Col. Olds Scat II, MPM (Academy) P-38J Lightning 1/72

[bentwaters81tfw]

Big Brother: Now at Wattisham Museum.

 

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

16 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

Robin Olds was working on a book before he died. It was published by his daughter afterwards - entitled 'Fighter Pilot' - what else.

When he converted to the P-51D, Scat IV, the 479 FG had NMF airframes without any painted noses. Only the anti glare panel. Olds was all for advantage, and would be on the flightline with his groundcrew, polishing his machine, to improve it's speed.

Post war, he was an exchange pilot at Tangmere with No1 squadron on Meteors. He is the only American ever to command an RAF squadron.

Get a copy of his book, it's fascinating.

 

Victory, I have memories of your P-38 problems. I built Scat II in 1/32 scale. I made up bulkheads in the nose and engine nacelles, to stop the PVA leaking. I then built one in 1/48, and that leaked. It was left on it's nose for 48 hours for the glue to go off - not long enough.

 

P.S. I researched the colours of the wheelwells on wartime P-38s, as there are varying shades of green or even yellow primers. Looking at restored birds, they are green or white. I ended up finding wartime footage of P-38s in theatre, and ex factory. The wheelwells, including the doors, were left NMF, or painted aluminium. Further input from knowledgeable persons confirmed this. Might be a bit late for you, but I know others are building them too.

Hi Bentwaters, I've read Fighter Pilot and it's been one of my favorite reads of late. The man lead an extraordinary life and certainly had some incredible highs and contrasting lows. I certainly recommend the book to all interested.

It is indeed a bit late for me on the wheelwells but I agree, they do all appear to be NMF or painted silver. At least @corsaircorp and @The Spadgent can benefit from my mistake.

Nice shot of the 'Big brother' BTW - congrats Sir.

 

14 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

Hello Bentwaters, (nice name) since I like the place.

Thank you for the tips and for the infos.

Did'nt knew that his daughter have finally published the book.

To me , he was a great man and a great pilot, equal to my other favourite Charles Yeager.

They are friends, and make some unclassified missions in SEA.

So I have another Meteor to do Do you know the Mk used by the Firsties at that time ??

Thank again.

Hello ViK,

Yes I think that the timing for polishing is important, but I must confess that I did at feeling manner.

It was in 1989, don't remember rightly, Don't know why Humbrol has stopped the production of these paints.

Did you saw the photos published on the 2 other P-38 threads ?

I told you that you'll be the first to RFI your lady, look, she already has her suit, mine is still a would be P-38

You did great with the painting, Congrats !

See you soon.

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

I may indeed win this 'race'! Thanks for your kind comments on the painting; I do enjoy that bit but it was certainly nerve racking removing the masking this morning... results will be on display shortly!

 

13 hours ago, AngstROM said:

 

 

'Harrumph!' as they say in the comics...! But that is an old Hasegawa fork-tailed devil with Aeromaster markings; next job will indeed be an OD/Grey scheme on the wonderful-ish Academy plastic. Hopefully another wildly over-decorated one like the 80th FG Haleakala, as I have a child-like love of such tawdry things.

 

Very splendid work on Mr Olds' sled, Sir!

 

 

 

Nice Lightning Sir and thank you for the kind comments. What did you use for the silver (bit obsessed with NMF options at the moment). 

12 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

That paintwork is something else.  muchos impressed. Bravo indeed.

 

Johnny

Cheers Johnny, will check in on your thread in a mo.

6 hours ago, neil5208 said:

Agreed, outstanding airbrush work

Thank you

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

Here we go then...

 

Removed the masking from the black which had done it's job mostly. It looks like I made one slight error on the second black stripe on the port wing which was about 1mm too narrow. Fortunately a quick mask and spray correct this and some very minor issues around the booms:

 

I then gently removed the masking...

Ta da! Result. I even managed to not drop the model, scratch it with tweezers or scrape it along something solid to damage the fresh paint whilst taking all that tape off. That is an Easter Weekend Victory (but not in the Kitchen anymore as I have been relegated to my office and Garage). 

 

That's about it for today folks, will attack the model again next weekend.

 

Cheers, JB.

[StephenCJ]

Very Nice

[TonyTiger66]

Superb results JB  .

It's great that after all that effort and hours of masking it has turned out very well.

 

I like your Olive drab mix and the lighter shading; I may have to ask permission to steal the recipe for an intended (FROG !) B-17E later this year?

 

 

 

TonyT

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

22 hours ago, caseyjones said:

Very Nice

Thanks Caseyjones. Any progress on your SC-1?

47 minutes ago, TonyTiger66 said:

Superb results JB  .

It's great that after all that effort and hours of masking it has turned out very well.

 

I like your Olive drab mix and the lighter shading; I may have to ask permission to steal the recipe for an intended (FROG !) B-17E later this year?

