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P-38 Lightning


ruzlkampf

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Whoooah yeah! Definitely in on this GB. :rolleyes: Always wanted to start on this big honker, but couldn't decide what kind of camo-scheme to make it. Ran across this scheme the other day, and that clinched it. Wanted to do an olive drab P-38J or L, and this unit operated some of the last (AFAIK) non-NMF later versions of the Lightning of the war. April 44-VJ day, operating out of the CBI theater.

 

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Gonna be starting with this here kit. Only found a date in one place on the box of 2004, so I guess it's new enough. Only mod I have planned so far, is a MasterDetails WW II AAF pilot figure. I've got pics of these carrying 3-tube bazooka tubes on both sides of the pilot pod, soooo maybe I'll do that also? Dunno yet, as I've just started looking at the directions. Whew! This kit has a LOT of pieces! :rolleyes: Cool.

 

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Wheeew yeah, the plastic is already flyin Kev! :rolleyes: Have narrowed this down to a 'J' model, so I'm going to be re-positioning the wing landing lights from the leading edge, to the wing bottoms...moving the gun camera from the pylon to the nose....and no anti-compression flaps under the wings. Amongst some other little tid-bits.

Felt like I was making toothpicks outta logs last night, with the huge pile of sprue I had after cutting all the major pieces out for an initial dry fit. At least I don't have to look thru a gazillion trees looking for parts now. Look at this scrap pile!!!! Went from a stuffed box to this;

 

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Don't know a thing about this kit, and never read any reviews or such....so I just started taping pieces together to see what direction I'm going to go first. Built the engines first to get a feel for things, and look over the directions a few times to see how things inter-locked. Most of what I've got built so far,....I'm not going to even use. About a 1/3rd of the kit. :rolleyes: I want dragons on my booms, not detached engine panels and a lot of detail stuff that won't be seen. Pity, as it's all there, and would look great, in say.....a diorama.

If there was ever a kit that needs a spar, this is it. All the interior turbo detail and hoses makes this almost impossible to do. No spar also makes the booms a 'fuggly' fit, and makes the dihedral look more like a B-25 wing. Sooo...going to be leaving a lot out to save weight and space for a spar in the booms, and hacking out most of the gun bays to add weight where it's needed in the nose. No engines, flaps up, (as most were on the ground anyway) and most of the turbo plumbing and gun-bay stuff out. Here's my first dry fit to see how well it was going to fit. Definitely has a lot of potential. B)

 

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Closer look. I'll be keping the oil cooler ducting, and other stuff for the intake below the engine, cuz it can be seen and has some PE screen. Props are hung off the ends of the engines(which ain't gonna be there anymore), and I don't trust them to be centered or the right length....so I'll be putting face plates there instead to keep it 'zeroed in'.

 

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A pic next to it's adversary (and arch-rival/ nemisis) during the war. A 64th Sentai Ki-43 II. Model is big, and impressive. Leaving out most of the internal detail will leave me with more time to diddle with stuff like the cockpit (and getting my resin pilot looking right), and wheel-wells. Working on the main gear wells first, so I can install in the booms and see how to engineer a spar for this yo-yo. More pics as things progress, ....Russ

 

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Nice start, Russ. very impressive kit.

If you get it finished, it will be be the first P-38 ever to be completed in a GB. Luckily it's eight months long.

 

Good luck Buddy.

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Well alright! :rolleyes: Thanks for the interest guys! Thanks for the link Dave, answered some questions I divined from my dry-fit experiments. I didn't even have to try the radiators to KNOW they weren't going to fall into place. Oh my. Was really interested in the landing gear, as I've never seen this kit built OOB, and I was wondering if it was going to have the correct 'stance' when sitting on the ground fully loaded. I never assume anything is going to fit right without a trial-fit first,...so that's the first thing I did when I got home tonight. More trial fitting.

Hmmm, let's see...2nd day of my build and I've already got it sitting on it's landing gear with a pilot installed. :rolleyes: heh heh. Says something for the kit that I can do this without having more than 4-5 things glued together yet. I wanted to see what the stance of the AC looked like on the ground, and , make sure the pilot would fit OK in the pit. But first, I wanted to show my new props I literally dropped into place off a spare Revell P-38 I've got hanging around. Much better than the kit props, and they were available. I've also got a set of True Details wheels I cut off the casting blocks to see how they stacked up against the kit wheels. A little to 'uninflated' looking to me, but I could whittle on them to make em work if I choose to go this route instead of the vinyl stuff. Still just testing/fitting/comparing parts.

 

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I'm usually 1/2 way to 'Russville' by now, but I'm going to take the time to savor this kit cuz it's just so darn cool. Here's a pic of my pre-mod MasterDetails pilot mocked up in the pit. Haven't decided which head to use yet(kit comes with 4), and his arms get modded to hold a wheel instead of a stick. This is only a test.

 

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After taping and juggling things together(I've already had this apart and back together 4 times! :rolleyes: ), here's a pic of it on it's kit landing gear. Had to use a bottle of glue to hold up the tail, but it actually stands proud already! Whah hooo!

 

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