The Rib Man

Thank you all for making this such a fun group build. Lot's of interesting subjects and great builds. RM

Tamiya 1:48 scale P-38J SCAT II

It looks great. I think the P-38's look a little bit leggy in real life as well. Especially planes without bombs or fuel tanks. All of the prototype pictures seem to look a bit different. I suspect fuel load and armament make a difference in how they stand.

Almost done! I just need to resolve the missing machine gun barrel and decide if I want to mess around with the radio wires. I am pretty happy with how the bare metal look turned out in the end.

Just a few more bits to go, then on to decals.

Making some progress on the painting. It looks pretty good if you don't look too close. This was my first effort at a bare metal finish. I've definitely learned some lessons for the next time (keep the area much cleaner and free from dust, thin the paint some more, maybe don't airbrush outside when it is 3 degrees C, etc.) I was pretty happy with the Vallejo metallizer paints. I used aluminum, dark aluminum, and dull aluminum colors sprayed over their black base. Hopefully somewhere on my table I will find a broken machine gun barrel.

Finally an update. I just need to clean up a couple spots and install the canopy. I will airbrush on a black base coat and then on to the metal finish. I will be using Vallejo paints of various colors for the metal. Robin Olds? RM

Wow, that looks great!

Work continues on the 2 booms. One boom done, and I feel like I have already assembled half a Spitfire. The metal bearings give the booms some heft.

I have finished the work on the front of the main fuselage. I said I was going to build out of box, but couldn't pass on the Eduard aftermarket guns when I put in my paint order.

Having built a Tamiya P-38 kit before, the connection between the upper and lower main fuselage is the step I was most worried about getting right to minimize the amount of work required to prep for the bare metal finish later. There are a couple seams that will be very visible if not gotten right. Fingers crossed that things will look good when the clamps and tape come off.

Proceeding to install the cockpit: The engineering of every part of the Tamiya kit is exceptional. I like that they provide both weight for the nose and a very sturdy method for attaching the wings and wing booms.

I'm really looking forward to this one. It is a very interesting and unusual subject.

And so it begins I am planning to build this one out of the box with the exception of the aftermarket decals. The Tamiya cockpit is pretty great as-is. I added a few little wires on the side panel, but most of this will barely be visible anyway.

I can't wait to get started on this group build. I will enter with the new Tamiya P-38J kit with markings for Robin Olds' SCATT II. I am planning to do the bare metal scheme most likely without invasion stripes. RM