Global Scale Modeller

My contribution to the buddy build will be Tamiya's 1/48 P-38F/G

Cool!!!
This is supposed to be a very good kit

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Mon Oct 06, 2025 6:01 pm Cool!!!
This is supposed to be a very good kit

That my friend, is an understatement.

It's on my want list
Lovely looking craft.

Looks to be an interesting build - deffo one to be watched. Closely.

I always wondered why the RAF decided to evaluate them without the superchargers??

RangerNeil wrote: Wed Oct 08, 2025 12:32 am Looks to be an interesting build - deffo one to be watched. Closely.

I always wondered why the RAF decided to evaluate them without the superchargers??

Really? That strikes me as a singularly daft thing to do. Must have come from the Air Ministry!

Oh yes this is going to be a goodie as mentioned a very nice kit top draw Tamiya, so no pressure Neil

Stokesy44 wrote: Wed Oct 08, 2025 7:25 am

RangerNeil wrote: Wed Oct 08, 2025 12:32 am Looks to be an interesting build - deffo one to be watched. Closely.

I always wondered why the RAF decided to evaluate them without the superchargers??

Really? That strikes me as a singularly daft thing to do. Must have come from the Air Ministry!

It intrigued me so much I went digging and found this:

The Royal Air Force (RAF) ordered the P-38 Lightning (specifically the P-322 variant) without turbosuperchargers to ensure compatibility with the Curtiss H.81A Tomahawk, to avoid delivery delays caused by turbocharger shortages, and to optimize the aircraft for medium-altitude combat, which was the dominant form of aerial warfare in Europe at the time. The decision led to the P-322 being considered unsatisfactory by the RAF, and their order was canceled, with the aircraft being diverted to the U.S. Army Air Forces.

Other surces say they also ordered the aircraft with both engines spinning the same way as opposed to the designed contra-rotating, in order to standardise spares holding, which led to the rejection on performance grounds. There's just no accounting for humans!!

RangerNeil wrote: Wed Oct 08, 2025 12:22 pm
It intrigued me so much I went digging and found this:

The Royal Air Force (RAF) ordered the P-38 Lightning (specifically the P-322 variant) without turbosuperchargers to ensure compatibility with the Curtiss H.81A Tomahawk, to avoid delivery delays caused by turbocharger shortages, and to optimize the aircraft for medium-altitude combat, which was the dominant form of aerial warfare in Europe at the time. The decision led to the P-322 being considered unsatisfactory by the RAF, and their order was canceled, with the aircraft being diverted to the U.S. Army Air Forces.

Other surces say they also ordered the aircraft with both engines spinning the same way as opposed to the designed contra-rotating, in order to standardise spares holding, which led to the rejection on performance grounds. There's just no accounting for humans!!

Agree. That is a Baldrick level cunning plan.

Thanks for checking in guys - yep this is supposed to be a cracker of a kit even by Tamiya's standards, I've only read good things about it.

And thanks for the background info too - I knew the RAF had evaluated it but hadn't realised they'd done so with one wing tied behind its back.

From a personal point of view I remember when I first came across the P-38 when I was a kid and being baffled that it was as fighter and not a bomber - I mean it's completely the wrong shape right???

Anyway although our weekends continue to be crazy busy (in a good way) work has at least calmed down a bit so I've been able to get a few evenings at the bench and make a start...

First up was the main cockpit tub



I've added a few extras to this build, one of which is an instrument panel from Eduard


Which requires a bit of surgery to the kit part


I found out that early models such as the 38F actually used RAF cockpit grey/green rather than the ikky yellow that our friends across the Atlantic generally used so I went with that - reference here for those that want to look Glacier Girl

This also mentions using a darker green for the upper surfaces (see the last photo I posted in the intro) but I'm going with Olive Drab instead so it'll be a bit of hybrid. My flimsy rationalisation is that the ground crew may have repainted the upper surfaces when they applied the later national insignia but didn't do the cockpit

Here are all the parts painted up... Vallejo interior grey/green over Ultimate grey primer, with the specific panels picked out in black, grey & aluminium. This was all given a wash with Army Painter Military Shade to grubby it up a bit before picking out the red details


