TimT

All your experiments with weathering look very subtle and cohesive. This is going to be a strong model!

That's a very handsome build. The photos give it a sense of scale beyond its size.

Ha! Not quite - heading into the weeds and the wheel wells. Thanks for all those images, Erik - amazing, and very useful. Didn't get any good wheel well shots, by any chance?

That's a really great build and paint job, and it's nice to a scheme other than the one supplied with the kit. I'll be chuffed to get a result half as good as that.

The build is going great - thanks for asking! The next step is the front wheel well, the ceiling of which completes the cockpit floor. This is part of the wing spar which - along with the single-section fuselage and upper wings - ensures the correct dihedral. It was all painted and given a panel line wash, with some initial weathering, before assembling. I think there'll be plenty of gunge splattered up in there later. The upper and lower halves of the fuselage can then be stuck together, with the ballbearing nose weight fitting snugly between. Pretty satisfying. I've also dry-fitted the super-chargers and exhaust, but won't glue these down until the whole thing is painted. It's a nicely layered set of parts, each slotting into the next precisely, and the whole thing meshing seamlessly with the nacelles - or it will when glued down! Thanks for your time.

Thanks! Although I'm not sure about the cannons. Trick of the light? Thanks for the words of wisdom, Jackson. It is tempting to plough through this build, but I thought documenting it would slow me down enough to appreciate the process. I'm sticking to Tamiya paints throughout, so hopefully will avoid any plastic reactions. As far the cockpit colour goes, this is where I got my info: https://imodeler.com/2019/10/information-for-those-building-the-tamiya-p-38/ Thanks Squibby and Lonners. As far as storage goes for finished models...it's currently any available horizontal surface. This one might have to fly to my office - it really is quite large. This would seem the perfect kit if airbrushing and weathering are fairly new techniques to you. Lots of surface area, no camo, paint that faded and chipped - perfect. Have fun with your build, and share it here!

That looks spectacular, John; the nose colour, the subtle weathering, the variation across panels - you nailed it! Seems healthy to have a feeling of accomplishment at the end of a build, and still feel you could do better. However, it's hard to see room for improvement here.

That did it - thanks! Read the instructions...obviously not my strength

I managed to spell Lightning wrong in my WIP topic! Now it looks as though I've got new lighting. How can I go in and edit my mistake? Thanks

Thanks for the response, Martian! Thanks Red! Totally recommend this kit if you're a P-38 fan.

My first WIP, and I’m stepping in the ring with this, Tamiya's brand new P-38G Lightning. Inside the beautifully designed box you get a sumptuous kit without a fussy mix of materials - just plastic, all of it crisply moulded and finely detailed. I don’t think I would’ve chosen to build a P-38 without all the superlatives being thrown at Tamiya’s new tooling. However, it’s a fascinating subject, and part of the fun of building kits is the research it can lead you to. I’m going for the P-38G, Rex Barber’s legendary ride in Operation Vengeance, one of the longest interception missions in WWII. It seems to be widely accepted that he was the one who shot down Admiral Yamamoto’s Betty, although the controversy surrounding this is worth reading about (https://modelairplanemaker.com/2019/08/09/tamiyas-1-48-p-38-lightning-and-significance-of-miss-virginia/). Not only is it a compelling story, but the plane itself offers so many opportunities for weathering - a fun part of building Pacific theatre subjects (I sound as though I’m talking from experience, although I only have a Corsair under my belt so far). I'm hoping to get close to the beaten look of Barber's plane, complete with its lattice of marks left from the packing tape it was shipped in. I'll be building this OOB, apart from an Eduard seatbelt that might arrive one day (how about it, 1001modelkits?). The cockpit has a wealth of detail, and slips together with the kind of fit for which Tamiya are rightfully celebrated - ie. perfect. I've heard that a more authentic colour for the interior would be closer to RAF Interior Green, but this is art and not life, and I wanted the punch of the yellowish green called out in the instructions. All the details were painted by hand. I gave the IP decal blobs of gloss coat over the dial faces - a nice pop against the Nato black of the panel. The tub sits in the fuselage snuggly; every part of the build reminds you of the level of engineering in this kit. I just hope I can do it justice. Thanks for your time!

