P-38 Lightning group build - Are we there yet???

Yes, but is the restoration accurate.  I have seen 2 other P38s up close, one actually belonged to a friend of mine back in the late 70s.  His had a green zinc chromate type color and natural steel and aluminum piping.  His was Pacific Theater.  The other one I saw was not accurately restored and was being used as a demonstration plane for aerobatics.  It had all black inside the wells, as well as just about everywhere else as well.

Clebode

 

Spike--I have concluded the wells are NM.  I have used Alclad Dull Aluminum.  Here is a photo of a restored P-38 J main gear wells.

My rule of thumb is early P-38's were natural metal. If you look at pictures of Glacier Girl you will see that and also some areas that you can see the yellow zc showing a little bit. Later P-38's NG and looks like the L models went back to natural metal. Best bet if you can find a picture try and go by that.

Mike

Yea, the instructions on the Academy Glacier Girl says to paint the wheel well alunimum, and pictures of the restored bird show NM in the wheel wells.

Thanks for all the info fellas, I'm building a P-38f  'The Flying Dutchman', flown by Lt. E.M. Randall in 1943. Dont know if thats relevent or not.

Cheers...

Top marks for MDC for delivery, less than 24 hrs for my paints and rivet maker

Cheers...

Spike190

Top marks for MDC for delivery, less than 24 hrs for my paints and rivet maker

Cheers...

Wow, you're actually making tiny individual rivets? There must be thousands of them!!!

Ehhh cheeky! very funny though

Cheers...

I just couldn't help myself!

I should be throwing some putty on my Lightning tonight, the tailplane to boom join has a pretty serious gap. (Not mis-aligned, just an over-sized hole for the tailplane to run through) And there is a little needed around the boom-to-wing join, I may be able to run a little CA in that spot, it is just big enough to be noticed. To be honest, this Revell kit is fitting much better than I expected.

Yeh, the Revell/Monogram kits are nice little kits.  I am running into a snag on my Academy kit.  Mating the booms to the fuselage/wing is proving to be difficult.  I don't have any sheet styrene or anything to make shims with and it's like the forward end of the boom is a but larger top to bottom than the point on the wing it is supposed to mate into...  I suppose I could use putty but I am not very good with it.  I'll think of something.

VanceCrozier

I just couldn't help myself!

I should be throwing some putty on my Lightning tonight, the tailplane to boom join has a pretty serious gap. (Not mis-aligned, just an over-sized hole for the tailplane to run through) And there is a little needed around the boom-to-wing join, I may be able to run a little CA in that spot, it is just big enough to be noticed. To be honest, this Revell kit is fitting much better than I expected.

Sparrowhyperion

Yeh, the Revell/Monogram kits are nice little kits.  I am running into a snag on my Academy kit.  Mating the booms to the fuselage/wing is proving to be difficult.  I don't have any sheet styrene or anything to make shims with and it's like the forward end of the boom is a but larger top to bottom than the point on the wing it is supposed to mate into...  I suppose I could use putty but I am not very good with it.  I'll think of something.

 

 

How about some stretched sprue?

Maybe.  The area is an odd shape which is why I can't just CA it.

VanceCrozier

 

Sparrowhyperion:

 

Yeh, the Revell/Monogram kits are nice little kits.  I am running into a snag on my Academy kit.  Mating the booms to the fuselage/wing is proving to be difficult.  I don't have any sheet styrene or anything to make shims with and it's like the forward end of the boom is a but larger top to bottom than the point on the wing it is supposed to mate into...  I suppose I could use putty but I am not very good with it.  I'll think of something.

 

 

 

 

How about some stretched sprue?

Sparrowhyperion

I am running into a snag on my Academy kit.  Mating the booms to the fuselage/wing is proving to be difficult.  I don't have any sheet styrene or anything to make shims with and it's like the forward end of the boom is a but larger top to bottom than the point on the wing it is supposed to mate into...  I suppose I could use putty but I am not very good with it.  I'll think of something.

I didn't have any problems with the fuselage/wing area on my Academy Glacier Girl, guess I got lucky.  I did have a slight gap and over hang on top just aft of the supercharger on both booms, but putty easily fixed that.

After looking at it closely, I think the edges of the openings where the booms attach to the maun wing are too deep at the forward end.  I think I can fix it with a little transplant surgery from a really old Revell parts kit i have.

B17Pilot

 

Sparrowhyperion:

 

I am running into a snag on my Academy kit.  Mating the booms to the fuselage/wing is proving to be difficult.  I don't have any sheet styrene or anything to make shims with and it's like the forward end of the boom is a but larger top to bottom than the point on the wing it is supposed to mate into...  I suppose I could use putty but I am not very good with it.  I'll think of something.

 

 

I didn't have any problems with the fuselage/wing area on my Academy Glacier Girl, guess I got lucky.  I did have a slight gap and over hang on top just aft of the supercharger on both booms, but putty easily fixed that.

All--Got some of the stickers on.  I had to track down and buy another sheet of the SuperScale decals.  The photo I have of Jeanne shows shak mouths on both sides of the nacelles.  The sheet only has two mouths and eyes.  A photo of the progress is posted below.

I also want to share with the group a recommendation for micro baloons and thick CA as a filler for big gaps and voids like the boom/nacelle joints on P-38s.  It sets up quick and very strong.  Sanding produces a very smooth surface.

Clebode, looks good!  I like the shark's mouths.  Question:  micro-balloons?  I've heard this term, but never an explanation.

Cheers,

Greg

I went with the natural metal for the wheel wells. All assembled and in the booms so shouldn't be long until I attach booms to the wings.

