WWII P-38J Lightning, 1/48 scale, Revell

[Whiterook]

I started this build back in August of 2010, from a Revell kit I bought at Michael’s craft store for a song...the WWII P-38J Lightning.....



I’ve always had a fascination with the P-38, with it’s unusual design and lightening speed. This 1/48 in scale and was a fairly straightforward kit, and I decided to paint it in green with Normandy Invasion Stripes. This was still in my infancy upon reentry into the hobby, so the paint work was partly hand brushed with craft acrylic paints, but it also saw my introduction to the world of airbrushing! I’d picked up a Badger single action at first, but quickly discovered the limits of a single action and picked up an Iwata ‘Eclipse’ dual action, which is a joy to use!

This is the reference photo I was inspired by.....




The parts are a soft plastic...softest plastic I'd ever seen on a kit to that date. It was numbered horribly, and had parts scattered on semi-solid sprues; some parts numbered on one side the the tree, others on the opposite...what a mess! I can’t complain much though, as I’d picked up the kit with a Michael’s craft store 40%-off coupon, for a final price of $12!

So on with the show! I’m afraid I’ve lost the build pics for the following in this post, so it’s just in narrative…

In the cockpit, with some minor assembly of the seat and steering column, I pre-painting of interior surfaces (including the side walls of the cockpit) Interior Green. The cockpit floor has Interior Green; the seat and backplate have Olive Drab; and the steering column was yet to be painted, a pre-base of glossy black. Also to be added was some light gray and aluminum detail painting, and a touch of weathering. I finished assembly of the cockpit, adding in the aluminum foot rests, sides, back, and had to scratchbuild a new control panel, as I'd somehow lost the one that came with the kit! Also in went the radio assembly on the back.

Next up came the rear gun wall. What annoyed me about this kit were the absolutely HORRIBLE instructions! Placement of most parts is a guess, as best....but common sense was my co-pilot! I then cleaned up the wing halves, and finish painted the interior.

Then, I finished painting the cockpit itself, as well as the rear gunwall, which got a duel color of silver and green; finally inserted the whole assembly into the top wing half. Lastly, and undercarriage gun mount/gun wall were done.

On the wing halves went together: I gotta tell you folks, the discovery of using Testor's Liquid Glue by that point of my model building adventures (bottle water like glue with the brush in the lid) had made a hell of difference in my modeling; and I keep it in my arsenal, the old standby ModelMaster's liquid glue in the diamond shape bottle with the long metal pipette on the end, which to this day is my first choice to go to. Between the two, I can do anything I need to do.

Next came the landing gear. I had to use some Squadron Putty on what I took to be two model pin holes....errrrrr, that's what you get for not looking further ahead in the manual! They actually were positioning holes for the landing gear support which go on later, so of course, I had to dig out that putty! And all that AFTER I painted the darned things!!! On the pic of the instruction manual, you notice a Radio Operator....that's for the optional Night Flyer version of this bird, which I did NOT build; and actually, I didn't including the Pilot either, as the molding on it are the worst I've ever seen...worse that the Gorilla in my old Bedford QL Gun Portee!

Landing gear painted silver, with Folk Art Acrylic's "Anniversary Silver". Inside landing gear bays painted Interior Green, with Tamiya Acrylics. These would get some color correction during weathering. Then the dual fuselage nacelles were glued together, first putting the landing gear in place...tricky handling needed.

[Whiterook]

The guns unit were painted with Tamiya acrylic’s Gun Metal over Gloss Black, and finally, a coat of Folk Art Acrylics "Anniversary Silver" drybrushed in spots…






Next, the ammo magazine was glued on...the instructions were HORRIBLE in placement and orientation, but some dryfitting helped discover the overall placement, and then it was glued in place, and painted with the silver mentioned above, and Folk Art's "Aluminum". The whole unit was then glued in place. I painted the inside of the gun bay in Olive Drab…












I'd dirty up the ammo can before the end of the build, BTW...looks way too clean at that beginning stage of the build!

[Whiterook]

Then, the tail was worked on...






Getting the twin nacelles right had been a bit of a chore, but the seam lines ended up fairly good, regardless. I seem to remember it needed some Squadron Putty…that stuff is tough to work with, as it’s nasty smelling, but it’s a critical tool in the modeler's tool kit!

I needed to weigh down the nose, as she's definitely a tail sitter (…the nose of the plain is too light and will raise in the air, the whole bird sitting on its tail end). That little 'antennae' I errantly cut off and then re-glued back on? Well, after doing some research online and trying in vein to find a bird with that antennae, I figured out that it was the manufacturer's method of elevating the tail from sitting on the ground! I didn't like it! I chopped t back off!!!

As another aside: I found on the bottom of that rear stabilizer fin, the date of the model kit....1964! Ohhhhh geeeeez! Scraped it off....too depressing!

