John Masters Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 I don't think this is the F5A Lightning in which St. Ex perished, but probably one that he flew when his group was based in Sardinia. His final flight took place later that summer while based in Corsica, after he had been reinstated. Still, After so many years of flying (and crashing) his body was wracked with pain from old injuries and at 188cm he was probably always too large for many of the cockpits he graced. After what is believed to have been his P-38 was discovered south of Marseille, speculation abounded. Had he been shot down? Some German aces claimed this. I did hear one theory, having to do with how the wreckage was strewn across the ocean floor: he flew until he ran out of fuel and then dove nose-first into the Med. I prefer this story, taking the Roman way, falling on one's sword. The man was in constant physical pain, disgraced by De Gaulle (who believed him to be a collaborator) and had seen enough of the wind, sand and stars, enough night flights, for anyone' lifetime. Sorry..no sprue shots. I'm jumping right in...cockpit components cleaned up and primed. --John 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 I'm going to sit quietly and take notes on this one, John, as I want to do an F5, but have heard and read that this kit is a beast to put together; hopefully you will rise to the challenge and educate the rest of us, as I was thinking of doing one the hard way by cross kitting an Academy P-38J and LS F5 kit to get a decent example. Have it all worked out, but the work involved has put that project on hold until I can work up the courage. If you can figure out how to build the beast, however... Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 Move over Mike @72modeler ... ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 7 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Move over Mike @72modeler ... ... OK, Dennis- but only if you brought enough popcorn for the both of us! Mike 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 1 hour ago, 72modeler said: as I want to do an F5, I was thinking of doing one the hard way by cross kitting an Academy P-38J and LS F5 kit to get a decent example. I wouldn't waste the Academy P38! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 25, 2018 Author Share Posted November 25, 2018 2 hours ago, 72modeler said: a beast to put together Yes, well...hmmm..thanks gents. After two hours of building a fairly nice looking cockpit, I attempted a test fit of the center nacelles with the cockpit--perfect fit! Very nice. Upon adding the cockpit into the mix, however there are real issues...please see below... Cockpit. Looking alright! Center fuselage nacelle halves...pretty good. Will require a little bit of putty, but not much. And the three pieces together? Not a snowball's chance... My only solution is to pull the cockpit apart and sand off about 1.5mm on each side, lengthwise, reassemble, and try again. But not tonight, thank you very much. I'm going to contact Roman and ask him what he did and the specific pitfalls. He's already built this. To say this kit is a dog is incorrect, but I hear a lot of barking already. 5 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 1 hour ago, neil5208 said: I wouldn't waste the Academy P38! Yeah, but I've got three of the puppies that I snagged years back at a trade table for $10 a pop, so no biggie! I wish I had cleaned him out of them, as he had six. I guess I'm getting lazy in my old age, but I HATE the filler/sanding/rescribing part of a build more than cross-kitting or major conversion...funny, back in the day, I did a ton of it and never thought much about it, as that's what you had to do to get a decent model out of some of those golden oldies. I guess I can follow those that have wrestled with the RS Lightnings- especially since they were nice enough to share the problems/solutions with the rest of us. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.C. Bahr Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 On 11/25/2018 at 11:40 AM, neil5208 said: I wouldn't waste the Academy P38! Not very good in it's own right... needs the Quickboost replacement engine cowlings to fix the too-deep intakes below the spinners. Otherwise a very decent kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 27, 2018 Author Share Posted November 27, 2018 Roman was very kind to send me an almost step-by-step rundown of what is wrong with the kit and how to fix it. This has led me to a philosophy I don't often adopt: bag it. Build something else. I consider myself an advanced modeller in many ways. One way is to recognize a lost cause when I see it. So, my plan is to find a different kit wherein the parts fit better and use the decals from the RS kit on that. But I won't rush into this decision. I am off-island for a week and will ponder this decision while away. --John 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 A tactical withdrawal. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 27, 2018 Author Share Posted November 27, 2018 (edited) 1 minute ago, Courageous said: A tactical withdrawal. Indeed...Roman's instructions were a vignette. Too many alterations for my taste. More than the Roden DVII... Edited November 27, 2018 by John D.C. Masters 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 53 minutes ago, John D.C. Masters said: More than the Roden DVII... Holy cow! You are wise to abandon this kit. AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 15 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said: So, my plan is to find a different kit wherein the parts fit better and use the decals from the RS kit on that. But I won't rush into this decision. I am off-island for a week and will ponder this decision while away. --John Hi John, the RS P-38 kit is a real pain, but it is possible. @TheRealMrEd and I have both managed to build the Aleutian P-38E boxing. The cockpit/nose gear bay fit is the most difficult part - I ended up sanding the cockpit walls down quite a bit, and chopping off a good chunk of the nose gear bay - pics of the process are in the first link above. I'm sorry I didn't see this thread earlier and I could have warned you! Either way, I'm looking forward to your F-5A no matter what kit you end up using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 18 hours ago, J.C. Bahr said: Not very good in it's own right... needs the Quickboost replacement engine cowlings to fix the too-deep intakes below the spinners. Otherwise a very decent kit. Now I remember why I bought the Quickboost P-38J/L cowlings when they came out! Thanks for jogging my memory, JC! