Hasegawa 1:48 P-38J Lightning

[shortCummins]

For my next build I’ve decided to have a go at Hasegawa’s P-38J Lightning ‘Virginia Marie’.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2cZe6Lp]

Rather than build the ‘main’ subject, ‘Virginia Marie’, I’ve plumped for the olive drab/neutral grey version from the 383rd Fighter Squadron 364 Fighter Group N2-K.


I’ve got a set of Montex masks, mm48051, which include canopy masks, national insignia and tactical markings also I got some Eduard PE, FE208, I’m not sure how much of the PE I’ll use, probably some of the instrument panel and seat harness.


First off I’ll be starting the cockpit.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[ElCapitan]

Should be an interesting build, and an uncommon subject which is always nice to see!

[shortCummins]

Should be an interesting build, and an uncommon subject which is always nice to see!

thanks Rob, I think the P-38 is quite a looker

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

To ‘unify’ the different materials, plastic, PE and wire everything was given a coat of Ultimate/Stynylrez black primer.







Once the primer had fully cured the main colour of Alkan BS:283 aircraft grey/green was applied.





Next various panels, boxes and leavers were picked out with Tamiya XF-69 NATO black.




Other levers and handles were painted red, green or yellow and placards of black or red, once again I’m going with ‘artistic licence’ rather than accuracy.





Tamiya XF-16 flat aluminium was used to dry-brush various elements.







The headrest was painted Tamiya XF-64.


The instrument panel cowl was painted Tamiya XF-49 Khaki



Next I’l be assembling the cockpit.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Everything was given a coat or two of aqua gloss and then a wash of Tamiya panel line highlighter dark brown.






When the panel liner dried it was sealed with a coat of vallejo matt acrylic varnish.

The Eduard PE set includes a 2-part instrument panel.

Then I stuck the kits switches to the PE and attached both to the IP support


I found some PE placards in the spares draw so I decided to add them




The PE harness was glued to the seat.


The various parts of the cockpit were then nailed together.






I’ve placed the top of the fuselage on top of the bottom half just to see how it looks.



Next I’ll be working on the wheel wells.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

For the wheel wells I’ve added some pipework using some electrical wire.


The various components of the wheel wells were given a coat of Ultimate/Stynylrez black primer.





These were then given a coat of Tamiya XF-4 yellow green.





The pipework was detail painted with vallejo 71.065 steel.


Everything as given a coat of aqua gloss and then I used Tamiya panel liner dark brown to enhance the details.




After some research the big pipe appears to have been a light(ish) colour, in some photos blue(ish) and others grey, Hasegawa would have you paint them silver however I’ve decided to go with the grey colour Hobby Color H53.

funnily enough the grey colour looks almost exactly the same as the original plastic.

I’ve also added a couple of canisters that I made from sprue that I rounded over the ends and then added some flattened lead straps.


The landing gear was painted with vallejo acrylic metal color 77.701 aluminium and the wheel wells were assembled.


[url=https://flic.kr/p/2dnUBg5]


Next I’ll be assembling the engine nacelles and twin booms.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[ElCapitan]

Looks great so far. Love the extra work you're putting in, as usual!

[shortCummins]

Looks great so far. Love the extra work you're putting in, as usual!

thanks Rob, its a good kit and most(all?) of what I've added won't be seen, still I know its there.

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

The landing gear/wheel wells need to be fixed in place before the two halves of the nacelle/booms can be joined.


I started by fixing the engine nacelles.


…and then joined the booms.


Additional bits and pieces were then added to the booms.



When Adding the air scoops(?) I realised that I’d managed to fix the wheel wells to the wrong booms, which means that the wheels will be facing inwards rather than outwards!
As everything is firmly fixed in place I can’t simply swap them so I’m going to have to live with my cock-up!

I’m certain that she will be a ‘tail sitter’ so I’ve added some fishing weights as a counter balance.

I’ve also added some weight to the front of the cockpit.



Next I’ll be adding these to the wings and fuselage.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[ElCapitan]

Getting the wheel wells mixed up is the sort of silly thing I do! Is there an option of carefully cutting off the axle and putting it on the other side of the leg?

[shortCummins]

Getting the wheel wells mixed up is the sort of silly thing I do! Is there an option of carefully cutting off the axle and putting it on the other side of the leg?

good idea but no, unfortunately the've got big pipes running along side the supports

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[smokeriderdon]

Try cutting the gear half way down and simply spinning it right ways around and affix with super glue. Perhaps even drill a small hole and use some brass wire to re enforce it a bit.

