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

[perdu]

33 minutes ago, giemme said:

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.

I will be at the back with Giorgio, probably looking through my spare decals for one you can cut a piece off and splice into the mainbr broken roundel.

 

At this stage in US Army markings they would certainly have had ring diameters that were similar to the Allies roundels in vogue so we might find you a RAF roundel to vandalise for its yellow ring and slip on around  the star.

 

Can you give us an exact diameter to facilitate a search through the spares folders chum?

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Sadly (but inevitably!) the Xtradecal set only has stars with yellow surrounds for this one airframe (they were quickly superseded by the more familiar star & bar, I assume), so taking a section from elsewhere is a non-starter.  Bill’s idea about a Brit rounded yellow surround is a good one, though.  It will come down as much to the precise shade of this Xtradecal set at least as much as the comparison in real life.

 

I’ll do some tests, probably starting with Jamie’s excellent roundel yellow (looks a decent match to the naked eye).  I’ve also idly wondered about a “flak damage” patch or similar.

 

P.S.  Only if the tests fail will I reach out to the BM Massive with diameters, but thanks for the characteristically generous offer, Bill

[perdu]

Da nada Crisp but I would use my paint dotting technique to fix the ring if it was mine.

 

Maybe add  some dots of white to the damaged bit, then using a fine pointy cocktail stick make up the circle in tiny increments of Jamie's Yellow, spotted gently.

 

Tiny touches with finesse should repair the ring.

 

Method copied on your wing with a ten minute session of adding yellow pixels using the dot method.

White underdotting should be used if the yellow is too transparent to cover the OD, may not be needed.

 

How refined you get is up to you.

 

My best tip: No paint brushes should enter this game. Dotted paint with a cocktail stick will win the day.

 

Similarly dots of OD will de-blemish any odd little spot damage elsewhere.

 

Good luck mate.

[Jackson Duvalier]

Sorry to hear of your travails, Crisp.  I hope to see you squirm free of them.

 

That's an excellent paint repair tip, Perdu.  I shall try to remember it.

[Head in the clouds.]

Just had a pleasurable Sunday morning catch up on this fine build for a noble cause.

 

Glad to hear of your own personal recovery after health problems, you have the right hobby to help you on your way, let's be honest, if you were as committed to be a jogger as you are modelling you would be sat down on a sofa pulling your own teeth out in frustration....

 

All the best.

 

Gary

[Terry1954]

Great tip Bill @perdu, must store that.

 

Re-posting that picture of the wing, reminded me how great this build looks Crisp. I don't ever recall making a P-38 in my whole extended modelling life, but I think I will add one to the ever growing stash sometime soon. A great looking aircraft. Maybe the booms remind me of Vixens and Venoms of the prefixed Sea variety!

 

Terry

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Terry, I can’t remember whether you’re a 1/48 man, but I cannot recommend this kit highly enough; it is comfortably the best kit I have ever built.

 

In other news, I think I’ve been having a mind-fart with all this talk of needing paint.  Yes, it is true that there are no spare yellow-surround stars… but there are other spare yellow things…

 

Should be able to find enough Xtradecal yellow for a patch, you’d think.

 

C

[Terry1954]

Up till very recently I'm 1/72 mostly, but am creeping into 1/48! This kit sounds the biz.

 

Thanks

 

Terry

[RichieW]

On 20/06/2021 at 19:12, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

I think I’ve been having a mind-fart with all this talk of needing paint.  Yes, it is true that there are no spare yellow-surround stars… but there are other spare yellow things…

I've lost count of the number of times I've over complicated things when a simple solution was staring me in the face the whole time. I think it's a common modellers disease! 

 

Hope you're recovering well, I still manage to play cricket every weekend 8 years almost to the day after joining the heart attack club. 

 

Loving this build, wonderful work on what looks like a great kit.

 

Richie

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Great Scot!  An entire month has gone by; how does this happen?  
 

I could tell you that the whole time has been packed with modelling progress… but that would be a lie.  I went back to work post heart attack a few weeks ago, and the end of June / start of July was pretty manic at school, so by the end of the day I was completely knackered and fit for nothing beyond sleeping in a chair.

