Finally done. 1/48 Monogram P-38J. There's to much to list so I'll hit the best and worst of it.
Clear parts suck. If I ever build another (likely) I'm going the vac canopy route as this is the kits worst part. In spite of my attempts to totally seal it I still got some paint fogging on the inside.
Next most ill fitting area is the horizontal tail where it goes through the booms. Bad design, hard to correct so I simply filled the void and went with it. The rest of the kit don't fit to bad really. Minor modeling skills required.
Those keeping track of the WIP threads know about various scratch built items and additions. Wheel wells, while not correct, look much better than the blank well the kit provides. Somehow my ref pics left out a huge feature in there that I didn't add. Later pics I found revealed this but it's to late now. The cockpit received some additional detail also.
All the various vents and intakes in the nacelles were opened up and the inlets on the chins were reshaped and oil coolers added.
Ebay provided decals, another of the old kits worst features. I faded the paint some but it kinda disappeared under the Future. I'll live with it. Panel lines were done with a wash of Tamiya neutral gray.
Besides the decals the only aftermarket part I used on the plane were Ultracasts lovely wheels.
The radiator outlet doors were thinned considerably, radiators were built and added, and block off plates were added to the radiator inlets. Spent a good amount of time here. I initially sprayed the engine nacelles Alclad polished aluminum. I used two small ovals of Tamiya tape and applied them to the inside of the cowlings according to refs.
Once the painting was completed I removed the ovals to reveal the reflective areas the pilot used to check position of the nose gear. Paint is MM enamels throughout. Flat is Tamiya flat base and Future. The kit was rescribed but only because I wanted to get rid of rivets. Monogram covered the kit with raised rivets which is only correct in a couple of places on this plane. They had to go and the raised panel lines went with them in the process.
The kit superchargers and exhausts really don't look to bad. A resin plug may be of some benefit to help provide detail around the exhausts inside the nacelle but the kit parts do well enough. Covers used on some P-38 exhausts are not provided in the kit.
I thought I'd give my skills and an old classic a go and see what would happen. This is what I ended up with. I found that my skills need some refining, seems I've done to many modern kits lately and gotten spoiled and lazy.
Comments welcome, thanks for looking.
Go Packers!