A lot of artistry on display here. A great kit, obviously in the hands of a great modeler. It's exciting to see the new Eduard tool made up so effectively - one of the first I've seen, and certainly the best. Lots to learn from this - thanks!

Looks solid. What were the major problems with the kit? Can't see any screaming inaccuracies from your photos, but I'm hardly an expert.

Thanks for all the comments, everyone! Much appreciated!

After the endless struggle of the Revell Hudson, I wanted a quick and trouble-free build, so here’s my version of the 1/72 Airfix Bristol Beaufighter TF. X. As most builders seem to, I chose to depict NE829, flown by No.144 Squadron from RAF Banff in Aberdeenshire. Built straight from the box, this is a great little kit, with a fit good enough to negate the use of (almost) any putty . The engineering is - as with a lot of these 1/72 Airfix kits - clever enough to make simple constructions out of complicated forms. It’s been noted that the 3-part engine cowls are the least satisfying aspect of the kit, but the seams either line up with colour transitions or are covered by the exhaust or supercharger air intake - a nice detail, I thought. Although 1/72 isn’t my preferred scale, I was attracted to the rugged look of the Beau, with the big Popeye forearms of the Hercules engines and the rather worn look it had in most of the source photos I found. Using Tamiya paints throughout, I built numerous thin layers to break up the large monochrome expanses of the fuselage and integrate the weathering into the paint scheme.

Very smart! Nice clear photos, too. I'm inspired to start mine.

Thanks for the support, everyone! I've gained a lot of inspiration from the work shared here by all of you, so it's gratifying to get your comments. Yes, I probably should've pushed the roundels back a bit to integrate them into the rest of the airframe. They're actually painted on - not decals - so I can't blame the process. During my research, it was hard to tell from period photos how and how much the roundels got worn down or faded, so I erred on the side of caution. Thanks for the tip. And I totally agree about Airfix offering a new tool of this icon. Another 1/48 beauty like their Blenheim would sell like out in short order.

I’ve been following BritModeller for a while, but having seen a couple of Hudson WIP builds, I felt I had to contribute something of my own. This is my version of the Revell 1/72 Lockheed Hudson, which started life as a limited run by MPM, then was picked up by Italieri, before finding its final resting place in Revell’s back catalogue. I was lucky enough to find one in my local model shop in Saint Paul, MN. I chose to make P5120 of No. 206 Squadron, a Mk. I variant from 1940, based at Bircham Newton. The Hudson played an important role in coastal defenses during WWII. An American aircraft, it was adopted by the RAF after a series of hasty redesigns to meet their exacting specifications. Built in the US, one of the first shipments was dragged by mules over the Canadian border and put on a boat to Britain to be outfitted there as a patrol bomber. As reported by others, this kit is not an easy build. Its vintage engineering was a real challenge to my limited skills, requiring shimming, filling and sanding over numerous sessions. Despite this, seeing the iconic shape of the Hudson emerge over time was worth the effort. I wanted to depict it in flight, and as this was not a supplied option, I had to chop the wheels down to fit in the too shallow wheel wells. I added some detail to the cockpit and navigator's area - all completely invisible through those tiny windows! I also added a very nice pilot and navigator from PJ Productions, and used Montex Masks for roundels, windows and gun turret. To finish it off, I replaced the kit guns with Master .303 Browning barrels - tiny brass miracles. Not conventionally attractive, the Hudson’s bulbous silhouette nevertheless makes for a striking appearance. I remember my dad’s Airfix version, built in the 70’s and gathering dust for a couple of decades after. This build is a homage to that memory and all the pilots who mastered this bulldog of a plane.