 

 

 

TonyT

Thanks TonyT - Tell me about it! Was a little anxious as it's a lot of work to have to re-mask and correct in the event of seepage by spraying at the wrong angle or with a 'too much on the watery side' mix of paint and thinner.

 

Steal away - I found that that along with some of the Khaki a tiny drop of white can be used to highlight as well. Not too much mind otherwise you lose the colour... if you know what I mean.

 

FROG?!! Like this one:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/162147-frog-f213-b-17e-flying-fortress

 

Brave man!

Edited April 18, 2017 by Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen

[The Spadgent]

Wow, she's a beauty.  Green wells I'm my opinion look ace. I should have thrown caution to the wind and gone green myself. Alas grey for me. Those stripes and flashins are stunning too.  excelent work.

 

Johnny

[rob85]

That is a result, a bloody good one!

 

Rob

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

On 18/04/2017 at 10:08 PM, The Spadgent said:

Wow, she's a beauty.  Green wells I'm my opinion look ace. I should have thrown caution to the wind and gone green myself. Alas grey for me. Those stripes and flashins are stunning too.  excelent work.

 

Johnny

Cheers Johnny, I must admit although not historically accurate they do look pretty cool. Just wait until they're weathered and detailed with the undercarriage in; should be even better  I can't remember, is your's going to have stripes? 

On 18/04/2017 at 10:27 PM, rob85 said:

That is a result, a bloody good one!

 

Rob

Thanks Rob, quite relieved I didn't cock them up!

[The Spadgent]

2 hours ago, Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen said:

Cheers Johnny, I must admit although not historically accurate they do look pretty cool. Just wait until they're weathered and detailed with the undercarriage in; should be even better  I can't remember, is your's going to have stripes? 

Thanks Rob, quite relieved I didn't cock them up!

Ooh can't wait. I've just got my wells together too although you're miles ahead of me. No stripes for me. If I do the Vagrant I might get a stripy nose and wing bar mind. 

[Christer A]

That's some very crisp painting going on there!

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

On 20/04/2017 at 11:02 PM, The Spadgent said:

Ooh can't wait. I've just got my wells together too although you're miles ahead of me. No stripes for me. If I do the Vagrant I might get a stripy nose and wing bar mind. 

Wells looking fantastic. Loving the wash experiment. I've just finished applying 3 coats of Clear today ready for decals tomorrow... oh the excitement!!

12 hours ago, Christer A said:

That's some very crisp painting going on there!

Thanks Christer, enjoying watching your Tomahawk builds

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

Oh dear boys and girls... what a rubbish decal-applying morning I have had

Fortunately the clear gloss coat applied yesterday was largely successful however I have noticed a very faint yellowing on the white of the strips on one of the booms but after weathering that'll be hardly noticeable:

I brush my Clear as I have used the airbrush on a couple of occasions and aside from using lots more of the stuff I don't really see a difference in the quality of the finish. Clear levels and sets nicely if applied sparingly in several coats. I normally do three.

 

Now on to the decals:

The Kits World decals are of great quality and print/registration (as you'd expect for a tenner!) but you don't get a lot of room to work with the stingy gits:

 

Compare them though to the MPM kit decals:

Kits World are the first two, the third is MPM. These are probably the worst I've seen since restarting the hobby and they also fall apart in seconds when applying. To that end I've omitted most of the tiny black stencils as they'll look shocking on the model, just like a black smudge. If you get this kit at least you know to expect it 

 

Example of the 'fun':

 

Here she is in all her glory:

 

And the best I could get with the P-38 US ARMY stamp:

 

At least SCAT II looks good.

 

Right, on to all the other little bits whilst she dries.

 

[rob85]

The transfers look like they have taken to that gloss coat impeccably, very nice work.

 

Rob

[rob Lyttle]

On 17/04/2017 at 12:36, Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen said:

 

'Harrumph!' as they say in the comics...!

Apologies Angstrom, by the way, for dissing your chosen scheme.

It just wasn't what I was looking for!

Transfer sheets, and the variable quality thereof..... Discuss...!

How hard can it be, when you've had 60 years and more to practice and improve, to provide a reliable, presentable, good sheet in a kit?

I don't mean exquisitely superb, just "good", and reliably so.

That would be nice, wouldn't it?

The Scat II machine is looking"exquisitely superb"- that's the important thing!

[corsaircorp]

Waooow, pretty nice painting and decaling.

I'm a bit off for some days, but paid a visit to my friends.

Really kike Scat II? I'm eager to use kitsworld décals, seem very well printed.

Congratulations again .

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

17 hours ago, rob85 said:

The transfers look like they have taken to that gloss coat impeccably, very nice work.

 

Rob

HI Rob, thanks

They have adhered well although if you look at the star and bars you'll see the white is a little transparent but it's not too noticeable. 

9 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

Transfer sheets, and the variable quality thereof..... Discuss...!

How hard can it be, when you've had 60 years and more to practice and improve, to provide a reliable, presentable, good sheet in a kit?

I don't mean exquisitely superb, just "good", and reliably so.