So next came weights...I placed some 3/8 oz. fishing bullet weights. I used was one fishing bullet weight, pushed against the inner side of the ammo canister under the gun rack, and was too tight a fit, so I ground the bullet down a little with a big 'ol file. Yes, I know it's lead....kept that in mind. The other two went in the cowlings of the engines...that makes 3 weights in her front sections, including the nose. I used gel superglue, and it set up wonderfully. I love this stuff! I use the gel CA on my metal 15mm gaming miniatures! Anyway, this is the end result.






She's no longer an tush sitter!

[Whiterook]

Next pics are of the wheel bay doors.....Upside down birdie!

I remember, it was some horrible, tough work on the undercarriage. The air scoops went on the booms, and then the real fun began (he said sarcastically): The landing gear bay doors. OMG, these were HORRIBLE! (Note a common word here???) The worst I've ever seen, either back in the day or these days. Just plain miserable to attach.

I also put the the front landing gear on, which was equally horrible. The instructions were very misleading and could have been disaterous. Took me much pondering to figure out placement, and I think I nailed it.









Also done was some sanding to the Squadron Putty on the top seams of the booms. Came out rather nice.

I put the props and cowlings together and put them on the bird. Revell had a pretty decent mechanism to hold the props on and allow them to turn, which is basically using a cap/collar on the inside post of the prop, hidden in the cowling. I've seen better, with better turn to the props (my Mitchell props turn on a breath!), but it's effective enough for me.

I was thinking at the time of putting some screening inside the intakes of the cowlings, but I couldn't find any references that showed these existed.

[Whiterook]

Next came work on painting the cockpit and scratchbuilding seatbelts. Yeah, they aren't to spec (the seatbelts), but my philosophy.....artistic licence; I'm looking for the 'suggestion', not the literal! I started with something I'd not used before for this purpose....a twist tie!



The twist tie was already coated with a plastic sleeve, and unlike usual twist ties, there was no hint of the wire underneath. I bent it to shape and length, plotting out the two straps....then I painted it with Folk Art acrylics' Desert Sand. I then snipped where needed, and superglued them in place. The use of gel superglue changed my hobby-life, in terms of modeling and miniatures!!! So much easier to apply!

The paint was beat up a tad by my tweezers in placement, but that was cool, as it started a weathering process! Silver linings, right? I would touch up later. I also took some .30 guage wire and made the buckles, which again, are to suggest...not get totally to spec. This is what the looked like, pre-weathering…






This last shot, if you look at the canvas covering for the intrument panel...the molding was actually not too bad, so I decided to stay with what was there and opt away from the tissue method of making canvas. Again, references were not readily available for what it actually looked like; but I had noticed through the cockpit images available on some photos that the canvas did tend to get sun faded and battered, hence the weathering you will see in a bit.



The canvas for the instrument panel was weathered with a drybrush method using some Tamiya Buff, and then the pilot seat, with emphasis on the headrest and wear on the seat. The seat was softened up a tad, but I left the headrest more heavily weathered. The radio was darkened in some areas, and then dirtied up a little...







Seatbelts are a fun addition for me…I love to scratchbuild them and I think they add so much to any kit that had a cockpit.

[Whiterook]

Then, it was time to put the front canopy on…









I like the way the weathered canvas looks through the 'glass'. The canopy stinks!!!! The front edges were not fitted for the fuselage, and would require a little Squadron Putty, unfortunately. The rest of the cockpit canopy was next to come. Then some masking...






Painter’s tape is a decent choice for model kit masking purposes, and has low tack adhesive hat is strong enough to keep thr paint from where it shouldn’t be, but the Tamiya tape for models is much better (but way more expensive). The top canopy will be propped open for the end presentation, as this was chosen to be a static build....Command decision!

[Whiterook]

And onward we pushed! Some paint! I had finished masking the cockpit; as an aside, I did attempt to use frisket sheet material, but it was a super pain in the ass, so I continued with the Painter's tape. Now that I think of it, I wonder how liquid mask would work....hmmmmm? I digress. I finished masking, and and also removed the top canopy cover, and then stuffed in a piece of scrap rubber glove into the cockpit itself. Then I airbrush sprayed the whole bird with it's first basecoat…



Note that the door for the front ammo magazines in the nose is only propped on with blue tack....it'll be hinged up when complete. Also, the top canopy cover is off (as mentioned), and will be hinged open as well. I still have the turbo chargers to put in the top, as well....I'd do that after the topcoats are finished.


Overall, I think I nailed the color? I'll be painting the bottom of the bird sky grey, and feathering into the olive drab. And I will naturally be putting the Invasion Stripes on; and weathering, to include darkening in the panel lines, as well.

