rewiew in FSM, had to order one out this morning.  But will stay with the "Miss Virginia" marking, since it's driver was close to home.

Another of your great works of art

 

damouav-  ordered mine from scalehobbiest, in stock and today was $59 US + freight

 

 

 

 

Thanks Hammer.  Nothing wrong with Barber's ride. It's on my short list too. 

 

He grew up and eventually returned to Culver, OR.  About 120 miles from me.  What kind of surprises me, is that the Erickson Collection hasn't repainted their P38 in that scheme.  Located about 10 miles from Culver.  Was some talk of it awhile back, but still done up as"Tangerine"  later model though. (L)

Side note:  The new highway bridge over the Crooked River Gorge is named for him, with a nice display of his history.  He also flew a Shooting Star under the old highway and railroad bridges back in the day.

goldhammer

 

 

lawdog114

 

 

goldhammer

After seeing your build of this, and reading the rewiew in FSM, had to order one out this morning.  But will stay with the "Miss Virginia" marking, since it's driver was close to home.

Another of your great works of art

 

damouav-  ordered mine from scalehobbiest, in stock and today was $59 US + freight

 

 

 

 

Thanks Hammer.  Nothing wrong with Barber's ride. It's on my short list too. 

 

 

 

 

 

He grew up and eventually returned to Culver, OR.  About 120 miles from me.  What kind of surprises me, is that the Erickson Collection hasn't repainted their P38 in that scheme.  Located about 10 miles from Culver.  Was some talk of it awhile back, but still done up as"Tangerine"  later model though. (L)

Side note:  The new highway bridge over the Crooked River Gorge is named for him, with a nice display of his history.  He also flew a Shooting Star under the old highway and railroad bridges back in the day.

 

I remember reading about that years ago.  Brave soul... 

AGREED.... But purchased another not that long ago, darn it.

I'm going with done. To recap, it's in Tommy McGuire's 475th FG "#131 Pudgy".  I added some PE belts, Eduard resin wheels, and Master gun barrels.  I couldn't find Montex masks for the P-38 (I'm sure they are in the works now), so I used an old Superscale sheet.  No issues there. 

What can I say, Tamiya can now print money.....behold the perfect kit.  As previously mentioned, the only issue I had was the design of the machine guns, which need to be installEd before attaching the nose.  I hacked off the kit barrels and substituted the Master ones, which are way better anyways.  You could used Quickboost too, but they are more fragile.  The other issue I had was the installation of the fragile boom gear door actuator rods (they look like a V with a square box in the middle). The instructions have you put them in way too early and I broke two off (one I lost and had to fabricate a new one).  I recommend installation of these when you add the doors.       

With this said, I will be most likely be putting all my Hasegawa kits on ebay.  Life is too short to subject myself to that misery again when this kit now exists.

Here's how she turned out. 

Those Master Barrels, quite worth it....

Beautiful work,this one is definitely on my list.Maybe I missed it,how did you prevent it from sitting on its tail,does Tamiya address it like in their ME 262 or did you add weight,or the fact its on a base prevent that ?

Again great job,love all of your work.

Tojo72

Beautiful work,this one is definitely on my list.Maybe I missed it,how did you prevent it from sitting on its tail,does Tamiya address it like in their ME 262 or did you add weight,or the fact its on a base prevent that ?

Again great job,love all of your work.

 

Thanks Tojo. Tamiya provides 3 large ball bearings, one for the nose and one for each boom. It's just enough weight to keep it on its gears. Again, genius design. I can't wait to build another. Thinking Barber's Miss Virginia next time. 

Beautiful, as is all of your work. I think mine is going to have to be my next project.

Tom

This kit is definately on the want list. Waiting to see what Santa leaves me. I'll force myself through the Hase kit I have first so I have full appreciation for the Tamyia kit. Well done again, Joe. Super nice AC. I'll be changing over paints soon too.

BK