Lizzie V: P-38L Lightning, 475th FG, New Guinea 1944 *Finished!*

[Alan P]

Hi All,

 

Finally building a model I bought during the lockdown but not for a groupbuild!

 

This is Trumpeter's 1/32 P-38L-5-LO, the definitive version of the Lightning which really perfected an already excellent design. Although not as well-known as other American WW2 fighters like the P-51 and P-47, the fact that this fighter was already in service before the US even entered the war is quite extraordinary. 

 

The kit is quite well-known and definitely one of the best kits Trumpy have produced. (You can read all about it HERE to save having to repost all the sprue pics). Worth saying it's a big and beautifully produced kit, though afflicted with the usual Trumpeter ingredients (sprues of completely superfluous and mostly invisible detail and weird, fiddly multimedia flaps and control surfaces which will not be required!)

 

The build begins with the engines, strangely enough:

These fantastically moulded, intricate pieces are duplicated for both sides, and include the complete mounting and supercharger connection pipes. Unfortunately the kit doesn't offer any removable panels or open cowls to make them viewable So I'm assembling them for fun but they'll be invisible when fitted. Slightly bizarre, but there you go.

 

I'm cracking through this to give the impression of progress while I'm slogging through building my 1/32 resin Buccaneer. Hope to provide regular updates as I'm due to return to work fairly soon and don't know how much of this lovely modelling time I have left!

 

Cheers,

 

Alan

[Alan P]

Must admit this is a first for me - not built an aircraft quite like this, it's all interior detail: wheel wells, cockpit and nose gun compartments.

This is a lot of it already primed. The parts are generally well-moulded but requires careful assembly and some flash/hole cleanup.

 

The interior colours are a bit of a research project, which I'm not willing to do - seems to be a lot of debate/uncertainty what colour the interior and wheelwells were. As this will be a late-war new build P-38L, I'll be playing it safe with Interior Green cockpit and Aluminium lacquer gear and wheelwells for this natural metal aircraft.

There's far more detail in the invisible engines than the more visible wheelwells. Go figure, as they say

Looks a bit sparse, but I'm not intending to add any additional detail. 

 

Here's a tried and trusted finish for the superchargers - first painted in Colourcoats Corticene, a linoleum covering found on British battleships. Coincidentally it also makes a great base colour for heated metallic parts!

Stage 2 once the enamel's dried...

 

Cheers,

Alan

[Alan P]

Haven't been able to do much modelling recently due to manic workload but managed a bit on this over the weekend:

The completed engine/wheel bay assemblies - literally none of this will be visible on the finished model!

 

The cockpit parts ready for decals and detailing:

I admit the seat cushions probably weren't the bright yellow I've used here, probably more of a faded brown/tan/olive, but the splash of colour looks good.

The Lightning office was a very busy place, especially with the Airscale placards added.

Also used Eduard seatbelts to replace the kit DIY versions (Trumpeter provides a bunch of PE buckles and suggests using paper for the belts themselves - sorry, I'm too lazy for that kind of fiddly work )

 

Anyway - with the engines, wheelbays and cockpit done, I can put the thing together. Test fitting looks very good so far, so fingers crossed!

 

Cheers

Alan

[Alan P]

Also - change of thread title! I was going to an 8th AF late-war Lightning, but I was browsing Flickr and saw an excellent blue-trimmed P-38L in somebody's feed.

 

So, it's now a Pacific theatre subject, no Gabelschwanzes there! I'm going to use a bit of extrapolation in the colours/appearance as the museum version may not be entirely accurate in appearance. However, it is a P-38-5-LO exactly as the kit and that light blue trim is very attractive.

 

Now, off to find some decals..!

[Alan P]

Long time, no update!

 

I've had to take quite a long break from modelling due to a hectic return to work in May and more recently due to a fairly nasty injury to my finger. But the Lightning remained more or less in progress so here's the rest of the story...

 

Major assembly complete:

It went together quite well except the lower joints of the outer wing parts - only the upper joint made contact, so it's quite flimsy. Had to reinforce the joins with strips of Tamiya tape. This can't be handled by picking it up by the wings, must remember that...

Also - the sharp-eyed among you will notice I've put the wheel bays in the wrong booms  I had to cut out the gear legs and swap them over.

There is a lucky bonus from this - for strength, I had to glue them directly to the wheel bay roof which has made them a few mm shorter. As I'm using the True Details replacement wheels (which are a fair bit bigger than the kit wheels) this has inadvertently corrected the nose-up 'sit' of the finished model. So hooray for mistakes!

 

Finished cockpit in situ:

The upper cowls fit very nicely. just a bit of PPP putty to smooth out the joins:

 

Another bit of Tamiya tape to hide the joins along the outer stabilizer sections:

 

Again, nice fit along the wing-to-boom joint, this is just sanded back and only needs a small dab of filler:

 

Quick alignment check - all looks pretty good1

It's a lot bigger than I thought it was - certainly an aircraft type that passed me by before, but i think it's one of the most striking aircraft designs in history.

 

So far, so good and the kit is living up to its good reputation.

 

Alan

[Alan P]

Need to finish the rest of the assembly before starting the paint work:

Using Montex vinyl masks for the canopy - provided for both interior and exterior to get those crisp lines inside and out.

