1/18 Scale P-38 Lightning

[JayW]

Have finished up a fairly large milestone - a very challenging and nerve racking milestone - the windshield. Last post I got the frame and front (flat) glass installed. Now came the flat patterns for the curved side glass, and installation of the rest of the windshield. Here is a test part (white .015 thick plastic):

 

 

No big deal. Some trial and error on the periphery to get it to fit just right, then some roll forming on round objects like x-acto handles or tube stock, to give it contour.

 

For the real parts, I intended to use .015 thick clear Evergreen sheet. However when rolling this stuff, especially on the top edge where the curvature is tighter, the material crazed and became more or less opaque, kind of like a cateract. That was not expected. So off to the hobby shop I went where I purchased some .010 thick clear Evergreen, figuring it would yield more easily. Well it did, but not perfectly. It still has a bit of crazing on the top edge but I will have to live with it. I didn't take pics of the details but you will see them installed.

 

Next was frame strips. I created a flat pattern for these as well, and cut it out from .010 white sheet. I had to modify the flat patatern a couple of times to get it to fit properly. Here are a couple of my failures:

 

 

They look pretty good, but just didn't fit right.

 

My third try worked to my satisfaction, so after cutting out the flat pattern, I formed a crease on the legs that run down the front glass, cut off the legs to create the various butt joins you see on the real aircraft, and fitted up the complex upper piece:

 

 

 

It fit pretty good, but it had to undergo some rigorous massaging with a toothpick to get it to form to the rounded shape of that part of the windshield. Also in those shots, you can see the already installed curved side panels, which have been blended with putty. And you can see the little front panel just forward of the windshield where it blends into the fuselage.

 

The rest of the strips were quite easy. Here are shots of the finished product - can't wait to see it painted up.

 

 

 

 

 

And here for comparison is the old windshield:

 

 

That was never going to do. I suppose I could have worked with the side glass by painting it as required. Would have saved weeks.....

 

OK - I think now I am going to finish scribing the forward fuselage at least the top part, and then attack the nose and guns. That will be challenging as well. Later alligators.

[Out2gtcha]

Marvelous!     Yeah, don't worry, your work was NOT in vein. Most DEFINITELY worth it.

[LSP_Kevin]

Amazing.

 

Kev

[LSP_Ray]

Great work!

[brahman104]

ah I see what you did there! Neat solution to a rather tricky problem... I like it!

 

Craig

[JayW]

Craig - I will be doing the same plan for the aft canopy. However, since the windshield has a flat screen, the two side glass parts have something close to "single curvature". The aft canopy glass has to curl along a curved spine. That means "double curvature", and by rights that should put me in vacuform territory. However the spine curvature is fairly slight, so I am hoping the aft pieces can flex into shape. That is a big hope - because if they do not, then I am going to have to get some help from somebody.

 

This is also the case for the side windows but the curvature is even more slight there so I am more confident there will not be a problem there. The hatch - well I am using the toy part.

[crackerjazz]

That is exceptionally cool!

[JayW]

The model as is has guns that are not too bad compared to many of the details on the fuselage, but this is the business end of the fighter, the whole reason the figher exists.  The real P-38's nose looked absolutely lethal, like a porcupine.  So I set off to make it the best it can be.  Here is a (not too good) shot of the guns unmodified:

 

 

So what are the problems?  One, the center 20 mm autocannon is the same size and look as the four 50's, and actually it is more than 50% larger (caliber is about 0.8 inch compared to 0.5 inch).  Two, the rods that are the guns are just that - simple rods painted silver.  In actuality they are gun barrels with an ID, and a blast tube that surrounds the gun barrel.  Three, the guns actually sprout out of holes that are larger in diameter than the guns themselves - after all the nose is actually a fairing in real life and the guns mount to structure deep inside.  This is especially the case for the cannon which has a very large hole compared to the diameter of the barrel itself.  There is more that needs fixing too but I won't bore you with it; I'll just do it.

 

My plan was to open up the holes to the right size - actually oversize so that I can line the holes with tubes.   That way I can have inner surfaces in which to attach the guns themselves.  The guns wil be nothing more than a series of tubes within tubes. 

 

So I employed the handy-dandy lathe / end mill and used it as a drill press to get some good clean holes that point in the right direction.  It was major surgery and had me a little stressed out:

 

 

There you see work on the holes for the 50's; the (very big) hole for the cannon is already done.  Also you see some panel line filling and sanding.  FYI, the drill bit you see there is .1875 inch diameter.  It is heavy drilling and the little vice you see there is essential to keep the part still.  The tube I insert in the hole will be that OD and .156 inch ID.  The gun itself will be .125 inch OD but will have its aft end surrounded by a short tube that is .156 inch OD by .125 inch ID.  That will slip inside the first tube and should center the gun in the hole. 

 

Here are the .156 inch "hole liners" glued inside the fresh holes drilled in the nose (the cannon hole has already been lined with a .281 inch aluminum liner):

 

 

And here are the finished holes (of course I trimmed off the excess tube and sanded and filed and otherwise dressed up the edges):

 

 

Yahoo!  Pretty pumped about that.  And very glad I didn't ruin the nose piece with that heavy machining. 

 

Here is a sneak peak of what one of the 50 caliber guns will look like:

 

 

The nose will receive some more panel line work, a paint job, and gun installation.  Then it's done.

 

Meanwhile, work continues on the fuselage proper.  There is a whole lot to do before I button it all up and paint.  I am currently re-doing the shell ejection chutes - here is what one looks like prior to modification:

 

 

You know that isn't going to fly.  So the plan was to dremmel them away while saving the square opening, and line them with thin walls, and lastly (later after the fuselage is basically done) adding little air deflector plates to them.  Here is a shot of the gruesome work, with one of the four openings cleaned up.

 

 

And here you see that finished opening with trimmed liner walls, and another opening with liners as well, although not trimmed to contour.

 

 

More to come.  What looms large is the aft canopy which is a litle scary to think about right now. 

[Starfighter]

Stunning!

[Out2gtcha]

Wow, TOTALLY inspirational!

[JayW]

The business end of the fighter is done (unless I have to rework the cannon).  A couple of shots:

 

 

 

Here's the thing - I am not sure about the protrusion of the cannon.  I think it's not supposed to be sticking that far out.  I will find out more and correct as required.  You see it is also painted.  Hard to paint after guns are installed.  That white stripe - a 20th FG identifier for their P-38's.

 

This shot shows that the project is starting to look like a P-38 - the toyish look is going away gradually:

 

 

Next up - more fuselage and wing panel line modification, and the aft canopy.  Aft canopy is going to be a huge challenge.  Stay tuned.

[brahman104]

Yep, that sure is starting to come along really nice Jay. That windscreen work has made a huge difference!

 

Craig

[alberto49]

Hi,

I don't know if it can be of some help, but I have this picture:

 

 

and this portion of a drawing:

 

 

Cheers

Alberto

[alberto49]

One more, a picture I found on the web when I was doing my 1:32 model.

 

 

Alberto

[JayW]

Thanks Alberto - the top view looks consistent with most pictures I see, where the cannon barrel tip barely makes it out of the (quite large) hole.  The top photo has no cannon at all!!    And the bottom photo seems to have the cannon protruding quite a bit (hard to tell).  Maybe I'll just leave it alone - I am concerned if I chop it off I won't be able to restore it well.