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TimT

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Everything posted by TimT

  1. TimT
    First class paint work - really gives the feel of functional wear-and-tear and makes it look larger than 1:48. Great attention to detail.
  2. TimT
    Masked insignia too? This is going to look special. Something so satisfying about the way painted insignia can become part of the hull and take weathering in the same way as the surrounding camo. Following with interest.
  3. TimT
    Great build of a lovely plane - you've really done it justice. I have one of these in the stash, and I'm looking forward to cracking into it this coming year; yours is certainly an incentive to get going.
  4. TimT
    Both superchargers are now installed, and I've started adding the long exhaust trails down the twin booms. More will be added to these after the decals are on and the final stages of weathering has begun. I think I've gotten as far with the idea of taped-and-exposed panel lines as I can at this stage. Again, more chipping, staining and dripping will be added after the dozens of decals have been applied. This is what I'm trying to approximate: After the hump of Christmas, I should have time to surgically remove all the masking from the wheel wells (hopefully without breaking the thin gear bay door struts), stick on the undercarriage and doors, clear coat the thing and stick on decals. Then it's getting close to the end, and I'll have to buy another one! Thanks for looking, as always.
  5. TimT
    Nice to see the other variant, and great to see it done so well. Getting through 2 already is impressive - started mine shortly after it came out, and I still have a long way to go!
  6. TimT
    Thanks, Mik! Very encouraging - it's a real motivation to keep going with a shared build. One small update: I painted and test-fitted the supercharger - one of the P-38's iconic features. It was a combination of numerous metallic finishes and various coats of rusty colours, brushed, sponged and sprayed, and I'm pleased with the result so far. The giant pale exhaust trail will be added to later.
  7. TimT
    Thanks - that's very helpful feedback. I hadn't thought of it that way, and I might leave it as is. Cheers, Squibby!
  8. TimT
    Looking forward to seeing how that shows through the next layer of paint. Did you use a mask? Great build so far!
  9. TimT
    Thanks, Squibby - much appreciated. I was thinking about repainting the wing roots; it just doesn't feel quite right yet - more worn down than chipped. I think I let the paint cure too long, and the hairspray beneath didn't break it up as I hoped. At least without camouflage, this is much easier to redo.
  10. TimT
    Having messed up the guns supplied with the kit, I upgraded to Master barrels, executed flawlessly in brass. They are a small addition that makes a large difference to the feel of the P-38's bristling nose armament. I lopped off the plastic barrels from their mount and drilled holes that the metal versions could just about get a purchase on. They really look the part when attached, and certainly an improvement on one of the few disappointing details of this kit.
  11. TimT
    Ha! Thanks, Thom. Isn't that a Beach Boys song? The underside continued with lots of stains, chips and other flavours of weathering. It looked horribly over-cooked at first, but I pushed it back with some thinned down layers of Neutral Grey. As noted with a few other builds of this plane, the original was shipped with packing tape over the panel lines to protect it from the elements; It was a distinctive aspect of the plane when in service too, and I wanted to emulate the pale grid left behind by the tape when it was removed. After covering the upper fuselage in a lightened mix of Olive Drab (with a hair of Deck Tan added), I mummified the panel lines and sprayed neat Olive Drab - plus some darker shades - to get the right contrast, which is pretty distinct in all the images I've seen. This'll be modified as layers build, but I'm happy enough with the effect so far. I also sprayed the wing roots silver, hairsprayed them and gradually chipped away the green to emulate the worn paint where the crew walked. Now I can probably remove the blue tac caterpillars and work some more weathering across the whole thing. Thanks for looking! I'm sure as the holidays commence, everyone will - including me - get to push their projects along when the opportunity arises.
  12. TimT
    That's a great build! The weathering is highly effective. You use a distinctive green for this one too - more tropical than others I've seen. Nice job, and good motivation to continue mine.
  13. TimT
    Between all the other things that get between me and this model, I managed to build and insert the gunsight - some more fiddly masking (not all of it successful). I also masked the canopies: the kit comes with printed templates for this, which helps a lot. Then I buttoned the whole thing up. I've opted for a closed canopy on this one; there's plenty of faux glass to see the cockpit, plus I want the lines of the plane intact. At this point, after wiping it down with alcohol, I was ready to apply primer. I went with Tamiya Super Fine grey, which has worked well for me in the past. I sprayed the underside with Neutral Grey in a fairly even coat, which I modified with a slightly darker shade. Straight from the jar, I think XF-53 is too dark for what I want to do, but it's a good starting place. I'm foregoing pre-shading in favor of layering as I go, working between dark and light as necessary. It's a bit patchwork at the moment, but the whole thing will be unified with more layers. I'll also use something other than an airbrush in the next stage to approximate the variety of stains, patches and wear and tear these birds sported. Thanks for looking!