Assembly just clicked together - fit is sublime


The only minor niggle I have is that Tamiya's decals seem a little on the thick side and I ended up wrecking a small data plate that's supposed to wrap around the end of the control column - I couldn't get it to sit right with Microset and trying to use Microsol ended up with it wrapped around itself in bits... need to pay attention & take care when it comes to the exterior markings

Anyway - the completed tub fit beautifully into the upper fuselage


I'd previously painted up the rear deck in the interior colour




Now that I've got this started I'm hoping to crack on some more next week - thanks as always for looking

great looking cockpit! the Eduard addition really shows up well and its coming together nicely. Engineering on these Tamiya kits is immense but the decals less so...



Paul

Off to a good start. Nice IP extra - very tasty

Nice cockpit

Holy shoot look at all the gauges in there
Now THAT is a busy cockpit

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 5:18 am Holy shoot look at all the gauges in there
Now THAT is a busy cockpit

2 engines so double the bubble

Stokesy44 wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 8:30 am

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 5:18 am Holy shoot look at all the gauges in there
Now THAT is a busy cockpit

2 engines so double the bubble

Yes right, two engines twice the guages needed

Quax wrote: Fri Oct 24, 2025 12:02 pm great looking cockpit! the Eduard addition really shows up well and its coming together nicely. Engineering on these Tamiya kits is immense but the decals less so...



Paul

Stokesy44 wrote: Fri Oct 24, 2025 7:09 pm Off to a good start. Nice IP extra - very tasty

cor wrote: Sat Oct 25, 2025 5:27 amNice cockpit

[/quote]

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 5:19 pm

Stokesy44 wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 8:30 am

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 5:18 am Holy shoot look at all the gauges in there
Now THAT is a busy cockpit

2 engines so double the bubble

Yes right, two engines twice the guages needed

Thanks for checking in guys - yep there's plenty going on in the cockpit to stop the pilot getting bored!

We had a busy day again on Saturday but I managed to get a decent session at the bench on Sunday

Next up was the build of the nose-wheel bay



Here are all the parts painted up - I used Vallejo metal colour Duraluminum with a wash of Citadel Nuln Oil for the bare metal sections


Everything I've read about the engineering and fit of this kit has turned out to be true


Up top I masked & sprayed the bulge that forms the cockpit floor in the same colours & washes used previously for the cockpit


With that done it was time to bring the forward sections together


First the lower section


The wheel bay from below - the bottom of the side walls were masked & sprayed with the same metal effect as the bay


For some reason the addition of the ball bearing weight was something I'd been looking forward too I did give it a blob of CA but it probably didn't need it


The intsructions then move onto the nose cone & armament


I've picked up some aber barrels so decided to leave the nose off until later in the build so I can add the barrels from the inside at the end


But I did move onto the next couple of sections to add the nose panels & wing sections


Again the fit was just sublime


A smear of filler was needed on the leading edge of both wings but that was just down to me being a bit heavy handed sanding out the sprue attachment points


Finally the ailerons and wing tips were added


And here's how it looks with the nose & kit barrels dry fitted in place


As you might have gathered this is going together superbly well, but there's no place to hide - any problems are all my own work

All being well I'll make a start on the booms this week


Thanks for looking

Wow that looks well engineered. They even provide a nose weight wow
Great choice on the aftermarket barrels, those will look perfect.
I took the time and read through all the background
Super cool!

Great stuff

I would definitely consider getting one myself.

So glad I grabbed one, it looks superb.

Lovely cockpit work there Neil, and you've taken the outer wing filling in your stride.

digger303 wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 11:55 pm So glad I grabbed one, it looks superb.

Ya this kit is on my radar as well now

Stokesy44 wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 6:35 pm Great stuff

I would definitely consider getting one myself.

digger303 wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 11:55 pm So glad I grabbed one, it looks superb.

Kevthemodeller wrote: Thu Oct 30, 2025 5:52 pm Lovely cockpit work there Neil, and you've taken the outer wing filling in your stride.

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Thu Oct 30, 2025 5:59 pm

digger303 wrote: Tue Oct 28, 2025 11:55 pm So glad I grabbed one, it looks superb.