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 It's a shame Hasegawa missed the fact that the versions prior to the J had the smaller, flatter coolant radiators on the booms when they did their P-38G/J kit, as they did include the correct canopy for either version as well as the correct engine cowlings. Taking Cookie's remarks regarding the interior on the RS kit- perhaps the True Details P-38 cockpit set would fit better, or possibly use the tub from the old Airfix P-38G/H and detail it? Since neither the Hasegawa or Airfix kits had any detailing in the main wheel bays, that's why I had considered using the booms from the radiator back from the RS kit grafted onto the Academy kit, and then grafting on the early cowlings from either the RS or Hasegawa kit. I never proceeded with the conversion, believing that somebody would come out with a state of the art kit. The RS kit, of which I have two boxings, looks like the real deal, in the box, but are very disappointing, due to all of the issues pointed out above. Sigh. For those of you interested in a recce Lightning, I have attached a link with details of each of the PR versions below. Years ago I converted the Frog P-38J into an F-5C, and it turned out very nice- just wish I hadn't wasted all that work on a mediocre kit! (PRU blue with invasion stripes and red spinners- a real stunner!) Mike http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_F-5_lightning.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackAck Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 An F-5 in any scale is probably top of my modeling bucket list for personal reasons but my modeling skills aren’t up to the challenge yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 28, 2018 Author Share Posted November 28, 2018 7 hours ago, Cookenbacher said: but it is possible. Thanks Cookie. Your WiP thread has given me hope... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.C. Bahr Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 On 11/27/2018 at 5:38 PM, 72modeler said: Now I remember why I bought the Quickboost P-38J/L cowlings when they came out! Thanks for jogging my memory, JC! Mike Do you have just the intakes, or the entire cowling? Quickboost initially did just intake pieces to fit below the spinner, but people thought they were moulded "too small" as they don't fit correctly in place of the Academy pieces (not plug-n-play)... but I think QB intends for the modeler to back-fill and remove part of the lower cowling to match the correct profile (a lot of work)... but then QB issued the complete cowling that has all that work completed (a much better option). I have both and would HIGHLY recommend seeking the entire cowling option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 2 hours ago, J.C. Bahr said: Do you have just the intakes, or the entire cowling? Quickboost initially did just intake pieces to fit below the spinner, but people thought they were moulded "too small" as they don't fit correctly in place of the Academy pieces (not plug-n-play)... but I think QB intends for the modeler to back-fill and remove part of the lower cowling to match the correct profile (a lot of work)... but then QB issued the complete cowling that has all that work completed (a much better option). I have both and would HIGHLY recommend seeking the entire cowling option. JC, I have one set of the complete cowlings. If I decide to do more than one J/L/M, I can always take the cowlings from one of my three Hasegawa kits. I have always wanted to do 20th FG P-38J "Mama's Boy" that has the yellow spinners and cowling fronts, Invasion stripes, and the droop snoot polished nosecap. Mike http://www.lonesentry.com/images/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/p-38-lightning-mamas-boy.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 I know this is off-topic, and I don't mean to hijack your thread, John, but I just found this really outstanding collection of P-38/F-5 photos that I wanted to share with the rest of you. If you need to move it, Mike or Julien, I will understand! Mike https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/p-38-lightning/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Russell Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 On 11/26/2018 at 5:46 AM, John D.C. Masters said: Hmm... I suspect this picture is going to consign a number of RS P-38's to the bin but others have shown they can do it. A friend has just started one but has stopped while he gets the True Details interior or any other one he can get his hands on - it couldn't be worse. Thanks for the suggestion @72modeler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Schilhart Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 On 11/27/2018 at 7:58 AM, John D.C. Masters said: Roman was very kind to send me an almost step-by-step rundown of what is wrong with the kit and how to fix it. This has led me to a philosophy I don't often adopt: bag it. Build something else. I consider myself an advanced modeller in many ways. One way is to recognize a lost cause when I see it. So, my plan is to find a different kit wherein the parts fit better and use the decals from the RS kit on that. But I won't rush into this decision. I am off-island for a week and will ponder this decision while away. --John Sorry to hear you are giving up on this kit, but I'm not surprised, really. I would not want to build another one in this lifetime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 4 hours ago, Roman Schilhart said: Sorry to hear Don't count me out yet Roman! I'll see how I feel after I return to the island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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