Looks great Ken. I too would like to see more.
Hello all. I'm ready to throw my hat in this ring since I just started the 1/48 Hasegawa P-38 J. I built the Pro Modeler (Hasegawa mold) G last year (Rex Barber's mount...elsewhere on the forum) so I have an pretty good idea how to tackle this thing. I'm also hoping that this build will inspire others to try this kit, which really isn't that diificult if you have patience and take your time. Hopefully I can avoid the mistakes I made last time (as I remember them) and I will point them out as I go
I'm still up in the air on the markings. I want to add a European P-38 to my collection, so i'm considering either Robin Olds 479th FG plane with the full invasion stripes or Col. Meyers "Bobcat" from the 20 FG, both in drab. This will be my first endeavor at using Gunze Aqueous Olive Drab. It should be a treat if it behaves anything like their RLM colors. I'm adding a True Details pit and wheels which I had in the resin stash. I also picked up a set of Quickboost gun barrels. I used these on Barber's G and they looked great.
I started with the True Details Cockpit. Its definitely an improvement over the kit parts. I like TD because they are nicely detailed and cheap. Truthfully I don't know how Aires stays in business while TD is around. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate. Anyways, It took me about an hour just to saw the pour stub off the bottom of the pit (lot of cussing). Once done removing all the stubs, I began test fitting the pit to the plane.
I recall an issue I had on the G with the back glass canopy not fitting right over the headrest. I was able to get the pit to fit beautifully, but once it came time to attach the canopies, the armor plate top prevented the canopy from sitting properly. I had to unfortunately shave off quite a bit of the head rest to fix this. This time around I test fitted the pit with the glass taped in place and carved plastic and resin until everything fit as intended (darn resin).
Once I was satisfied that all would fit properly, I commenced to painting the cockpit and instrument panel were painted in XF1 Flat Black. The pit was then painted with Gunze Aqueous Interior Green. I then pick out the various boxes with XF-69 Nato Black. I painted the O2 hose XF-61 Deep Green and the seat belts XF-57 Buff mixed with XF-49 Khaki. Silver details were picked out with a silver Sharpie. I added some red and yellow on various buttons to add interest. I then drybrushed everything with Floquil Old Silver. Once done, it was sprayed with Testor's Gloss coat and after about an hour, it was washed with "The Detailer" wash. A quick blast with Testor's Dull coat and it was done. Heres how it turned out.
It was now time to assemble the cockpit and add it to the upper fuselage/pod half. After another test fit to make sure everything fit, I super-glued it in place. The P-38 is a tail sitter so you can either use the kit provided clear rod to prop the tail up, or weight is needed in the nose. I opted for the latter and used a fishing weight epoxied into the roof of the gun chamber.
.....and here's how it looks from the top. I went ahead and painted the cavass coaming above the instrument panel too. I went with XF-49 Khaki mixed with XF-51 Khaki Drab. I then added a bit of XF-2 Flat White and drybrushed it to sort of simulate the fabric. I've ready these coamings were usually removed on operation aircraft, but I due to all the sanding cutting and scaping up to this point, I decided not to torture myself any futher. Besides, my arm was still tired from all that pour stub sawing.............lol
Soon I will close up the fuselage pod and start on the landing gear bays.
Joe