Ya this kit is on my radar as well now

Thanks chaps - yes this is definitely a kit I'd recommend and is quite possibly the best engineered kit I've ever built.

The Tamiya engineers must have meditated to some higher level of Jedi enlightenment before they tackled this one!

I had another good couple of sessions at the bench last weekend but starting skipping around the instructions a bit for reasons that will hopefully become obvious as we go on...

The next set of instructions deals with the installation of the turbochargers and their housing - clearly separated for the different versions




I decided to deviate a little here and have just installed the housings to save masking later - the turbocharger components will be painted & added later after the main camo colour is applied


With that done we move onto construction of the starboard boom & main landing gear bay




I painted up the components in advance following the same colour scheme as used for the nose bay & picking out details by brush


There is one fiddly piece to get in place (C37) but otherwise fit is as per the rest of the kit. I've also left D23 off until after main painting as I don't fancy having a couple of spindly arms sticking up out of the bay to get broken during masking - this is just dry fitted in this photo


The oil cooler was a separate sub-assembly


Here are the parts


And the finished unit


And then it was time to wrap everything together


Once again the parts were pre-painted as required


Another ball bearing and the gear bay installed in the right half of the boom


and all closed up


The port boom was next and followed the same process so I won't bore you with the details but while paint was drying there I jumped forward and built the drop tanks and their pylons




There are a couple of decals I've made a note of to install on these later




And then there were two booms


The instructions would have you fit everything together at this point


But after some testing I decided to keep everything separate to hopefully make masking & painting easier so this is just dry fitted






I need to do some work on the cockpit area and then we're not far off being ready to put some paint down.

Thanks as always for looking

Great work but the kit is being rather helpful, lets be honest!

Seriously though, you've still got to be smart and build 'clean' to get the best out of a Tamiya kit and everything you've done has been super smooth and precise. The dry fit looks like its been glued together, the joins are so good.

Interested to see how the painting plan goes with the kit disassembled

We had a week off work last week and after sorting out a couple of side projects I managed to get some time in the den on the P-38

I'd got to the point where I needed to kit out the radio deck and pilot's seat


Here are the parts - the tamiya colour call outs for the armour plate looked a little off to me, and the general concensus is that it should be Olive Drab so that's what I went with


Here's the radio deck with the boxes installed


And from the other side with the seat & armour plate in place


My intention is to finish the kit with the canopy open so as a result I can use the closed version to help mask the cockpit - here are the three sections dry fitted


The masking instructions - Tamiya does provide a sheet with the panels outlined, but you still have to cut them out. Not having them pre-cut was a little disappointing given the attention to detail on everything else in the box


The gunsight was a little fiddly to mask up & install but I think I got it sorted in the end


The other canopy components were masked up and given an initial coat of the cockpit interior green prior to being attached - the centre section is just semi-loosely fitted with the addition of a thin band of masking tape at either end to hold it in place and prevent any paint seepage


I've also masked off the gear bay (and also on the booms) and as soon as I get the underwing lights added it'll be ready for primer


Aside from the fiddly gunsight this kit continues to impress and is a real pleasure to work on - hopefully I can get started on the paintwork this coming weekend.

Thanks for looking

Very nice clean work there Neil

Beautiful detail on the clear parts and nice work on the masking.

Kevthemodeller wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 4:22 pm Very nice clean work there Neil

Stokesy44 wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 7:13 am Beautiful detail on the clear parts and nice work on the masking.

digger303 wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 10:41 am

Thanks chaps

So this build stalled a bit where all my aircraft projects do - at the point where I need to tackle the masking... In this case after putting down a coat of Ultimate grey followed by Vallejo Medium Sea Grey for the undersides I then needed a run up to spend several hours masking the wiggly demarcation lines on the various sub assemblies. This was then followed by a coat of USAF Olive Drab which required more masking to fix a couple of mis-sprays and a little tidying up with a brush before achieving this on the undersides


And this up top


With that done I decided that I could go ahead and attach the booms & tail sections permanently




You might have noticed that the starboard prop shaft is missing because I fumbled that boom off the bench whilst masking a tricky bit and it broke off... I think I should be ok to locate the prop boss without it but I have recovered it from the carpet monster just in case...