[shortCummins]

Try cutting the gear half way down and simply spinning it right ways around and affix with super glue. Perhaps even drill a small hole and use some brass wire to re enforce it a bit.

the problem would then be that the wheels will be outside the wheel wells as the legs are off centre

[smokeriderdon]

Try cutting the gear half way down and simply spinning it right ways around and affix with super glue. Perhaps even drill a small hole and use some brass wire to re enforce it a bit.

the problem would then be that the wheels will be outside the wheel wells as the legs are off centre

Well crap. I don't know if you would want to go through all this but does SAC make landing gears for this kit? If so get a set of those pull the ones that are in there wrong and just drill the holes back out. Maybe?

[shortCummins]

Try cutting the gear half way down and simply spinning it right ways around and affix with super glue. Perhaps even drill a small hole and use some brass wire to re enforce it a bit.

the problem would then be that the wheels will be outside the wheel wells as the legs are off centre

Well crap. I don't know if you would want to go through all this but does SAC make landing gears for this kit? If so get a set of those pull the ones that are in there wrong and just drill the holes back out. Maybe?

if you look at this photo...


you'll see that the 'landing leg' is on the wrong side of the wheel well, as is the pipe for the boom air intake and other plumbing bits. The only way you'll notice the stuff in the wheel well is if you turn the model upside down, the wheels facing inwards rather than outwards will only be noticeable to someone who knows what a P-38's landing gear should look like.

I won't tell anyone if you don't

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

I started by cleaning up the nacelle/boom joins.



These were then attached to the upper wings.


I think because I glued the wheel wells to the side of the boom(s) that I’ve sightly distorted each boom which becomes noticeable where the nacelle/boom meets the wing towards the back of the wing.


I’ll clean these joins before I attach the bottom of the fuselage and the outer wings.

The underside of the fuselage and front wings were added along with the rear wing.


The rear wing was held in place with a couple of elastic bands while the glue set.

Overall the fit is quite good however, the wing roots have a small gap and step that I’ll fix with some perfect putty.



a ‘building’ tip I would suggest, if you fancy this kit, apart from paying attention to the wheel wells, is that I would leave the boom air scoop(s) off until the wings are fixed in place to help with blending in the wing to the nacelle/booms.



There are a few little bits and pieces that need adding and then I’ll give everything a coat of Ultimate/Stynylrez black primer to see what seams need addressing and which panel line need re-scribing.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[smokeriderdon]

I absolutely will say nothing. LOL

[shortCummins]

After nailing various bits’n’pieces to the airframe, nose, exhaust surrounds and rear wings, I added the canopy after the Montex masks were applied.



Perfect Putty was added to the wing/nacelle joins.



The canopy was given a coat of grey/green.



The whole airframe was then given a coat of Ultimate/Stynylrez black primer.



Seams were attended to with a drop or two of sprue-goo.



sanded…



…and then resprayed with Ultimate/Stynylrez




Panel lines were then re-scribed.




Next I’ll be painting the grey underside and green top colours.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Kevthemodeller]

Coming along very nicely John

[shortCummins]

Coming along very nicely John

thanks Kev

work commitments keep on getting in the way of bench time, I must buy a lottery ticket

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

I started by making a ‘marble layer’ for the grey underside colour, I used Hobby Color H53 neutral gray thinned 50/50 with Mr Color levelling thinner.







Once the marble layer had dried it was blended with a 70/40 mix of H53 and levelling thinner.








Next I’ll be painting the green top colour.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Kevthemodeller]

work commitments keep on getting in the way of bench time, I must buy a lottery ticket

rgds
John(shortCummins)

You're not wrong there mate works getting to be a real pain in the and I just wished I bought that Irish winning ticket

[shortCummins]

I started by masking the grey underside with Tamiya tape and white-tac


Then I sprayed a ‘marble layer’ for the green topside camo’ colour using a 50/50 mix of Mr Color levelling thinner and Mr Color H52 olive drab(1).





Once the marble layer had dried a thinner mix 70/30 levelling thinner/H52 was used to unify the upper airframe.






Next I’ll be painting the yellow engine cowls and highlighting or discolouring some of the panels to break-up the big slabs of green and grey.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Kevthemodeller]

Interesting mottled effect

[shortCummins]

The propellor spinners and front part of the engine cowlings should be painted yellow so to prepare I first masked the nacelles, I also protected the nose from any over-spray with Tamiya tape and then used Alkan white as a base colour.


The spinners, I wanted a mottled effect to imitate wear so they were given a light coat of the white paint.