 

Then we went on holiday for a week (Appledore in North Devon; fab).  Them the bloody heatwave appeared just as I had a week without work at home - my man cave is completely untenable in such conditions, so I simply shut down the computers and evacuate the room.

 

Then 2021 produced another example of the unceasing medical fun for which the year has been noted in my family.  Thus far we’ve had my heart attack in March, closely followed by my wife breaking her ankle really badly, requiring 3 months on crutches.  And now this:

This is my starboard leg immediately after I got back from A&E on Thursday; at lunchtime that day I jumped out of the way to avoid an over-enthusiastic dog (not ours), and landed with all my weight on my right leg, complete with a significant sideways moment.  I felt a distinct ‘twang’ and as though someone had smacked me hard on the back of my calf with a baseball bat.

 

What’s that?  Did I hear you cry “ruptured Achilles’ tendon”?  If so, you’d be right.  
 

It could be worse.  Though remarkably painful at the time and for about 10 minutes thereafter, it now doesn’t hurt at all.  I am going back on Friday for a scan to ascertain the full extent of the damage, and thus the likely treatment… but there seems to be some evidence that (despite at the time there being a visible gap in my tendon of a good half inch - sorry if you are squeamish) a few fibres of the tendon are still hanging in there.

 

Upshot.  No modelling yet, and not much likely for a bit - certainly not for a few more days yet, since I absolutely MUST elevate my leg and cannot fit at the bench with it elevated.  We’ll see after Friday.

 

Ho hum.

 

Anyone else having a fun year?  I know about Famille @Procopius’s travails (which are infinitely more sad than any of my recent snags), and about @Navy Bird‘s attempts to set new records for ridiculous scar length.  What about the rest of you lovely peops?

[Terry1954]

Ouch. You are certainly having a challenging year and so is your poor wife by the sound of it. Sorry to hear of these latest mishaps.

 

50 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

What about the rest of you lovely peops?

 

I'm perfectly fine myself health wise touch wood, but the wider family challenge this last week has been the loss of my ex-wife's Mum. Nan to all my offspring, and still Mum-in-law no 1 to me. Passed away quietly in her sleep aged 93. She was really like a second Mum to me (I lost my own mum over 25 years ago), and although I divorced her daughter, she has stayed that way with me. She also formed a very close relationship with my current wife, so we are all a bit down.

 

Let's hope you recover from your injuries, soonest and not have any more mishaps - @CedB and I can't possibly go to Boscombe and Wallop on our own!

 

Terry

 

 

[Cookenbacher]

So sorry to hear that Crisp - your Achilles is your only known modelling vulnerability, oh the fates are wily. Hope you heal up quick!

 

@Terry1954, so sorry to hear about Nan, it speaks so well of all involved that you were as close as you were.

[TheBaron]

Ah Crisp, thou art really having a rough time of it of late.

I'll send Dr. Maturin round with the embrocation.

 

[Procopius]

Good heavens, Crisp! Your mighty thews were never meant to be so encased, poor gallant fellow. Something similar happened to my mother many years ago and she ended up needing surgery. While she was thus bedridden, the prankster father of my then best-friend (I was ten and they had taped ALL the Doctor Who episodes off PBS) hit upon the idea to present her with a dead mouse in a tupperware container with a bow, with me playing the role of Hermes, messenger of the gods. I was in on it, and just young and stupid enough to think it was an amazing idea. Now at this time my mom had a sort of electric garter she had to wear to stimulate her leg muscles and keep them from atrophying while she was in drydock. I duly presented her with the box (which unbeknownst to me had previously been used to deliver fudge to her), which she excitedly open. 

 

What happened next is hard to describe, because it defies my understanding of both physics and the human body. My mom somehow managed to shriek while contracting her body like a unicellular organism delivered a shock, and then levitated about two feet in the air and came back down hard. I had about a half second to reflect upon my choices before my father seized hold of me, and recognizing that I was about to die, I decided I wouldn't go alone, and blurted "it was Mr Kovalevich's idea!" Mr Kovalevich had dropped me off and was just about to slink out the front door when my dad intercepted him and frog-marched him off to my mother, who spent the next thirty minutes or so alternately yelling at one or the other of us. I am not sure he ever entirely forgave me for ratting him out.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Edward, you are a lovely man; that has cheered me up massively!