So with that done I can start tacking the decals and need to detach the nose cone to install the aber gun barrels before reattaching that permanently.

Thanks for looking

Really nice paintwork

Paint is great and the masking looks good so far.

I agree with Digger and Stokesy, looks really nice. I know if you're like me, you are your worst critic; but east assured that we think everything looks fine from our perspective. Keep it up.....

Top draw paint work there mate

Stokesy44 wrote: Tue Dec 09, 2025 7:30 pm Really nice paintwork

digger303 wrote: Tue Dec 09, 2025 11:41 pm Paint is great and the masking looks good so far.

DRUMS01 wrote: Wed Dec 10, 2025 11:30 pm I agree with Digger and Stokesy, looks really nice. I know if you're like me, you are your worst critic; but east assured that we think everything looks fine from our perspective. Keep it up.....

Kevthemodeller wrote: Thu Dec 11, 2025 4:16 pm Top draw paint work there mate

Thanks chaps - appreciate the kind words

Just a quick update from some work I did later in December and thought I'd already posted (again! )

I picked up a set of Aber gun barrels when I started this build, but what I hadn't realised was that they were all the same length as opposed to the kit barrels which were varying lengths... so I measured the necessary lengths off the plastic part and then wrapped narrow masking tape around the Aber barrels to get them to the rightish length out of the nose cone. These were then CA'd in place


Since there wasn't room at the front of the fuselage to take the longer barrels they were carefully snipped off and the nose was fitted (a little bit of making good required after this shot)


The other couple of parts I tackled were the turbocharger assemblies... I've seen these done in rust shades like tank mufflers but that didn't look right to me compared with reference pics, so these were basecoated in black/brown (the same as I'd use for AFV tracks), then dry brushed with gun-metal & metallic blue and finally washed back down with Citadel Agrax Earthshade (dark brown) and I think this did the trick to represent the heat-staining. The intake ends (I think) were then picked out in steel


Since then I've been plodding my way through the decals in batches... there's about 140 of them in total...

Hopefully I'll have them finished this weekend!

Thanks as always for looking & best wishes for 2026

I really like the paintwork and effects on the turbochargers.

A question. Lots of US aircraft had turbochargers (P38, P47, B17 and B24), what the difference between a turbo charger and a supercharger like the single and two-stage jobs on the RR Merlin?

Stokesy44 wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 6:06 pm I really like the paintwork and effects on the turbochargers.

A question. Lots of US aircraft had turbochargers (P38, P47, B17 and B24), what the difference between a turbo charger and a supercharger like the single and two-stage jobs on the RR Merlin?

My understanding is, like car engine turbos, they get the fans spinning using the engines exhaust gas which is directed into the turbo unit from an extension of the exhaust pipe. The fans then blow this air into the cylinders, increasing what they call Boost.

Supercharger fans are connected directly to the driving shaft of the engine, so the engines mechanical spinning is what powers the fan to blow the pressurized air into the cylinders.

They both increase air pressure in the cylinders but because they do it in different ways they both have pros & cons.

As a turbocharger is driven by the exhaust it doesn't kick in until there's enough exhaust gas pressure so suffers from lag as it spins up, but ultimately can deliver higher power. Also because the turbo is running off the hot exhaust gases it gets extremely hot itself which is why intercoolers are used extensively in turbo systems to try & keep the heat under control.

But because the supercharger is driven off the engine shaft it's immediately responsive, but doesn't have the same upper power output and I believe can be more thirsty in terms of fuel consumption.

Fascinating stuff. I have some info about superchargers, specifically the genesis of the Spitfire's supercharging units.

The early Spits had a single speed single stage supercharger, this was then improved with a two speed single stage unit. Then in 1942, in response to the Fw190 outperforming the Mk V Spit, the Merlin engineers came up with the ultimate supercharger, a 2 stage, 2 speed unit with an intercooler for ensuring the air, once compressed, wasn't too hot to degrade combustion.

The Merlin two-stage supercharger was a revolutionary system, designed by Sir Stanley Hooker, it used two impellers (a small and a large one) and an intercooler to compress the air twice, dramatically boosting the Merlin engine's power and high-altitude performance.

