1:48 Tamiya, P-38G "White 147"

[Lukasz Gmerek]

I am starting my next project - "Miss Virginia"!.

 

It will be first time for me to carry on an ongoing progress from the workbench - hopefully it will workout well. 

I am running a blog too, so my idea is to give more frequent updates in here and adding new blog entries after finishing certain stage of the build (like in case of my recent Stuka model).

 

I bought quite a large amount of aftermarket sets which you can see on the photos below - hopefully they will add a lot to the final effect. 

 

Up till now I gathered information about the airframe, including photos to have a reference for weathering effects. Talking about weathering - I will try to replicate this very distinct weathering pattern which is visible around panel lines. Those aircrafts where disassembled in the North America and shipped overseas and reassembled. For the journey certain panel lines were sealed with a tape. After reaching their destination a sealing type was removed causing this specific effect.

 

If you will have any questions, or remarks about the build I will be glad to hear them.

 

For more background information about "Miss Virginia" and Tamiya model you may follow the link miss-virginia

 

 

 

[Lukasz Gmerek]

Normally I would start with cockpit assembly as with the majority of the aircraft models, though as I bought Eduard resin cockpit and nose gun bay sets I had to make a different approach. 

I started with cutting out all cockpit parts from the sprues and compared with the resin counterparts - no surprise here,as most of the resin elements have much better details. 

 

 

 

 Then I compared main instrument panel from Yahu models and Eduard set - the quality of the former is much much better. 

 

 

Next step was to removed all elements from casting blocks and clean them up. That took me a while (beside cockpit and gun bay I took care of landing flaps and superchargers as well).

 

 

Now I had to conduct quite a surgery on some of the main fuselage parts and resin cockpit itself to be able to accommodate both sets.  Removal of redundant plastic was easy enough with Proxon Micromont tool, then I cleaned that up with different grades of sanding sticks. Next using Tamiya tape I assembled main components of cockpit and gun bay. Now I started a repetitive process of checking the fit, dismantling, making corrections and reassembling to check again. After a few repetitions I achieved a very good fit with the fuselage. Last thing was to check the curvature on the top of  the gun bay backplate- it  is a rib on which a front part of forward glazing of the canopy will be seated so I needed here a perfect match. It turned out that I had to adjust a shape of the rib and embed whole gun bay component a bit deeper in the fuselage which I did without much hassle by sanding wheel wells assembly from inside of the fuselage.  Below you may see final result (all is dry fitted for now).

 

 

 

[Jackson Duvalier]

When I saw the new topic I was going to mention the kit throttles leave a bit to be desired but otherwise there's no need to... oh.  Oh my.  Looks like a 2+ delta in the kit-to-aftermarket price ratio.

 

This is so over the top, I'm in.  Can't wait to se what issues forth.  😎  I'll follow this topic.

 

 

[AdrianMF]

It is a heck of a lot of detail! I'm surprised that the Tamiya looks so bare alongside the resin, because the basic kit seems pretty detailed. Looking forward to your build.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Lukasz Gmerek]

Time for small update. One more preliminary step before commencing with the build was to accommodate resin flaps from Eduard set. It turned out to be a lot of work. First I had to remove plastic counterparts of flaps from the bottom surfaces of the airframe - this step was quite easy and straightforward - again I used here  Proxon Micromont tool and then different grades of sanding sticks to smooth it out.

 

 

Next I assembled flaps housings using PE elements from Eduard set.  When that was done it was time to to fit them in between upper surfaces of the wings trailing edge and bottom recesses created by removing panels in the first step. This was the most difficult and time consuming task. It took me couple of evenings to prepare the surface for it. First I hade to remove all protruding plastic and then make the internal surface of the plastic thin enough. Aside of that I hade to adjust the recesses as well to align them with the PE flap assemblies. All of this required enormous amount of testing and dry fitting but in the end I think I managed quite ok. Due to plastic being extremely thin at the trailing edge of the wing parts in some places I managed to damage it a bit, though this is nothing drastic and will be easily fixed later on. 

 

 

Now I took care of the cockpit elements. Resin cockpit from Eduard comes with PE elements, but as I have acquired Eduard FE 1042 set which contains PE as well I had to decide what parts I want to use where. I carefully checked each resin element and compared each panel surface with PE counterparts and made decision on what to use. In the end I prepared some panels for future application of PE by sanding them flush. Next I glued PE elements which will require painting and all the pre-painted parts left for later. In the mean time I glued some parts together and left rest as they were for ease of painting. 

 

 

Now all prepared elements were primed with Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black, next I airbrushed black glossy undercoat on gun bay ammunition canisters and front wheel wells elements. After a while when paint was dry I applied Metallic Sliver (Mr. Color C8) to ammunition canisters and Polished Aluminum (AK Xtream Metal) to wheel wells.  

 

 

Now it was time to select main gun bay components. The idea is that after painting, gluing and weathering I will have base of the gun bay ready and will be able to connect it with main fuselage part. Rest of the gun bay parts will be added later on. For the base color I selected Zinc Chromate Yellow (Tamiya XF-4 is close enough), though as I used a shading technique I started with the base color mixed with a bit of black and airbrushed it mainly in all the crevices and places which are rather in the shadow. Next I applied a base color focusing more on the protruding elements, then I added a bit of white and airbrushed it on the upper surfaces only - to bring it all together I applied very much diluted base color as the top layer. In the mean time I buffed ammunition canisters with Metal Polishing Powder (Steel Type) by Uschi to get more shiny surface.