I added a shim to the front of the cockpit section to help it match up to the nose when it goes on, also added some plastic card either side of the seat to cover a gap that was "doing my ead in"

Filled the outer fuel filler caps. Got plenty left to do but steadily moving forward.

Cheers...

Shaping up well Clebode - love the shark's mouth, don't think I've seen that very often on a Lightning.

Spike - It's a great feeling to get that wing glued together, finally starts looking like something! I like the texture on the IP cover, is that moulded-in or did you add that?

I agree Vance, it's starting to look like an aircraft now and to top it off I've got the booms in place tonight , going to need a bit of sanding at the back of the wing/boom but other than that not to bad.

The texture on the IP cover was on the kit part, I've tried to paint it with washes rather than straight black and will give it a light dry brush before fitting the windscreen.

Cheers...

Sorry for not being around recently. Been having problems with neighbors and haven't been able to attain modeling zen. Will try to get caught up soon.

Tony

I've been distracted by a few other models, trying to juggle the bench time. Should be back on the Lightning shortly though.

VanceCrozier

I've been distracted by a few other models, trying to juggle the bench time. Should be back on the Lightning shortly though.

you ARE being watched... I can tell.. the cross boarder smuggling of Prussian Catnip has seen a spike recently in Calias area.. DEA agents are vigilant to catch the smugglers... a German Field Marshall is the suspected supplier from deep in Russian territory... rumors are he's smuggling them out in cocktail napkins digueised as flying wings...on board a suspected sunken Japaneese carrier, the Zuhio. She meets the Tirpitz in the mid Atlantic for the handoff...then the Wings are launched of the coast of New Foundland and flown under radar to Grand Manan island for inflight refueling,then on to New Brunswick for a parachute drop...if the route is comprimised, the drop is off Jonesport, Maine, local fisherman( Manny Agents) pick up the drop, then smuggle across the boarder in kitty litter bags...

ssssh... the line is tapped.. I must go now...

p38jl

 

 

 

...flown under radar to Grand Manan island for inflight refueling...

I knew there was more to Grand Manan than lobster and dulse. I was there camping last summer & didn't see anything suspicious, the supply lines must be very well disguised...

Vance, could you change my 1/48 Revell Kit to the 1/32 version?  The 1/48 is just giving me too much trouble with fit around the cockpit.  Here's some early work I have just completed on the 1/32 version.

First the cockpit module from the front.

Here are a few more of the cockpit.

I also got the engine mostly done.  My painting skills still need a lot of rehab I think...

The scuffing on the headers  in the image above, has been fixed.

This is before putting it on it's mounting frame.

I hope this one doesn't give me as much trouble as the 1/48th. did.  I will update more images as the project progresses.

Rich

No problem Rich, I can make the swap to 1/32 right now - that's going to be a large finished product! Hmmmmm - an engine - that's one thing I didn't get into on my mod-job. Too far in to even consider that now. I think... right?!

Last night's progress:cleaned up the aileron areas on the wing, clean-up & some shims on the ailerons themselves. (After using the razor saw on both ends of the aileron I realized that a noticeable amount of plastic was now gone. I used some thin sheet styrene to cap of the thickest end. Did the same with the elevator.) And I added some putty to the upper section of the tailplane-to-boom joints, I'll putty the lower portions tonight & then smooth them out.

Pics to follow when I get a break at the office.

I really wish they gave you two engines.  The weight difference is small but annoying when you are trying to hang the model for areal display.  The paint and glue from the last assembly stage should be dry by now, so I will continue on with work on it today.  The other kit is about to the stage that requires paint, so I will hold on it so I can get them both done at once.

Rich

VanceCrozier

No problem Rich, I can make the swap to 1/32 right now - that's going to be a large finished product! Hmmmmm - an engine - that's one thing I didn't get into on my mod-job. Too far in to even consider that now. I think... right?!

Last night's progress:cleaned up the aileron areas on the wing, clean-up & some shims on the ailerons themselves. (After using the razor saw on both ends of the aileron I realized that a noticeable amount of plastic was now gone. I used some thin sheet styrene to cap of the thickest end. Did the same with the elevator.) And I added some putty to the upper section of the tailplane-to-boom joints, I'll putty the lower portions tonight & then smooth them out.

Pics to follow when I get a break at the office.

The weather has been really nice all this week, so I got to paint Glacier Girl.  I got to thinking what better way to get that soft edge then spray it with out a mask. I thought I would really mess it up, but surprisingly I did better than I thought I would.  I expected to have to strip the paint and start over, but a couple touch ups later I was done.  Man was I nervous during the whole thing, since I've never airbrushed with out some kind of mask.  Here's some pics

Here's those soft edges: 

ahhhh - sometime you just need to cross your fingers & jump in! Your freehand brushing looks fine, looks like everything stayed where it was supposed to. Any overspray to deal with?

VanceCrozier

Any overspray to deal with?

A little, that was the few touch ups I talked about.  They where mostly on the inner join of the booms and wing (kinda hard to get the airbrush at the right angle with the cockpit pod being there), and a little overspray on the tail fins as well.

All in all not bad for my first try at freehand.

sweet Nice job B17 !

I'll second that. Nice job on the freehanding B17pilot! I was pretty nervous on the first one. But once I got started it was fun. Those tight spots and angles can be tough though.

I still have a lot to do, mainly getting the detailing straight on the landing gear and bays and getting the nose panels to fit. But I did mask the pit and gun bay and shoot primer all over. Have filled and sanded on seams a couple of times and need to shoot a little more primer to see how it turned out. There's an edge on the starboard side of each engine cowling that I just can't seem to get rid of. Maybe it's ghosting from the lacquer primer but it isn't doing that anywhere else. May just have to live with it. I'm getting anxious to button this thing up and shoot some color. I'm officially on spring break so maybe I can get something done.

Tony