This double bubble supercharged Merlin was fitted into a 'tweaked' Mk V Spitfire airframe and the Mk IX was born. They then did the same trick with a certain little aircraft built by North American and the P51 B/C was born. The rest is history.

There are numerous stories of pilots recounting their experiences of first using the the 2 stage blower on the Mk IX.

One pilot thought someone was shooting at him when the second blower came on because it made such a racket. Another fondly recalls pulling away from a Fw190 and fleetingly catching the look of disbelief on the pilot as he pulled away from him. In combat the Mk IX was virtually indistinguishable from the V so many a German pilot got the surprise of their life when they were left standing by an aircraft they thought they had the wood over.

Another notable user of the double bubble blower were later marks of the PR version of the Mosquito. You can spot them by the longer engine nacelles and the air intake for the intercooler which is mounted on the lower engine cover, right behind the propeller. Can you imagine how fast that thing must have been?

More lovely work there Neil

Interesting comparison between turbos and superchargers both do the same thing but in different ways. Turbos back then weren't very reliable, they didn't quite have the materials/oils to withstand the heat/speeds B17s and the P38 suffered in their earlier days and still had issues i.e, they didn't last very long but neither did the planes!

Superchargers especially the later 2 stage type proved both very powerful and very reliable with instant power especially at lower altitudes this improved with the 2 stages, but heavier and thirsty. Turbos more power once spun up, lighter, used less fuel, but suffered lag once the engine lost revs. To over come turbo lag you have to find the sweet spot for the length of the induction manifolds, this gave rise to viable intakes and use inter coolers. Very interesting comparison is the P47 Turbo and P51 Supercharger.

WW2 aircraft engines where using technology that wasn't seen in cars/bike etc until the 80's even 00s. Piston engines were at their peak during 44/45 only beaten by the jet in 45 for power/speed but it wasn't until the mid 50's jets really caught up for reliability and power the rest is history. Long live the piston engine

Kevthemodeller wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 1:54 pm More lovely work there Neil

Interesting comparison between turbos and superchargers both do the same thing but in different ways. Turbos back then weren't very reliable, they didn't quite have the materials/oils to withstand the heat/speeds B17s and the P38 suffered in their earlier days and still had issues i.e, they didn't last very long but neither did the planes!

Superchargers especially the later 2 stage type proved both very powerful and very reliable with instant power especially at lower altitudes this improved with the 2 stages, but heavier and thirsty. Turbos more power once spun up, lighter, used less fuel, but suffered lag once the engine lost revs. To over come turbo lag you have to find the sweet spot for the length of the induction manifolds, this gave rise to viable intakes and use inter coolers. Very interesting comparison is the P47 Turbo and P51 Supercharger.

WW2 aircraft engines where using technology that wasn't seen in cars/bike etc until the 80's even 00s. Piston engines were at their peak during 44/45 only beaten by the jet in 45 for power/speed but it wasn't until the mid 50's jets really caught up for reliability and power the rest is history. Long live the piston engine

Hey Kev.

Turbochargers seem to be favored on radials but I've just realised the P38 had a turbo and was not a radial. Any reasons why? Was it an American thing?

Stokesy44 wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 3:20 pm Turbochargers seem to be favored on radials but I've just realised the P38 had a turbo and was not a radial. Any reasons why? Was it an American thing?

As far I'm aware they used turbo superchargers in the P38 because they performed better than Allison superchargers at altitude and the twin boom design offered the space required to fit them. Back then turbos (Turbosupercharger as they called them) where huge when you include all the ducting, about 3/4 the length of the aircraft in the case of the P47. One reason why the P47s, Hellcats and Corsairs were so big. Aircraft like P51, Spitfires etc the had inline engines just didn't have the space so used they opted for much more compact superchargers or blowers.

As mentioned they didn't have the materials/oils to handle the heat back them, turbos today much more compact.

Bucking the tread of radials only using turbo supercharges like the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp fitted to the P47, Hellcat, F4U. Was the A1 Douglas Skyrider developed during the war and almost did see service. It used a 2 speed single stage bowler as it didn't need to work a altitude but needed power or grunt to hall it's huge load, it could carry about the same as a B17 with only one engine off a carrier flight deck! Used pretty much the same engine as the B29 the Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone 18 cylinder.

