dmthamade Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Weekend modelling time!!! Been picking at the build over the last week, managed to get the nose completed. I have to say, i could not for the life of me get a completely smooth joint, debating how far i'll go on these. Also managed to install the flaps and ailerons. I should have done more dryfitting here as the fit isn't great. I found the leading edge of these parts is too thick, i scraped as much as i could, in the end the upper surface is OK but the bottom shows a lot of mismatch....the rudders also suffer a bit from the same maladies, dropped the ball on these parts....darn. The booms go on today. Dryfitting shows the typical fit all builds i've seen, one side good other not so good. Good Not so good I never did glue the wheelwells in permanently, had an idea how to fix the gap. I installed shims in between the boom and the wheelwell at the point where they joined,gave enough spread to close up the gap. Had to play with this a bit as uneven spacing affected the fit of the boom to wing joint. Hope to have these glued in tonight. Don Gazzas and BradG 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Yes, typical. I remember same thing on mine. One good point, the booms went on fairly easy and lined up good. I ended up using some card to fill gaps.......Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Yes, typical. I remember same thing on mine. One good point, the booms went on fairly easy and lined up good. I ended up using some card to fill gaps.......Harv Yup!! The fit of the booms is good front and rear, the joint at the wings is the only place they need work. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 Forgot a pic!! Not the greatet pic, shows where the shims are placed between the well and boom mounts. Did manage to install booms, just needed a swipe of Mr. Dissolved putty to finish. Don BradG, LSP_Kevin, TorbenD and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Don Nice progress on the P-38 -progress is progress and speed surely isn't. Nice work getting the booms to fit with only slight gaps and I also found it odd on how two different sets of SAC gear could have been molded so differently. Keep 'em comin Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Don, Some nice work! Gaz dmthamade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 Thanks for the encouragement, guys!! I've got the build to the point that it's ready for paint, but this is where it stalls. I usually do NMF using tamiya spraybombs, but the way the Lightning is with a lot of hard to get to areas, i would rather airbrush it.The weather has been cold as well, i have to spraybomb paint in the garage so that's not happening, either. I don't do oil based paints, so i would like to use the new to me Vallejo Metal Color paints. I did buy several colors and have been playing with them but the results have been poor. Grainy, blush, not drying... lots of things to overcome. i have been researching them, videos, etc but so far they have been giving me lousy results. Tonight while reading up (again) i find the thinner i'm using, 71.361 isn't the recommended thinner.....should be 71.261.....trip to the hobby shop this weekend. The primer was the recommended black primer, never really dried. I'll get the proper thinner then retry. Until i get the paint happening right, the build is at a standstill. Don CANicoll 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Man, all that weight is certainly going to put a strain on the landing gear. dmthamade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Sits great. Thats the stance you want.....Harv Agreed. dmthamade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 Yeah, I've been thinking about that. I think I should dry fit the wheels and get an idea how much stress the gear is under. At this point I should be able to swap in the other SAC mains, though I have read they are weaker than the plastic kit stuff. Looked into the thinner I have for the Vallejo paint, I have the new formula thinner.... this is gonna take some time.... Don LSP_K2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maxim Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Be careful of the SAC gear! The metal is really soft and prone to bending. I would rather drill a hole down the gear leg and insert some brass rod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Yeah, I've been thinking about that. I think I should dry fit the wheels and get an idea how much stress the gear is under. At this point I should be able to swap in the other SAC mains, though I have read they are weaker than the plastic kit stuff. Looked into the thinner I have for the Vallejo paint, I have the new formula thinner.... this is gonna take some time.... Don When I get around to mine, I'll probably forego the weights altogether, and just glue the nose wheel down to the base. dmthamade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 Be careful of the SAC gear! The metal is really soft and prone to bending. I would rather drill a hole down the gear leg and insert some brass rod. Yup!! Have been told that about SAC stuff, drilling kit gear for metal reinforcements has also been recommended. For the life of me, drilling a hole that long/deep/straight defeats me. Been thinking of practicing on sprue of a similar size. I've been playing a bit with the Vallejo stuff, as much as I try, I can't get a handle on the recommended primer. The Aluminum, I started from scratch, but because of the primer not cooperating, I sprayed onto a paint hulk at the prescribed distance/pressure/light coats, I did get ...good results!! It didn't cover in one go, and I resisted the temptation to flood the hulk, instead I moved on to another area, light coat, another area, light coat....etc. then back to the first area, light coat perpendicular to first. Did this two more times and let it rest. Back in two hours, not as scratch resistant as Tamiya AS-12 but not too bad, Tamiya tape had no effect, coverage/opacity good!!! Imagine that, follow instructions=desired results!!! Aluminum looks too "new" for the look i'm going for, I have 4-5 other aluminum colors to choose from, time to get to work. I have to find a primer now, have some ideas. Don Wolf Buddee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Don, as much as I don't care for SAC gear, the model has been finished for almost 2 years and I have a ton of weight in it, the gear is still standing tall. I truely expected the gear to have collapsed by now but it hasn't.......Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 Don, as much as I don't care for SAC gear, the model has been finished for almost 2 years and I have a ton of weight in it, the gear is still standing tall. I truely expected the gear to have collapsed by now but it hasn't.......Harv IIRC you added quite a bit of additional weight to your build as well, cockpit, radar pod....experience talks...will see how the kit gear "feels" before a decision is made, but at least I know the experience of others is positive. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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