Thanks chukw!

got back to it after 3 weeks of traveling  i redid the center wing sections today. Preshaded them with black to get the image of panel lines. Tamiya left this area flat.

Add some liquid mask, then a couple shades of OD and onto some fine chipping with Vallejo metal colors. I used aluminum and duraluminum.

im hopeful that the roundedness of the some areas can be tempered with weathering. 
and to finish it off I dropped my airbrush and the guide for the needle broke off the back! Ugghhh, off to the Grex website next 

Lovely looking job, Mongoose, and good luck fixing the brush.

Such a beautiful job weathering this crate. Man this is good.

Gracias mustang & hutch!

working on some little stuff right now...turbo superchargers! Check it out...

the interesting thing here was using some blue greys to startwith. i think it ended up giving a better metal look than a burnt metal color.

Looking great Mongoose. I like you idea of preshading the wing areas to get the rivet pattern. Nice work overall. 

Thanks Hoss! Coincidentally I'm just finishing up decals andwas stopping in to give an update. Stencils are all from the kit. Beautiful Lass  nose art and insignia is from Exito decals. Not sure what I like better the decals themselves or all the extras that they provide in terms of photos and artwork. Oh heck who am I fooling it's definitely the artwork wow does this stuff give you something great to work from.

Well fsm deleted everything i wrote before i went to copy pics so here we go again...

working tonight on lots of weathering. This 1st set is all about a new technique. I read a 3 part article by john miller on model paint solutions for the P-38. Before I left on my last trip I squeezed out a dollup of oil onto cardboard and left it for 10 days. Came back to "rendered" oil pigment. Blend some with odorless turpenoid, put a drop in the center of a panel and let it spread. use your hair dryer and then repeat till the color is as dark as you want.

i finished off tonight using a dark brown flory wash on top. The underside went so well and it drys right away compared to when i use the straight oils that i tried it on top. Then rendered oils for the exhaust staining. I wanted one darker than the other. Not sure tho if it's toooo different. Let me know. btw it's not this bright or coppery in person.

working on closing the cockpit tonight 

you know i used Elmers glue on that thread but the macro lens really detracts from it don’t you think ha ha

Wow!  This is really looking good Mongoose!

Regarding the thread, have you ever tried using Future for that kind of stuff?

No I haven't. It's on the shelf so will try it on the next one. Definitely doing another. The decal sheet has one more nose art set I want to use. 

Wow great details under the glass.  Looks fantastic.

thanks keavdog, appreciate you stopping by!

Finito!

The Akron Canton IPMS club has a nose-art theme coming up this winter and I was psyched to find something to use! I've had this P-38 in my stash since the Chattanooga Nats and this was the perfect reason to pull it out. I found the Exito decals for Beautiful Lass and it was all the extra graphics they provide that sold me on purchasing them.

5 coats of gloss clear, then rolled some 4000 grit paper on a dowel to sand down the edge of the decal all around to make sure it was perfectly smooth and you couldn't feel the lip from the decal (they are just a tad thick). Then I applied 2 coats of flat clear. By the time it dried the decal edge had totally disappeared. Super happy with this because it was so obvious to start with.

I preshaded in a lightened olive drab (used yellow zinc chromate) and then edged it all in black mist to get the varnish effect from the taped seams to show clearly. 

I modified a brush so it had just a few bristles and did the panel lines in aluminium. Tamiya leaves this center section smooth but the pics show lots of wear so this seemed to create the right affect.

I did the exhaust staining with rendered oils. I used ochra, burnt sienna, and raw umber

added some oil stains down under as well

And a final closing shot. I'm pretty darn happy with this  I still have some work to do on my assembly methods. Fortunately a little chipping goes a long way to hiding that haha

I'd also like to close with a big thanks to HossWA for his advice and a few detail pics he sent me showing how he did the radio antenna and the varnish 

In what is probably a classic experience for all of us...once i took final wip pics I saw something I missed lol

spent all that effort to drill a hole in the glass and then forgot to put the wire thru

Great job, Mongoose, she's a beaut!

She turned out great.  Nice weathering - she looks war weary.  Soooo tempted to order a P-38.  Your's looks super sharp.  Well done.

Oh WOW!!! She looks friggin' awesome!!!

If you don't mind I'm using your P-38 plus Hoss WA and Lawdog's as models to base mine off when I start it!

Wow. Superb work all around!  I really like your shading of the OD and underside as well as the crisp details. Wonderful work!  Congrats. 

Thanks hutch!

Keavdog thanks man you should order one. I’m going to get a 2nd this was so much fun to build. No filling!

Gamera we’re looking forward to it. You should open some panels and show the skeleton ;-)

HossWA thanks for the accolades, you were a big help!