Shalako Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 1 hour ago, Work In Progress said: There is a straight-from-the-box build with good pictures here He has done a wonderful job with the kit. Cheers for the link! The reason why I've asked about it is because I was looking at some of my old kits' boxes (a lottttt of dust!) and I found an Eduard set for the Lightning and I thought, why don't I buy a kit and use the set. Now, I'm thinking that the Airfix is not a bad kit! Cheers Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 It's not bad at all. A lot of 70s Airfix kits were very good at the time and still highly usable, especially if you pick up an early boxing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 10 hours ago, Shalako said: Now, I'm thinking that the Airfix is not a bad kit! It's not a bad kit, but it can't be built as a P-38F/G/H unless you re-shape or replace the coolant radiators on the booms, as they are much more like the ones on a J/L/M than one of the earlier variants- that and the completely bare wheel bays. If you can find one of the Frog P-38J's, it is very accurate, but could use detailing in the cockpit and wheel bays, and the coolant radiator openings and exits are molded solid, so need to be opened up- then you will need to build radiators for either kit, as none are present, but visible inside the openings. Mike I don't see why Academy has not re-released their 1/72 P-38J/L or revised the tooling to do an earlier version, as their kit is the best fitting and most accurate in 1/72. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 Haven't checked it yet but, I think Aires has a set of resin radiators for the P-38 in 1/72. About Academy; perhaps they are preparing a new mold for the Lightning (in which scale) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zkalos Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 Italeri released the Academy kit ? 😀 https://www.italeri.com/en/product/2939 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted November 5, 2020 Share Posted November 5, 2020 Yepp, its confimed about Italeri reboxing the Academy kit, see todays Rumourmonger. regards Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luka Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 As for the AIrfix/Heller P-38F/H kit, I got one on the bench right now. As mentioned earlier, general shape and size look good, but the radiators are indeed wrong. Then there are the usual things like raised panel lines, oversized rivets, and very basic cockpit, supercharger intakes and wheel wells. I copied new wheels from the Academy kit, as the kit ones were awkwardly shaped. Some more details are wrong; it has the later leading edge landing light, there are some underwing fuel booster pump bulges that belong on an -L version, and there are also some dive recovery flaps not seen on early P-38s. And the oil coolers are the teardrop shaped ones of later versions. I really like the look of the kit and so far the Lightning's beautiful lines have managed to entice me, but constant newly emerging bits of extra work are starting to put me off.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 7 hours ago, Luka said: And the oil coolers are the teardrop shaped ones of later versions. Not quite correct. On the P-38J/L, the intercooler was sandwiched between the two oil coolers, which were all in the lower front of the cowling, giving those two versions their distinctive beard-shaped lower cowling profile. The coolant radiators were mounted on either side of the booms in a bulged fairing, and the carburetor intake was located on the outboard side of each boom to the rear of the wheel bay- that is the intake that the Hobbyboss P-38J/L got wrong, as it was larger and more teardrop-shaped than the carb intakes on the earlier variants. Mike 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Duvalier Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 On 11/4/2020 at 1:41 PM, zkalos said: Italeri released the Academy kit ? 😀 On 11/5/2020 at 1:34 PM, Planebuilder62 said: Yepp, its confimed about Italeri reboxing the Academy kit, see todays Rumourmonger. https://www.italeri.com/en/product/2939 No fooling... I saw the Italeri release some weeks back, hoping it was Academy plastic but Scalemates indicated it was the Dragon tooling. This would explain why the Academy and MPM boxings are unobtanium. I'm happy this will be available again! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 11 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said: but Scalemates indicated it was the Dragon tooling. the Dragon Lightning is not a bad kit (or, is it?), right? Never seen one from up close but, how bad can a Dragon kit be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 19 minutes ago, Shalako said: the Dragon Lightning is not a bad kit (or, is it?), right? Never seen one from up close but, how bad can a Dragon kit be? Dragon kits of the era generally are quite good.. until you try to build them. The Lightning seems to be no exception, plastic parts look very nice (I know, I have one) but fit is said to be tricky (and I'll find out soon). