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P-38 Lightning "Babe", Airfix 1/72 kit from 1972 with Exito decals.


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Following on from my "Beautiful Lass" build, I've now finished "Babe", flown by Lt. Edgar L. Yarberry of 48th FS/14th FG from El Bathan, Tunisia in June 1943.

 

Once again this is the Airfix P-38F kit from 1972 with the Exito "Lightning Strike" decals. The decals are excellent and the kit is surprisingly good for a fifty-year-old mould. The major modification I made was to extend the front undercarriage leg by 4-5mm to get the stance right, otherwise there are a few tweaks here and there. WIP is here if you want a look.

 

So, with apologies to those of you who may have seen it in the KUTA gallery:

1-E420754-C99-A-425-B-9-F4-D-9-D127-B2-B

414081-B2-8148-4018-BD54-97-DCB95014-D4.

9-DC307-DE-515-B-471-C-8-C5-F-6347798-BB

Getting the hang of this worn metal thing, drybrush with Revell acrylic Silver

B8-F84-AB4-04-A4-4929-BD19-E78-EFDDBB87-

And with "Beautiful Lass"

317-D8974-A080-43-DE-A9-F0-8367784-A4-AD

43-A2113-C-01-B0-405-F-9194-97-BBD1291-F

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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Adrian Vs Ancient Airfix= Adrian wins! It takes some serious ability and patience to make these old kits look so good. Both qualities I was sadly lacking when I built them when they were modern kits! :)

 

Richie

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I can't tell which Lightning is done better.  Both are great as far as build and finish go.  I am so glad there are still modelers out there that appreciate and build the older kits.  I have a few old Airfix kits, but since I am on the other side of the pond my old kit stash is mainly Monogram, Aurora and Revell.  Keep building these kits to show the young'uns that it doesn't have to be the newest, greatest, most tweaked kit to get a superb finished model.  Thanks  for sharing.

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Thanks all for the kind comments!

 

On 19/01/2023 at 17:57, Farmerboy said:

old kits

On 19/01/2023 at 21:25, Natter said:

old Airfix kit

On 19/01/2023 at 21:58, RichieW said:

Ancient Airfix

On 19/01/2023 at 23:17, Darwinism said:

a kit nearly as old as me

On 19/01/2023 at 23:21, TallBlondJohn said:

loved this kit so much as a kid

On 20/01/2023 at 06:13, Fritag said:

unpromising

On 20/01/2023 at 14:02, corsaircorp said:

Old Airfix

On 20/01/2023 at 14:20, Alan P said:

old kits

22 hours ago, georgeusa said:

old Airfix

I'm seeing a theme here!

 

It is an old kit, and the detailing in the undercarriage bay and cockpit is sparse to non-existent, and it's covered in rivets, BUT it looks like a P-38, fits really well and is a great starting point for the surprisingly small amount of extra detailing needed to bring it up to "modern" standards (don't look in the wheel bays!). Did I mention that the pair of them cost around a tenner?

 

It is true that old kits can be variable in quality (and I've built some shockers), but when they are good, they're good! I had a great time building these two (I'm glad I had modern decals though). I'm not knocking modern kits, but there are some great old ones out there . If the worst happens, you've only spent a tenner and you've gotten yourself another paint mule!

 

There are also some old shockers: I didn't even try to start the FROG  MS-406 (now a paint mule) and some others (FROG Beaufort, Airfix IL-2) I took on just out of sheer bloody-mindedness/lack of available alternative.

 

And to @georgeusa's point, although I haven't built any Monogram or US Revell kits, quite a lot of their old ones seem to be right up there with the best even today.


Thanks again,

Adrian

 

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14 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

Thanks all for the kind comments!

 

I'm seeing a theme here!

 

It is an old kit, and the detailing in the undercarriage bay and cockpit is sparse to non-existent, and it's covered in rivets, BUT it looks like a P-38, fits really well and is a great starting point for the surprisingly small amount of extra detailing needed to bring it up to "modern" standards (don't look in the wheel bays!). Did I mention that the pair of them cost around a tenner?

 

It is true that old kits can be variable in quality (and I've built some shockers), but when they are good, they're good! I had a great time building these two (I'm glad I had modern decals though). I'm not knocking modern kits, but there are some great old ones out there . If the worst happens, you've only spent a tenner and you've gotten yourself another paint mule!

 

There are also some old shockers: I didn't even try to start the FROG  MS-406 (now a paint mule) and some others (FROG Beaufort, Airfix IL-2) I took on just out of sheer bloody-mindedness/lack of available alternative.

 

And to @georgeusa's point, although I haven't built any Monogram or US Revell kits, quite a lot of their old ones seem to be right up there with the best even today.


Thanks again,

Adrian

 

Truth well told !!

Old Monogram are quite fine and I used it....

And as you told it, no remorses if it fail....

Thanks adrian !!

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That’s amazing…. Love this too. Old kits with modern techniques. Wonderful paintwork and subtle! Superb photography and presentation too.

that’s what Andy like🤓

 

Cheers

Andy 

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