The instructions call for Hobby Color H329 yellow FS13538




I also decided to paint one of the panels a different colour, depicting a repair or paint job. The panel was masked and sprayed with Tamiya XF-49 khaki.



I was toying with the idea of spraying other panels different shades or (and?) fading some of the top camo’, I’ll sleep on the idea before making a final decision.

Exhausts were given a coat of Ultimate/Stynylrez black primer.


“rust” was created by using vallejo 70.814 burnt red.


Then they were dry-brushed using vallejo metal color 77.723 exhaust manifold.



Next I’ll be painting the insignia and unit markings.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

So having looked at this photo of the actual aircraft…

…I decided that I wanted to add some variation to the paint on the wings as there looks to be clear fading on the rear of the wing.
To replicate this I masked the areas that I want to keep ‘darker’

Then sprayed a heavily diluted 80% Mr Color levelling thinner to 20% Tamiya XF-49 khaki.


The effect is quite subtile, it shows more ‘in real life’ than in these photos and I’m quite pleased with the result.

Rather than using the kit decals, I still think of them as “stickers”, for the main insignia and unit markings I opted to use the Montex mask set for this kit, MM48051.
I found it easier to apply the rudder ident’s separately as the mask(s) are larger than the rudder and its easier to use one side, paint the marking, remove that mask and then apply and paint the other side.
The aircraft unit markings are white so I sprayed both these markings and the white base of the stars and bars with Alkan white.


To try and combat any seepage of white under the masks I first sprayed either olive drab or the mid grey colours, the idea being that if they ‘seeped’ then they would ‘block’ any seepage paths and therefor reduce most, if not all of the white, it worked quite well although I’ll still need to do a little touch-up here and there.



The blue of the stars and bars is a mix of Tamiya XF-8 blue (95%) and XF-1 black (5%)




Next I’ll be ‘fixing’ the seepage and maybe adding a bit more variation to some of the panels.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[ElCapitan]

Great work on those markings - a bit of seepage is an easy enough fix. It's definitely worth it rather than using the decals, which are always hit or miss.

[shortCummins]

Great work on those markings - a bit of seepage is an easy enough fix. It's definitely worth it rather than using the decals, which are always hit or miss.

the kit decals look really thick, thicker than Tamiya! I'll have to use some of the stencils so hopefully they'll look better than I think?

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Twokidsnosleep]

Your effort in the paintwork and undercoatings is really showing well
It is going to finish off great, no doubt about it

[shortCummins]

Your effort in the paintwork and undercoatings is really showing well
It is going to finish off great, no doubt about it

thanks Scott

its almost as good as I imaged it, practice makes perfect

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

So after fixing the mask seepage on the insignia I used some ‘post-it’ notes to quickly mask some panels.

I then sprayed a mixture of approx. 90% Mr Color thinner + 50/50 Tamiya XF-64 red brown, XF-69 NATO black and used the paper mask to spray along.





Other panels were masked with Tamiya tape.



The prop spinners were also sprayed with the same mix.



The rear of the front wing was lightly covered with a 60-40 mix of Mr Colour thinner and Tamiya XF-51 khaki drab


the inner edge of the ailerons were given a light spray of 70-30 mix of Mr Color thinner and XF-49 khaki



A couple of panels on the underside of the wing were masked and painted with Tamiya XF-25 light sea grey




Next I’ll be adding some chipping and preparing to add the stencil decals.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Kevthemodeller]

Great looking finish to the spinners

[shortCummins]

Great looking finish to the spinners

thanks Kev

a wee bit too over done for my licking so I'm going to 'tone them down'

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

I can’t believe the last time I posted any work on this was on March 1st! Where did all that time go? Life really does get in the way sometimes, hopefully it won’t be as long before my next update.

The prop spinners looked a little too worn for my taste

In this photo it shows the streaking far more than in real life as I gave them a thinned coat of the yellow


Exhaust staining was depicted firstly with some highly thinned 90/10 Tamiya XF-57 buff and then a mixture of approx. 90% Mr Color thinner + 50/50 Tamiya XF-64 red brown, XF-69 NATO black and a single drop of vallejo 70.814 burnt red


I thought that the inner wing area looked a wee bit blank, so I broke out ‘Rosie the Riveter’ and free-handed some rivets, I really should have done this before paint.

They're not too visible at the moment but they should take the weathering wash and become more noticeable?


