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

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

Hi All, update on SCAT II's tail-sitting problem.

 

First off I looked at the coolant vents under the engine as per @corsaircorp suggestion:

Unfortunately the slits are just too small. Damn. Nice thought though @corsaircorp and might have saved me a lot or work!

 

Back to the original plan. I made a pin guide hole then (bloody carefully) drilled with a 0.8 then 1.5:

I then enlisted the help of Mrs VIITK to attempt to funnel the lead shot through this hole. We improvised by making a funnel from paper and then a persevered for a while but when only a handful of shot was going through I called a halt and grabbed a 2.0 drill bit

 

Tentatively I drilled successfully, with the only casualties being that one of the landing gear covers fell off along with part of the undercarriage due to the vibration from the drill:

 

This allowed far more shot to quickly flow through our makeshift funnel. When it felt heavy enough we tested... hey presto:

Hurrah! I can now get on with the rest of the model next weekend! I'm calling that it for tonight as I darent test my success any further. 

 

So thanks gents, we've got there in the end (and to Mrs VIITK)! 

JB

Edited May 9, 2017 by Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen

[Cookenbacher]

Nice save, you've actually brought victory to the kitchen, or office/model room.

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

7 minutes ago, Cookenbacher said:

Nice save, you've actually brought victory to the kitchen, or office/model room.

Thank you Sir and indeed! To quote your motto, trying stuff usually and in this case did work!

[The Spadgent]

Ahhhhh brilliant news. 

 

Jont

[rob Lyttle]

Yeayy... splendid🌟🌟🌟

Might be struggling with maintaining straight and level flight if you have only done one side!!

Edited May 9, 2017 by rob Lyttle

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

8 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Ahhhhh brilliant news. 

 

Jont

Oh yes! 

7 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

Yeayy... splendid🌟🌟🌟

Might be struggling with maintaining straight and level flight if you have only done one side!!

Ha! She'll be doing barrel rolls all the way!

Edited May 10, 2017 by Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen

[corsaircorp]

11 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

 

Might be struggling with maintaining straight and level flight if you have only done one side!!

Yup, especially modified for pylon race

Good job JB, Glad to see her on her legs. Congrats, you did great.

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

[matteo44]

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

Hi Matteo, might just be me (probably) but not 100% sure on what you mean 😬 Thanks for the kind words though 

Sorry for my mistake english... put weight into the cover of propeller

 

But I see that you have solved the problem... nice

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

Evening everyone. Very minor update and question time tonight!

 

First off, the drop tanks are bank on and I've prepped the props for attaching but I have a question... Are they on correctly (see below) or do I need to swap them round... I think they need swapping before gluing?!

 

Also, I'm looking to add the mirrors to the inners of the engine nacelles... but does anyone know if they were left in place on camo covered Lightnings or just simply airbrushed over? Picture for reference;

 

 

Thanks all! JB

Edited May 11, 2017 by Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen

[Cookenbacher]

Hi JB, that's looking fantastic.

 

I think that the P-38 props rotated 'outward' (away from each other at the top), so I do think you need to flip them. Not that any of us would have noticed if you didn't point it out!

 

I just thumbed through a couple reference books and noticed pics of OD/NG P-38's and 'Haze' painted F-5's that still had shiny mirrors.

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

17 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Hi JB, that's looking fantastic.

 

I think that the P-38 props rotated 'outward' (away from each other at the top), so I do think you need to flip them. Not that any of us would have noticed if you didn't point it out!

 

I just thumbed through a couple reference books and noticed pics of OD/NG P-38's and 'Haze' painted F-5's that still had shiny mirrors.

Thanks Cookenbacher. I'll reverse the props before gluing.

 

So I do need to add the mirrors. I was going to use the shiny side of some tin foil to achieve that but should have taken an imprint or tracing before I painted. Nevermind, I'll think of a way to get a precise shape. Of course ideas welcome!

 

JB

[rob Lyttle]

Victory, this is a long shot, but....

I use the sticky back foil you know that builders use, and on occasions I've used a standard paper hole punch on it to make circular access panels to stick on. Got a feeling they might be too big for your job in hand - these are round things you're talking about, aren't they? Or am I thinking about the wrong plane?

For a choice of diameter , there's a multi size leather punch tool that I've resorted to in the past!

I may well be barking up the wrong tree here.

Ref. this foil tape -

Punch before you peel....!

Edited May 12, 2017 by rob Lyttle
pic

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

On 2017-5-12 at 11:28 PM, rob Lyttle said:

Victory, this is a long shot, but....

