Trumpeter P-38 build progress

[BiggTim]

This is my first Trumpeter kit, so I decided to try and build it without any aftermarket stuff to see how good a kit it really was. So far, I haven't needed anything special to get it up to my personal standards, but it's still early yet. Like it overall, but am disappointed that there's no easy way to show off the nice engines without some serious hacking. I left the right engine out and built a mount inside for the prop so I could later build the engine on a stand for display.

Paper seatbelts, drill some small holes to add wiring, and few scavenged placard decals from other kits, and the pit looks pretty decent, my crappy photography aside.

to solve the problem of nose ballast, I filled the lower portion of the nose cone with lead carved to fit snugly, and covered it with a plate of plastic, and added a brick of lead in the lower gun bay carved to fit in the slot under the magazines. Since that still wasn't enough, I also chose to carve the magazines themselves out of sheet lead and polish them. With a little paint and some details added, I think they will turn out nicely!

Have to go for now, will add more later!

 

Tim

[Guest]

Tim, for OOB, she looks good. Love P-38's..........Harv 

[LSP_Kevin]

Looks great!

 

Kev

[skydivin]

Looks great so far... Where did you get the lead from if you don't mind a question.

[Out2gtcha]

Yep, looks really great OOB! 

[Jose Pedro]

Great progress so far!

José Pedro

[BiggTim]

Looks great so far... Where did you get the lead from if you don't mind a question.

 

Actually the lead came from .45 caliber bullets I fired from my Colt Peacemaker replica. I usually shoot with a large block of firewood as a back drop, so I can split the wood and retrieve the lead to cast more bullets, or to use it for things like this. I found a few of the more intact bullets, pounded them flat and to the right thickness with a hammer, cut the piece out, and sand to shape.

 

Some hardware stores used to sell lead in sheets, but I haven't seen it that way for some time. But lead shot, bullets, and fishing weights are usually pretty easy to find, so I use those a lot. Another way to make flat pieces is to lay them in an old old cast iron skillet and melt them with a torch and let them cool into a sheet. You might try laying an old piston ring or something like it in the skillet to trap the lead and make it thicker, but I haven't tried that yet. Good luck!

 

Tim

[Guest Peterpools]

Tom

Terrifci progress on the P-38. She sure looks good and I always appreciate seeing OOB work

Keep 'em coming

Peter

[skydivin]

Actually the lead came from .45 caliber bullets I fired from my Colt Peacemaker replica. I usually shoot with a large block of firewood as a back drop, so I can split the wood and retrieve the lead to cast more bullets, or to use it for things like this. I found a few of the more intact bullets, pounded them flat and to the right thickness with a hammer, cut the piece out, and sand to shape.

 

Some hardware stores used to sell lead in sheets, but I haven't seen it that way for some time. But lead shot, bullets, and fishing weights are usually pretty easy to find, so I use those a lot. Another way to make flat pieces is to lay them in an old old cast iron skillet and melt them with a torch and let them cool into a sheet. You might try laying an old piston ring or something like it in the skillet to trap the lead and make it thicker, but I haven't tried that yet. Good luck!

 

Tim

Guess I will have to go shoot more now!  Thanks ~ rOD