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 4 hours ago, Giorgio N said: Dragon kits of the era generally are quite good.. until you try to build them. The Lightning seems to be no exception, plastic parts look very nice (I know, I have one) but fit is said to be tricky (and I'll find out soon). Cheers Giorgio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 I won't miss the opportunity given by Italeri with their reboxing of the Academy "J" but I also hope Tamiya will downscale their 1/48 "F/G/H". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazontipede Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 9 hours ago, PattheCat said: I also hope Tamiya will downscale their 1/48 "F/G/H". You and me both. I'd love a modern mainstream kit of the early Lightning. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luka Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 On 11/8/2020 at 3:56 AM, 72modeler said: Not quite correct. On the P-38J/L, the intercooler was sandwiched between the two oil coolers, which were all in the lower front of the cowling, giving those two versions their distinctive beard-shaped lower cowling profile. The coolant radiators were mounted on either side of the booms in a bulged fairing, and the carburetor intake was located on the outboard side of each boom to the rear of the wheel bay- that is the intake that the Hobbyboss P-38J/L got wrong, as it was larger and more teardrop-shaped than the carb intakes on the earlier variants. Mike Ah, are those carburetor intakes, my bad. But yes, I meant those thingies. Should have double checked before posting 😳 The Airfix ones will probably fit fine onto the HB P-38, as they look to scale. Don't know how the old Hase "J/L or F" kit is, but it seems to have the wrong radiators and supercharger arrangement for an F. The carburetors (Ha!) look kinda suspect too.. On 11/9/2020 at 8:38 PM, PattheCat said: I also hope Tamiya will downscale their 1/48 "F/G/H". +1! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 13 hours ago, Luka said: Don't know how the old Hase "J/L or F" kit is, but it seems to have the wrong radiators and supercharger arrangement for an F. Correct: it makes a good J or L, you can't make an F from it without substantial modification, despite what Hase thought at the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Duvalier Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Has anybody tried using RS radiators on a Hasegawa or Airfix airframe, thereby avoiding the multitude of fit issues of the RS kit? The ridiculousness of cutting up a quite expensive new-ish kit to graft four small bits onto 1970s plastic in 2020 is not lost on me, I'm just wondering if it would be a way forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 (edited) @Jackson Duvalier Jackson, Your query prompted me to do something I have been meaning to do for a long time. I got up to my hobby room/work area and pulled my Hasegawa, RS Models, and Academy P-38 kits. I pulled a set of boom halves from each kit, and I think I have some good news to report! The RS Models booms and those of the Academy and Hasegawa kits match almost perfectly. (I have read some accounts that the RS kits were copies of the Hasegawa kit,) If you cut the booms of the Hasegawa or Academy kits right at the end of the landing gear bay and the RS kit at the same place, the cross sections match up and would give you the correct radiator fairing for the earlier versions. The RS wheel bays fit right into the Hasegawa booms, and if you cut a notch in the RS wheel bay part to fit around the mounting socket for the Hasegawa gear strut, you would have a much stronger mount and strut than the ones found in the RS Models kits. The Academy kit already has a detailed wheel bay and struts, but since they are so hard to find and very expensive, the Hasegawa kits would be a much cheaper and more readily available alternative. Using the Hasegawa kit does have some advantages, too: correct canopies for the early and late variants; one piece props versus the cumbersome individual blades of the RS Models kits; ( I do think the Hasegawa kit props are a bit thin in chord, but usable.) Much stronger gear struts and nice wheels; correct cowling bits for the early variants. That being said, the cockpit/rear descking is pretty bare, but aftermarket or scratchbuilding will take care of that. Raised panel lines would need to be reduced or replaced with scribed panels, if that's your thing, and all of the external features of the J/L that Hasegawa molded on would have to be removed, but an easy job. The RS cockpit could be used, as well as the clear nose, if you had the RS F4 and wanted to do an early recce Lightning. Use the superchargers from the RS Models kits, as the early variants had a different set up, as well as the smaller carb