 

The instructions say 60g of nose weight, but i just ignored the gun assemblies and just packed the remaining void with four steel ball bearings and various slices of lead sheet. This will not be a tail-sitter!

Again, the fit of the nose parts (nose cone, access doors and upper support) was very good.

Also fitted the air intake fairings on the engine faces, again great fit.

 

Started on the boom radiator intakes using the kit-provided PE parts.

You can see various ejector pin marks but these are invisible once the radiators are assembled.

 

Still getting the feelgood vibes from this build!

 

Alan

[Alan P]

Finally all assembled, masked and ready for the first coat of primer.

Using Montex masks again for the national insignia, but the stars and bars are very fiddly to align - would have been much better to design them with a double-backing to stick down on the model surface in one piece and just remove the bits when needed 😠

Underneath is more of the same, with the added PE dive brakes, an important feature on the L model P-38 which solved the fatal tuck problem of the earlier variants.

The first finished parts!

Both props were originally finished as per Thomas McGuire's PUDGY V with the red/white tips (yes, I was going to change my mind on the finish AGAIN) - I decided to stick with Lizzie V and elected not to repaint them. I don't care if you don't!

 

Paint next!

[Alan P]

First paint test was with Alclad Gloss Black base - I've tried this and abandoned it twice before due to a tendency to not fully dry. Third time lucky or glutton for punishment?

It came out very well and dried overnight. Still looks a little bit orange peely but I tried micromeshing it down before hitting it with Alclad Polished Aluminium.

Pretty good for a start but possibly try something else for the main airframe.

 

Primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 Black and used a gloss coat of AK Gauzy Intermediate over the top:

That came out pretty well but not the glassy finish I really wanted.

 

So i hit it with a wet coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss and that really brought it up:

Then went for the first pass with Polished Aluminium:

Oh yeah.

I will definitely take that for a finish!

 

Alan

[Alan P]

Next step was to paint the olive drab anti-glare panels and then off with the masks...

Very happy with that. Next step is gloss coat ready for decals. I used Gauzy Intermediate as a base and to protect the Polished Aluminium finish from my fingers!

 

Unfortunately the decals were pretty old (Microscale brand from many years ago) and disintegrated on contact with water so I brushed a generous layer of Micro Decal Film over them. It dried in about 20 mins and after that the decals went on beautifully.

I went over the national insignia with decals from the kit as they weren't great. Luckily they covered the masked versions exactly.

 

Added the wheels and turbochargers, went over a few panels and the control surfaces with Alclad Stainless Steel and Duraluminium and fitted the gear doors. really happy with how this came out.

Final assembly followed - props, guns (brass versions from Master PL) lights and radio antennae, leaving me with this as of this morning

 

Couldn't be happier, great kit, beautiful aeroplane.

More pics in RFI here:

 

Thanks for looking in,

 

Alan

[Greg B]

Lovely build again mate. You are right, its a beautiful and largely forgotten aircraft because of the RAF initial experience. I've got a Tamiya Lightning to build as well.  I've spent far too much time in PNG over the last 4 or 5 years and whilst in the Port Moresby area made the effort to drive to and walk the ground of the old airstrips. There isn't much there now to show for all of that history. For the 475th, 12 Mile has the police college sitting on it, although it uses the old runway alignment for a road and the Bomana Commonwealth War Cemetery overlooks it.  Same with Wards Field which his now in the Government/Embassy area. Jackson is now the international Airport. One of the old fields I worked virtually on and drove past every day for 4 months without realising it had ever been there. The trees had re-absorbed it. I also managed to visit Lae and Wewak and other spots in New Ireland, New Britain and the Admiralty Islands that the 475th amongst others had operated in and around. Again the airstrips are now serving as the local airfields and you see hints and traces of what was. But what a country to operate over. If you bailed out there, you were in the lap of the gods.

[Alan P]

That's brilliant background, cheers mate. I watched the series a few years back about the Susi Air pilots flying out in the bush and thought exactly the same thing! 

 

True what you say about the P-38, it's been overshadowed by the P-51 and P-47 but the late J and L versions were probably the best fighters of the period. (hotly contested opinion!) 

 

The Tamiya kit sounds like another legend in the making, shame they didn't go for the later marks. Maybe they're to follow... 

 

Thanks a lot, 

Alan 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Beautiful work on this, The details and paint are excellent. 

[Alan P]

2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Beautiful work on this, The details and paint are excellent. 

Thanks very much Dennis, means a lot from someone who knows about these things!

 

Cheers, Alan 🍻

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

1 hour ago, Alan P said:

Thanks very much Dennis, means a lot from someone who knows about these things!

 

Cheers, Alan 🍻

I always try but I’m no Dana bell, though I do enjoy helping someone if I can. 

[Justin M]

I missed this! Great thread Alan and wonderful looking model. 

[Alan P]

On 7/9/2020 at 4:41 PM, Justin M said:

I missed this! Great thread Alan and wonderful looking model. 

Thanks very much Justin, looking forward to seeing your B-29 on the forum as well 👍

[Nikolay Polyakov]

It’s brilliant, Alan! 👏 Fast and outstanding build, you’re having a great modelling skills. Hope your hands are OK and we’ll see something interesting and beautiful from you soon.

 

I wish a strong health, stay safe! 🤝

[Alan P]

Many thanks to you Nikolay, very much appreciate your comments 😊👍