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John vd Biggelaar
39 articles

Tamiya's Lockheed P38 Lightninganother one

January 16, 2021 · in Aviation · · 33 · 2.5K

Hello all,

Presenting my first build of 2021.
The well known .
It has been presented here multiple times and a lot has been said about it, mainly positive.
I can only say that all is true, the kit has a perfect fit and it is barely impossible to make mistakes.
This kit is built almost OOB as the White 33. Only added brake lines and Ushi antenna wiring.
For the OD, I created my own mixture, Vallejo interior green with light green in a 4:1 ratio.
For weathering pre-shading was done, black pigment for gun traces.
Besides the gauges decal, the entire interior was hand painted. The seatbelts however could have been improved, the used decals are not that impressive.
At the end this was a relaxed build and I'm pretty satisfied with the result.
Really appreciate any kind of feedback, no matter positive or negative.

Stay safe

Reader reactions:
15  Awesome

19 additional images. Click to enlarge.


33 responses

  1. Well done John, and that's a great looking cockpit.

  2. Perfect job, my friend @johnb!
    You took a great kit and produced an excellent result!
    Well done!

  3. I'm jealous of your cockpit, it looks great! Really good work here.

  4. Nice build. Looked hard, found NO clinkers. All good.

  5. Great looking '38 John. Did you get your Christmas wish for a Fokker G1? If you did, I can guaranty it won't be a relaxing build!

    • Thanks Dale @dtravis
      Unfortunately no G1 for Christmas last year, but I did find nice reading material about WWII planes.
      That G1 will for sure hit my bench, hopefully this year when we are able to visit modelling events again, and buy one there.

  6. Sure looks good John. That cockpit instrument panel is outstanding. That OD mixture looks spot on.

    Are you happy with Uschi antenna line? How does it compare with EZ Line, if you’ve tried that?

    • Thanks Eric @eb801
      So far I'm pretty satisfied with the way the Uschi thread is behaving.
      It stretches nicely and is easy to fix with super glue.
      Till now I didn't have the possibility to compare it with EZ-line.

  7. I am by no means an expert in anything US WWII, so I'll just say that I like it a lot! I like the homebrewed color, the UvdR antenna, the cockpitpainting and not least the subtle weathering. Well done - I'll hit the star on my way outta here John (@johnb)!

  8. That's one sharp Lightning, looks great!

  9. Nice work, John. Your masking between green and gray is flawless. What method did you use?

  10. Beautiful work, John.

    Tamiya’s P-38 is just about as close to a perfect kit there has ever been.

    Excellent!

  11. Very nice build indeed!

  12. I like this a lot. Nice, careful work, a great result.

    The only way this kit can be messed up is if you plan to do so. it really is close to perfect.

  13. Another great looking build of this already classic kit, definitely liked.

  14. Beautifully built model.

  15. I love the P-38 and yours looks great! After struggling with Eduard boxing of the Academy kit I really can appreciate the beauty of the Tamiya kit. Really excellent work on that cockpit!

  16. That's a great looking lightning! Well done.

  17. John, this is a fantastic build (P38 is a wonderful choice and is a favourite of mine!) and you are very talented. I will certainly be coming to you for tips and your cockpit and instrument panel is outstanding! I am now starting to manage my way around this great site and will be dropping in more often. Your build blog is very impressive and I really enjoyed going through your portfolio of aircraft.

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