intakes. Luckily, I have four Hasegawa, two Academy, and two RS F4 kits, so I'm good to go. My thinking is to use my Academy kits to do a bare metal P-38J and a black P-38M, and use the two RS Model kits crosskitted with my Hasegawa kits to do an early P-38 and an F4, especially as both would not be in a bare metal finish. Hope this helps anybody out there. Of course, if I start on this project, Academy will revise their original J/L tooling, and/or Tamiya will do their incredible 1/48 kit in 1/72! Mike Almost forgot! I also have the Dragon P-38M, but it most likely will be a parts mule to convert one of my Academy kits...I'm getting too old to fiddle with all of its fit issues! Edited November 14, 2020 by 72modeler added text 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck1945 Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 1 hour ago, 72modeler said: ...My thinking is to use my Academy kits to do a bare metal P-38J and a black P-38M, and use the two RS Model kits crosskitted with my Hasegawa kits to do an early P-38 and an F4, especially as both would not be in a bare metal finish. Hope this helps anybody out there. Of course, if I start on this project, Academy will revise their original J/L tooling, and/or Tamiya will do their incredible 1/48 kit in 1/72! Mike Take one for the team and get started now! 😎 FWIW RS have a resin cockpit set for their kits and apparently while it doesn’t completely solve the ill-fitting kit parts problem, it does provide better detail and does improve the fit. Of course I can’t find it now (has anyone ever said BM search sucks?), but I was reading an “In Progress” topic here a couple of months ago where someone used this set. It prompted me to order one, but I haven't tried fitting it yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 I have question to P-38 gurus. In previous posts F-4 was mentioned. But what is best way to make F-5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 1 hour ago, Vesa Jussila said: I have question to P-38 gurus. In previous posts F-4 was mentioned. But what is best way to make F-5? What scale? I'm pretty sure Academy did an F5E injected kit in 1/48, and Paragon did a resin conversion, but most likely hard to find. I vaguely recall Koster did a 1/48 F5G conversion, but 1/48 is not my scale, so I'm not sure about that one. . Not sure about 1/72, but the F5E was one of the versions you could build from the 1/72 Dragon kit, 5040, If you have the skills to make a master, you could vacform an F5G nose will all of the camera windows and the more bulbous nose. Here's a link to all the F5 variants that might be useful. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_F-5_lightning.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Thanks @72modeler 1/72 is my scale. i am thinking to make St.Exupery's last plane in somewhere future. Need to start do my study in this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, Vesa Jussila said: Thanks @72modeler 1/72 is my scale. i am thinking to make St.Exupery's last plane in somewhere future. Need to start do my study in this subject. I think somebody here on BM did his Lightning and shared his story- I might be mistaken, but maybe one of the regulars will recall or you could do a search for the discussion. Good luck- his flying career and loss were a very interesting story. See the links to information on the discovery of his F5B and personal effects as well as his story and the marking carried on his Lightning, in the event you don't already have them. It would make a wonderful tribute model, I think. Mike https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?31632 http://blog.alexwaterhousehayward.com/2006/11/phil-boname-antoine-de-saint-exupry_30.html Edited November 15, 2020 by 72modeler added text, added link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 17 hours ago, Vesa Jussila said: Thanks @72modeler 1/72 is my scale. i am thinking to make St.Exupery's last plane in somewhere future. Need to start do my study in this subject. RS Models did an F5A kit number 92123 with his markings as one of the choices, and I also seem to recall seeing his markings on a P-38 decal sheet; you could do an internet search for '1/72 St. Exupery's F5 decals' to see what comes up. The kit might be hard to find, as I'm sure it was a limited release- RS did at least three boxings of F5's- all the same except for decals. It's all about the research, which to me is is half the fun- just ask @Moa! (Don't be cross with me, Claudio- this airplane had no guns!) Mike https://www.scalemates.com/kits/rs-models-92123-lockheed-f-5a-lightning--191212 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 17 minutes ago, 72modeler said: just ask @Moa! (Don't be cross with me, Claudio- Do I need to say that...I do have a folder on the P-38 and the old Academy kit? I plan to squeeze a racer from it 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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