  14. TimT
    Fantastic looking Mosquito! Congratulations, Mozzy. Always a great feeling to reach the end of a build.
  15. TimT
    This is a master class in detailing, Andy - and painting, too; the spattered mud on the mudguards is highly effective. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses. Does it get more straightforward from here, or is there still a lot of upgrading to do?
  16. TimT
    Yes - very smart indeed. Never seen invasion stripes that stop at the ailerons, but I like it; goes well with those nice, crisp transitions in the camo pattern.
  17. TimT
    Looks like you've been moving quickly! With a coat of primer, you'd never know there's been any fit issues for you. The cockpit looks great - I like the look of the IP on the sprue, particularly. Did you put a decal over that? Anyway, looking forward to the next stage.
  18. TimT
    Yes - Chris Wauchop's build is a real inspiration (https://chriswauchop.com/2019/09/18/tamiya-1-48-p-38g-lightning/), and certainly one of the reasons I committed to the kit. And yes, it's encouraging that after a fairly slow and painstaking set of subassemblies, this thing suddenly becomes a plane. Now I'm looking forward to the next stage; painting this will be where the fun really starts. Thanks for your comments, Jackson. Share some pics of yours!
  19. TimT
    Thanks, Matt! Much appreciated.
  20. TimT
    Some progress on the cockpit. The radio with a couple of extra placards and some fiddly masking to get it painted. The seat, with added Eduard harness. I tried to custom build my own, but I couldn't get a satisfying solution. With all the small and highly visible detail, I didn't want to compromise on this one. The result when it all comes together is pretty gratifying. As always, thanks for looking!
  21. TimT
    First off, thanks to Erik for that trove of incredible images - a resource I'm going to be consulting throughout this build. I wish I had those cockpit shots earlier on! That's a generous amount of research, so thanks again. Tamiya sent me a replacement boom pretty quickly, so I've made some progress. Here it is: The left boom wheel well in progress. The oil cooler innards painted. The left filter is visible through the front openings, so I dry-brushed it Titanium Gold, although the right one isn't, so I left it Neutral Grey. The radiator screen is a decal for the front and back, which is fine given how deep inside the cover it sits. Oil cooler and radiator covers installed, all engineered to fit seamlessly along panel lines. With paint and a little cleaning, there really will be no visible difference between the panel lines cast in the plastic and seams where parts attach. And with that - the booms are done, and can be attached; Now it looks like a Lightning! With its giant wingspan, it's such an unlikely looking fighter; it's hard to imagine the P-38 banking sharply in a dogfight with a Zero, but the design was obviously solid given its record. Plus it looks amazing! Quicker than I thought, painting this thing can start soon. Thanks for looking, and Happy Thanksgiving!
  22. TimT
    It looked good during the WIP, but it really flies in your photos here. That blue against the various kinds of silver is very satisfying; looks a bit regal and very purposeful.
  23. TimT
    I hear that the decals work OK on this one - not too thick, and all the images I've seen don't have any obvious silvering. I'll keep you updated as this goes; so far I've only applied three - the IP, the placard on the steering column, and the guns, and they all did what they're supposed to. Thanks for having a look, Harry - I'm sure I'll make more mistakes so perhaps you don't have to! I've always found other build logs helpful to avoid pitfalls, but this kit really can't be blamed - if anything doesn't align or fit, it's got to be something I've done. But so far so good for the most part.
  24. TimT
    Perhaps someone with more patience and skills could save the tail, but it's crushed, twisted and split, so I took the shortcut and called Tamiya. The photo of the guns was taken just before drilling commenced. It started OK, but as I went up the barrel it broke at the base, plus the holes were ragged with all the slips I made with the drill bit. It could work in theory, but it'll take a steadier hand than mine.
  25. TimT
    One of the wheel wells. The big ring at the end is the cup that the ballbearing boom weight will sit in. I made the walls quite grungy, but they'll be more spattered yet. There's a good number of parts, and some quite small, but I managed to neither break nor lose them while painting - another small modeling victory. Once in place, it all looks satisfyingly busy and layered. However, there's always some failed experiment or accident that throws things off. It feels early in the build for that, but I've just had two. One was certainly my fault: I thought I'd be clever by taking the solid jacket kit guns, apply the decal for the cooling holes then drill them out. But as I'm neither a brain surgeon nor a professional jeweler, I buggered it up completely. So, I got these instead: Master brass barrels - easily an improvement, so my failed experiment became one of those blessings in disguise. But this isn't: Not sure how it got mangled. Cat chewed it? Kids chewed it? I chewed it? Anyway, it's irreparable, so a replacement has been ordered. So much for OOB. Thanks again for looking.
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