Very interestingly the B29 had both a gear driven supercharger (blower) and 2 turbo superchargers per engine. Conceived and developed during the WW2 was the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major 28 cylinder radial used same blower/turbo configuration as the R-3350 in the B29 that powered the massive B36, 6 turning 4 burning!

As mentioned this was the pinnacle of pistons engines, you name it they did it!

Sorry Neil we've kinda high jacked your thread sorry mate.

Stokesy44 wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 8:37 am Fascinating stuff. I have some info about superchargers, specifically the genesis of the Spitfire's supercharging units.

The early Spits had a single speed single stage supercharger, this was then improved with a two speed single stage unit. Then in 1942, in response to the Fw190 outperforming the Mk V Spit, the Merlin engineers came up with the ultimate supercharger, a 2 stage, 2 speed unit with an intercooler for ensuring the air, once compressed, wasn't too hot to degrade combustion.

The Merlin two-stage supercharger was a revolutionary system, designed by Sir Stanley Hooker, it used two impellers (a small and a large one) and an intercooler to compress the air twice, dramatically boosting the Merlin engine's power and high-altitude performance.

This double bubble supercharged Merlin was fitted into a 'tweaked' Mk V Spitfire airframe and the Mk IX was born. They then did the same trick with a certain little aircraft built by North American and the P51 B/C was born. The rest is history.

There are numerous stories of pilots recounting their experiences of first using the the 2 stage blower on the Mk IX.

One pilot thought someone was shooting at him when the second blower came on because it made such a racket. Another fondly recalls pulling away from a Fw190 and fleetingly catching the look of disbelief on the pilot as he pulled away from him. In combat the Mk IX was virtually indistinguishable from the V so many a German pilot got the surprise of their life when they were left standing by an aircraft they thought they had the wood over.

Another notable user of the double bubble blower were later marks of the PR version of the Mosquito. You can spot them by the longer engine nacelles and the air intake for the intercooler which is mounted on the lower engine cover, right behind the propeller. Can you imagine how fast that thing must have been?

Nice discussion
From a practical automobile usage position, I have experience with two turbo charged cars and now one suv/truck.
The Subaru turbo would kick in and hit you in the pants at an unpredictable time and about 3K RPM and you better hope the car is pointed the right direction. BOOM!!
It was a relatively large single turbo unit
The BMW has twin turbos, smaller than the Subaru's and the bimmer power is seamless and seemingly endless though best to limit it or the speeding tickets can build up
Now the new truck, ahem, is a passive hybrid turbocharged engine from Toyota. It was a hoot on the test drive, not as immediate and refined as the BMW but the electric + turbo combination is seemingly the best of both worlds for an every day driver.
YES I have a new ski truck on order

No worries about thread drift on this one @Kevthemodeller - it's a fascinating subject

Having had experience of driving a car when the turbo system has stopped working due to an exhaust sensor failure, I can confirm that it's a slightly unnerving experience to lose a load of power even though the engine is still pulling the same revs. Fortunately it happened on a town street so I was able to limp it home, but if it'd happened at high speed on a motorway it could have been a different story.

I still remember that WTF feeling trying to work out what was going on.

9

Tomcat64 wrote: Sat Jan 10, 2026 9:03 am No worries about thread drift on this one @Kevthemodeller - it's a fascinating subject

Having had experience of driving a car when the turbo system has stopped working due to an exhaust sensor failure, I can confirm that it's a slightly unnerving experience to lose a load of power even though the engine is still pulling the same revs. Fortunately it happened on a town street so I was able to limp it home, but if it'd happened at high speed on a motorway it could have been a different story.

I still remember that WTF feeling trying to work out what was going on.

The first decent car I had was a Peugeot 306 1.9 liter Diesel Turbo. It was the first time I went for something a bit tasty. Alloys, sports trim, leather seats, Air con and a CD Autochanger!!

I can still remember the sound of the turbo and the wonderful kick in the pants it gave when it came in. And that was a diesel!