New Lightning! Tamiya's P-38G

[TimT]

The wheel wells - complete; they're satisfying mini-kits in themselves, with layers of pipes and struts overlapping in cleverly engineered ways. The doors slot in, and I haven't worried about gluing them yet; they seem to be secure without it. 

 

 

The plane can now sit squarely on its wheels, although the tires will need to be shaved down to imply the weight of it. The weights in the nose and booms keep it balanced.

 

It's getting there.

Happy 2020, everyone!

[TimT]

Wheels painted, with touch-ups and dirt to be applied. 

 

 

With the main construction complete, it was time to gloss coat the thing for decals. This is always an alarming phase; apart from its unappealing shininess, the Olive Drab seemed to get so much darker under the varnish, and all the subtleties I'd worked for disappeared. Perhaps with a matte coat the colour will come back. 

 

 

And so onto applying the transfers – of which there are dozens, mostly small, dark stencils that nearly disappear against the dark green paint. 

 

 

Tamiya have a reputation for making thick decals, and I'm afraid this seems to be true for the Lightning. The stencils stand proud of the surface, and it's a little distracting; Microsol helps, but doesn't completely mitigate the problem. This might be an issue with my application – I never feel confident that I'm putting them down in the optimal way. I might remove some of the less obvious ones if they catch light in a way that detracts from the model. 

 

 

However, under the right light conditions it's still a pleasing effect. Once all the decals are on, I'll seal it with another gloss coat (hopefully helping with the slight silvering on the stencils), then move onto oils and panel washes to complete the portrait.

 

Thanks for looking!

[TimT]

 

A brief update. The upper surfaces are getting close. I keep seeing new builds of this plane (some great ones posted here) and other photos of the original that make me want to keep pushing it further, but it has to stop at some point. There's certainly plenty of smaller paint chips to add, but I'm keen to hear what you all think of it so far.

 

One question I have is about the aerial wire. I can't find a decent photo of the structure that connects it to the cockpit, and although I could imitate other modelers' solutions, I'm curious to know what they're referencing, and how they built it. I've used EZ Line in the past, but there's some other hardware in there that connects the two wires from the vertical stabilizers to a single junction at the cockpit.

 

Again, thanks for following along, and any advice or feedback you can offer is always appreciated. 

[J.P.]

I'd say some light chipping around the engine covers and you will be able to call it done. Looks very good. I really wasn't planning on getting one of these kits but you've got mee all inspired...thanks alot. 🤨😊

 

EDIT: I just realized the last update is from almost 3 years ago!!!!!

 

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by J.P.