 

 

[Lukasz Gmerek]

It was long time since last update on Miss Virginia... This has to do with other commitments happening in my life and it will stay so for a foreseeable future. Nevertheless the most important is that the build is going forward nicely.

 

I continued work on the Nose Gun Bay, where next step was to apply color to all the details - I brush painted it mainly using mig acrylics. Then I glued all parts together using Tamiya Epoxy cement. Layer of H101 clear gloss was applied next and as soon as it was dry decals were added and then again clear coat to secure them. Now I brush painted some scratches and it was time for weathering for which I used mig washes. Lastly I applied a layer of mat clear coat (H103).

 

Next I tackled the cockpit. I applied the same technique as for the nose gun bay, though here the base color was H58 Interior Green. Additionally as the cockpit will be enclosed in the fuselage I applied downward shading where bottom of the side walls and the floor are darker than the top - this adds a bit more contrast at the end. Next I applied layer of H101 clear gloss. Then I brush painted consoles black using H2 Black and applied Photo Etched details. Another step was to make highlights to protruding elements - for that I used brush and lighter shade of the base color. Next step was to add scratches and paint chipping - that was done with brush as well. First I used dark color A. MIG-033 (Rubber & Tires) and then lighter shade of the base color. Last color used was A. MIG-0194 Matt Aluminum from Metal Acrylic Color line - this was applied especially on the edges of black consoles and then I used sponge chipping technique to apply scratches on the seat. This stage was finished with applying another cleat coat layer. Next I used old good technique of dry brushing - i applied mainly on the cockpit floor to highlight some details. After that I used different washes from mig to add details in the crevices. On top of that H102 semi-gloss clear coat was sprayed as a protection layer before further weathering. When dry I added dirt and grim using Streaking Brushers and Oil Brushers from mig and then secured it with the mat clear coat (H103). Now last step of weathering commenced using Weathering Pencils from AK. .

 

Next I painted and weathered front wheel well and flaps housings.

 

Having all the assemblies ready it was time to put it all together.

 

For more details about the build and higher number of better quality photos please follow the link to my blog

 

I hope you like it.

[Lukasz Gmerek]

Once again a lot of time passed since last update on this build. Fortunately I am back in business - all the other activities which were taking my spare time are behind me and I can once again focus on modeling.  This update can be divided in two parts which are Booms and fuselage assembly, and second one is all about landing gear.

 

Let's start with the booms - after cutting out all needed parts I cleaned them, added PE elements and primed with Mr. Surfacer 1200. Oil coolers, radiators and radiators covers were sprayed with proper colors and then weathered. I used Xtream Metal Chrome as a base for the main wheel wells and painted small details with a.mig and vallejo paints. Additionally I scratch built and added wire lines. Weathering followed with different colored washes and streaking brushers.

 

For supercharges I used resin counterparts. I started with metallic base and then applied different weathering products to imitate dirt and wear. 

 

Having all sub assemblies ready I glued all parts together, next primed the fuselage, corrected the mistakes and applied final coat of primer.

 

 

For better quality photos and much more detailed description of the process please follow the link to my blog: https://www.fine-miniatures.art/post/p-38g-booms-fuselage-assembly

 

For wheels and struts I used aftermarket counterparts. Tires and rims were primed and then proper colors were airbrushed. Next tires were weathered a.mig and AK washes, weathering pencils and pigments at the end. For the struts the process was similar, just different products were used plus I scratch build additional hydraulic lines. 

 

 

Landing covers required a lot of effort from me to achieve the result I wanted - please follow the link to read the details: https://www.fine-miniatures.art/post/miss-virginia-landing-gear

 

 

[Lukasz Gmerek]

Hi everyone. Time for next update.

I have just finished the bas paint job for Miss Virginia.  Below few photos of finished paint work.

 

I must say that painting this model was hell of a ride for me. Definitely the most complex paint job I have done so far! Camouflage itself seems easy, just two colors - Olive Drab and Neutral Grey in a nice simple pattern, but as they say the devil's in the detail which you can find reading https://www.fine-miniatures.art/post/base-painting-of-p-38g

 

[Paramedic]

What an absolute wonderful build! Sweet pile of aftermarket..

 

I like the blog too, will follow, thanks for sharing!

[Pete in Lincs]

I just caught up with the build and I think it's very impressive.

That is one well worn & dirty old Aeroplane!

[Bertie McBoatface]

This is wonderful work Lukasz. Keep it up!

[Lukasz Gmerek]

Thank you guys for you kind words!

[bigbadbadge]

What a great project   that is a lot of aftermarket too, it looks phenomenal,  I do love your paint and weathering effects.

Great work

Chris

[Lukasz Gmerek]

As the weathering of the P-38 is progressing well, I was able to finish Canopy, Propellers and External Fuel Tanks in the mean time.  Below a few photos of those. I took quite a lot of work to finish these parts but I am happy with the results.  For detailed description of the build and more photos please visit my blog https://www.fine-miniatures.art/post/p-38g-canopy-external-tanks-and-propellers

 

[Dansk]

Wow amazing work. You’re so talented 👍

[Lukasz Gmerek]

Thank you Dansk!

[Gordon J]

Stunning model so far Lukasz and if it is not your first language then your written English is impeccable.

[Paramedic]

Those 300 gal extra tanks are big.. Great painting and especially great weathering on it all!

[Lukasz Gmerek]

Thank you all for the kind words!