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Over-paid & over here - 453rd Museum P-38 Lightning; a build for recovery


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I'm always amazed when I see how worn aircraft could get. I'm even more amazed when it gets so perfectly replicated, seriously brilliant work!

 

Richie

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Finally for this evening, the ‘chargers are now finally fitted (a minor indulgence on my part; they are Eduard Brassin, so the only after market in the build other than guns and belts).

51203744534_e48f98bbd3_b.jpg


 

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4 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Pause on the P-38 for a few days as we take a break in Devon

https://flic.kr/p/2m2B4e4
 

Enjoy the pause indeed. That looks so like a place we took the young T's too many years ago - could it be Becky Falls?

 

Regardless, Devon is a wonderful place.

 

Terry

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  • 3 weeks later...
4 hours ago, hendie said:

How do you find the HGW stencils Crisp?  I think I've got some in the stash for a future Hurricane.

When they work as advertised, they are superb.  Occasionally - especially around panel lines (e.g. NO STEP markings on the leading edge of P-37 ailerons) lifting the carrier film can be a real challenge, just as with their rivets.  On a well-weathered airframe like this that isn’t too great an issue, but in some builds it would be a ‘mare (it was this very problem on my Sea King that led me to strip it and re-paint with lacquers).

 

Still, even “normal” stickers have their problems; qv the split in the yellow surround of the US star on the upper wing.  Not sure how best to fix that one.

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I used to live in Guilden Morden and just up the road was a place called Steeple Morden. Next to some gates into a field was a large propeller, a memorial to the 355th Fighter Group who were based there from 1942. They flew Thunderbolts then P-51s, I believe. 
Literally a couple of miles up the road is Bassingbourn, home to the 91st Bombardment Group. The point of this ramble is to point out that East Anglia was more or less a giant airbase during WW2, something I think a lot of people don’t realise nowadays.

It’s marvellous to hear that Americans are visiting these places. Those guys who gave should not be forgotten.

The wall at the US exhibit at Duxford is always a sombre reminder of how much they gave.

 

Anyway, pleased to hear you’re on the road to recovery.

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14 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

the split in the yellow surround of the US star on the upper wing.  Not sure how best to fix that one.

Ian @Brandy has a point; another, probably obvious, way is to brush paint the missing part. You'll need a white base coat, though, and the yellow doesn't look like a pure yellow, you probably need to mix it with a tad of red. Still, it's very easy to get a step between the sticker edge and the paint.

Last idea,  then I'll shut up and return to the back: a chunk from another sticker, provided that it comes from the same sheet and it is the same yellow.  

 

Ciao 

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