A Restored 1/72 1970’s Airfix P-38F Lightning

[Brigbeale]

I had this previously built but half painted P-38 in the stash since I bought it about 4 or 5 years ago. 
It was largely intact but missing the canopy and propeller blades, but fairly well built wheels up.

A coat of brown paint had been ‘applied’ to the interior and pilot while the upper and side exterior surfaces had a coat of green paint ‘applied.

 

Luckily for me, Ian @sunray had built one of these and replaced the canopy with a vac-formed one. I asked if I could obtain the original canopy from him/her and I was sent the canopy.

Fast forward a few years, and it was time to restore this little gem.

The WIP is here

I dismantled it fairly easily as it had been built using poly cement which was helpful in the disassembly of the P-38.

Once it was mostly dismantled (I could not get the pilot out), I gave it a Dettol bath to remove the paint.

With the parts free from paint and cleaned up, re-assembly began by  painting the interior and pilot and rebuilding the centre fuselage.

I 3d printed a pair of propellers from a free design I found on Cults3D. They had the spinners and mounting shaft already in the design so it was just a case of opening the original holes to receive them.

To stop it tail sitting, lead weights were added to each boom ahead of the wheels, but more was still needed in the centre fuselage section.

The design of the kit made this a lot easier and eventually I got the P-38 to sit level.

 

The canopy masking was a chore especially on the triangular side windows but persistence paid off. 
The undersides were painted ted grey and the upper painted green, but I wasn’t happy with the shade to I repainted the upper side with mr Color Olive Drab (1). This was a better colour.

The decals were bought used from EBay and they turned out to be Hasegawa items. There were a couple of issues though. 
First, was the fact the nose art decals - there should have been two, 1 for each side, but I was missing the starboard side. @Pete in Lincs suggested a comical workaround.

I decided to take a photo of the original which I had and then reprint them onto decal paper mirroring the original image. I couldn’t copy the intricate shape though so I just left them squared off. They don’t look bad at all.

Matt varnish was applied and once it had dried, I added the finishing touches.

 

And with a Matchbox P-51D Mustang and a to-be-restored Airfix P-47D Thunderbolt.

 

Edited October 28, 2024 by Brigbeale

[Pete in Lincs]

A nice result, Brian. More fun than building a shake'n'bake kit!

[bigbadbadge]

Looks absolutely stunning Brian, what a cracking Lightning . Great work love it.

Chris

[stevehnz]

That has come up brilliantly. 👍

Steve.

[Mattlow]

I enjoy watching you resurrecting these lost plastic souls.

 

It must be very satisfying..

 

Matt

[PATRICK FROM THE SANDS]

Great work! I am doing the same with a series of seven old kits, I am currently wrestling with an Airfix Fieseler 156, I didn't think it will take me that amount of time compared to building one "the normal way". Superb result on your P-38!

[Mynimal]

Well done.

[sunray]

Hi Brian.  Sunray or Ian here.  Cracking job and I'm glad to see you put the canopy to good use.  Some of the old Airfix kits are little gems if you are willing to put a little effort in.  Another good kit to look out for is the Airfix 1/72 Whirlwind Fighter.

[Brigbeale]

On 21/10/2024 at 20:40, Pete in Lincs said:

A nice result, Brian. More fun than building a shake'n'bake kit!

Thanks Pete, I still have the Matchbox one to do, so more fun is awaiting………

On 21/10/2024 at 20:48, bigbadbadge said:

Looks absolutely stunning Brian, what a cracking Lightning . Great work love it.

Chris

Thanks Chris, I’m glad I chose this one as it’s turned out better than I initially expected.

 

On 21/10/2024 at 23:14, stevehnz said:

That has come up brilliantly. 👍

Steve.

Thanks Steve, I’m very happy with it.

On 22/10/2024 at 21:28, Mattlow said:

I enjoy watching you resurrecting these lost plastic souls.

 

It must be very satisfying..

 

Matt

thanks Matt. I have somewhere around 20 or so restoration models in the stash, so more will be on the way.

On 23/10/2024 at 18:09, PATRICK FROM THE SANDS said:

Great work! I am doing the same with a series of seven old kits, I am currently wrestling with an Airfix Fieseler 156, I didn't think it will take me that amount of time compared to building one "the normal way". Superb result on your P-38!

Thanks Patrick. I’ve never built a Storch, but you never know what will crop up on eBay….

On 23/10/2024 at 21:41, Mynimal said:

Well done.

thanks Mynimal, your appreciation is welcome

15 hours ago, sunray said:

Hi Brian.  Sunray or Ian here.  Cracking job and I'm glad to see you put the canopy to good use.  Some of the old Airfix kits are little gems if you are willing to put a little effort in.  Another good kit to look out for is the Airfix 1/72 Whirlwind Fighter.

thanks Ian.  
Funny you suggest the Whirlwind. I just bought one about a week ago……

[bigbadbadge]

Ooooooo nice, what a cracking aircraft looking forward to this one Brian, just started the 32nd Special Hobby kit myself.

Chris

[Brigbeale]

Thanks Chris,

I was reading Christer’s Special Hobby build and noticed you had one in the stash

[Galligraphics]

5 hours ago, Brigbeale said:

Whirlwind

Brian - that’s the older original model; it’ll need a little more work than the 70’s version to make it reasonably accurate…. Depends of course on how much you want to do to it, but the fuselage is too long, the undercarriage is rudimentary at best, the wheels are no better than buttons (there are some very good resin replacements made by Barracuda Studios), the undercarriage doors are completely the wrong shape, the wings have no representation of the fuel tanks or flap extenders… 

 

PM me when you get around to this and I’ll ping you a copy of my references/plans etc.

 

Nige

Edited October 28, 2024 by Galligraphics

[Brigbeale]

1 hour ago, Galligraphics said:

Brian - that’s the older original model; it’ll need a little more work than the 70’s version to make it reasonably accurate…. Depends of course on how much you want to do to it, but the fuselage is too long, the undercarriage is rudimentary at best, the wheels are no better than buttons (there are some very good resin replacements made by Barracuda Studios), the undercarriage doors are completely the wrong shape, the wings have no representation of the fuel tanks or flap extenders… 

 

PM me when you get around to this and I’ll ping you a copy of my references/plans etc.

 

Nige

Thanks Nige, will do.

[sunray]

No problem Brain.  The Whirlwind is a nice kit and I had my first go at cutting panel lines, using vacuum formed canopies and making my own stands out of oak flooring.

 

 

Keep up the good work mate.

[neilspen]

The Lightning has turned out very well, considering the history. It is nice to see the real vintage kits being re- finished.