[Whiterook]

I didn’t like the color, which just felt like I was somehow missing the mark — so I went online in search of what the true color of green the P-38's were painted in (when they were painted green), and what did I find? The typical (in a lot of modelling) answer of: There is no definitive answer! Arrrgh! Seems the consensus is, when not painted blueish green, black, or a combination of metal and anti-glare panels....well, it's Drab Green.

So, I guess it brought me back to the age old Tamiya colors can leave a lot to be desired in tone and hue-thang. That green looked somewhat great on the bird, but it nagged at me that it may not look just right. Taking a cue from actual color photos online (what there are of them), and the fact that the top surface would exhibit degrees of fading, I decided to lighten up the color by making a mixture of Tamiya Olive Drab, Buff, and White, and shooting it with the airbrush…












And still, the Olive Drab battle went on!!!!

[Whiterook]

Next, her belly! I sprayed some Tamiya Sky Grey on the old girls bum, and this was the first feathered two tone airbrush work on an aircraft I'd ever done. I researched various OD painted P-38's and they all had the same pattern pretty much in common, especially with the dip of OD under the front side of the engine cowling. I remember feeling more comfortable with the airbrush every time out, but I still needed a lot of improvement, IMHO. I have to relax more with it, plain and simple. But I also have to say, my model painting was forever changed for the better with the introduction of airbrushing in my bag of tricks!

This is the bird with her belly up in my spraybooth...



The turntable she lays on is a kitchen spice and can carousel, and a plastic cake trivet that has small plastic feet that fit on the rubberized surface of the carousel.

I got the inside of the wheel well bays with Sky Grey, as every resource material reference I've seen mentions this was painted this way; as opposed to what Revell's build manual says (OD). Sky Grey made more sense.

And now, the moment you've been waiting for....the new and hopefully improved Olive Drab...









And this is the supercharger, which I painted Tamiya Flat Brown, and will get some silver detailing highlights later...

[josta59]

Such great work!

[Whiterook]

Nick (Geek44) turned me on to a neat method to get cleaner demarcation lines....the use of silly putty or blue tack! What you will see next is actually another brand of blue tack....same stuff, just not blue!



He thought the freehand demarcation between the OD and Sky Gray looked good, I thought it could use a little tweaking in a couple spots, so I tried the method out...






Then with a re-spray...















I think this makes a world of difference in control of the demarcation line between colors. It was a turning point for me with a more proper technique. Let me show you what I mean: here's a shot from before.

[Whiterook]

Next up, I wanted to finally get to the Normandy D-Day. Invasion Stripes, but I first needed to protect the green paint sprayed on, so on went a coat of Future on most surfaces, which would stand overnight for the surface tension to relax and smooth out. Invasion Stripes and decals to come!



I knew they were going to be the new territory on this build for me, and I needed experience in masking models at that time in my modeling career, as I didn't know much on the subject. I wanted to do more challenging camouflage schemes with my other projects, so this was a good test bed. I thought I'd be clever and go out and buy real airbrushing masking frisket....well, that didn't quite work out! Honestly, I think the stuff is more for 2-D than 3-D projects. It just doesn't have any staying power on plastic.

Tamiya tape? ....yup, I was sure the stuff is brilliant (and it is!)…I’d seen some at a local hobby shop and the stuff was maybe less than a quarter inch wide, so much easier to use, but I opted for the next best, available thing again....my trusty old Painter's Tape!

Using an artist's brush, I hand paint the stripes. To get a start, I did a few white stripes by masking first with tape, and then carefully edge brushing and filling in. I was well on the way.



The wings were finished, and the booms just started (hence not looking finished yet). I was using Folk Art Acrylics, by the way...






Not a lot of the stripes were masked....I actually would hand paint more than mask. For instance, all the black is hand painted with no masking. It was just easier that way.



The booms' invasion stripes were finished. Then, I propped up her magazine compartment door in the nose, and I decaled the door with some Nose Art....the "K" is hand painted and is an homage for my wife (Karen), and I'll make her a brunette after the decal Micro Set cures! Note that Future is used on the exterior prior to decaling and weathering.



You may note the weathering....chalk wash did the trick for now, I really have very little experience weathering aircraft and will likely do a little more later down the road as I figure it out.









The decals were pretty nice, and I opted to go minimal. I did a lot of research on these birds and noted that a lot of them had minimal evidence of the stuff...not sure why. The Invasion Stripes came out quite well. I painted the tires a hand blended color. I also put silver back on the landing gear.



After I matte coat her coming up, I'd paint the props and place decals on those, remove the tape masks off the cockpit, and she would be ready for finished snap shots.

[Whiterook]

And the finished product…

[Whiterook]

I was pleased with the final build, as it stretched my comfort zone with weathering. Of note, the sexy gal with the Letter “K” is in honor of my sexy wife, Karen. Also, I’d gone ahead shortly after the build and entered the build in an IPMS show here in Massachusetts, in which she'd won a Silver Medal.