Next I’ll be starting the weathering.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

I don’t know if I mentioned that for some reason no instructions were included with my kit, I’ve managed to download a copy from galaxy kits however the decal placement illustrations are very small and poor quality so I’ve decided to omit most of the stencil decals.
The airframe was given a coat of aqua gloss and I then applied the some of the kit decals, stencils, nose number etc.

These were then sealed with another coat of aqua gloss and an oil-wash Tamiya panel line accent color - dark brown applied






After leaving the oil-wash to dry for around 20 minutes I rubbed off the excess using both kitchen paper towels and q-tips.



The dark brown oil-wash didn’t show up too well on the green so I thought I’d try a clay wash of Ultimate concrete

Once the wash had dried…

Kitchen towel and Q-tips were used to remove most of the dried wash


I left the wash(s) overnight and then gave the whole airframe a coat of Vallejo matt acrylic varnish





Next I’ll be using oil’s to add additional weathering.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Once the flat coat had dried, I left it overnight, I broke out my very cheap oil paint set, from PoundLand, and added dots of colour, with the tip of a tooth pick, white, orange, brown and dark brown.
Underside




These “dots” were then blended using a damp, odourless turpentine, broad brush brushing in the direction of the airflow.





Topside.
Dots of white, yellow, brown & dark brown.




These were also blended.



These photos were taken shortly after I’d blended the oils, the photos show quite a contrast between where the oils are and aren’t, in “the flesh” I can’t see so obvious a difference.
I’ll leave this to dry overnight and then have a look to see if I need to adjust anything

Next I’ll be either adjusting the oils and/or assembling the missing bits, propellors, drop tanks, landing gear etc.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[tg18083]

Very well done John - an inspiration. I've got this kit on its way to me now via a trade. Your pictures have me itching to get started!!

[shortCummins]

I left the oil dot weathering to fully cure, overnight, and noticed that the turpentine had left the paintwork with a noticeably different finish, it didn’t show in the photos that I took?, so I gave it another coat of Vallejo matt varnish to ‘even it out’.

Whilst I waited for the varnish to dry I turned my attention to the propellers.

Strange that Hasagawa provide 8 blades?

Should have "fixed" that seam, too late now.

The spinner cone has a very loose fit

However when the blades are fitted they act as a “lock”…

…and hold everything in place.


So make sure that you don't attach the propellors to the spinner BEFORE trying to attach them to the nacelles!

Next the landing gear.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

The wheels were given a coat of Ultimate/Stynylrez black primer and the hubs were then given a coat of Vallejo acrylic metal color semi matte alum. 77.716.

Tamiya panel liner dark brown was used to highlight the wheel hub details

Nose landing gear


The instructions are a “bit vague” how the support struts fit to the main nose gear, so I may have got them in the wrong place



Wheels fitted


…and she’s standing on her own feet (as it were)


Landing bay doors fitted




A combination of vague instructions, no connection points and mostly my mistook of fitting the landing bays to the wrong side(s) meant the fitting of the gear doors was an interesting episode.


Next I’ll be adding the external fuel tanks and other bits ’n' pieces.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Twokidsnosleep]

A master lesson in aircraft detailing and weathering
Lovely work man

[shortCummins]

A master lesson in aircraft detailing and weathering
Lovely work man

thanks Scott, but the school boy error of mixing up the landing gear bays was a really stupid mistook! I came very close to binning the build, still once its in the display cabinet nobody will turn it upside down?

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Some time ago I watched a YouTube video by Paul Budzik where he created a 1:32 scale blade antenna from brass, not having any suitable brass I thinned the kit supplied part with Ultimate sanding sticks.


You can watch Paul’s excellent video here…


The pitot tube was attached to the lower wing


And both rear-wing counter-weights, top and bottom, were added



Drop-tanks were glued to their pylons


And finally the nose machine-guns



There’s a little paint touching-up required, I’ll be doing that and then adding the cockpit glass, aerial wire and finishing her off.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Aircraft Recognition Lights, yellow, green and red, all Tamiya clear paints X-24 X-25 x-27, were attached to the underside with Micro Krystal Klear.


I want to display the aircraft with the canopy open. The Lightening had side windows that could be wound down into the fuselage to allow the pilot entry or exit from the cockpit so I decided to have these side windows partially down.
First I placed some masking tape to act as a guide and then used a razor saw to cut the window(s) to size.

Micro Krystal Klear was used to fix the windows in place.


The antenna wire was made from EZY Line


And the final piece, the top canopy was nailed on.



With that I’m calling her done, far from perfect but finished.

You can see the reveal photos here
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=27240

until next time
as always, any suggestions, recommendations or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)