I use the sticky back foil you know that builders use, and on occasions I've used a standard paper hole punch on it to make circular access panels to stick on. Got a feeling they might be too big for your job in hand - these are round things you're talking about, aren't they? Or am I thinking about the wrong plane?

For a choice of diameter , there's a multi size leather punch tool that I've resorted to in the past!

I may well be barking up the wrong tree here.

Ref. this foil tape -

Punch before you peel....!

Hi Rob, it's the oval shapes on the inner of the nacelle.

 

That's material I should use - I have some in the garage... it's just how to make the shape precisely. Perhaps some tracing paper to get it right. Watch this space! 

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

Evening all, what seems like ages spent on very little today has only progressed SCAT II a little but I'm now  so close to completing her.

 

Started today with the cannon and machine guns. First off I thought I'd try a bit of pastel weathering for the gun smoke which I took a while to get the hang of and probably shouldn't have done on SCAT II. Nevermind, I got the effect I wanted. I then added the guns after detaching from the sprue (what a PITA) and painting, paying close attention to what gun came of what numbered sprue to ensure they went on the model correctly:

I then spent an absolute age drilling pilot holes for the antenna and pitot as bizarrely they're not pre-drilled in the kit? Eventually got there and added these on. Also attached the bits on the rear stabiliser.

 

Then went on to the IFF lights... oh dear boys.

I had pre-painted the underneath of each one with clear red, green and solid orange as I don't have any clear. These were looking great and I was ready to add them to the model. For some stupid reason I opted to use Tamiya extra thin for these tiny little bits of clear plastic. and dropped the amber light in first which oozed the glue out and over the top instantly ruining the clear plastic. As I said Idiot. I recovered as best I could then went to what I should have used in the first place - PVA. ANyway, here's the end result:

Could be worse I suppose...

 

Here she is. Now that leaves the following:

1. nacelle mirrors

2. probably re-paint the pitot and antenna as I'm not convinced of the grey

3. antenna wire

 

 

 

JB

[The Spadgent]

She's looking fine, the lights look good too. Excellent work, I think I might pinch your idea for the roll down window. I fancy an open tip too.

 

nearly there dude.

 

Johnny

 

[rob Lyttle]

I gotta say, she's looking brilliant!

I just had a look at my Hobbyboss P38 to check out these nacelle panels, supposing they're reasonably accurate and similar to yours. Hmmm...

Awkward position, innit.

Can you get a pencil rubbing or tracing of the moulded line? Or just measure it both ways and draw with a nice sharp pencil?

I just remembered, Hobbyboss in their wisdom supplied these little panels in clear plastic! Not sure what they were intending.

Any ideas on what they are?

 

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

23 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

She's looking fine, the lights look good too. Excellent work, I think I might pinch your idea for the roll down window. I fancy an open tip too.

 

nearly there dude.

 

Johnny

 

Not far off now! Pinch away mate. If I'm honest the whole open hatch thing didn't do it for me plus I mullered it when taking it off the sprue  

21 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

I gotta say, she's looking brilliant!

I just had a look at my Hobbyboss P38 to check out these nacelle panels, supposing they're reasonably accurate and similar to yours. Hmmm...

Awkward position, innit.

Can you get a pencil rubbing or tracing of the moulded line? Or just measure it both ways and draw with a nice sharp pencil?

I just remembered, Hobbyboss in their wisdom supplied these little panels in clear plastic! Not sure what they were intending.

Any ideas on what they are?

 

Thanks Rob! 

Yeah not easy to get to them now... Once I get one traced I'll be ok. I tried blu-tak but it warps when pulling it away. Also tried just using the foil with a cocktail stick to press in the lines which I had better luck with but not perfect. It's one of those occasions where I want trench panel lines!

Apparently they're highly polished bits of NMF instead of mirrors, which was so the pilot could see if the undercarriage was down.

JB

[rob Lyttle]

Just as I thought, on closer inspection, Hobbyboss have rendered them circular (as well as transparent) but I can see the Academy's version is different. Best assume Academy is correct. This doesn't feature in many photo references!

Must say, a hole punch disc is looking close- ish... if you trim the sides a little?

Close-ish isn't really your style, though... 

Edited May 15, 2017 by rob Lyttle

[rob Lyttle]

Some nice pictures on the Spad build, and a couple of them show these little things. By their nature they are taken from a raking angle, but to be honest they're starting to look like circular discs to me. Have you got anything other than Academy's moulding that backs up the oval shape?

