Tamiya 1/48 P-38J
This is my second Tamiya Lightning in as many years, last year's being the P-38F. Having struggled with the old Hasegawa J years ago, and having started and then trashed an Academy kit, I was eager to tackle Tamiya's J, which turned out to be just as enjoyable as their F. If you don't mind working in 1/48 and haven't tried either of these Tamiya kits, I urge you to do so if only to admire the phenomenal engineering and fit.
I used several aftermarket items: an Ultracast resin seat with molded-on seat belts, Eduard Brassin resin 500 lb. bombs, and Master Model brass gun barrels.
The natural metal finish was achieved using a number of Alclad shades: Aluminum, Duraluminum, White Aluminum and Stainless Steel. The superchargers were base-coated with Stainless Steel and then received layers of Hot Metal Burnt Carbon until they were as dark as desired. I used Mr. Color C12 OD for the anti-glare panels and Tru-Color ANA 613 OD for the bombs and pilot's armor plate. I used brushed pastel dust for exhaust staining and panel line grime, and I drybrushed the tire treads with mud colored acrylic paint.
Decals for the individual plane markings are from an old Aeromaster sheet; the national insignia and stencils are from the kit. They worked great — just remember to use hot water. The markings are for "Arkansas Traveler," piloted by James Owen Fincher (native of Camden, Arkansas), 392nd FS, 367th FG, Clastres, France, October 1944. The 392nd flew both air-to-air and ground attack missions from northern France in the months following D-Day. I realize the bombs aren't visible in any of my photos, but they're there.
Enjoy! Pip
A wonderful Lightning, Pip @seawinder
The various shades for the NMF do look really nice.
I agree that those Tamiya Lightnings are a pleasure to build.
Vey nice indeed Pip (@seawinder).
Love the metal shading and weathering details. It all ends up looking very realistic. Pleased you finally had an enjoyable build in the Tamiya kit 🙂
G’day Pip (@seawinder),
I built this aircraft in 1/72 as a teenager, I think using ESCI decals, which were the go to (only?) aftermarket decals back in the ‘70s.
I have the Tamiya F/G and limited edition H that are hovering near the top of the to-do list.
Your build looks great. (And I’m sure the bombs are too).
Liked!
Your -J is rated W for wow. (I forgot there is a wow reaction totalizer. It is so registered now.) The light bulb would have been appropriate as well. Using modelers intuition I assumed the main gear doors were wider at the front. However a wise old modeler in our midst said Tamiya engineered this kit so that it would require extra effort to screw things up as I seem to have done on the Academy kit. If you are thinking at all about adding a photo that captures the bombs, it would be nice to get a better view of the superchargers. Well done Pip.
Thanks Russell - much appreciated. I recall having to check the instructions carefully to make sure the main gear doors went on correctly since it wasn't obvious just by looking at them. I'll try to get a couple of shots of the superchargers and the bombs. Not sure if iModeler will allow me to insert them in the article.
You can always edit an article!
And a tip: if you add [ pic1 ], etc, without spaces the pictures will be displayed larger on the page.
Beautiful result. Looks great!
That is one extremely nice looking P-38. Fabulous. Great photos as well. That dark background really boosts your metal finish, Pip @seawinder. Got my Tamiya J lined up as my next next build but I intend to convert it to a H.
Awesome
That's an awesome J, nice paintwork. I did their H model awhile back, guess I need to do the J now!
Good-looking -38! NMF looks good.
Awesome machine. I have a love hate relationship with this aircraft, I like the look of them but on the two builds I attempted the kit decided it did not like me.
Awesome result, Pip!
Congratulations!
Superb, Pip. The finish you achieved is top-notch!
I built this very same kit. I literally shook the box and the model came out great, a testament to Tamiya engineering.
Such a great kit. You’ve done a a masterful job with the NMF.
Thanks everyone for the comments. Much appreciated! Pip
Superb result, Pip! It looks like a great kit and you did an awesome job with it. I think the 38 is my favorite of all WW2 fighter aircraft, and you did it justice.👍
Thanks everyone for all the comments. As always, much appreciated.
Pip