Academy 1/48 P-38E ”Texas Terror”

Started by Tom Bebout · 49 · 6 years ago
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    Tom Bebout said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    Should be able to finish this one for the Group Build before the grand reveal. Going to do 1Lt Jack Ilfery's P-38, "Texas Terror", with the 94th Squadron, 1st Fighter Group. Ilfery would achieve Ace status while flying his P-38 in support of the invasion of North Africa. He subsequently would be transferred stateside in April,1943. He would later return to combat in the ETO, in March, 1944 as commander of the 79th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group. Interesting enough while flying his P-38 to Oran, Algeria, Jack would cause an international incident with Portugal. More on that story with the reveal in February.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Michel Verschuere said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    Go for it Tom!

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    David A. Thomas said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    A vital and very welcome addition to the KP GB, Thomas. My appreciation knows no bounds. Given all you've already done, to tackle an Academy P-38 is a very big deal! Kudos!

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    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    I'll be following this closely... Looking forward to how you build it. Awesome !

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    Cool, I have this decal set also. Looking forward to this project. I have build to 2 of these Academy Lightnings, the first one took a long time, (P-38M), the 2nd one built this year 3 months. Seems like it was easier for me the 2nd time. And I am slow. Have fun Tom.

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    Paul Barber said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    Looking forward to this build Tom, and trying hard not to Google the Portugal incident!

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    Tom Bebout said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    This is my second Academy P-38, the first was for a friend who's dad flew them in WWII. Prior to that I did a Minicraft F-5E Recce that gave me fits, even though the parts and construction seem to be the same to me.Nothing seemed to fit correctly. So here we go.

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    Tom Bebout said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    As the saying goes construction begins with the cockpit. Not lots of detail here, I did make some throttle levers out of copper wire and white glue for the knobs. Not represented at all with the kit cockpit. The kit seat went into the spares box and I'll use the True Detail seat instead. Dropped in a couple of Mike Grant cockpit decals to make the office more interesting. Finished off with my home made wash to give it some depth. So we're off to a decent start and lets see how the parts align.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Paul Barber said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    I'd call that a sensational start as opposed to a 'decent' one! Once again your cockpit magic has done its job, Tom!

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    David A. Thomas said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    Alas poor Yorik...I remember him well!

    Tom, you have my utmost respect. Anyone who does all you've done for a GB, then in a sort of offhand fashion decides to tackle, oh, lemme see here--A P-38 LIGHTNING...well, there really isn't much else to be said...

    Cockpit looks fabulous, of course. Really looking forward to seeing the rest of this bad boy shape up.

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    Jeff Bailey said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    Looks great, Tom! I love those early P-38s. Your cockpit looks outstanding, too!

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    Carl Smoot said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    Nice work Tom,

    The P-38 has always been my favorite plane. Interestingly enough, it was trying to over detail the Trumpy P-38 that drove me from modeling last time. But I still want to build one. This time it will be 1/48th scale. Seeing yours gives me inspiration.

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    Tom Bebout said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    I say go for it Carl, you would be surprised how many old 1/48 Monogram kits I completed, then gave to my grandson when I started building models again. Helped me develop some much needed skills at a relatively low cost. And he enjoyed crashing them while playing.

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    Tom Bebout said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    Couldn't sleep this morning so what to do? Why not venture into the man cave and play with some plastic. Spent a little more time on the P-38, forgot how fiddly the wheel wells were to build. Finally got them done and after some dry fitting, decided to glue the wells into the booms back side first, then when dry close up the front sides. The plastic is soft, fairly thin, and bends quite well, thus preventing any major gaps so far. The real test will be aligning the boons to the wing. I predict some major dry fitting before applying and glue. Main spar is now clamped and should be dry by this evening. So far so good. Finally Happy New Year to you all from frozen Ohio. PS. thank you gentlemen for the kind words and support during this build, just proves what a great modelling site, iModeler provides to us plastic geeks.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 11 months ago:

    You're really rocking and rolling on the Lightning Tom ! I am particularly impressed with just how nice the office turned out...

    Do you know if this kit has the same plastic parts in it as the Minicraft F-5E and P-38 J models ?