P-38 Progress

I put in some styrene sheet to fix the led bullets in place (around 35g of led bullets). I also put in some super glue to keep them from rolling around.

Alot of extra detail in the Eduard photo etch kit.

Testing if it stands on its gear or if it is a tail sitter. The balance point is pretty much right below the pilots seat. So I'm happy 🙂.

All the detail parts have been painted. All metal color is Mr.Color SuperMetallic SM01 except for the propeller hubs which are Alclad II ALC 105 Polished Aluminium.

I used Alclad's Gloss black base for the base of the NMF.

Alclad II Polished Aluminium ALC 105 was used for the NMF.

Masking the rear stabilizers and rudders for paint.

Result of the masking. No fixing needed here 😉.

I used olive drab 2 for the anti-glare.

Painting step finished 🙂.

I broke the nose gear when I accidentally dropped the plane, so it is time for repair. I drilled holes in both parts and used a 1 mm aluminium wire as an internal support.

glued together with super glue.

I filled the gaps with Mr. Dissolved putty and sanded it. Then sprayed it with Mr. Color SuperMetallic SM01. As good as new 😉 or perhaps better..

Current state of the build. Everything is clear coated with Alclad II Aqua gloss.

It's finished!

Comments

3 10 October 2018, 10:39

Björn Svedberg
I've started building the Hasegawa P-38J Lightning. At the time most of the photo etch is finished and the weight put into the nose to prevent it sitting on its tail.😉

10 October 2018, 10:42

Björn Svedberg
The cockpit is finished! Next is assembly and putty/sanding to get a good finish for the NMF.

11 October 2018, 11:22

Holger Kranich
Ist coming nicely together, Björn. The pe pays out, too!

11 October 2018, 11:48

Erik Leijdens
Great start as usual Björn! Following

11 October 2018, 12:39

Tim Heimer
So far so good! I'll be watching

11 October 2018, 12:41

Florent Thouret
I'm following, as I have the same box (differents decals) on the desk, ready to be opened

11 October 2018, 12:53

Gordon Sørensen
Great looking PE detail, Björn! Just hope the nose gear can handle all that lead...

11 October 2018, 14:29

Björn Svedberg
Thanks mates! 🙂
@Gordon, I hope so too, but it is only the recommended 35g, so hopefully it is enough to prevent it from being a tail sitter.

11 October 2018, 15:38

Florent Thouret
I have the same problem with my A-10... I wonder if the 30gr won't be too much for the nose gear...

11 October 2018, 15:55

Björn Svedberg
You never know until it's done😉. After assembling the fuselage, the balance point on the P-38 is about 1 cm in front of the rear wheels (without propellers), so I think it will work just fine, but we'll see when I put on the gear..

11 October 2018, 16:47

Murad ÖZER
oo that's a shotgun! 😄 looking nice so far following with great interest Björn. 🙂

11 October 2018, 17:05

Björn Svedberg
lol!, Yes this P-38 has really large caliber shotguns as armament😉.

11 October 2018, 21:03

Spanjaard
i am in in 🙂 looking really nice already. heavy tail sitter, i see...

11 October 2018, 21:13

Björn Svedberg
Thanks Spanjaard!
I've been doing lots of sanding today, but I thought I should test if it stands on its gear, and I'm happy to say, it does. 🙂

12 October 2018, 20:25

Maciej Bellos
Following!

12 October 2018, 21:01

Björn Svedberg
Thanks James, and you are welcome Maciej! 🙂
A little more progress. I've painted all the detail parts and I've also put down the NMF. Next step will be masking for the various parts that will be painted in different colors.

22 October 2018, 18:25

Spanjaard
looking shiny 🙂

23 October 2018, 00:40

Björn Svedberg
Yes, it is a shiny little bird 😄.
Everything has been masked and painted. Next will be some respraying of some parts where I've damaged the NMF, after that it will be gloss and decals.

23 October 2018, 18:41

Spanjaard
nice masking job

23 October 2018, 19:42

Erik Leijdens
Nice NMF Björn! Will you give some panels a different coat of NMF?

23 October 2018, 21:28

Björn Svedberg
Thank you Spanjaard, Erik and James! 🙂
@Erik, no different shades of metallic on this one. I'm going for a clean look, like the planes you can see at air shows. So not alot of weathering either. Just the basics.
Another update, unfortunately I broke the nose gear when i dropped the plane while spraying it, so I had to mend it. It is closing in on the finish line now. Next step is decals, but now it's time for a beer😉.

24 October 2018, 17:09

Daniel Klink
Shiny Beauty Björn 👍 Clean and superb Job mate!
Such accidents are part of the hobby 🙂
But you needed a whole lot of lead for the bird. Is it such a Tailsitter?

24 October 2018, 17:15

Björn Svedberg
Thanks Daniel! 🙂
I only followed the instructions, that said 35g weight. You can get away with less, but I didn't want to risk it and get a tail sitter. I had that with the Catalina and that irritates me every time I take it out to play with it😉.
Cheers! 🙂

24 October 2018, 17:25

Björn Svedberg
It is finally finished! It took a lot more time than I had intended, but now I'm done with it. 🙂 I made so many mistakes when building/painting this plane and had to go back several times to try to save it, so I'm really happy to put it on the shelf and start something less demanding.

29 October 2018, 18:45

Florent Thouret
fantastic !!!!!!!!!!!!

29 October 2018, 19:14