fox1_BE Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 (edited) Hello all, This is my first GB participation, after having followed many interesting GB topics and speedy builds of other BM-ers. I will be joining with this kit, one of HobbyBoss' "easy-assembly" kits: Earlier this year, I build the same kit, in Cuban AF markings: Found it a pretty straightforward build, and I added some details along the way that I plan to repeat with this GB build. Not being a very quick builder myself, I should be able to complete this one in time for this GB. My plan is to build another Latin American P-38, this time a Honduras AF (in NMF), using these aftermarket items: The LF Models decals were in my stash for a while, but the Aztec Latin Warriors sheet appears to be more complete - more on that later, when the build starts ... The LF Models set also contains resin wheels and I have a ResKit set as well should this be needed, I will see what I will use. Looking forward to seeing a lot of interesting builds develop here!! Cheers, Patrick Edited December 10, 2022 by fox1_BE 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted September 7, 2022 Share Posted September 7, 2022 Welcome, Patrick, and excited to see your build! I'll be using the Hobby Boss kit and those Aztec decals for my Nicaragua P-38. Your Cuban Lightning looks great and you apparently managed the Hobby Boss kit just fine already--it really looks great. Any advice as I get started on it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox1_BE Posted September 7, 2022 Author Share Posted September 7, 2022 Thanks mate 👍 The HobbyBoss kit is really a nice smooth build with good fit overall. Sufficient space for adding some weight. Note that there are three injection mold marks that you may want to remove: two on the top outer wings and one on the horizontal tail. In case you mount the pylons: I believe that once the left wing pylon carried the camera, so I removed this from the other one on my Cuban Lightning. The two mirrors on the inboard engine sides should be more of an oval shape, but the circled shapes in the kit didn’t really bother me so I was happy using these. As for the supercharger intakes: like you, I also pondered on how to add these as they are not included in the kit. In the end I used 1/48 AIM-7 Sparrow missile heads from the spares box: a bit of reshaping, drilling the intakes and voilà! Looking forward to seeing the Nicaragua version coming along! Cheers, Patrick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted September 7, 2022 Share Posted September 7, 2022 Welcome along Patrick and great to see another one of these models in the build AND someone else doing one of these lesser known schemes!! Between you and @ModelingEdmontonian it's just great to see these being built. Good luck with the build, look forward to seeing her in the gallery. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 @fox1_BEis this progressing at all? I'm eager to see it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 Hello fellow countryman. I'd gladly see how your build is going. I hope there is nothing wrong with you. Regards. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox1_BE Posted November 7, 2022 Author Share Posted November 7, 2022 Hello all, and in particular to @ModelingEdmontonian and @PattheCat: apologies for not updating this thread earlier, but there has been too little time and (too) little steps to report!! I have been working on the kit's cockpit, adding a few PE bits & pieces and some spare seatbelts. The radio compartment behind the pilot's seat has also been scratchbuilt. Droptanks on their respective pylons are also ready, with the camera fairing on one of these deleted (the kit has both pylons fitted with these). Finally, I have been adding a few rows of rivets along the fuselage, vertical tails and engine nacelles, to add a bit of visual interest (hopefully) once painted: I hope they show in the below picture. Currently working on the landing gears, wheel wells and props ... more to come soon! Cheers, Patrick 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 No need to apologize, the usual delay between each of my "build progress" posts is 2 weeks (at best) . Good additions for a nicer tub. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox1_BE Posted November 21, 2022 Author Share Posted November 21, 2022 A bit more progress being made here: I got the cockpit parts painted, weathered and dryfitted (I may rework the backside of the pilot's seat panel a bit). The pylons/fuel tanks and insides of landing gear doors are done as well. Landing gears are also ready, with the wheels fitted: nose wheel is from the kit, MLG wheels are from the LF Decals set: these are nicely casted resin bulged wheels. Some pictures of where I am: Cheers for now, Patrick 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 That's coming along nicely, Partrick James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted November 22, 2022 Share Posted November 22, 2022 14 hours ago, fox1_BE said: Love your scratch built radio! 14 hours ago, fox1_BE said: The wheels look great! Your care with the kit is showing! Well done and excited to see it come along. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox1_BE Posted December 4, 2022 Author Share Posted December 4, 2022 On 11/22/2022 at 6:22 AM, ModelingEdmontonian said: The wheels look great! Your care with the kit is showing! Well done and excited to see it come along. On 11/21/2022 at 5:57 PM, 81-er said: That's coming along nicely, Partrick Thanks guys! Some further progress was being made in the mean time: I painted and weathered the turbochargers and also finished the spinners/props. I came across some usefull reference pictures for this build: https://www.airlinefan.com/airline-photos/Honduras---Air-Force/Lockheed/P-38-Lightning/504/3754811/ http://wpalette.com/en/pictures/56789 Both of these colour pictures are for aircraft no. 504. What is interesting is the colour of the nose tip: in both cases it seems to be a light grey. I have decals for aircraft no. 503 and 506, where both decal sheets indicate a different colour for this nose tip: white and yellow. Looking at the pictures, I will likely use a light grey instead - and I have applied this on the top of the spinners also. Talking of the nose tip: P-38L of the Honduras AF were not equipped with guns in the nose, as can also be seen in the above 2 links, so I replaced the Hobbyboss nose tip with one from an RS Models kit. This obviously required a bit of reshaping, filling and rescribing to make it fit, but looks good so far I think: I will be using the turbo charger intakes from this RS Models kit as well, as the Hobbyboss kit does not include these. Working on putting the airframe together now ... Cheers, Patrick 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted December 5, 2022 Share Posted December 5, 2022 19 hours ago, fox1_BE said: P-38L of the Honduras AF were not equipped with guns in the nose Interesting observation. I wonder why this was and if it was common. Made me check my one Nicaragua reference photo, but I'm pretty sure I can make out at least one MG. All looking good by the way! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox1_BE Posted December 8, 2022 Author Share Posted December 8, 2022 On 12/5/2022 at 4:13 PM, ModelingEdmontonian said: All looking good by the way! Thanks again, mate!! Well, I got the whole thing painted and chipped, ready for decals! State of play per today: Had a bit of an issue when applying the metal coats (all Alclad): I started off using White Aluminium which dried to a fairly dusty and bobbly appearance - not good at all. As this is only my second or so NMF aircraft, I was pretty concerned preparing the best I could, but somewhere I must have gotten things wrong. Anyway, out with the micromesh, polising it all down and starting over again. The second time gave a much better look. Next, I added Dark Aluminium, Magnesium and Stainless Steel on spots and selected panels. Tamiya acrylics were used next for the blue/white national markings and the olive drab sections. I then used the hairspray method for carefully chipping away the coloured parts and finished off with a gloss layer. Next up are the decals. Not a lot to apply on this aircraft, but looking at the reference pictures (as per the links in the posts above) I do have to find a way to also make these look a bit worn and 'chipped'. Cheers for now, Patrick 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 The paintwork looks good to me. I've found (as you did) that Alclad benefits from a light sand between coats on large areas, I did a lot of that on my Sabre build. Looking good for making it into the gallery still James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox1_BE Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 On 12/9/2022 at 10:56 AM, 81-er said: Looking good for making it into the gallery still Absolutely - I finished this one today! Decals went on without any fuzz: squadron badges (nose), small stars (wingtips) and a few stencils are from the Aztec sheet, with the larger stars (rudders) and numbers are from the LF sheet. I also used some spare stencils from an old Superscale sheet. All decals were weathered by carefully sanding them down until the print started to degrade. This was followed by a semi-matt clear coat over the full model to dull down the finish and final weathering with oils and a little bit of pigments. Below are a few pictures of the finshed model, I will add some more in the gallery!! This GB has been a really enjoyable experience. Very broad and interesting builds here, I picked up some great ideas for the future. Thanks to moderators @trickyrich and @81-er for keeping an eye out and encouraging along the way! Cheers, Patrick 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 This is a beauty! From looking at the finished photos I would not have thought this was an "easy build" kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 That's a great looking model, Patrick, definitely one to be proud of Thank you for joining in and for building a fine example of a less commonly seen machine James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 Looks great, @fox1_BE! The weathering is very nicely done. Yay for another Latin Lightning! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 Seeing how great you did with an "easy kit", what would it be with the Tam one! And that NMF ... Lovely! Congrats. Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox1_BE Posted December 13, 2022 Author Share Posted December 13, 2022 On 12/10/2022 at 11:35 PM, Enzo the Magnificent said: This is a beauty! From looking at the finished photos I would not have thought this was an "easy build" kit. 19 hours ago, ModelingEdmontonian said: Looks great, @fox1_BE! The weathering is very nicely done. Yay for another Latin Lightning! On 12/11/2022 at 12:10 PM, 81-er said: That's a great looking model, Patrick, definitely one to be proud of Thank you for joining in and for building a fine example of a less commonly seen machine James 1 hour ago, PattheCat said: Seeing how great you did with an "easy kit", what would it be with the Tam one! And that NMF ... Lovely! Congrats. Pat Thank you, gents! Much appreciated!! 👍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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