That would be nice, wouldn't it?

The Scat II machine is looking"exquisitely superb"- that's the important thing!

Rob, couldn't agree more. It's just a good job that in 1/72 you won't 'miss' a lot of the stencils as they're just so small. Would be gutted in 1/48 and would probably have to buy some more aftermarkets. Let's hope @corsaircorp and @The Spadgent have better luck! Thanks for the kind comments as well

9 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

Waooow, pretty nice painting and decaling.

I'm a bit off for some days, but paid a visit to my friends.

Really kike Scat II? I'm eager to use kitsworld décals, seem very well printed.

Congratulations again .

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

Cheers Corsaircorp, I have enjoyed making this one; she's been very well behaved! Have a nice few days off with your friends - looking forward to seeing more updates on your builds soon 

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

Hello BM's. Today is the start of the detailing and weathering process (amongst usual Sunday chores). So to start with, I need to decide on how 'far' I go, particularly in regards to chipping. I've done a little bit of research but struggled to find decent colour photo's of P-38's in 1943-44 where they were camo painted. I also considered doing very minimal weathering to present more of a showroom finish but for my preference, I like a bit of wear and tear on the models so will likely not leave it as is. So best sources I could find and apologies Britmodeller if I'm breaking any copyright rules here (in most cases the original credit is watermarked or I have listed) but just let me know and I'll immediately remove!

 

Warbirdregistry.org

 

I've also jumped on to War Thunder and their rendered models always look beautiful, can't vouch for historical accuracy but they always look impressive to me:

Screen capture courtesy of and copyright of War Thunder 

Screen capture courtesy of and copyright of War Thunder 

 

I think I'll aim to replicate a combination of the above. Thoughts/advice?

JB

[The Spadgent]

Looking great. I'm sure you know this but just in case, to stop the paint showing through the decals (star and bar problem) you can paint a white disc where the decal sits.  I learnt that trick on BM.  

Personally I the think your ones look good to go. great ref shots too. Looking forward to the weathering. 

 

johnny

[rob85]

They are some great shots, love the pic from Life mag... that little buggy would be perfect for my commute, I could go off road when they do road works and just float when the rain and inevitable floods come.... hmmm must look into this, or add an inflatable round my uncles larda Cossack and buy that off him....

 

looking Ng forward to the weathering mate

 

Rob 

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

4 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Looking great. I'm sure you know this but just in case, to stop the paint showing through the decals (star and bar problem) you can paint a white disc where the decal sits.  I learnt that trick on BM.  

Personally I the think your ones look good to go. great ref shots too. Looking forward to the weathering. 

 

johnny

She's coming along nicely. It hadn't occurred to me to do that but it's obvious when you think about it - top tip! Thanks. Will do that next time.

3 hours ago, rob85 said:

They are some great shots, love the pic from Life mag... that little buggy would be perfect for my commute, I could go off road when they do road works and just float when the rain and inevitable floods come.... hmmm must look into this, or add an inflatable round my uncles larda Cossack and buy that off him....

 

looking Ng forward to the weathering mate

 

Rob 

Ha! Leave it to the military to provide practical solutions... I'd like to use the P-38 to get to work; must be quicker and probably more reliable than the ruddy trains - just where to land it! 

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

Right BM's some further progress today... I'm hooked on this P-38!!

Using the reference pictures I painted the turbochargers;

First a nice undercoat of XF-1 followed by a dry brushing of gun metal.

Next some humbrol 70 around the vanes and slight dry brushing around the exhaust(?)

More dry brushing, silver this time and a khaki coat to the bit on top - sorry I don't know much about turbochargers!

Finally a lighter shade on the khaki, a further dry brushing with humbrol 29 and a little bit of sliver to highlight and a dark wash. Thoughts?

 

Next on to the weathering. Stage 1 - chipping. I went for a slightly toned down variation of all of the reference shots I used earlier and some commonsense as to where I thought there might be paint chipping on the real thing, so around access panels, hatches, leading edges and where Col. Olds might have boarded. This is the end result which I'm happy with. What do you think guys?

And a final shot with the TC's placed in. I'm going to leave gluing these until the oil washing is completed.

 

[The Spadgent]

Ooh I like the look of those turbo chargers. The chipping looks reacher splendid too. 

 

Johnny

[Christer A]

Dang! That chipping is something extra all right

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

11 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Ooh I like the look of those turbo chargers. The chipping looks reacher splendid too. 

 

Johnny

Thanks Johnny. I need to fathom how I'm going to show the discolouration of the paint from the heat immediately aft. It's probably going to be a very thinned down mix of a much lighter olive drab but it could all go wrong if I make a mistake meaning a lot of repairing and corrections. Any advice from BM's? Pastels? White/brown oil washes?

4 hours ago, Christer A said:

Dang! That chipping is something extra all right

Cheers Christer. It's a fine line between just enough or too much. Hopefully I've cracked it on this one 😬