[perdu]

On 26/07/2021 at 13:13, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

that has cheered me up massively!

And now we have the entire Winston story encapsulated...

 

All (Yes all) is explained.

 

 

 

Crisp please elevate as prescribed, we've a few months yet to get you on your feet for Telford.

 

Canines huh, however much I love them are becoming a minor misery to me.

 

I popped down to the local (all 115yds away of course) and met a friend and his wife unexpectedly at the outside seating, dropping down on one of the seats to share an afternoon sun and pint with them I met an unexpected obstacle when I put my hand on the bench to enable me to reposition myself along a tad.

 

Wet teeth attached to a dark brown dog alarmingly well camouflaged underneath the dark brown wooden bench/table unit.

 

It held me in a friendly wrist hold as it decided if I was to be allowed to sit with the folks...

 

No broken skin, but wow those red hold points were well delineated for three days...

 

Not much chance of me and Garry's alligator ever getting friendly I fear.

[Brandy]

Ouch! That happened to a mate of mine a couple of years ago and his doc misdiagnosed it, telling him it was just bruised. He went on a 2 week business trip to the USA! He was VERY lucky to eventually make a full recovery after he got back and saw a specialist - 1/2 inch you say? I'm not going to say how big the gap had got for him as it makes me ill thinking about it!

 

At least yours is diagnosed and treated early. All the best for a full recovery!

 

Ian

[Biggles87]

SWMBO did hers about four years ago, the surgeon did a good job, her only complaint was that he had the bedside manner of a slug!

Keep it up ( the leg of course ).

John

[Bigdave22014]

so.... no London Marathon next year then? 

Speedy recovery Sir.

[Fritag]

On 7/25/2021 at 5:21 PM, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

a few fibres of the tendon are still hanging in there.

 

Jolly good.  Carrying on the fight despite seemingly overwhelming odds…..all in the very best Naval tradition and we’d expect no less 

 

On 7/25/2021 at 5:21 PM, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Anyone else having a fun year?…………What about the rest of you lovely peops?

 

Ummh. At the risk of unjustifiably insinuating myself amongst the lovely peops; I’ve been to the dentist today for a replacement crown.  Didn’t need an anaesthetic jab.  I suspect I don’t really get thro’ the qualifying rounds with that one tho’ 

 

Take care Crisp, follow Dr’s orders and get well soon.

 

 

 

[The Spadgent]

Ouch!!! Sorry to hear that dear boy. I suggest investing in a little crystal bell you can tinkle when ever Tea is required.  Here’s to a solid recovery and a better half to 2021.

 

Johnny.

[RichieW]

What horrible news, I was hoping to see a beautifully completed P-38 rather than a leg cast! Hope you recover well, the beautifully completed P-38 can wait until you feel better.

 

Best wishes

Richie

[Pete in Lincs]

Perhaps you'll feel better when they pipe 'Tots up'?

Get well soon, old chap. Your bench (and we few interested onlookers) awaits.

[heloman1]

Crisp, more misery, time to chat up that nice nurse in the Sick Bay!!!

 

Don't complain about the heat wave, you may never get another. The sun is on it's way back south again. Hope you recovery is swift.

 

Colin

[LorenSharp]

Crisp I have to say as far as this year has gone , if it weren't for bad luck you'd have no luck at all. I well know the pain you've gone through with your Achilles tendon. I tore my main flexor tendon 9 years ago. and after 9 monthes on crutches  and 2 operations 

I can walk almost with out a limp. I will say though I.V. injections of Demerol after surgery did allow me to "see the music and hear the colours" About the only enjoyable thing about the whole mess. So listen to the Jungle Quacks and do what they say. and stay off that foot! The build can wait a bit longer and trying to build a model side saddle is an exercise in futility(ask me how I know)