dmthamade Posted December 10, 2017 Author Share Posted December 10, 2017 Finally found some time to get working on the kit. A few things that have to be changed. The kit is a "L" version of the Lightning, the Virginia Marie is a "H" version. This means the dive brakes, leading edge light and booster pump covers have to be deleted. A new light will have to be added under the left wing. The surface detail is soft, rivets and panel lines are very soft withe the surface itself having and uneven texture. Really dislike the rivets, pics show different degrees of standing out. I've seen the 1/48 scale Hasegawa Lightning kit with light rivet detail and sharp panel lines. I like the 1/32 Hasegawa kits with their surface detail, too, so what i'm planning on doing is filling the rivets using the Hasegawa kit as reference and hoping for a more subtle surface. I've done this with one boom so far, looks ok but will need final finishing. Original surface Reworked surface LOTS of rivets on the wings, going to be doing this for a while......lotsa fun... Don Alain Gadbois, Gigant, sandokan and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 Great to see one of these kits getting built - will be following along! Iain dmthamade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloorwestSiR Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 Great job on the surface work. It's much smoother and sharper than the original. Carl dmthamade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 Good job ! Looks remarkably better !.......Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted December 10, 2017 Author Share Posted December 10, 2017 Thanks for the support, guys. I think the filling of the rivets for all needed parts will take me about three weeks, but it'll be worth it. I should take breaks from dot filling and do other subassemblies, winter's here so plenty of time. I see some areas where the lines aren't straight, i did these freehand. i better start using a straight edge more often. Don Out2gtcha and LSP_Paul 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLWP Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 It is most definitely worth filling the rivet holes, it is very, very much better How often do you look at a full-size 'plane and go 'wow, look at those rivets?' I'm amazed how quickly you created a realistic appearance. Richard dmthamade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Paul Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Very nice work Don..Surface looks very much improved. Good show. Paul dmthamade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Very impressive resurfacing - what are using to do the filling? Mr Surfacer? Torben dmthamade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigant Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 (edited) ... Not a lot of P-38s built here, hope it turns out. The last Lightning kit i built was the Aurora kit.....almost 50 yrs ago. Don Not many 1/32 twin-engined WW II aircraft built here at all, Don. When I built the Aurora kit, it was over 50 years ago. I liked Monogram's solution to the kit's tendency to "tail-drag", with a clear post instead of weighting down weak plastic landing gear. Since I have both an HC/Trumpeter kit as well as a 1/32 Revell kit. The key thing is to ignore critical comments by some that might worry you out of finishing building it. Edited December 13, 2017 by Gigant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted December 13, 2017 Author Share Posted December 13, 2017 Thanks for the support, guys. I'm using Mr. Dissolved Putty, stuff is the cats patootie!! Usually takes two layers, apply/sand/inspect/apply/sand. I airbrush a light coat of paint down to check for missed areas, i use Tamiya XF-19 as a guide. I'm pretty thick skinned, so not much fazes me, definitely not a rivet counter and i'm OK with that. Don CANicoll, LSP_Kevin and TorbenD 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maxim Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Excellent work on the booms!Looks so much better without the rivets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Wow, this looks grand so far! Im actually eventually going to foil my P-38 in the same scheme. VM is a cool looking scheme for sure. Actually, I'd recommend the kit parts over the SAC gear. I'm using them on mine. +1 here on that. TBH, Having dealt with the Trumpy gear for a customers rebuild of their P-38, I can concur that the OOB plastic gear will most definitely be stronger than the SAC junk. Model on! BiggTim, dmthamade, Vandy 1 VX 4 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 Sounds like the kit gear is the way to go. I did have a good look at the SAC stuff and yes, the stuff is sketchy. I've managed to finish filling and sanding the rivets on the booms, a lot of work done and i haven't glued anything together yet. Moving on, i'm looking at the top wing surface. Man, that's a LOT of rivets......... Going to move on and do some subassemblies, i plan on doing the booms first, adding the engines/gear wells/etc, then do more rivet filling, 'cuzz rivet filling is BORING!!! and suks the life out of the build. Don Shaka HI, BradG, sandokan and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Use the force Don! Fillin' ain't fun but definitely worth it given the results you're getting - keep the faith Torben dmthamade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 I commend you on taking on the rivet filling challenge! No doubt it'll be worth the effort. I just picked up a tube of the Plastic Putty myself. Haven't had a chance to use it yet, but the opportunity is coming. Keep up the great work. Mike LSP_Paul and dmthamade 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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