Some nice info on weathering and chipping in the photos.

I love the way these planes look like a bunch of sheet metal knocked together!

[Josip]

I forgot to mention that I bought QB resin engine cowlings for this kit. As they're quite heavy they should double as weights and prevent tail sitting problem.

 

Josip

[Vadim]

That's great and neat finish! Looking forward for final pictures  

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

On 2017-5-15 at 9:40 PM, rob Lyttle said:

Just as I thought, on closer inspection, Hobbyboss have rendered them circular (as well as transparent) but I can see the Academy's version is different. Best assume Academy is correct. This doesn't feature in many photo references!

Must say, a hole punch disc is looking close- ish... if you trim the sides a little?

Close-ish isn't really your style, though... 

Ha! Close-ish is sometimes my style when it gets to the end of a long modelling day. It's trying to fight the urge to finish it or put the model down until next time where I'll be more energised to get it just right... well for my liking anyway! Cheers though Rob, it's certainly going to be fun getting these right and any suggestion gives me an option to try!

On 2017-5-16 at 11:34 AM, rob Lyttle said:

Some nice pictures on the Spad build, and a couple of them show these little things. By their nature they are taken from a raking angle, but to be honest they're starting to look like circular discs to me. Have you got anything other than Academy's moulding that backs up the oval shape?

Some nice info on weathering and chipping in the photos.

I love the way these planes look like a bunch of sheet metal knocked together!

Unfortunately not. I did find something online a couple of days ago;

 

Clearly shows the oval shape.

Thanks for the kind feedback on my weathering technique. It's taken some practice and I'm still trying to perfect it. I'm thinking about following this on the HE 111-P2 i'm building at the moment:

On 2017-5-16 at 0:48 PM, Josip said:

I forgot to mention that I bought QB resin engine cowlings for this kit. As they're quite heavy they should double as weights and prevent tail sitting problem.

 

Josip

Hi Josip - I'll certainly bear that in mind if I attempt one again

On 2017-5-16 at 1:27 PM, Vadim said:

That's great and neat finish! Looking forward for final pictures  

Cheers Vadim, hopefully that'll be this weekend 

[DMC]

Hi JB,

Really nice P-38.  Interesting about the polished oval on the inside of the boom.  I bought this stuff some weeks ago with the express purpose of experimenting a bit on my P-38 build but forgot about it until now.  The House Plan Template provided the oval shape and I first tried cutting it out of masking tape but that didn't work out as the tape left its sticky residue around the oval.  Next I just cut it out of cardboard but that didn't work very well either as the adhesive, Microscale Foil Adhesive, left a ridge around the edge that was clearly visible.  Finally, I marked the oval out on the boom with a pencil and free-handed the Microscale inside the oval.  Close, but no cigar.  Still need a bit of practice. The problem is getting a smooth finish with the adhesive.  Might be something better out there than Microscale.  Anyway, worth a try.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

 

[rob85]

She is looking excellent mate, so close to the finish now! Nice fix and well done for getting her off her tail.

 

Rob

[Victory-is-in-the-Kitchen]

On 2017-5-19 at 2:15 PM, DMC said:

Hi JB,

Really nice P-38.  Interesting about the polished oval on the inside of the boom.  I bought this stuff some weeks ago with the express purpose of experimenting a bit on my P-38 build but forgot about it until now.  The House Plan Template provided the oval shape and I first tried cutting it out of masking tape but that didn't work out as the tape left its sticky residue around the oval.  Next I just cut it out of cardboard but that didn't work very well either as the adhesive, Microscale Foil Adhesive, left a ridge around the edge that was clearly visible.  Finally, I marked the oval out on the boom with a pencil and free-handed the Microscale inside the oval.  Close, but no cigar.  Still need a bit of practice. The problem is getting a smooth finish with the adhesive.  Might be something better out there than Microscale.  Anyway, worth a try.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

 

 

Thanks Dennis, I really need a stencil like you have found as I have tried for about (no joke) at least an hour and I'm still not happy with the result. Next time I head to The Range or similar I'll have a look in the arts and crafts section for something. Good luck with yours

23 hours ago, rob85 said:

She is looking excellent mate, so close to the finish now! Nice fix and well done for getting her off her tail.

 

Rob

Thanks Rob - great to have had you along for the build... I'm calling it a day now though and getting SCATII up in RFI. Will post the link shortly.